Question

Next, practice your analytical skills by examining why it is important for a healthcare professional to be able to distinguish between arguments and explanations.

Answer 1

Ans) An argument is a rationale in which the reason presents evidence in support of a claim made in the conclusion.

- An explanation is a rationale in which the reason presents a cause of some fact represented by the conclusion. Its purpose is to help us understand how or why that fact occurs.

- Argumentation involves a level of uncertainty—one argues to clarify for herself or to persuade others who have a different idea. A measure of uncertainty is powerful for constructing open-ended, authentic investigations for a class. Focusing on explanation and ignoring argumentation may inhibit such investigations. If this intellectual work is only framed for students as explanation then the classroom process of exploring and testing different student ideas through evidence-based argument may not happen.

- Explanation can easily only focus on finding the “right answer”—rather than developing an understanding of the conceptual ideas.