Abstract
The development of children's concepts is often still studied without taking into account school practices, namely, the verbal and instrumental activities in which these concepts develop. The present research is rooted in a Vygotskian perspective that defines thinking and its dynamics within the semiotic contexts where they take place. The article aims at showing how pupils were guided by their teacher to adopt an inquiry- and argumentative-based approach to learning science. Software developed to support argumentation and learning - an argumentative map called Digalo that provides a visual representation of the discussion - was used in the classroom by teachers and students to learn about astronomy. The data presented here were extracted from a European project (Escalate) which aimed to enhance science learning through argumentation and inquiry activities (Andriessen, Baker & Suthers, 2003; Muller Mirza & Perret-Clermont, 2008; Muller Mirza, Tartas, Perret-Clermont & De Pietro, 2007). Three elementary classes (grades 3, 4 and 5) participated in the study and were led to explain 'why are there seasons?' in the course of different phases of debates guided by the teacher and mediated by argumentative maps. General quantitative results based on the comparison of pre-test and post-test scores showed that the students in grades 4 and 5 improved their knowledge whereas the 3rd grade students did not progress. A more detailed analysis of the different phases of the study was then carried out, focusing on the evolution of children's understanding of the seasons through the analysis of their productions (the structure and argumentative contents of their argumentative maps) and on how the 5th grade teacher scaffolded his students' sessions. The results showed that elementary school students can learn from debate oriented by argumentative maps and guided by the teacher. The roles of argumentative maps and teacher's scaffolding in learning and thinking processes are discussed from a sociocultural perspective.
Highlights
The research presented here aims to show that even in elementary school where children have not yet developed scientific concepts2, they can engage in a participatory way of doing science and can develop discursive practices as scientists
Three classes of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students participated in constructing an argumentative map and re-using it in a subsequent session guided by their teacher
The analysis of the students’ answers to the questions concerning their knowledge about the solar system led to the conclusion that the grade 5 students and the double 4th and 5th grade students improved their knowledge about the seasons
Summary
The research presented here aims to show that even in elementary school where children have not yet developed scientific concepts, they can engage in a participatory way of doing science and can develop discursive practices as scientists (namely negotiating the meaning of a phenomenon through debate and dialogues mediated by cultural tools such as scientific data or schemas, drafts, etc.). Other authors have stressed the need to take objects and, more broadly, all mediations (material or conceptual) into account in order to understand where knowledge comes from (Baucal, 2012; Perret & Perret-Clermont, 2011; Sørensen, 2009) This is the case in the CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory) perspective (Cole & Engestrom, 1995; Cole 1996; Engestrom, 1987). Following Vygotsky, these authors assign a central role in learning situations to social interactions in which students and teachers have the opportunity to reflect on their problem-solving strategies by engaging in a reflexive written or oral activity. In this perspective, activities that use intermediate artefacts to support social interactions are central in the meaning-making process. Drawing on Vygotsky’s thesis that thinking is semiotically mediated (Vygotsky, 1978), we hypothesized that the external representation of dialogues in argumentative maps (Digalo) could transform exchanges in the three school grades studied and thereby help to co-construct shared knowledge or ideas
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