International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract

The researcher aimed to study how through dialogue, the concept ecology of each individual was made unstable and thus facilitated conceptual change and further achieved concept learning. Later, using the model proposed by Toulmin, the researcher analyzed the argumentative performances of the three students in their discussion. The data collected in this research include worksheets and the transcription of the video records of the students’ learning. The findings of the research revealed that 1) teaching is not just a means to inform or to demonstrate the use of knowledge to students; teachers must encourage students to create meaning through autonomous contemplation and deduction, reasoning and communication, 2) only by unbalancing the students’ ecological concepts will they modify their present concept structure. Furthermore, the students’ demonstration orientation includes an intuitive experience and examples of argumentation, form theory argumentation. Therefore, apart from preparing appropriate argumentative questions for students, teachers should further encourage students to think and create an argumentative atmosphere, which could elevate the significance of in-class learning.