Exploratory analysis on the argumentation in biodiversity in students of a secondary school in the Region of Valencia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the improvement of the complexity of the arguments on biodiversity used by  the students after a didactic intervention. The methodology used is an exploratory study with a pre-test, treatment, post-test design. The sample consists of a total of 36 groups of students (total 108 students) of the eleventh grade. The data collection instrument is inspired by the operation of the Consensus Committee, to promote citizen participation in decision-making on scientific and technological issues. For the analysis of data we adopt the method of cluster analysis, while based on the analysis model of the argumentation of Toulmin, we measure the improvement in the complexity of the argumentation. The results reflect the difficulty of formulating arguments for students who have not yet received a specific preparation in contextualization skills.