Introduction
August 5-7, 2015
In February of 2013 a small conference was held at Pusan National University in Busan, Korea to explore the benefits of argument-based inquiry in science education classrooms. Argument-Based Inquiry centrally locates construction and critique of knowledge through emphasis on the epistemological framework of argument by engaging students in posing questions, gathering data, and generating claims supported by evidence. In doing so, it seeks to build students’ grasp of disciplinary practices while simultaneously constituting an understanding of disciplinary big ideas. Recent reform efforts such as Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards in the United States call for such immersion in and integration of disciplinary practices and concepts, yet there are still many important theoretical and practical constraints to widespread adoption and implementation of such pedagogy. The 2013 conference was intimate, allowing time for rich and challenging discussions to begin examining some advantages and highlighting constraints. The Second International Conference on Argument-Based Inquiry seeks to build on this initial success by bringing together researchers in science education, literacy, measurement, cognitive psychology, and mathematics education in a working conference to collectively examine and engage with the following key questions related to argument-based inquiry:
- What resources are critical for students to engage and optimize learning in argument-based environments, how do they manifest in different content domains, and how do these resources contribute to student success in ABI environments?
- Should we expect to see aspects of student learning transfer from these environments to other environments? What might those aspects of student learning be? What might be the characteristics of the learning environment that drive that transfer?
The conference will serve as a platform to explore the above broad issues related to ABI. The conference will host paper sessions and a graduate poster session that will serve as an opportunity for new scholars to engage with established researchers across a variety of fields. Sessions are structured to emphasize conversation among participants in order to stimulate trans-disciplinary perspectives on the critical questions raised throughout the conference. We welcome researchers, graduate students, and teachers to participate in the conversations as we seek to establish an on-going network of researchers that can support one another and address future research, development, and publication opportunities.
Submission Guidelines
Deadline for Submission
May 15th, 2015 – Midnight, Pacific Daylight Time
(EXTENDED FROM PREVIOUS DEADLINE)
Paper Session
Paper presentation will be 30 minutes -15 minutes for presentation and 15 minutes for further discussion about the work and its relation to the broad questions of the conference.
Graduate Poster Session
The purpose of the session is to create opportunities for senior and established researchers to engage in conversations with early scholars about their work. We encourage graduate students to submit to the graduate poster session in order to take advantage of the internal networking structure of this session.
Paper and Graduate Poster Submissions
Paper and Graduate Poster Submissions should include the following:
- Presentation Title
- Summary for the Program (50 words maximum)
- Narrative Description (500 words maximum excluding references, plain-text format)
- Presenter name, including affiliation and email address (we ask for one presenter per paper to more clearly facilitate the discussion).
Graduate students are encouraged to submit to the poster session. Submissions can include theoretical work, methodological designs for future studies, studies that are in progress, or completed studies. The purpose is to provide a platform for graduate students to engage in conversation with established researchers about the graduate students’ work and future research.
The Narrative Description should include clear delineation of the problem/issue, theoretical or empirical framework driving the research, method or description of study, findings and implications for broader community.
Cooperative Breakout Sessions
Each day a panel of invited researchers across fields will be asked to identify some key questions for further conference discussion. These questions will then drive a breakout session in which conference participants split into 3-4 groups and discuss the questions. Groups will then report back during this final session for each day.
Proposal Review
All submissions will be reviewed anonymously and evaluated by members of the program committee based on the summary of the session. Authors will be notified of acceptance no later than April 15th, 2015. All submissions should clearly describe the nature of the work and why the work contributes to the greater conversation of argument-based inquiry.