Negotiating Tensions in Collaborations and Its Role in Disciplinary Engagement in Science

• In Event: Equity in Middle School Science

Abstract

While recent reforms in science education envision engaging students in doing science as a way to learn science, less is known about how such an engagement can take hold in the classroom. In an effort to address this gap, this study examines the dynamics of students’ disciplinary engagement in small groups in a middle school science classroom. Using multimodal discourse analysis, we conducted a comparative case analysis of three groups of students to examine the dynamics of their engagement along conceptual, epistemological, social, and affective dimensions. Through this analysis, our findings highlight tensions that emerge along these dimensions and the ways in which students negotiate these tensions in ways that support or hinder disciplinary engagement.

Authors

• Harini Krishnan, Florida State University

• Lama Ziad Jaber, Florida State University

• Jennifer Schellinger, The Florida State University

• Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University