Comparative Case Studies of Discussion Strategies Used in Dynamic Computer Simulation and Static Image-based Lessons

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. ABSTRACT A central question for teachers and researchers is how to engage active student reasoning, be responsive to student ideas, and still efficiently meet content goals. The availability and sophistication of visual images for use in science classrooms has increased exponentially and offers teachers new opportunities to elicit and respond to student ideas. However, it can be difficult for teachers to use these images to encourage and engage active student thinking. There is a need to describe flexible discussion strategies that use images to engage active thinking. This study will explore an image-based lesson about the particulate nature of matter taught by two experienced middle school teachers. Each teacher taught one half of his students a lesson using static overheads, and taught the other half of his students with a lesson using a dynamic simulation. The simulation-overhead lesson pair had similar content goals, lab activities, and handouts but differed in the type of image mode used during large group discussion. Video and transcripts of large group discussions were analyzed using a set of image based discussion strategies. Effects due to image mode were found that suggest that a simulation offers greater affordance than an overhead for planning and enacting discussions. Differences in teacher use of interaction modes such as presentation, IRE, and IRF suggest that teacher preferences for interaction modes may interact with how the image is used in the simulation or overhead condition.