Strong Directors, Absent Skeptics: Prescribed and Emergent Roles in Middle School Science Collaboration

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Collaboration, Decision Making, and Integration in STEM

Abstract

Science educators are increasingly focusing on creating small group learning opportunities that expose students not only to the content but also to the intellectual practices of science, which are inherently social and collaborative. Educators often address the challenge of equitable participation of all students through the assignment of collaborative roles. We studied the enactment of assigned and the emergence of new roles in an under-resourced, rural middle school science classroom. Our findings indicate that there is a discord between the ideal of equitable collaborative engagement and procedural roles and observed task orientation. Pedagogical practice and the choice of collaborative roles need to be deliberate, thoughtful and aligned with the goal of achieving not only participatory but also intellectual equity.

Authors

• Dalila Dragnic-Cindric, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Janice L. Anderson, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Sharon Derry, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill