PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Responding to Positionings within Small Groups in Introductory Mechanics |
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| Abstract: | To provide opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with core disciplinary concepts and practices in physics, an introductory calculus-based mechanics course was designed for students to collaborate in small groups to solve complex problems. Our research focuses on how discourse between members in one group reflected the expected role(s) in the class that members perceived for themselves and their peers. We discuss how those expectations were enacted by group members to position themselves and each other in ways that afforded and constrained their opportunities to learn and do physics in class. We attend to how one student, Kathy, responded to the positionings by her group members. Qualitative methods were used to analyze video-recorded small group discussions over a four-week period. Preliminary findings indicate that the role(s) each group member, including Kathy, perceived for him/herself and their peers afforded and constrained Kathy's engagement with learning physics in the class. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
May Lee Michigan State University |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Alicia Alonzo, Michigan State University Marcos D. Caballero, Michigan State University Vashti Sawtelle, Michigan State University David Stroupe, Michigan State University |
