Fostering Skill and Will of Argumentative Reasoning in Processing Fragile and Conflicting Positions

Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology

What is argumentative thinking good for?
Does climate change lead to more forest dieback? Is resettling the lynx good for the ecology of our forests? These and similar questions on sustainable development are not only characterized by ecological and social relevance, but also include scientific evidence that supports conflicting scientific positions. That means you can find scientific evidence to back up contradicting positions, as for example regarding the impact of climate change on forest dieback. Thus, argumentative thinking is essential for a deeper understanding of the topic and reaching founded conclusion. This includes processes such as arguing from another perspective and carefully evaluating the strength of different arguments and the quality of reasoning.

How to foster the skill and the will to engage in argumentative thinking?
Both the skill and the will are crucial for the engagement in argumentative thinking. Therefore, our project objective is to develop training interventions to foster the skill and the will to engage in argumentative thinking when processing conflicting positions. The training interventions’ effects are experimentally tested. The participants in the experiments are upper-level German high school students. The main components of the training interventions are different video-based examples that show two people discussing the topics of sustainable development and modelling argumentative thinking. The leaners are supported with prompts in the form of questions that encourage the learners to reflect on main principles of the video examples. Previous research has shown that these prompts are an effective measure. Moreover, our training interventions also consist of an argumentation phase in which the learners have the chance to generate their own opinions on a new subject without any support. Based on our previous experiments on single trainings, we are currently in the process of developing a combined training intervention to foster both the will and the skill to engage in argumentative thinking. The effects of this combined training invention are due to be tested in an upcoming experiment and its results shall provide a basis for the development of a blended-learning concept for use at school.

Publications:

Bauer, J., Berthold, K., Hefter, M. H., Prenzel, M. & Renkl, A. (akzeptiert). Wie können Lehrkräfte und ihre Schülerinnen und Schüler lernen, fragile Evidenz zu verstehen und zu nutzen? Psychologische Rundschau.

Hefter, M. H., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., Fries, S., & Berthold, K. (2015). Effects of a training intervention to foster precursors of evaluativist epistemological understanding and intellectual values. Learning and Instruction, 38, 11-22. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2015.05.002

Hefter, M. H., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., & Fries, S. (2014). Effects of a training intervention to foster argumentation skills while processing conflicting scientific positions. Instructional Science, 42(6), 929-947. doi:10.1007/s11251-014-9320-y

Conference Contributions:

Hefter, M. H., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., & Fries, S. (2015, September).

Trainings zum argumentativen Denken beim Umgang mit fragilen und konfligierenden Positionen. Vortrag auf der Abschlussveranstaltung des DFG-Schwerpunktprogramms „Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit” (SPP 1409), Münster, Deutschland.

Hefter, M. H., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., Fries, S., & Berthold, K. (2015, August).

Fostering skill and will of argumentative thinking through training interventions.

Presentation at the 16th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Learning and Instruction (EARLI), Limassol, Cyprus.

Renkl, A., Krense, C., Hefter, M. H., Berthold, K., & Riess, W. (2015, July). Example-based acquisition of argumentation skills: video-based or written examples? Presentation at the 8th International Cognitive Load Theory Conference (ICLTC), Fort Collins, USA.

Hefter, M. H., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., Fries, S., & Berthold, K. (2014, August). How to foster skill and will of argumentative thinking. Presentation at the workshop “Arguing about scientific information” of the DFG Special Priority Program “Science and the public” (SPP 1409), Münster, Germany.

Hefter, M. H., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S. & Fries, S. (2014, März). Effekte eines Trainings zur Förderung epistemologischer Überzeugungen und intellektueller Werte. Vortrag auf der 2. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung (GEBF), Frankfurt, Deutschland.

Hefter, M. H., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S. & Fries, S. (2013, September).

Förderung argumentativen Denkens bei der Verarbeitung konfligierender Positionen.

Vortrag auf der 14. Fachgruppentagung Pädagogische Psychologie, Hildesheim, Deutschland.

Berthold, K. (2013, August). How to deal with fragile and conflicting evidence in school. Symposium at the 15th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Learning and Instruction (EARLI). Munich, Germany.

Hefter, M. H., Hellmann, M., Tombrink, A., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S., & Fries, S. (2013, August). How to foster the will to engage in argumentative thinking. Presentation at the 15th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Learning and Instruction (EARLI), Munich, Germany.

Bauer, J., Prenzel, M. & Berthold, K. (2013, März). Kompetenzen zur Bewertung und argumentativen Nutzung von Evidenz. Symposium auf der 1. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung (GEBF), Kiel, Deutschland.

Hefter, M. H., Hellmann, M., Tombrink, A., Berthold, K., Renkl, A., Riess, W., Schmid, S. & Fries, S. (2013, März). Instruktionale Förderung der Bereitschaft zum argumentativen Denken beim Umgang mit konfligierenden Positionen und fragiler Evidenz. Vortrag auf der 1. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung (GEBF), Kiel, Deutschland.

Hefter, M. H. (2012, May). Training skill and will of argumentative reasoning. Presentation at the doctoral workshop of the DFG Special Priority Program “Science and the public” (SPP 1409), Kassel, Germany.

Applicant 1

Prof. Dr., Dipl.-Psych. Kirsten Berthold
Universität Bielefeld
Fakultät für Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft
Abteilung für Psychologie
AE 13: Psychologie der Bildung und Erziehung
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Tel.: +49 521 1063102
kirsten.berthold@uni-bielefeld.de
website
Research Interest:
Training interventions to foster transfer
Example-based learning
Focused processsing of instructional explanations
Integration of motivational aspects in approaches of instructional science

Applicant 2

Prof. Dr. Alexander Renkl
Universität Freiburg
Institut für Psychologie
Abteilung Pädagogische Psychologie und Entwicklungspsychologie
Engelbergerstr. 41
79085 Freiburg
Tel.: +49 761 2033003
renkl@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de
website
Research Interest:
Example-based learning
Instructional explanations and self-explanations
Learning from multiple representations
Learning by journal writing
Concept mapping as learning method

Applicant 3

Prof. Dr. Werner Riess
Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg
Kunzenweg 21
79117 Freiburg
Tel.: +49 761 682217
riess@ph-freiburg.de
website
Research Interest:
Education for sustainable development
System thinking
Pedagogical content knowledge

Applicant 4

Dr. Sebastian Schmid
Universität Bielefeld
Fakultät für Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft
Abteilung für Psychologie
AE 12: Psychologie der Bildung und Erziehung
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Tel.: +49 521 106 3085
sebastian.schmid@uni-bielefeld.de
website
Research Interest:
Epistemological beliefs
Epistemic curiosity
Multiple goals and motivational interference
Procrastination

Applicant 5

Prof. Dr. Stefan Fries
Universität Bielefeld
Fakultät für Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft
Abteilung für Psychologie
AE 12: Psychologie der Bildung und Erziehung
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Tel.: +49 521 1063088
stefan.fries@uni-bielefeld.de
website

Research Interest:

Motivational foundations of learning and scientific reasoning
Multiple goals and motivational interference
Motivational intervention in educational contexts
Academic procrastination

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