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Objectivity, subjectivity, and emotion in school science inquiry
Author(s) -
Davis James P.,
Bellocchi Alberto
Publication year - 2018
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/tea.21461
Subject(s) - objectivity (philosophy) , subjectivity , situated , dialectic , epistemology , conceptualization , curriculum , psychology , science education , pedagogy , sociology , computer science , philosophy , artificial intelligence
Science inquiry is an important part of educational reform focusing on improvements to pedagogy. Developing students' capacities and understandings about the design and conceptualization of scientific research informs contemporary curriculum and teaching practices. Although objectivity is regarded as a fundamental aspect of scientific research, limited studies in school contexts have considered how students generate objectivity during situated classroom practices of science inquiry. A cognitive view of objectivity informs existing research, neglecting the localized production of objectivity during classroom practices and associated emotional experiences. To inform understandings about objectivity, we adopt an ethnomethodological orientation for understanding students' situated practices during science inquiry tasks. Transcripts produced from video recordings of group interactions are collected into salient episodes using ethnomethodological conventions. We extend beyond the fine‐grained ethnomethodological description to analyze transcript data by drawing on a theoretical perspective from the microsociology of emotion. Outcomes include an understanding of how objectivity came to exist through the dialectic relationship between objectivity and subjectivity that are linked via emotional experience. Suggestions are provided to inform future research investigating relationships between emotion, objectivity, student identity, and learning in different science inquiry contexts.