Using Socioscientific Issues to Enhance Evidence-Based Reasoning Among Middle School Students

This study investigated the implementation of a socioscientific issue curricular unit that was designed to enhance evidence-based reasoning among middle school students. Forty-three middle school students (11-12 years old; 20 males, 23 females) from a summer enrichment program operated by a non-profit organization in the northeastern United States participated in this study. The duration of this curricular unit took place over five consecutive 1-hour period blocks. The researchers utilized qualitative procedures to analyze students' abilities to engage in evidence-based reasoning and the impact it might have on students' argumentation quality on whether the air we breathe makes us sick. Comparison of the findings from pre-test and post-test indicate that students were able to use evidence-based reasoning to enhance their argumentation quality. The results from this investigation suggest that perhaps the use of socioscientific issues as a critical pedagogical tool does enhance students' abilities to engage in evidence-based reasoning.