EXAMINATION OF THE QUESTIONS USED IN SCIENCE LESSONS AND ARGUMENTATION LEVELS OF STUDENTS

That the application of learned subjects in science lessons to everyday life and information is understood judged and internalized by students are some of the main goals of science education. One of the approaches that may develop the high-order thinking skills such as decision making, scientific inquiry, critical, analytical and logical thinking and solving daily life problems is argumentation-based learning approach depending on the constructivist learning theory. Argumentation has an important role in the social construction of knowledge in science classes as students have the opportunity to structure knowledge by discussing together in the argumentation process. Therefore, that learning and applying the rules of the discussing by students in a science class where the small and large group discussions have occurred will contribute to the development of individuals who are science literate, is the most general aim of science education (Kaya & Kılıç, 2008). That the students from Turkey are below average in science literacy in internationally conducted exams such as PISA and TIMSS indicates that science achievements of the students are low. According to the results of TIMSS (2011) which measures knowledge, application and reasoning abilities, although the students from Turkey have exhibited an improvement compared to previous years in terms of grades from science field in 2011, the average grade point is 463 in the fourth-grades and 483 in the eighth-grades and these results are below the TIMSS average scale (Oral & McGivney, 2013). According to the results of PISA (2012), which measures high-order skills such as scientific inquiry, scientific explanation, use of the learned things in daily life, the ratio of the students with the level 1 and below in terms of science literacy decreased between the years of 2006 and 2012 in Turkey. But, this ratio is still well above the ratio of students with level 1 and below in average of OECD (Ministry of National Education of Turkey, 2012). That the argumentation process making the students be active takes part in the educational environment, can lead to the progression in science literacy. Ibrahim Erdogan, Ayse Ciftci Mus Alparslan University, Turkey Mustafa Sami Topcu Yıldız Technical University, Turkey Abstract. In this research the argumentation levels of the 5th, 6th and 7th grade students and the questions of the teachers and students were examined. The sample group of the research was selected according to the homogeneous sampling method. This research is a descriptive research. The data were collected by using a voice recorder. The data of this research were evaluated according to the descriptive analysis approach. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the students used Level 1 argumentation which has the lowest quality more frequently in comparison with the higher ones and used the claim component more than other arguments and did not use the backing, qualifier, and rebuttal components. Furthermore, it was found that the questioning rates of the teachers were higher in comparison with the students and the questions of the teachers and students were usually at the levels of remembering and understanding. One of the factors that caused the argumentation level of the students to be low may have been that the teachers asked questions which were oriented to remembering. Therefore, the high level questions that ensure the initiation and continuation of the argumentation process should be inquired in the lessons.