Talk in primary science: a method to promote productive and contextualised group discourse

Modelled Discussions About Science (MoDAS), where adults talk together about scientific ideas, procedures and applications, were devised to model and improve the quality of pupils' discussions. Two examples from one of the project schools are examined to see if these aims were fulfilled and to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education 3-13 2009-11, Vol.37 (4), p.385-397
Main Author: Braund, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
argumentation
discourse
Discourse Analysis
Foreign Countries
Group Discussion
industry and science links
Persuasive Discourse
Primary Education
primary science
Science Education
Students
Teacher Educators
Teaching Methods
Teaching Models
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Modelled Discussions About Science (MoDAS), where adults talk together about scientific ideas, procedures and applications, were devised to model and improve the quality of pupils' discussions. Two examples from one of the project schools are examined to see if these aims were fulfilled and to comment on examples of cognitive and social aspects of discourse and argumentation. Successful features of adult modelled talk included the use of clearly signed 'big-D' discourse for example, how adults take turns, signal agreements and disagreements and challenge each other. Analysis of cognitive aspects of pupils' talk showed sophisticated levels of argumentation. Social functions of dialogue were observed particularly with older pupils. The method is also a way of linking industry and school science so that science learning is more authentic.
ISSN:0300-4279
1475-7575
DOI:10.1080/03004270903099876