Student Agency to Participate in Dialogic Science Discussions

• In Event: 68.026 - Researching Student Agency in Educational Interactions: Sociocultural Approaches and Methodological Insights

Abstract

Students bring a wealth of knowledge and resources with them into science classrooms. These faculties serve as a foundation for knowledge construction (Chi & Roscoe, 2002) and important resources for sense-making about scientific concepts (Berland & Reiser, 2009). However, several studies have documented that many students do not call on their resources to engage in discussion, and some students rarely participate (authors).
When students engage in collaborative argumentation discussions, they have opportunities to externalize their emergent understanding, consider alternatives, recognize misconceptions, and potentially transform them in light of new evidence or ideas. When carefully guided by teachers, this shared reasoning process through talk has the potential to “grow the mind”, in addition to students' learning of scientific concepts (authors).

In this paper, we examine the barriers and enablers of student engagement in dialogic science discussions through the lens of their agency to participate in these discussions. We introduce a hybrid model of agency as a lens to examine the enablers and barriers to students' engagement in dialogic science discussions. A hybrid model of agency conceptualizes the intention (Bandura, 2006) and capability (Giddens, 1984) to take action in the world to change the course of events. We believe that a hybrid model of agency affords a framework for examining learning that is shaped in social interaction (Vygotsky, 1978) and situated within social systems.

A total of 44 classroom observations were recorded and transcribed of a single teacher’s 9th grade biology classes over one academic year. 16 consenting students were interviewed at two different time points. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. We used several forms of discourses analysis to code interviews and class discussions for students' sense of agency and enacted agency in dialogic discussions (Rainio, 2008).

The findings show that all students enacted agency to participate in discussion at some point during the study, as well as expressing a sense of agency to participate, regardless of whether they were high or low contributors in discussions. However, differences lie in the extent to which students perceived that they could enact their agency. Our hybrid model helps to highlight different influences on students' sense of agency, depending on the extent to which students enact agency to participate in discussions. Low contributors' narratives highlight is students’ agency was influenced by how they wish to be seen by others. High contributors on the other hand, expressed agency that was driven by self-regulated learning. Moreover, the teacher’s elicitation seemed to produce and maintain these differences, e.g., primarily calling on high contributors.

Overall, this study helps to contribute to an understanding of students' participation in dialogic class discussions, in particular marginal participation. We reveal the dynamic and emergent nature of agency in learning through discussion. In doing so, we provides insights into how teachers might support more equitable participation in class discussions so that all students might benefit in terms of the learning outcomes research shows academically productive dialogue helps to foster.

Authors

• Sherice Clarke

• Iris Howley

• Lauren B. Resnick, University of Pittsburgh

• Carolyn Penstein Rose, Carnegie Mellon University