THE ANALYSIS OF DISCURSIVE INTERACTIONS IN SCIENCE LESSONS: BROADENING METHODOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES IN ARGUMENTATION RESEARCH

ABSTRACT:

We discuss the potential of Ethnography in Education to analyze discursive interactions in science lessons. One of the challenges of Science Education research is to shift the studies from a prescriptive/evaluative approach to a descriptive/procedural view of argumentation in classroom. We present a research design developed around three interdependent axes to analyze discursive interactions in an Elementary School’s 3^rd grade class. The results indicate that considering the form of discourse, not just its content, has generated insights into what it means to argue from the perspective of students and teacher themselves. In addition, historical connections of the daily life of the class in contrast to contexts of different time-space dimensions provided a multifaceted analysis of the learning processes under construction.

Keywords:
Discourse; Argumentation; Ethnography in Education; Methodology, Science Education