The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth

Brian W. Miller; Richard C. Anderson; Joshua Morris; Tzu Jung Lin; May Jadallah; Jingjing Sun

doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003

The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth

Brian W. Miller, Richard C. Anderson, Joshua Morris, Tzu Jung Lin, May Jadallah, Jingjing Sun

Educational Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Dialogue based approaches to education have been shown to benefit students through the quality of shared discourse. Warm conceptual change theories propose that these benefits are also mediated by increasing student engagement. Discourse and engagement effects were isolated in this study by having 130 third and fourth grade students read a science text for different purposes (no stated purpose, to prepare for a regular classroom discussion, or to prepare for an argumentative discussion) and then testing children before the discussion took place. Children who anticipated a discussion, especially an argumentative discussion, read more slowly than other children after controlling for fluency. A subset of reading times predicted conceptual growth. Finally some children who participated in argumentative discussions had higher rates of conceptual growth. Results substantiate the efficacy of argumentative discussion as a context for reading scientific texts, and they support the central mechanism of dual-processing theories of warm conceptual change.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	67-80
Number of pages	14
Journal	Learning and Instruction
Volume	33
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003
State	Published - Oct 2014

Keywords

Argumentative discussion
Conceptual change
Engagement
Science learning

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology

Online availability

10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003

Library availability

Discover UIUC Full Text

Cite this

@article{c9652eac4d6048f3b518b8ccb3d4b694,

title = "The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth",

abstract = "Dialogue based approaches to education have been shown to benefit students through the quality of shared discourse. Warm conceptual change theories propose that these benefits are also mediated by increasing student engagement. Discourse and engagement effects were isolated in this study by having 130 third and fourth grade students read a science text for different purposes (no stated purpose, to prepare for a regular classroom discussion, or to prepare for an argumentative discussion) and then testing children before the discussion took place. Children who anticipated a discussion, especially an argumentative discussion, read more slowly than other children after controlling for fluency. A subset of reading times predicted conceptual growth. Finally some children who participated in argumentative discussions had higher rates of conceptual growth. Results substantiate the efficacy of argumentative discussion as a context for reading scientific texts, and they support the central mechanism of dual-processing theories of warm conceptual change.",

keywords = "Argumentative discussion, Conceptual change, Engagement, Science learning",

author = "Miller, {Brian W.} and Anderson, {Richard C.} and Joshua Morris and Lin, {Tzu Jung} and May Jadallah and Jingjing Sun",

note = "Funding Information: We would also like to thank the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education , who provided partial funding for this project through Grant R305A080347 to the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. They did not contribute to the project other than providing funding.",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "33",

pages = "67--80",

journal = "Learning and Instruction",

issn = "0959-4752",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth

AU - Miller, Brian W.

AU - Anderson, Richard C.

AU - Morris, Joshua

AU - Lin, Tzu Jung

AU - Jadallah, May

AU - Sun, Jingjing

N1 - Funding Information: We would also like to thank the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education , who provided partial funding for this project through Grant R305A080347 to the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. They did not contribute to the project other than providing funding.

PY - 2014/10

Y1 - 2014/10

N2 - Dialogue based approaches to education have been shown to benefit students through the quality of shared discourse. Warm conceptual change theories propose that these benefits are also mediated by increasing student engagement. Discourse and engagement effects were isolated in this study by having 130 third and fourth grade students read a science text for different purposes (no stated purpose, to prepare for a regular classroom discussion, or to prepare for an argumentative discussion) and then testing children before the discussion took place. Children who anticipated a discussion, especially an argumentative discussion, read more slowly than other children after controlling for fluency. A subset of reading times predicted conceptual growth. Finally some children who participated in argumentative discussions had higher rates of conceptual growth. Results substantiate the efficacy of argumentative discussion as a context for reading scientific texts, and they support the central mechanism of dual-processing theories of warm conceptual change.

AB - Dialogue based approaches to education have been shown to benefit students through the quality of shared discourse. Warm conceptual change theories propose that these benefits are also mediated by increasing student engagement. Discourse and engagement effects were isolated in this study by having 130 third and fourth grade students read a science text for different purposes (no stated purpose, to prepare for a regular classroom discussion, or to prepare for an argumentative discussion) and then testing children before the discussion took place. Children who anticipated a discussion, especially an argumentative discussion, read more slowly than other children after controlling for fluency. A subset of reading times predicted conceptual growth. Finally some children who participated in argumentative discussions had higher rates of conceptual growth. Results substantiate the efficacy of argumentative discussion as a context for reading scientific texts, and they support the central mechanism of dual-processing theories of warm conceptual change.

KW - Argumentative discussion

KW - Conceptual change

KW - Engagement

KW - Science learning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899855881&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84899855881&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003

DO - 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.04.003

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84899855881

SN - 0959-4752

VL - 33

SP - 67

EP - 80

JO - Learning and Instruction

JF - Learning and Instruction

ER -

The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Online availability

Library availability

Related links

Fingerprint

Cite this