Factors Affecting Science Teachers' Decision-Making to Support Students' Epistemic Agency

• In Event: Helping Science Teachers Attend to Language and Student Talk

Abstract

Reforms in science instruction call for students being epistemic agents of their learning, but teachers struggle to implement these goals due to the complex nature of teaching involved. This study examined factors involved in one experienced science teacher’s decision-making process to make space for student epistemic agency during her teaching. We collected interview data of her point-of-view observations and coded the data using grounded methods. The codes depict various factors involved in her decision-making processes for each moment. We illustrate this through an episode when her trust in her students and beliefs about learning through dialogue helped her position students to debate one another. We propose a preliminary model depicting factors involved in teacher decision-making to support student epistemic agency.

Authors

• Nitasha Mathayas, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Susan Bromley Kelly, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Nessrine Machaka, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Christina Krist, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign