A Topical Trajectory on Survival: an Analysis of Link-Making in a Sequence of Lessons on Evolution

Abstract

This study explores the concept of link-making in relation to communicative strategies applied in the teaching and studying of biological evolution. The analysis focused on video recordings of 11 lessons on biological evolution conducted in a Swedish 9th grade class of students aged 15 years. It reveals how the teacher and students connected classroom conversations, the frequency of references to conversations in whole-class settings, and the development of a theme focusing on species survival and extinction. Detailed examples from the data illustrate how this theme developed from its initiation during the first lesson, through discussion and clarification, to its wrapping up during the last lesson. They further illustrate how students made sense of what the teacher said and wrote, and how the teacher postponed issues, explained and developed topics, provided opportunities for link-making, organised the class, motivated students, and checked their understanding. The study’s methodological approach offers a way of including several time dimensions within research. Based on our findings, we conclude that the excerpts examined here did succeed in building ‘islands of coherence’ in the co-construction of curricular content. Moreover, the topical trajectory in relation to species survival provided opportunities for constructing a ‘scientific story’ in the classroom.