ERIC Number: EJ680363
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jun
Pages: 20
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0141-1926
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Reasoning as a Scientist: Ways of Helping Children to Use Language to Learn Science
Mercer, Neil; Dawes, Lyn; Wegerif, Rupert; Sams, Claire
British Educational Research Journal, v30 n3 p359-377 Jun 2004
Sociocultural researchers have claimed that students' learning of science is a discursive process, with scientific concepts and ways of reasoning being learned through engagement in practical enquiry and social interaction as well as individualized activity. It is also often claimed that interacting with partners while carrying out scientific investigations is beneficial to students' learning and the development of their understanding. The research we describe investigated the validity of these claims and explored their educational implications. An experimental teaching programme was designed to enable children in British primary schools to talk and reason together and to apply these skills in their study of science. The results obtained indicate that (a) children can be enabled to use talk more effectively as a tool for reasoning and (b) talk based activities can have a useful function in scaffolding the development of reasoning and scientific understanding. The implications of the findings for educational policy and practice are discussed.
Descriptors: Scientific Concepts, Interpersonal Relationship, Investigations, Interaction, Experimental Teaching, Educational Policy, Thinking Skills, Science Education, Classroom Communication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Primary Education
Audience: Practitioners; Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A