Steering the Course of Dialogue in Inquiry-based Science Classrooms.

Mastering science involves not only developing the skills of doing science, but also developing the skill of taking science. This paper describes how a teacher tried to help her students develop appropriate scientific ways of presenting explanations. The teacher employed a number of strategies as she and her students jointly constructed progressively more scientific explanations in class discussions. She also took the approach of gradual maturation in establishing a set of norms for the presentation of scientific explanations. The teacher first presented norms that appealed to lay notions, then reformulated these norms in subsequent activities to include elements specific to science. A sample case is presented illustrating how this teacher jointly constructed a scientific explanation with her students at the conclusion of an investigation project. A set of instructional strategies was identified by the teacher and used in driving the dialogue toward more scientific constructions. Finally, the way in which the teacher employed gradual maturation to establish norms for presenting scientific explanations is demonstrated. (Author/CCM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED Y TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Steering the Course of Dialogue in Inquiry-based Science Classroomst Iris Tabak and Brian J. Reiser Northwestern University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as d from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. ABSTRACT: Mastering science involves not only developing the skills of doing science, but also developing the skills of talking science. This paper describes how a teacher tried to help her students appropriate scientific ways of presenting explanations. The teacher employed a number of strategies as she and her students jointly constructed progressively more scientific explanations in class discussions. She also took an approach of gradual maturation in establishing a set of norms for the presentation of scientific explanations. The teacher first presented norms that appealed to lay notions, and reformulated these norms in subsequent activities to include elements specific to science. In this paper we present an example case illustrating how this teacher jointly constructed a scientific explanation with her students at the conclusion of an investigation project. We identify a set of instructional strategies the teacher used in driving the dialogue toward more scientific constructions. Finally, we demonstrate how the teacher employed gradual maturation to establish norms for presenting scientific explanations. Mastering science involves not only developing the skills of doing science, but also developing the skills of talking science. This paper describes how a teacher tried to help her students appropriate scientific ways of presenting explanations. The teacher employed a number of strategies as she and her students jointly constructed progressively more scientific explanations in class discussions. She also took an approach of gradual maturation in establishing a set of norms for the presentation of scientific explanations. The teacher first presented norms that appealed to lay notions, and reformulated these norms in subsequent activities to include elements specific to science. In this paper we present an example case illustrating how this teacher jointly constructed a scientific explanation with her students at the conclusion of an investigation project. We identify a set of instructional strategies the teacher used in driving the dialogue toward more scientific constructions. Finally, we demonstrate how the teacher employed gradual maturation to establish norms for presenting scientific explanations.