Supporting Literary Reasoning Through Text Choice, Task Structure, and Teacher Practices

• In Event: 46.086 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 46.086-9 - Roundtable 3

Abstract

Empirical research on teaching and learning in disciplines that seek to understand people and the social worlds they inhabit (e.g., literature, history, social sciences) is sparse. This work seeks to address that gap by focusing on an instructional module designed to engage students in literary reasoning. This study examines classroom discourse across a module to understand how the design and instructional supports mediated student engagement in literary reasoning. Three class discussions were analyzed for qualitative changes in student engagement in and teacher practices designed to support literary argumentation. Findings reveal students using more evidence and reasoning to support interpretive claims by the end of the module and that this change was supported by changes in texts, tasks, and teacher practices.

Authors

• Allison H. Hall, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois at Chicago