A Study of Teachers’ Speech and Students’ Perezhivanie in High School Physics Classrooms

• In Event: Roundtable Session 115
  In Roundtable Session: How Classroom Language Influences Learning

Abstract

Using a combination of coded video-recorded observations and the Experience Sampling Method, this study examines the interaction of teacher discourse and students’ lived experiences in three physics classes in a diverse high school. Results indicate prevalence of teacher-initiated content-focused discourse over the discourse that engages students in interchanges involving higher order thinking. The type of instructional activity predicted which type of discourse teachers used. Class discussion afforded more elaboration, fostering thinking and questioning. The students experienced more challenge, learning, and enjoyment in class when there was more teacher discourse focused on content. The students also had more positive experiences in physics when there was a moderate degree of teacher discourse fostering higher order thinking and questioning.

Authors

• Jennifer A. Schmidt, Northern Illinois University

• Elena Lyutykh, Concordia University - Chicago

• Lee Shumow, Northern Illinois University