Investigation of the effects of using argumentation method inscience course on science learning skills and scientificprocess skills of 7th grade students

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of argumentation based science activities on the scientific process skills and science learning skills of seventh grade students. The research was conducted in a public school in Antalya in the spring term of 2018-2019 academic year. The sample of the study consists of a total of 35 7th grade students, 18 in the experimental group and 17 in the control group. The research was conducted with the quasi-experimental design method with pre-test and post-test, one of the quantitative research methods, and it was completed in 10 weeks. During this period, the lessons were conducted with argumentation based activities in the experimental group and in accordance with the 2018 MEB curriculum for the control group students. The activities applied to the experimental group were prepared by the researcher and the students were asked to make scientific discussions and reach a scientific conclusion on the activities. Scientific Process Skills Test (SPST) developed by Aydoğdu, Tatar, Yıldız and Buldur (2012) and "Science Learning Skills Scale" (SLSS) adapted to Turkish by Şenler were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U Test. In the light of the findings of the study, it was found out that science course, which is based on argumentation-based activities, positively affects the scientific process skills and science learning skills of the experimental group students. At the end of the research, the students' opinions survey also supports the quantitative findings and the students mentioned the positive contributions of the argumentation method. Key words: Argumentation, Argumentation Strategies, Scientific Process Skills, Scientific Discussion, Science Learning Skill