Social Interactions as Sense-Making Resources: Productive Science Learning Spaces for Middle School Girls

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Exploring Ways to Engage Students in Science

Abstract

Multicultural and science education theorists advocate that children have opportunities to use personal experiences and background knowledge in dialogue with peers as they make sense of phenomena in the natural world. This is a challenge to orchestrate as teachers and learners navigate the various structural components of talk. What is not well understood, are the multitudes of social interactions that support rigorous and responsive talk. In this paper, I examine how middle school girls in an after school science club built on shared histories of being girls, ethnic minorities, and classmates in school. Data analysis revealed patterns of social activity and how they were instrumental in constructing a rigorous science explanation about saving the local lake for community members.

Author

• Sara Hagenah, Boise State University