Talking Science: Classroom Discussions and Their Role in Inquiry-Based Learning Environments

Abstract

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Science is a social process--one that involves particular ways of talking, reasoning, observing, analyzing, and writing, which often have meaning only when shared within the scientific community. Discussions are one of the best ways to help students learn to and construct understanding in a social context. Since inquiry is an important strategy for teaching science (NRC 1996; AAAS 1993), teachers face the challenge of facilitating meaningful discussions in an inquiry- or project-based setting. This article presents three types of discussions that can be used in inquiry-based activities and provides an example of each in a sample investigation. Discussions in the science classroom In traditional classroom discussions, teachers ask the questions--which often have a single right answer--and students are told whether or not their responses are correct. The questions asked tend to focus on factual knowledge or experience (e.g., What did we observe? or What did we do?). These discussions are typically referred to as IRE dialogues: The teacher initiates a question, a student responds, and the teacher immediately evaluates whether the answer is correct or incorrect. This type of discussion is useful, as it provides a quick, whole-class review before moving on to new activities. But too often this kind of question-and-answer activity is the primary form of classroom discourse--placing the teacher at center stage and students' questions and their learning in the background (Solomon 1992). A real discussion, on the other hand, is an interplay of meanings and ideas from both students and the teacher. In our opinion, the negotiation of ideas is the preferred form of classroom discourse. Students need opportunities to express their own ideas (even if they are not always correct or well-structured), listen to their peers ideas, evaluate and critique ideas, and revise and integrate them as well. The result of this process should be evidence-based ideas or explanations that students can use to explain phenomena and stimulate further learning. Classroom talk should center on engagement and thoughtfulness. Students should ask questions that arise from their own interests or confusion--and they should ask questions of each other as well as of the teacher. Teachers should pose questions that push students to think more deeply about what they have observed, experienced, or read. Discussions can provide students with opportunities to express their understanding and learn from each other, but only if some form of authentic dialogue takes place. To this end, we present three types of discussions that promote students' thinking: brainstorming, synthesizing, and sensemaking discussions. Figure 1 (p. 46) displays the three types of discussions and some suggested prompts for each. In practice, classroom discussions are often not limited to just one type but include elements of more than one, as demonstrated in the following sections. Context of the example discussion In the unit the example activities are drawn from, the main learning goal is for students to develop a particulate view of matter. Students investigate the question: How can I smell things from a distance? After experiencing how a strong odor from a harmless source (e.g., air freshener or vanilla) spreads in the classroom, each student constructs an individual model of how smelling an odor occurs and uses that model to explain how odors travel. (Safety note: The chemicals in fragrances can cause irritation or allergic reactions in sensitive people.) The initial models reflect students' preexisting conceptions and are the starting point for a process of revision through a variety of inquiry activities. In addition to the phenomenon of smell, students investigate various behaviors of gases: adding air to the existing air in a sealed container, removing air from a flask, and compressing and decompressing air in a syringe. …