Quality Argumentation and Epistemic Criteria

Abstract

The language of science is not exclusively the enunciation of terms and concepts, facts and laws, principles and hypotheses. The language of science is closely related to the restructuring character of scientific claims about method, goals, and explanations, a character firmly established in the history, philosophy and sociology of science (Duschl, 1994; Duschl & Hamilton, 1997; Hodson, 1985). Language of science is a discourse that critically examines and evaluates the numerous and at times iterative transformations of evidence into explanations (Duschl & Grandy, 2007). Thus, as this edited volume on argumentation demonstrates, educational researchers are focusing on ways to understanding the language of science and to support dialogic argumentation in science classrooms.