New Perspectives in Science Education

This pilot study explores how pre-service teachers argue about Science, Technology, and Society (STS) issues, aiming to advance digitalization and sustainability in education. Furthermore, fostering the development of argumentation is one of the main objectives of education today and is considered an essential skill for personal, social, and professional life (Jiménez-Aleixandre, 2010). Moreover, focusing on pre-service teacher education brings multiple benefits, enabling them to critically analyze pedagogical theories, educational practices, and research findings to make informed decisions (Brookfield, 2017). In this context, debate is a highly relevant educational strategy that enables the exploration of opposing viewpoints, fostering essential processes for students' intellectual and civic development crucial to build an informed citizenry in a democratic society. This study presents the results of an activity called 'Microdebate', which involves a brief debate on a specific topic, in this case, focusing on the possibility of an energy blackout in Europe. The activity was implemented with 45 Pre-service Primary Education teachers at the University of Malaga (Spain). The microdebate involves three students: one as the presenter, and the other two argue for or against an STS issue. The activity unfolds in four phases in the classroom: a) initial decision-making, where all students respond to the problem question; b) debate preparation, where the professor assigns the roles and students prepare a report collecting their arguments; c) staging the debate, where participants present arguments and engage in a five-minute debate; d) final decision-making, where all students reach a consensus-based decision. The analysis of the initial decision-making revealed that most students were in favour of the possibility of an energy blackout (57.8%), providing arguments related to the excessive use of energy resources (44.4%), as well as political reasons involved in the distribution of energy supplies (13.3%). Moreover, this initial analysis also revealed that some students did not provide justified arguments but only conclusions (28.9%). Regarding the analysis of the final decision-making, students were predominantly against (66.7%), with justifications mainly focused on negative energetic consequences (60.0%), and noteworthy was the emergence of aspects related to the environment (20.0%) to support their second negative stance. Finally, there was a notable reduction in students not providing justifications after the activity (8.9%), indicating that debate can enhance argumentation skills. Funding: Educational Innovation Project PIE22-184 of the Permanent Group for Critical Education Innovation (EDUCRIT), funded by the University of Malaga, INNOVA22 call 2022-2023.

Keywords: Pre-service teachers, argumentation, decision-making, debate, educational strategies 

References:  - Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. John Wiley & Sons

- Jiménez-Aleixandre, M. P. (2010). 10 key ideas. Competences in argumentation and use of evidence. Graó