Investigating dialogical argumentation and assessment for learning as instructional model for teaching static electricity to science learners

Abstract

In many rural areas in South Africa, some deaths are thought to result from lightning which is associated with witchcraft, and some victims are accused of being behind lightning witchcraft. In such communities people believe that lightning can be sent through the practice of witchcraft to kill an enemy. This study investigated the effects of using the Dialogical Argumentation and Assessment for Learning as Instructional Model (DAAFLIM) in teaching static electricity focusing on lightning as an example of static electricity to grade 10 learners. Three classes of learners from two township schools served as the study’s sample. A Solomon three-group design was employed in collecting data. One class was used as the experimental group and the other two were the control groups: control 1 group and control 2 group. The frameworks that were applied in the analysis of the data were Toulmin’s Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT). The results showed that the experimental group was more elaborate in their explanations of the scientific nature of lightning and achieved better academically than the control group which was not exposed to the DAAFLIM. It was also discovered that learners do not actually leave their traditional ideas at home while other learners come with some scientific conceptions about lightning. The study recommended that the DAAFLIM could be applied more effectively and efficiently if combined with technology. This would also help to include more sensory organs, and in that way provide better learning.