The Effects of Inquiry and Argumentation-Based Training on Argumentation, Inquiry and Science Process Skills

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of argumentation and inquiry-based science education on pre-service science teachers' skills of argumentation, inquiry and scientific process. To find out the influences of independent variables (argumentation and inquiry-based activities) on dependent variables (argumentation skill, inquiry skill and scientific process skill) for the aim of the study, a counterbalanced experimental design was used. Forty-eight pre-service science teachers who took the science education laboratory applications course, randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, participated in the study. The argumentation and inquiry-based science training were applied by making a counterbalanced design to create equal conditions for both groups and to control the ordering effect. Data were analyzed by using t-test and single-factor ANOVA for repeated measures. The findings indicate that the argumentation activities significantly differentiated the argumentation skills while the inquiry activities significantly differentiated the inquiry skills, regardless of the order and group of interventions. It was concluded that science process skills developed significantly after both argumentation and inquiry-based activities, regardless of the order of implementation.