Children's use of inscriptions in written arguments about socioscientific issues

Engaging with science in everyday life typically occurs in the context of socioscientific issues, situations where science can play some role in helping people come to some judgment or decision. Such issues often require the interpretation of inscriptions (graphic representations of information) to evaluate claims. Research on socioscientific reasoning has shown that students often do not use relevant science or subordinate it to personal or social concerns. Research has not yet looked explicitly into how students interpret different types of inscriptions as potential evidence for use in socioscientific reasoning. This study compares upper elementary students' use of scientific and editorial inscriptions in their arguments about socioscientific issues. Using a pre/post design, we investigate students' use of inscriptions before and after a semester of science instruction focused on the coordination of claims and evidence.