STUDENTS’ TALK DURING COLLABORATIVE GROUP DISCUSSION

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the types of talk occurring in small group discussions about digestive system. Twenty two seven-graders worked on digestive system in small groups. In order to study these particular group's interactions and how they constructed meaning as they discussed digestion, field notes, transcripts of small-group discussions and group interviews were analyzed qualitatively. The results revealed that three types of talk (exploratory, cumulative and disputational) were observed in each group in varying amounts. The comparative analysis among groups revealed that students’ engaged in exploratory talk showed explicit and more sound reasoning than students’ engaged in disputational or cumulative talk. The potential factors which may lead to reasoning were also explored.

Keywords

• students,Discussion

References

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