Education Commons^™

"It Teaches Them To Have A Conversation In The Real World" : An Analysis Of How Identity Performances Shape Classroom Discussions., Ashley Lauren Shelton Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although discussion has long played a role in classroom learning, recent focus on moving discussion away from the evaluative and toward the dialogic is key to understanding how discussion can be driven by multiple, shared understandings. Adopting a sociocultural perspective, this dissertation explores the ways in which identity performances shape one teacher and his students’ participation in classroom discussions. The theoretical framework guiding this study draws on the relationship between discourse and identities construction, with further attention given to improvisations of identities, figured worlds, and the ways in which power shapes discourse. This dissertation argues that performed identities shape the …

Discussion In Middle And High School Earth Science Classrooms And Its Impact On Students' Abilities To Construct Evidence-Based Arguments In Their Written Work, Rachel Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Middle and high school teachers who participate in the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (MainePSP) noted persistent problems in their classrooms, including low levels of student engagement and gaps in how students use evidence. To address these problems, this study was designed in collaboration with MainePSP teachers in a design-based implementation research process as teachers aimed to better connect classroom discussion and written argumentation. Though scientific writing makes use of argumentation to support ideas, it is often the sharing of ideas that makes an argument stronger.

Two teachers collected data from their seventh and ninth grade Earth Science classrooms at schools …

Understanding And Implementing Classroom Discussions Of Literature: A Case Study Of One High School Teacher's Beliefs And Practices Concerning Classroom Discussions, Tanya Neva Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Classroom discussion of literature is often lauded as a powerful pedagogical tool in the high school English classroom. Researchers have shown that student talk in the classroom is a powerful teaching strategy. Many teachers express a belief in classroom discussions as a means of teaching literature. At the same time, relatively few teachers actually use classroom discussions of literature in their teaching. Research has identified that student talk in the classroom is a powerful pedagogical tool, and also that such discussions are difficult for many classroom teachers to enact. Little research has explored why teachers might have this disconnect. Teachers …