The Development and Validation of the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom (ASAC) Observation Protocol: A Tool for Evaluating How Students Participate in Scientific Argumentation

This chapter describes the development and initial validation of a new instrument that researchers can use to assess how students participate in scientific argumentation. This instrument, which is called the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom (ASAC) Observation Protocol, includes 19 items that target the conceptual or cognitive, epistemological, and social aspects of scientific argumentation. The chapter includes an overview of the methodological and theoretical frameworks that were employed to develop and validate the instrument, the steps used in the development and validation process, and the final version of the instrument. Our findings indicate the ASAC is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the quality or nature of the scientific argumentation that takes place between students within a classroom setting. This instrument will therefore enable researchers or teachers to examine how students learn to participate in scientific argumentation over time, to document learning gains in response to an intervention, or to compare strategies for promoting or supporting engagement in scientific argumentation in a more emergent or in situ context.