The influence of issue demarcation-based scientific argumentation on pseudoscientific beliefs and critical thinking skills

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of scientific argumentation based on the distinction between science and pseudoscience (BİSABA) on the understanding of the nature of science on the pseudoscientific beliefs and nature of seventh grade middle school students, their use of their understanding of the nature of science in pseudoscientific contexts, and their argumentation and critical thinking skills. The embedded experimental design, a mixed method research, was used in the study. The study group consisted of 53 seventh grade students studying at a public middle school. The study was conducted over a 12-week implementation period. Data were collected through the Pseudoscience Belief Scale, the Cornell Critical Thinking Scale, semi-structured interview questions, and scientific argumentation forms based on the distinction between science and pseudoscience. Appropriate statistical package programs were used in the analysis of quantitative data, descriptive and content analysis were used in the analysis of interview questions, and graded scoring rubrics were used in the analysis of individual argumentation forms. In the study, it was determined that the pseudoscientific beliefs of the experimental group students decreased significantly compared to the pre-application and control group, their awareness of the nature of pseudoscientific beliefs, their effectiveness and justification, their purpose of use, their scientific status and reasons, and their scientific research design increased, and their use of the understanding of the nature of science in pseudoscientific contexts increased. It was observed that the claim, evidence, reasoning, rebuttal and total argument scores obtained from the individual argumentation forms of the experimental group students in the last week increased significantly compared to the first week, and the students were able to transfer their argumentation skills to pseudoscientific contexts. The data regarding critical thinking skills showed that although the critical thinking skills of the experimental group students increased significantly in the post-test compared to the pre-test, this increase did not constitute a significant difference when compared to the post-test of the control group. The results show that BİSABA reduced the pseudoscientific beliefs of the students, developed their argumentation and critical thinking skills, increased their awareness of the nature of pseudoscience and the use of their understanding of the nature of science in these contexts.