Elements of a community of learners in a middle school science classroom

Abstract

The idea of a learning community has gained attention as a desirable environment that could provide opportunities for students to engage in solving problems in collaboration with peers. However, definitions of a community of learners are varied, vague, and not well-developed. The goal of the research described in this study is to examine the nature of a middle school science classroom during the development of a community of learners by focusing on the teacher-student interactions and the connections made by students with people outside the classroom. The first investigator served as both teacher and researcher in this study. The teacher used a project-based approach that allowed learners to find solutions to authentic problems or questions generated by the students. Students used a process of inquiry and collaboration to find these solutions. An analytical framework developed from the literature consisted of the following components: authentic tasks; interdependency in small group work; negotiation of understanding; public sharing; collaboration with experts; and responsibility for shared learning and teaching. The framework was used to analyze the multiple data sources, including videotapes, interviews, a teacher's journal, and electronic correspondence. Eight major themes emerged from the analysis. These themes included: (1) tasks connected to real-world questions generated more collaborative interactions than topic-bound tasks; (2) collaborative interactions in groups increased when tasks were student-initiated; (3) providing instructional support for students contributed to group decision making; (4) group productivity increased when students gained ownership; (5) student dialogue centered on the procedural aspects of the activity when completing teacher-designed activities; (6) when public sharing centered on discussions of their own experiences, students were more cognitively engaged; (7) interactions with outside resource people increased students' investment in the project; and (8) when students worked in teams answering their own questions, they took responsibility for learning and teaching. The findings of this study point to three important factors that influenced the learning community in this middle school classroom: (1) the importance of the driving question in contributing to the authentic nature of the investigations; (2) the importance of the teacher's role in supporting students in collaborating with peers and Correspondence to: B. A. Crawford; e-mail: bac21@psu.edu people outside the classroom; and (3) the extended time required for teams to develop collaborative relationships. The role of the teacher appears critical in transforming the roles of students and teacher in creating a community of learners. ᭧ 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 83:701-723, 1999

Negotiating the Inquiry Question: A Comparison of Whole Class and Small Group Strategies in Grade Five Science Classrooms

“…It can also be used more generally as in the case of negotiating or successfully traveling a pathway. Negotiating meaning is a combination of the two definitions, that is, effectively traveling a pathway (of new understanding) through discussion and conference (Crawford et al 1999).…”

Classrooms as learning communities: a review of research

“…In a community of learners students use collaborative enquiry to address authentic questions they have generated, and their agency creates a range of effects: group productivity increases as students gain ownership, cognitive engagement increases as public dialogue centres on discussions of their own experiences, and students take responsibility for learning and teaching as they work in teams. When tasks are student-initiated collaborative interactions in groups increase; by contrast when students complete teacher-designed activities student dialogue centres more on the procedural aspects of the activity (Crawford et al, 1999). Under these conditions, when multiple perspectives are reconciled through the medium of dialogue, collaboration creates more abstractions than does individual work (Schwartz, 1995).…”

Students’ Reflections on Implementation of Group Investigation in Korean Secondary Science Classrooms

“…In order to promote science learning as inquiry, a community-centered environment should be designed in the science classroom (Crawford et al, 1999;NRC, 2000). A community is characterized by the goals shared among its members with regular patterns of practices as the goals are pursued.…”

“…Implementation of a constructivist approach in the science classroom includes students' active engagement in an inquiry process of their own (Crawford et al, 1999;Llewellyn, 2002;Roth, 1993). Scientific inquiry can bring about the construction of scientifically acceptable understanding in students while the learners legitimately exercise the disciplinary practice in their classrooms (Kaartinen & Kumpulainen, 2002;Kobayashi, 1994;Trowbridge, Bybee & Powell, 2004).…”

“…In the 1990s the National Science Education Standards (NSES) declared inquiry as basic to science education and a controlling principle in the organization and selection of student activities (National Research Council [NRC], 1996). Nowadays, with the influence of constructivist theory, which stresses student participation in socially organized disciplinary practices, scientific inquiry is often advocated with group learning approaches (Barab & Duffy, 2000;Brophy, 2002;Crawford, Krajcik & Marx, 1999;Duffy & Orrill, 2001).…”