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Interactional structures during a grade 4–5 open‐design engineering unit
Author(s) -
Roth WolffMichael
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199703)34:3<273::aid-tea5>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - sociotechnical system , mathematics education , unit (ring theory) , flexibility (engineering) , ethnography , psychology , group work , pedagogy , sociology , computer science , knowledge management , statistics , mathematics , anthropology
In an increasingly complex sociotechnical world, collective practices are more and more important for accomplishing the work that needs to be done. Small‐group interactions are key sites for building communities in which knowledge is a collective goal. This study investigated the nature of small group interactions among Grade 4–5 students and between these students and their teachers. From an extensive data source which includes videotaped lessons, formal and informal interviews with students and teachers, ethnographic observations, and children‐produced artifacts, two case studies were constructed to illustrate general patterns representative for the interactional structures in this classroom. The study provides evidence for the interactive flexibility of students, the construction of culture, power, and norms in each interaction, and the distributed nature of students' artifacts which exceeds social construction. Traditional resources for data interpretation such as power or attention deficit disorder were not useful to predict student interactions and work. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 273–302, 1997.