ERIC Number: EJ1178372
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1937-0814
EISSN: N/A
Classroom Debates in Middle School Social Studies: Moving from Personal Attacks to Evidence and Reasoning
Duhaylongsod, Leslie
Middle Grades Research Journal, v11 n2 p99-115 2017
Using transcripts of 6 classroom debates that took place in 4 urban schools, the present study takes a closer look at what middle school students do during classroom debates in the context of a social studies curriculum designed to support student argumentation in debate. Two coding schemes were used to analyze student comments in the transcripts: argumentative moves and the quality of grounds (reasons/evidence used to support a claim). Results show that: (a) students used textual evidence to support their arguments over a third of the time (37.6%), which is a higher rate than what might be expected given previous studies; (b) students connected their evidence to their claims 20.3% of the time (also a much higher rate than what might be expected given previous studies); and (c) argumentative moves were related to text-based grounds quality at a statistically significant level (p = 0.006). Students were more likely to support positions with textual evidence than support oppositions and supporting comments with textual evidence. Implications for middle school practice are discussed.
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Middle School Teachers, Social Studies, Debate, Class Activities, Urban Schools, Classroom Techniques, Persuasive Discourse, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Grade 7, Grade 6, Audio Equipment, Greek Civilization, History, Foreign Countries, Western Civilization, Middle Eastern History
IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 79049, Charlotte, NC 28271-7047. Tel: 704-752-9125; Fax: 704-752-9113; e-mail: infoage@infoagepub.com; Web site: http://www.infoagepub.com/middle-grades-research-journal.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Italy (Rome); Greece; Egypt
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305F100026