Instructors’ Roles in Positioning the Uncertainty Students Encounter: Examining the Outcomes of Instructional Moves

• In Event: Science Teaching, Learning, Curriculum, and Assessment

Abstract

The question driving this effort is: "What instructional moves do TAs use when students encounter uncertainty in a non-majors biology laboratory and how does that position the uncertainty that students are asked to wrestle with?" This multi-case study followed an exploratory research design) to search for the patterns that emerged from the analysis group discussions of moments of uncertainty which occurred in three different laboratories for three different teaching assistants (TAs) an undergraduate General Biology Laboratory course. Each of the Tas used specific instructional moves to attend to uncertainty differently during each task. These moves positioned understanding for their students in four different ways: raising, maintaining, reducing, and avoiding uncertainty. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

Authors

• Sam Skrob-Martin, Florida State University

• Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University