| The latest edition of the "Curriculum Standards for Ordinary High School Biology(2017 version and 2020 revision)" issued by the Ministry of Education has distilled the core competencies of high school biology and emphasized that the development of students’ biology core competencies must be achieved through teaching activities based on course content.Critical thinking,an essential component of scientific thinking skills,is a crucial skill for students to grow and succeed in the new era.Through argumentative teaching,the cultivation of students’ critical thinking skills can be achieved,resulting in improved abilities of scientific thinking.This has significant theoretical and practical implications.In terms of theoretical research,this study reviews relevant literature from both domestic and international sources,summarizes the research status both domestically and abroad,and clarifies the theoretical basis of this study,analysis the specific strategies and teaching steps of the argumentative teaching model are analyzed.Furthermore,the content characteristics of high school biology suitable for argumentative teaching are summarized,and the teaching materials for the compulsory course one "Molecules and Cells" in the People’s Education Press High School Biology are sorted out.In terms of practical research,semi-structured interviews were conducted with five biology teachers of the same grade to understand their methods for cultivating students’ critical thinking,their understanding and use of argumentative teaching,the trouble they face,and implementation recommendations.A questionnaire survey was used to investigate the current state of students’ critical thinking tendencies.What is more,two classes with no significant difference in tendencies of critical thinking were selected for educational experiments.Specific use of teaching strategies include: create a problem situation,stimulate learning curiosity;Pay attention to data analysis,train logical thinking ability;Advocate group cooperation and lead the demonstration direction;Encourage questioning and refutation,strengthen knowledge structure.The impact of teaching practices on students was analyzed through pre-and-post-test statistical data and open-ended test questions.This study concludes that(1)teachers need to strengthen their awareness and use of argumentative teaching.Teachers generally lack familiarity with argumentative teaching and do not specifically use a particular teaching strategy during instruction.Occasionally,they may use certain aspects of argumentative teaching,but without systematic planning.(2)Argumentative teaching can effectively develop students’ critical thinking.Prior to the experiment,most students in both classes were in a contradictory state in terms of critical thinking about tendencies.However,after the experiment,most students’ critical thinking tendencies were positive,and there was a significant difference in critical thinking about tendencies of the two experimental classes before and after the experiment,indicating that argumentative teaching can effectively develop students’ critical thinking.This experiment did not significantly improve the dimension of "seeking truth",but significantly improved the six dimensions of "openness to thought","analysis","confidence","inquisitiveness" and "cognitive maturity",which can effectively cultivate students’ critical thinking.After the experiment,open ended questions were given to the students,and most of them were able to provide reasonable and well-grounded answers using the materials provided,demonstrating that students have developed the basic ability to think and solve problems critically by using data and evidence.This study suggests the following measures cultivate students’ critical thinking:focusing on biological issues,using argumentative materials reasonably,prioritizing science content teaching,developing students’ scientific thinking,and creating interactive learning environments that facilitate collaborative learning. |
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