The Social Construction of Geoscience Explanations and the Interplay of Epistemic Risk

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:45pm
  In Poster Session: Making Sense of Complexity in Science Education

Abstract

Learning to do science is a complex, social process. However, the risk undertaken by students in the practice of making thinking public remains understudied. Through the case study of four middle school students and their class working to explain the relationship between earthquakes and volcanoes in relation to plate tectonics, we analyze students’ engagement in epistemic practices as they navigate epistemic risk to develop explanations of geoscience phenomena. Analysis suggests that epistemic tools, specifically participant structures, more knowledgeable others, and organizational structures mediated students’ epistemic risk and allowed more engagement in epistemic practices of science. We advocate for the intentional design of epistemic tools that purposefully include supports for students to navigate epistemic risk as part of the sensemaking process.

Authors

• Brandin Conrath, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Kathryn M. Bateman, Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg

• Jonathan McCausland, Iona University

• Scott McDonald, Pennsylvania State University