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Vol. 15 No. 41 (2024)
Desarrollo, cognición y educación en la era digital: Retos y oportunidades para la formación de estudiantes y sociedades del siglo XXI más justas y equitativas

Temática central

Argumentation and Knowledge Construction in Higher Education: A Vygotskian Perspective

https://doi.org/10.19053/uptc.22160159.v15.n41.2024.16647

Published 2024-10-18

  • Ingrid Noemí González Palta
    • ,
  • Antonia Larrain Sutil

Ingrid Noemí González Palta
Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Antonia Larrain Sutil
Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Abstract

Empirical research indicates that the utilization of argumentation as an educational strategy fosters the acquisition of argumentation skills and disciplinary knowledge. Furthermore, there is evidence to show that argumentation skills development mediates the effect of oral argumentation on disciplinary knowledge. However, studies have also shown that argumentation is scarce in higher education and that although lecturers see argumentation as a relevant pedagogical goal, they think that students need to first acquire knowledge in order
to develop argumentation skills. Therefore, a crucial pedagogical resource to promote scientific knowledge in higher education is being overlooked. This paper is aimed at shedding light onto argumentation as a key practice in higher education teaching, disputing the idea that to argue, students first need to acquire knowledge. We elaborate further on Vygotsky’s notion of scientific concepts, highlighting their dialectic structure, which accounts for the epistemic potential of argumentation. This paper extends an invitation to higher education lecturers to prompt argumentation in classrooms as a form of disciplinary learning. Limitations and implications are discussed throughout the paper

Keywords

argumentation, scientific concepts, knowledge, higher education teaching

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