From Science Student to Conceptual Agent: Examining the Individual Shifts in Engagement During Scaffolded Instruction

• In Event: Epistemic Agency and Equity

Abstract

We examined individual student engagement during implementation of an instructional scaffold for critical evaluation of scientific models during science lessons. We coded dialogic interactions of one student group in a sixth-grade science classroom, analyzing the trajectory of engagement for a single student (Ray). The first observation involved implementation of a preconstructed scaffold about earthquakes. Students used evidence to compare scientific and alternative models. In two subsequent observations, students used an agentic variation of the activity to study fossils and freshwater. We transcribed and coded each student-student interaction, then categorized and identified emerging patterns of discourse by using a priori engagement codes and open coding. Ray served as his group’s anchor and demonstrated deeper cognitive and agentic engagement over time.

Authors

• Ananya Matewos, St. Norbert College

• Doug Lombardi, University of Maryland - College Park

• Janelle M. Bailey, Temple University

• Imogen Herrick, University of Southern California