A Community of Practice: Sensemaking and Writing During Collaborative Problem-Solving in a Linguistically Diverse Classroom

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Student Learning and Engagement in Mathematics (Table 27)

Abstract

While mathematical discussions are considered beneficial, little is known about students’ negotiation and written representations in such lessons. This study explored linguistically diverse elementary students’ discussions regarding the symbolic and written expressions of their thinking in lessons utilizing cognitively demanding tasks within a community of practice. Findings indicated that both student-to-student and teacher-to-student interactions during group discussion influenced students’ collaborative writing, with the teacher’s responsiveness through conferring and revoicing during assessing and advancing questions adding discursive value that supported students’ collaborative sense-making efforts. This study adds new insight into micro-level classroom interactions, highlighting students’ thinking while transferring ideas from spoken to written text, including the ways in which students collaboratively talk, write, and represent solutions formalizing the problem-solving processes.

Authors

• Lorelei R. Coddington, Biola University

• Stacy Kula, Azusa Pacific University