Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills and Argumentation Abilities Through Augmented Reality-Based...

Area of Science:

• Astronomy education
• Science education

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic necessitated urgent shift to distance learning, challenging student engagement.
• Developing critical thinking and argumentation skills is crucial, highlighted by difficulties in identifying misinformation during the pandemic.
• Integration of augmented reality (AR) in science education is growing but remains nascent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of AR-based argumentation activities on critical thinking and argumentation skills.
• To assess changes in these skills while teaching astronomy content to seventh-grade students.

Main Methods:

• A case study involving 79 seventh-grade students from a private school.
• Implementation of augmented reality-based argumentation activities.
• Analysis of students' verbal arguments and critical thinking skill development.

Main Results:

• All student groups actively participated in argumentation, producing quality arguments.
• Students' critical thinking skills showed development, particularly in the first half of the intervention.
• The frequency of critical thinking skill application varied post-intervention midpoint.

Conclusions:

• AR-based argumentation activities can effectively enhance students' critical thinking and argumentation abilities in science education.
• AR presents a promising pedagogical tool for improving science learning outcomes and engagement.