Argumentation in Middle School Science Classrooms: A Video Ethnographic and Corpus Analysis of Discourse and Interaction in its Social and Linguistic Context

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This project will study scientific argumentation in middle school classrooms. The research team, led by investigators from George Washington, includes linguists, anthropologists, education researchers, and cognitive and social psychologists. Over the course of this project, they will: (1) identify argumentation episodes that naturally occur in a sixth grade science class; (2) analyze contextual factors that prompt such episodes; and (3) relate these findings to student performance on an end-of-unit science test. The investigators hope to determine how contextual factors affect the prevalence and complexity of student argumentation.. The study is based on a corpus of over 250 hours of videotape hyperlinked to 35,000 pages of transcriptions of classroom interaction collected with prior NSF funding during the implementation of an inquiry-based physical science unit called Exploring Motion and Forces. It will also have access to a related quantitative database of student achievement data. The data capture the students during group work at lab tables engaged in spontaneous arguments about the curricular content. The project should provide a methodological and empirical foundation upon which to base further studies that promise to inform science curriculum development as well as teacher training.