Students' Explanations of Earthquakes and Tsunamis: Analyzing Scientific Reasoning on a Context of Risk

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: Supporting Young Children's Learning and Development

Abstract

Constructing explanations of scientific phenomena is a high-leverage practice to promote understanding. However, analyzing the explanations usually rely upon written products only. This study explored students’ reasoning about earthquakes and tsunamis, combining written, oral explanations and interactions during a learning sequence oriented to explanation-construction. The participants were 25 fourth grade students from middle-low SES, and their primary teacher, from the Chilean coast. The analysis included a socio-materiality perspective, qualitative analysis of observational data and learning samples. The results showed the students connected more often their intuitive ideas with the formal knowledge on the phenomena they perceived closer -tsunamis- than in earthquakes, which we interpret as more sophisticated reasoning. We discuss implications for research combining diverse sources for approaching children’s reasoning.

Author

• Valeria M. Cabello, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile