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In this paper we explore the methodological implications of sociocultural approaches for the study of scientific knowledge and practices. Research in science studies and science education is reviewed with a focus on methodological considerations. Informed by empirically-based studies of scientific practices from multiple disciplinary perspectives, we describe our perspective for investigating science education which combines ethnography and discourse analysis. This theoretical position on the discursive nature of the social construction of school science-in-themaking forms the basis for theoretical and methodological critique and discussion. We provide a review of the history of nature of science (NOS) research to trace the methodological influence of Science and Technology Studies in science education. Four methodological issues associated with studying science as cultural practices are discussed: the local and contingent nature of situated definitions of science; theory dependence and coherence of research methodologies; attention to the study of school science-in-the-making; and reflexivity.The purpose of this paper is to consider the methodological implications of and for sociocultural approaches to the study of scientific knowledge. We consider these methodological implications through a three-part analysis. First, we describe the particular sociocultural perspective informing our work, drawing from multidisciplinary perspectives on science, education, and science education. This description forms the basis from which we consider methodological changes and issues in science education. Second, as an example of a research program in science education, we review the history of nature of science (NOS) research since this scholarship is typically concerned with issues related to the inner workings and final products of scientific communities. Through this review we trace the methodological influence of Science and Technology Studies in science education. This review suggests that socioculmral perspectives from varied, but theoretically consistent, methodoloNes offer new insights into the practices constituting school science. Third, we explore four methodological issues from an emerging set of studies focused on the interactionally accomplished nature of science in schools. Framing Our Approach to Science and Education A Sociocultural Perspective in (School) Science StudiesScience and Technology Studies encompass a wide variety of methodological orientations, informed by many disciplines. 1 In order to frame our arguments about research methodology and to give the reader a basis for the analysis we present, we describe in some detail our theoretical orientation. While our perspective, informed by both sociolinguistics and ethnography as well as Science and Technology Studies, is described in detail elsewhere (Kelly, Carlsen, & Cunningham, 1993; Kelly, Crawford, & Green, submitted; Kelly & Green, in press), we present a set of premises 24 KELLY, CHEN AND CRAWFORD and three illustrative examples of Science ...

In this study, an anthropological perspective informed by sociolinguistic discourse analysis was used to examine how teachers, students, and scientists constructed ways of investigating and knowing in science. Events in a combined fourth-and fifth-grade elementary class were studied to document how the participating teacher provided opportunities for students to diverge from the intended curriculum to pursue their questions concerning the behavior of sea animals in a marine science observation tank. Analysis of the classroom discourse identified ways that particular teaching strategies provided opportunities for student engagement in scientific practices. Implications of this study for the teaching of science in elementary classrooms include the value of student-initiated science explorations under the conditions of uncertainty and for topics in which the teacher lacked relevant disciplinary knowledge.