중학생들의 인공지능 관련 사회-과학쟁점 토론에서 나타난 논증 특징과 인식

Middle School Students’Argumentative Characteristics and Perceptions in Socio-Scientific Issue Debates on Artificial Intelligence

This study analyzes the argumentative characteristics and perceptions of middle school students engaged in debates on AI-related socio-scientific issues (SSI). Seven third-year middle school students participated in an AI-focused SSI debate activity. All student discussions during the argumentation activities were recorded and later transcribed for primary data analysis. Students’ arguments were analyzed using Walton’s argumentation scheme to categorize their claims and evidence. Additionally, individual discourse analyses were conducted to understand students’ perceptions of AI. According to Walton's argumentation scheme analysis, seven types of arguments emerged in student discourse: ‘consequence,’ ‘popularity,’ ‘commitment,’ ‘bias,’ ‘expert opinion,’ ‘position to know,’ and ‘analogy,’ with ‘consequence’ being the most frequent. Comparative analysis of debates by topic revealed that students’ participation levels and argument quality varied depending on the debate topic. Finally, individual discourse analysis highlighted how students perceive AI, revealing differing views on its societal impact based on supporting or opposing evidence within the debate topics. Commonly, students viewed AI as a competitor to humans, a convenient tool to transform lives, and a commercial product developed for corporate profit. These findings provide insights for effectively designing AI-related SSI lessons.