By Tammy Dutton Lee
and Bonnie Glass
NC State University

https://doi.org/10.46767/kfp.2016-0008

Abstract

Learning science requires communication between participants, however creating effective discourse for elementary classrooms has shown to be a difficult task. In this article, we highlight an assignment given to undergraduate elementary pre-service teachers concentrating in elementary science.  Transcripts of elementary pre-service teachers’ (EPST) “Science Talks” have been reviewed and, over the course of three semesters of implementation, scaffolds have been put in place to provide EPSTs with strategies and tools necessary to better plan, implement, and evaluate science discourse. Initial findings, which point to the effectiveness of this assignment and the additional scaffolding, will be discussed. These findings have potential applications for teacher education programs as well as for in-service teacher professional development.

Keywords

Science Discourse; Talk Moves

Full Text:

PDF

References

Achieve (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Alexander, R. J. (2006). Towards dialogic teaching (3rd ed.). York, UK: Dialogos.

Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Farrin, L. (2005). Uncovering Student Ideas in Science: 25 formative assessment probes. National Science Teachers Association Press. Volume 1.

Lehesvuori, S., Viiri, J., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2011). Introducing dialogic teaching to science student teachers. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 22(8), 705–727.

Mercer, N. (2008). The seeds of time: Why classroom dialogue needs a temporal analysis. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 17(1), 33–59.

Michaels, S., Shouse, A. W., Schweingruber, H. A., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2008). Ready, Set, Science!: Putting research to work in K-8 science classrooms. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.

Molinari, L., & Mameli, C. (2010). Classroom dialogic discourse: An observational study. Procedia— Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3857–3860.

National Research Council. (2007). Taking science to school: Learning and Teaching science in grades K–8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Richardson-Bruna, K., Vann, R., & Escudero, M. P. (2007). What’s language got to do with it? A case study of academic language instruction in a high school “English Learner Science” class. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 36–54.

Roth, W. M. (2008). The nature of scientific conceptions: A discursive psychological perspective. Educational Research Review, 3, 30–50.

Tobin, K. & Tippins, D. (1993). Constructivism as a referent for teaching and learning. In K. Tobin & D. Tippins (Eds.), The practice of constructivism in science education (pp. 3–22). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

van Eijck, M., & Roth, W.-M. (2011). Cultural diversity in science education through novelization: Against the epicization of science and cultural centralization. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48, 824–847.