Thinking and Talking about Science

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Thinking and Talking about Science
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Chapter 2- Science and Oral Discourse
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Key Points

• Discussion must be an integral part of science
  teaching and learning.
• Discussion norms and skills must be taught
  explicitly and practiced.
• Talk deepens students science understanding and
  supports development of academic language.
• Student to student talk is different from but
  just as important as student to teacher talk.

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Non-Science Discussion Question

• Which candidate currently running for President
  of the United States do you think would make the
  best President?

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Student Discussion Skills

• Listening
• Adding on
• Asking clarifying questions of others
• Disagreeing respectfully
• Staying on topic
• Accountable Talk

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Student Thinking Skills

• Making claims
• Providing evidence
• Defending reasoning
• Debating/argumentation
• Generalizing, identifying patterns and
  relationships

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3 Purposes of Science Talk Within an Inquiry
Framework

• To gather and take stock of ideas,
• To plan an investigation, and
• To develop conceptual understanding

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What the Teacher Does

• Sets the stage
• Listens carefully and moves the conversation
  further when necessary
• Encourages student to student discourse
• Brings collective closure

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Science Talk- Considerations for Facilitating
Discourse

• Volley Ball- Not Ping Pong!
• Wait Time
• Two or Three Before Me
• Answer a Question- Ask a Question
• Thick (not thin) Questions
• Extroverts vs Introverts
• Seating- can everyone make eye contact?
• Encourage argumentation

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Difference Between Discussing and Sharing

• Avoid the sharing out trap! (When students just
  take turns sharing out, continuity and
  engagement suffer.)
• Encourage building on others ideas, making
  connections, and respectful debate

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Gather and Take Stock of Ideas- Purpose

• Elicit individuals and groups preconceptions
  and experiences about the science topic to
  understand their thinking at a given point in
  time.

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Characteristics of Group Talk at this Stage

• Focus on the topic or idea
• Initiated with a statement or question
• Naïve or beginning explanations
• All ideas are accepted
• Dialogue around details
• Questioning own ideas- precursor to conceptual
  change

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Science Talk- Which Objects Reflect Light?

• Water Gray Rock Leaf
• Mirror Glass Sand
• Potato Skin Wax Paper Tomato Soup
• Shiny Metal Dull Metal Crumpled Paper
• Red Apple the Moon Rough Cardboard
• Rusty Nail Clouds Soil
• Wood Milk White Bed Sheet
• New Penny Old Tarnished Penny
• Sheet of aluminum foil

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Object Sort

• Things That Reflect Light
• Things That Do Not Reflect Light
• Things We Are Unsure About
• Make a list of the objects you think reflect
  light.

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Group Science Talk

• Compare and contrast your lists with the other
  groups at your table
• Explain your thinking
• Engage in scientific argumentation to come up
  with a consensus about which objects reflect
  light.

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Question?

• Do objects have to be smooth to reflect light?

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Planning an Investigation- Purpose

• To develop and/or evaluate the particulars of a
  plan for an investigation.
• To decide on next steps.
• Understand why these next steps will help answer
  the question or understand the problem.

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Students Do This Through

• Focusing on a question
• Planning steps of an investigation (materials,
  procedures, etc.)
• Determining data to be collected (measurable when
  appropriate)
• Determining recording method

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Characteristics of the Group Science Talk at This
Stage

• Focused on the investigation
• Initiated with a challenging question
• Ideas backed by explanation
• Debate about effectiveness of plan/step

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Developing Conceptual Understanding- Purpose

• Develop and articulate understandings the group
  holds at a moment in time related to a central
  concept
• Encourage use of evidence
• Connect students emerging ideas to scientific
  ideas
• Attach meaning to terminology

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Characteristics of Group Science Talk at this
Stage

• Focused on evidence from the investigation
• Initiated with a productive question
• Making meaning from class data, notebooks, etc
• Debate and argument about interpretation, ideas,
  patterns, relationships.
• Introducing formal terminology

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Importance of Talk for Learning Science- Take
Home Messages

• Talk is important for sharing, clarifying, and
  distributing knowledge among peers.
• Asking questions, predicting or hypothesizing,
  explaining, formulating ideas together, and
  engaging in scientific argumentation are all
  important attributes of peer discussions.
• Science Talk provides an opportunity for
  sense-making.
• Talk combined with writing appears to enhance the
  retention of science learning over time. (Rivard
  and Straw, 2000)

(Rivard and Straw, 2000)