A Cross-National Exploration of Quality Learning and Reasoning in Elementary Science

• In Event: Roundtable Session 105

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

This symposium is situated within a cross national project investigating the teaching and learning of elementary science in Taiwan, Germany and Australia. The project aims to explore the commonalities and differences in practice that relate to the different cultural-historical traditions of these countries. The particular focus of the project is on the discursive practices that provide opportunities for quality reasoning and learning. The four papers will present video analyses of classroom sequences in the three countries to identify links between classroom practices and student reasoning and learning, using different interpretations of the reasoning construct. The symposium will pursue the question of how a valid comparative analysis might be made, acknowledging the complexity of identifying reasoning within classrooms in different cultures.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Science Teaching and Learning

Chair

• Joerg Ramseger, Freie Universitaet Berlin

Papers

• Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Reasoning in Elementary School Science - Russell W. Tytler, Deakin University; Peter Hubber, Deakin University; Gail D. Chittleborough, Deakin University

• Elementary Teachers’ Experiences of Coconstructive Approaches to Supporting Reasoning in German Science Classrooms - Joerg Ramseger, Freie Universitaet Berlin

• Student-Teacher Interactions Supporting Reasoning in Taiwanese Astronomy Classrooms - Chao-Ti Hsiung, National Taipei University of Education; Ch-Ling Wu, National Taipei University of Education; Hsiao-Lan S. Chen, National Taiwan Normal University

• Multimodal Representation and Reasoning in an Australian Classroom - Mark W. Hackling, Edith Cowan University; Karen Janette Murcia, Edith Cowan University