SMALL GROUP SCIENCE TALK IN A DESIGN-BASED CLASSROOM: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

This paper describes an exploratory study in which middle school students learnt science through small group collaboration in a design-based classroom. The science talk of two groups of students with similar post-test performance was analyzed to examine their discourse patterns. It was found that although the groups had performed similarly on the post tests, they differed in the quality and extent of their science talk. While one group had more constructive science talk than the other group, students from both groups, in general, engaged less in deep science conversations and were more focused on completing specific tasks such as reading and writing text-based information. This paper discusses implications for collaborative science dialogue in teaching and learning of science