Scientific argumentation and responsive teaching: Using dialog to teach science in three middle-school classrooms

Publication Date

11-1-2022

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Science Education

Volume

106

Issue

6

DOI

10.1002/sce.21740

First Page

1354

Last Page

1374

Abstract

Despite broad consensus on the value of classroom dialog for promoting scientific argumentation, tensions have emerged in the literature regarding the degree to which teachers should guide the dialogic process (dialogic stance). We use the lens of responsive teaching to examine how one teacher adjusts his instruction to foster dialog in three middle-school science classrooms. Applying grounded theory to classroom dialogs and teacher interview data, we examine the dynamic interplay of the teacher's overarching goal and moment-to-moment pedagogical aims to understand shifts in his dialogic stance. Our findings illustrate the value of foregrounding responsiveness to students' disciplinary thinking when offering guidance to teachers about when and how to support students in peer-based argumentative dialog.

Funding Number

CA

Funding Sponsor

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

Keywords

dialogic teaching, responsive teaching, scientific argumentation

Department

Teacher Education

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