Fostering Elementary School Students' Arguments Related to Knowledge Building : Development and Change of a Curriculum on a Socioscientific Issue

When attempting to obtain agreement from various stakeholders, people need to propose new ideas, such as conditions for agreement or alternative plans, in order to achieve overall agreement, as opposed to simply reinforcing their own opinion by means of evidence. The present authors developed a curriculum for elementary school students to engage in knowledge-building arguments on a socioscientific issue. The curriculum was changed based on epistemic agency, a design principle of knowledge building. Effects of the curriculum were examined across 2 years. A comparison of the quality of the students' arguments showed that the students expressed proposal-type opinions, considering pros and cons, in the improved curriculum more than the baseline curriculum, indicating that the students' knowledge-building arguments had improved. Differences in the students' learning activities were also examined in relation to the changes in the design of the lesson. Discussion clarified how support contributed to the improvement of the students' knowledge building arguments.