facilitating classroom talk that builds the mind by dr. gaowei chen
TRANSCRIPT
Facilitating Classroom Talk that
Builds the Mind
Gaowei Chen
Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
Meeting of Minds Series, SoL
Nov 26, 2015
Teacher-led classroom talk is
fundamental to student learning
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Teacher talk
How do you know it has more
volume? What’s your
proof?
Teacher
Louie
Because I can tell that A doesn’t
have that much volume.
Why? What is it about container A
or the liquid in A that makes you
think there’s not a lot in there?
Teacher
Press for Reasoning
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Teacher talk
What do you think Amalia
means when she says it
causes physical breakdown?
Teacher
Amalia
…sometimes hot weather… it causes
physical breakdown of the rocks.
Marcel
Well, I- I think she means like the
rocks like after you get - it starts to
cool and when it starts to warm again
usually a lot of stuff starts to break out
there.
Restate Someone Else’s Reasoning
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Teacher helps students think by self
• Press for Reasoning “Why do you think that?” “What’s your evidence?”
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• Say More “Can you say more about that?”
“Can you give an example?”
• Revoice “So, let me see if I’ve got what you’re saying. Are you
saying…?”
• Challenge “Does it always work that way?”
“I kind of disagree with you”
Teacher helps students think with others
• Restate “Who can repeat what he just said or put it into their own
words?”
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• Agree/
Disagree
“Do you agree/disagree? (And why?)”
“Does anyone want to respond to that idea?”
• Add On “Who can add onto the idea that he is building?”
“Can anyone take that suggestion and push it a little further?”
• Explain Other “Who can explain what he means when she says that?”
“Why do you think he said that?”
• Improved student achievement and reasoning
skills
(Bill et al., 1992; Chapin & O’Connor, 2004; Kuhn et al., 2013; Resnick et al., 2015)
• Long term effect and transfer
(Adey & Shayer, 2001; Bill, Leer, Reams, & Resnick, 1992; Chapin & O’Connor, 2004; Shayer, 1999;
Topping & Trickey, 2007)
When teachers use such talk moves
in the classroom…
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However, very little teaching includes
such talk in the classroom
8(Kane & Staiger, 2012; Mercer, Dawes, & Staarman, 2009; Pimentel & McNeil, 2013)
• Teachers find it difficult to learn and effectively integrate such talk moves into their instruction
• Teachers believe that basic information must first be taught “directly”
• Teachers believe that only a few students are capable of the kind of effective talk that appears to have robust effects
• …
Hence the Need for…
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facilitating teacher professional
development in the skills of
discussion-based teaching
An Analytics-supported Reflection
Approach
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• Teacher professional development context
– School embedded, evidence based
• Teacher and facilitator community
• Joint reflection supported by visual analytics, video,
and transcripts
• Visual representations serve as a lens for identifying meaningful segments
Visualization Transcripts
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Visualization Transcripts
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Research Questions
• How do the teachers view the analytics-
supported reflection approach?
• How does the analytics-supported
reflection approach impact classroom talk
and student learning?
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Research Design• Secondary mathematics classes
• A year-long intervention involving school-embedded, evidence-based
teacher learning activities
• A post-test and a delayed post-test of the impact of teacher learning
on classroom talk and students’ mathematics achievement14
Preliminary Findings
North Carolina school district with 6 reading teachers and 3 facilitators
After the analytics-supported intervention…
• Growth in specific talk moves
– 4 of the 6 teachers showed growth in specific talk moves
– This targeted growth corresponds to specific talk goals that teachers and facilitators
identified in coaching sessions
• Level of student involvement
– 5 out of the 6 teachers engaged more students in the discussion
– Teachers tended to be more aware of the number of students involved in classroom
discussions
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Some Challenges
• Recording of classroom talk
– Tracking camera, microphone-array?
• Transcribing
– Speech recognition software that can pick up multi-party discussion?
• Coding
– Automated coding software?
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Thank You!
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