The Relationship Between Chinese Students' Subject Matter Knowledge and Argumentation Pedagogy

• Published in: International journal of science education Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 340 - 366
• Main Authors: Wang, Jianlan, Buck, Gayle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 22.01.2015; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Argumentation; Benchmarking; China; Correlation; Cues; Curriculum Development; Education reform; Educational Change; Educational Innovation; Focus Groups; Foreign Countries; Grade 8; Instructional Innovation; Integrated curriculum; Interviews; Knowledge; Middle School Students; Mixed Methods Research; Pedagogy; Persuasive Discourse; Pretests Posttests; Research Methodology; Research Skills; Science Achievement; Science Curriculum; Science Education; Science Instruction; Scientific Attitudes; Scientific Literacy; Standardized Tests; Subject Matter Knowledge; Teaching Methods; China

Science education in China is Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) oriented in that SMK understanding is the major benchmark to assess students' achievement in science learning. Such an orientation causes students to overemphasize the memorization of SMK and neglect other indispensable components of...