Discourse

The Role of Whole-Class Conversations in Supporting Early Elementary Students’ Engineering Design Sense-Making

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking. We conducted a case study on a first-grade engineering lesson that included whole-class Idea Generation and Design Synthesis Talks. We found students sense-making as they refined their design proposals and analyses in light of classmates’ contributions to the whole-class conversations.

Author/Presenter

Kristen Wendell

Chelsea Andrews

Jessica Watkins

Molly Malinowski

Year
2023
Short Description

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking.

The Role of Whole-Class Conversations in Supporting Early Elementary Students’ Engineering Design Sense-Making

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking. We conducted a case study on a first-grade engineering lesson that included whole-class Idea Generation and Design Synthesis Talks. We found students sense-making as they refined their design proposals and analyses in light of classmates’ contributions to the whole-class conversations.

Author/Presenter

Kristen Wendell

Chelsea Andrews

Jessica Watkins

Molly Malinowski

Year
2023
Short Description

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking.

Design Talks: Fostering Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author/Presenter
Kristen Wendell

Jessica Watkins

Chelsea Andrews

Tyrine Pangan

Natalie De Lucca

Vera Gor

Molly Malinowski

Naina Sood Fox

Rae Woodcock

Year
2024
Short Description

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Design Talks: Fostering Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author/Presenter
Kristen Wendell

Jessica Watkins

Chelsea Andrews

Tyrine Pangan

Natalie De Lucca

Vera Gor

Molly Malinowski

Naina Sood Fox

Rae Woodcock

Year
2024
Short Description

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Preservice Teachers Noticing and Positioning Students as “Knowers” in Equitable Scientific Argumentation-based Discussions

This study investigated how preservice elementary teachers' (PSTs) noticed the discourse practices they used to position students and their scientific thinking as they engaged a group of student avatars in argumentation-based simulated discussions. Using qualitative methods, 82 teaching reflections from 28 PSTs were analyzed. Findings indicate that in most reflections (66%), the PSTs were able to support co-construction of knowledge in the Mursion® simulations.

Author/Presenter

Amanda Benedict-Chambers

Lauren Madden

Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue

Jamie N. Mikeska

Meredith Park Rogers

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

This study investigated how preservice elementary teachers' (PSTs) noticed the discourse practices they used to position students and their scientific thinking as they engaged a group of student avatars in argumentation-based simulated discussions.

Eliciting Learner Knowledge: Enabling Focused Practice Through an Open-Source Online Tool

Eliciting and interpreting students’ ideas are essential skills in teaching, yet pre-service teachers (PSTs) rarely have adequate opportunities to develop these skills. In this study, we examine PSTs’ patterns of discourse and perceived learning through engaging in an interactive digital simulation called Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK). ELK is a seven-minute, chat-based virtual role play between a PST playing a “teacher” and a PST playing a “student” where the goal is for the teacher to find out what the student knows about a topic.

Author/Presenter

Griffin Leonard

Jamie N. Mikeska

Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue

Adam V. Maltese

Giancarlo Pereira

Garron Hillaire

Rick Waldron

Rachel Slama

Justin Reich

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

Eliciting and interpreting students’ ideas are essential skills in teaching, yet pre-service teachers (PSTs) rarely have adequate opportunities to develop these skills. In this study, we examine PSTs’ patterns of discourse and perceived learning through engaging in an interactive digital simulation called Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK). ELK is a seven-minute, chat-based virtual role play between a PST playing a “teacher” and a PST playing a “student” where the goal is for the teacher to find out what the student knows about a topic.

“Unnatural How Natural It Was”: Using a Performance Task and Simulated Classroom for Preservice Secondary Teachers to Practice Engaging Student Avatars in Scientific Argumentation

Facilitating discussions is a key approach that science teachers use to engage students in scientific argumentation. However, learning how to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions is an ambitious teaching practice that can be difficult to learn how to do well, especially for preservice teachers (PSTs) who typically have limited opportunities to tryout and refine this teaching practice.

Author/Presenter

Jamie N. Mikeska

Calli Shekell

Jennifer Dix

Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

Facilitating discussions is a key approach that science teachers use to engage students in scientific argumentation. However, learning how to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions is an ambitious teaching practice that can be difficult to learn how to do well, especially for preservice teachers (PSTs) who typically have limited opportunities to tryout and refine this teaching practice. This study examines secondary PSTs’ perceptions and engagement with a science performance task—used within an online, simulated classroom consisting of five middle school student avatars—to practice this ambitious teaching practice.

Tackling Tangential Student Contributions

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Peterson, B. E., Stockero, S. L., Leatham, K. R., & Van Zoest, L. R. (2022). Tackling tangential student contributions. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 115(9), 618-624.

Author/Presenter

Blake E. Peterson

Year
2022
Short Description

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Tackling Tangential Student Contributions

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Peterson, B. E., Stockero, S. L., Leatham, K. R., & Van Zoest, L. R. (2022). Tackling tangential student contributions. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 115(9), 618-624.

Author/Presenter

Blake E. Peterson

Year
2022
Short Description

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Tackling Tangential Student Contributions

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Peterson, B. E., Stockero, S. L., Leatham, K. R., & Van Zoest, L. R. (2022). Tackling tangential student contributions. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 115(9), 618-624.

Author/Presenter

Blake E. Peterson

Year
2022
Short Description

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.