Socioculturalizing the Status Hierarchies: An Observational Coding Scheme for Marginal Identities in Inquiry Science Collaboration

• In Event: 43.014 - Science and Motivation Within Sociocultural Contexts

Abstract

Recent work has clarified the importance of learners’ motivations in shaping their participation in reform-oriented science (Van Horne & Bell, 2017). Existing work on status problems is limited in its ability to discuss how learners’ own agendas inform group interactions that reify status hierarchies. The present study integrates Wenger’s marginal non-participation with Cohen’s status hierarchies to produce a socioculturally-oriented concept called marginality. Qualitative analyses of student interviews and video-recorded groupwork observations yielded a coding scheme for identifying interactional indicators of marginality in an inquiry science collaborative learning context. Results suggest learners focus on finding correct answers can complicate groups’ willingness to consider ideas from lower status members: inquiry’s ill-structured problems may encourage learners to rely on status indicators.

Authors

• Karlyn R. Adams-Wiggins, Portland State University

• Julia Dancis, Portland State University

• Michelle Myers, Portland State University

• Emily Robey, Portland State University

• Mariah Leatherman, Portland State University

• Crystal Romero, Portland State University