Science Teacher Discourse Practices: Implications on Students Asking Questions Spontaneously Dennis L. Danipog and Jacqueline Rose M. Gutierrez Introduction The role of discourse in the production and learning of disciplinary knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized as a major research focus in the studies of classroom interaction (Mehan, 1979; Lemke, 1990; Roth, 1996; van Zee and Minstrell, 1997; Kelly, 2007). Understanding the knowledge and practices of science can be attained through the study of discourse processes (Kelly, 2007). Moreover, the discourse practices of science such as asking questions, constructing evidence-based arguments and explanations, and evaluating each other's ideas inside the classroom encourage inquiry learning because these practices are features of inquiry-based science (Chin, Ahmad, Ho & Cheong, 2009). This study investigates discourse practices of science teachers and how science inquiry could be established in science classrooms through the interaction between teacher and students in different classroom tasks. It aims to determine some discourse practices employed by the teacher in the science classrooms that promote inquiry skills, specifically students asking questions. Theoretical Perspectives This research is based on Vygotsky's social constructivism—tearning involves a passage from social contexts of the classroom to individual learner's understanding (Vygotsky as cited in Scott, Asoko & Leach, 2007). The’ social situations enacted by the teachers and 147students inside the classroom are sources of new ideas, These may be drawn from different modes of communication such as spoken and written discourse. Vygotsky refers to these classroom interactions as the social plane (Scott et al., 2007). As ideas are explored during the interaction, each student is able to reflect on and make sense of what is being communicated. Hence, the discourse between the teacher and students serves as a tool needed for individual thinking. As such, there is now a transition from social to individual planes whereby the social tool or discourse becomes internalized. It then provides the means for individual thinking which could lead students to formulate their own questions and search possible explanations or answers. Vygotsky's social constructivism therefore suggests that the classroom discourse practices of teachers can stimulate inquiry skills among students. Analysis of classroom discourse can be done by determining its authoritative and dialogic functions (Scott as cited in Chin, 2007). The authoritative discourse in the classroom does not involve bringing together and exploration of ideas. The teacher intends to transmit information to the students. It is a common observation that teacher talk consists of reviews, factual statements, and instructional questions. Quite often, students’ responses to teacher's questions are single, detached words or incomplete sentences: On the other hand, dialogic discourse in the classroom is open to different Perspectives, allowing the students to become aware of differences in points of view (Mortimer, 2005). The teacher encourages students to express their ideas, explore, and debate points of view. Very often, the students’ responses are explanations or suggestions based on questions and expressed in complete sentences. When the students are engaged in dialogic discourse that fosters more generative thinking, habits of mind such as asking questions are rehearsed in the classroom (Chin, 2007). This might then serve as basis for promoting inquiry skills. 148Discourse in Science Classrooms Lemke (1990) sets a landmark for discourse studies in science education. Lemke’s study gave way to identifying the thematic and organizational patterns in science classroom discourse (Kelly, 2007). In his analysis, thematic pattern is in the form of propositional knowledge which is being controlled by the teacher and with little opportunity for the students to take initiatives within the conversations. An organizational pattern of discourse, represented by a question-answer-response structure was also identified. Lemke termed this as the triadic dialogue—also known as the IRE (initiation, response, and evaluation) structure of discourse (Mehan, 1979)—which is predominant in classrooms. In this pattern, the classroom teacher has the control of the direction and thematic content of the lesson, Lemke argued that students learn science if they will learn how to talk science. He emphasized that one way of talking science is by questioning. The teacher asks questions to check on student knowledge and understanding, listens to students’ answers, and assesses the correctness of these responses. On the other hand, van Zee and Minstrel (1997) used questions to engage students with scientific knowledge. In their research, they introduced the reflective toss—a questioning method used by the teacher in the classroom. In contrast to the triadic dialogue which is controlled by the teacher, the students were openly invited to join into the conversation in the reflective toss. This dialogic structure consists of three parts: student statement, teacher question, and student elaboration. In the reflective toss, discourse in the science classroom can be created by allowing and encouraging student participation in the cognitive processes of the lesson. Similarly, Roth (1996) explained how the use of discourse processes support student learning. Roth used an open-inquiry learning environment which considered how teacher- questioning practices were mediated by the situational social context. The teachers used questioning to scaffold student 149knowledge through the use of an engineering design unit in grades 4 and 5 classrooms. The teacher-questioning practices in classroom discourse served to increase student competence in engineering knowledge and most importantly, offered opportunities for students to appropriate the questioning practices. Different ways of speaking that encourage students to formulate insightful questions about science topics and express their own ideas during reflective discussions are investigated by van Zee, Iwasyk, Kurose, Simpson & Wild (2001). They documented and interpreted both student and teacher questions during the execution of the three ways of speaking that they value most. These are guided discussions, student-generated inquiry discussions, and peer collaborations. They found out that student raised questions when the classroom discourse structure are: (a) explicitly elicited student questions, (b) students engaged in conversations about familiar contexts, (c) comfortable discourse environments, and (d) established small groups where students collaborate with one another. Inquiry Learning Newton (as cited in Hartikainen, 2008), points out that pupils become active participants in the community of school science through practice in posing and answering scientific questions. The National Science Education Standards (NSES) emphasize student questioning—“inquiry into authentic questions generated from students’ experiences is the central strategy for teaching science” (van Zee et al., 2001). Hence, a learning environment that encourages students to participate in the discourse practices of science such as asking questions, engaging in evidence-based argumentation and explanation, and evaluating each other's ideas can stimulate students’ inquiry learning. Moreover, inquiry learning is an active process of learning—“something that students do, not something that is done to them” (Anderson, 2007). In the formal school context, this active learning process is expected 150to be one that encompasses a range of activities with various stages, including oral and written discourse. In inquiry learning, it is indeed important for the teachers to guide the discussions through asking questions for students to make their own meanings clear, explore different points of view, and monitor the flow of discussion and their own thinking. Context of the Study This study used research data from the first cycle ofa professional development. program.. which focused on developing ‘inquiry-based high school chemistry lessons through lesson study. Lesson study is a school-based and teacher-led continuing professional development model for teachers which originated in the West but was institutionalized as a practice with great impact in Japan. A typical cycle of lesson study includes planning a research lesson, implementation of the research lesson, and post-lesson reflection and discussion. Lesson study was conducted in one of the public high schools in Quezon City, Metro Manila. The lesson study group was composed of the science department head, a master chemistry teacher, four chemistry teachers with varying numbers of years of teaching experience, and three chemistry education researchers. In this lesson study group, teachers researched their own practice in order to improve student learning. They went through a cycle of collaboratively planning, designing, implementing, reflecting on, and revising a lesson based on pieces of evidence about student thinking and learning gathered during the actual implementation of the lesson. In this case, the goal of the lesson study was to develop a self- directed learner, and enhance students’ inquiry skills. Each lesson study group session was a rich source of authentic information generated from real experiences, documented either by audio or video. These records were all intended as research materials for such purpose. The audio- video records of the two chemistry classes were completely 151and carefully transcribed for data analysis. The two chemistry Classes were taught by two different chemistry teachers— Teacher Rex and Teacher Mia. The transcripts were analyzed to identify science discourse practices of the said teachers in their two classes. The student-teacher interactions were analyzed, thus, the current science discourse practices employed by teachers in their classes were identified. Findings and Discussion Below are the various discourse Practices observed from Teacher Rex and Teacher Mia, in their respective classes teaching the research lesson on acids and bases. All kinds of discourse practices that surfaced from the video transcripts between the two teachers and their students are described. Discourse Practice 1 Discourse Practice 1 (DP1) starts with a question from the teacher addressed to the whole class. This teacher-initiated question (TIQ) is the starting point of a conversation between the teacher and students. After stating the question, the teacher calls a student to give an answer. In this Practice, the teacher repeats exactly the student’s answer, then ends the discussion. Thus, it can be said that the teacher response is limited to restating the answer given by the students. This signals the endpoint of the discussion regarding the TIQ. Another discourse cycle begins with another question that is given by the teacher. This classroom discourse Practice can be seen in snippets 1 and 2, 152Snippet 4 Snippet 2 Teacher Mia Teacher Rex 1 Teacher: Whatis our discussion | 1 Teacher: Good moming class. And yesterday? Yes, Chloe. yesterday, anyone from the group : . who would share what was being 2 Chloe: About mixture transpired last week or last Friday? 3 Teacher: About mixture What was our previous lesson? 4 Teacher: So, what is a mixture? Yes. What is a mixture? Yes, 2 Mina: Mixture Benjamin. 3 Teacher: Alright about Mixture 4 Teacher: Okay, what is mixture again? What is mixture? When we say mixture what do we mean? Yes. In both snippets involving Teacher Rex and Teacher Mia, the TIQ signalled the start of the discourse between the teacher and students. In both dialogues, it can be noticed (see underlined words) that as a response to the students, the teachers repeated exactly what the students already said, and then expressed another TIQ which was intended to be answered by another student. Discourse Practice 2 Discourse Practice 2 (DP2) is almost similar to DP1. Here, instead of repeating the exact same words given by the student, the teacher replaced some words uttered by the students with other words. As seen in snippet 3 (see underlined words), the wording of Ricky's response is evident in the last sentence of Teacher Rex. However, instead of held (line 9), he used joined or combined (line 10). It is important to note that the words used by Teacher Rex expanded the statement given by the student without changing the student's thought or idea. However, what was not noted by the teacher was the use of the word substance to refer to mixtures. In Chemistry, there is a clear distinction between the 153two. Nevertheless, again, just like with DP1, the discussion ends once the teacher has repeated the answer of the student. Another discourse cycle begins by posing another TIQ (line 11). Snippet 3 Teacher Rex Teacher: Okay, what is mixture again? What is mixture? When we say mixture what do we mean? Yes. Ricky: (inaudible response) Teacher: Can you hear class? Can you hear? Class: No. Teacher: Alright. Do it once more. Louder. Ricky: A substance held together by physical means. ‘Teacher: Alright. When we say mixture those are substances joined or gombined together by physical means. Teacher: Okay we also talked of the classification of mixture. There are three classifications of mixtures, What are they? Give one. Yes, Discourse Practice 3 Similar to the two previous discourse practices, TIQ Opens the conversation between the teacher and students which invites a response from a student. However, in this case, the teacher's question invites different responses from several students. The teacher intends to elicit responses. Again, similar to DPI and DP2, an answer given by a student is simply repeated by the teacher. However, the same question is again addressed to the class. It is interesting to note, at this point, that even in eliciting responses, there was the tendency to repeat the student's answer. This classroom discourse practice can be seen in the following snippets as shown below. 154Snippet 4 Teacher 51 Teacher: Same with volume. So, what do you think will happen if | add few drops of Solution B to Solution C? What do you think will happen if! add few drops or three drops of Solution B to Solution C? What do you think will happen? Yes, Oliverio. 52. Oliverio: nothing will happen 53. Teacher: nothing will happen. Aside from that? Other predictions? What can...what do you think? Yes, Randy. In snippet 4, the TIQ “what do you think will happen if! add few drops or three drops of solution B to solution C?” generated a response nothing will happen from Oliverio. Again, as in the previous DPs, the teacher repeated exactly Oliverio’s response and then the teacher immediately asked the questions other predictions? what do you think? These were the same questions given so that other students could share other ideas or answers to these questions. It is noted that Teacher Mia accepted the response without giving any judgement. The student had no idea if his answer was right or wrong. Discourse Practice 4 Similar to DP3, this discourse practice was observed when Teacher Rex was eliciting responses. Again, the TIQ was the starting point of a conversation between the teacher and students, After stating the question, Teacher Rex called a student to give the answer. Again, Teacher Rex repeated exactly the answer of the student, only this time, adding a remark of affirmation. The remark ended the discourse cycle. Another discourse cycle began with Teacher Rex proceeding to elicit other responses (DP2). This classroom discourse practice can be seen in snippets 5 and 6 as shown below. 155Snippet § Snippet 6 33 Teacher: What more? 42. Teacher: What else? Can you see " . any other property that makes 34 Danny: Sir, yong sa Solution B | them different or the same? Aside o ano solute siya tapos iyong from the volume, what else? po Solution A solvent. Sir, in solution Bis the solute | 43 Raffy: (no fesponse) od souion Ale Be 44 Teacher: They are... (teacher 35 Teacher: Aha. (affirming) intends to let the students You're saying Solution Bis complete the sentence) solute and Soltion A is 45 Raffy: They are same solvents. solvent. 7 it 46 Teacher: They are same 36 ae Any other idea? solvents. That's right 47 Teacher: What else? Notice that in both snippets, Teacher Rex repeated the same words given by the students, only this time, giving a different remark for each case. In snippet 5, Teacher Rex used Aha (line 35) and in snippet 6, he used That’s right (line 46). In contrast to DP3, Teacher Rex, through his remark, somewhat gave a judgement to the response of the student. Another thing worth noting is that snippets 5 and 6 involve the same question which was answered by different students. It can be noticed that the answer of Danny (line 34) and Raffy (line 45) were in contrast with each other. However, no one from the class noticed it, not even the teacher. This could have been a great opportunity for a question to come up. Discourse Practice 5 Almost similar to the discourse practices previously mentioned wherein the TIQ signals the start of the conversation, discourse practice 5 was observed from Teacher May when she elicited responses. The students’ answers were still repeated. However, unlike in the discourse practices previously described, the teacher called another student to 156repeat the just-given answer of a student. As seen in snippets 7 and 8, Teacher Mia called two more students to repeat what Benjamin (snippet 7) and Ernest (snippet 8) had answered. Similar to snippet 9, another student was asked to repeat the answer of a classmate, though this time, only one student repeated it. Snippet 7 Snippet 8 Snippet 9 her Mia 6 Teacher: Sowhat [16 Teacher: Letus 22 Teacher: How is a mixture? What define first what is about is a mixture? Yes homogeneous. heterogeneous Benjamin. mixture. Solution mixture? Yes — 7 Benjamin: ee (inauete) (inaudible) 23 Cristina: Two or 17 Emest: more phases. 8 Teacher: Kindly (inaudible) repeat, Anna. 24 Teacher: Kindly 9 Anna: Two or more : ae ‘eneat Francis. substances that Emest has said. 25a Francis: (does combine. Yes, Divine. z not know what to Teacher: Ok: : respond) 10 Teacher: Okay. | 49 Divine: Has one : Another one phase. 25b Teacher: Kindly (inaudible), kindly " tepeat eh, hindi fepeat what 20 Teacher: Again ka nakikinig Benjamin has Jeffrey. Kindly repeat you said? a J : Has are not listening. 11 Sabrina: Mixture is smallest particles. | 25¢ Francis: Have two composed of two Has one phase. or more phases. or more 26 Teacher: Ok, two substances. ormore phases. 12 Teacher: Okay. 157Discourse Practice 6 In this discourse practice, the teacher is still the one who initiates the question (TIQ), similar to the previous discourse Practices. However, in this case, the students have the opportunity to elaborate on their answers as prompted by the teacher. As seen in snippet 10, when Randy responded (line 54), Teacher Mia asked Randy probing questions which led him to elaborate on his own ideas. In line 56, Randy compared the amount of volume of two solutions by saying “solution B may have increase in volume while solution C may have decrease.” Then, the teacher affirmed the student's response and again followed it up by asking the whole class the same question in order to look for other ideas. It is interesting to note that in this Practice, the teacher did not repeat the response of the student. Instead, she immediately asked the student to elaborate on his answer (lines 54 and 55). ‘Snippet 10 Teacher Mia 53 Teacher: nothing will happen. Aside from that? Other predictions? What can...what do you think? Yes, Randy. 54 Randy: The volume will be (sic) change. The volume will change. 55 Teacher: Which one? What happenfed] to their volume? 56 Randy: Solution B may have increase in volume while the solution C may have decrease. Solution B may increase in volume while the solution C may decrease fin volume.} 57 Teacher: Ok, Aside from that? Discourse Practice 7 Similar to the previous DPs, this discourse practice still starts with a TIQ. The teacher's prompt in initiating to draw the definition of a concept comes from the activity that the class had just done. As seen in snippet 11 below, it is evident that 158Teacher Rex was directing the students to tell something about the indicator based on the setup which was used in the activity (line 139). Seemingly, the teacher was able to focus the students’ attention in recalling what had happened in the activity as one student referred to the material used in the activity as a description for an indicator, which is solution C (line 140). Teacher Rex immediately asked the question “what is solution C?” With the guidance of the teacher, the class was able to reach a definition of indicator based on the activity. It is interesting to note that in the course of the conversation, Teacher Rex repeated the answers of the students, similar to most of the DPs. However, it is important to note as well that this repetition of words was done to come up with a definition of a concept that is composed of almost the same words given by the students. With the words given by the students themselves and most of which were repeated by Teacher Rex, change (line 144), color (Line 146), when you add something (line 148), and solution (line 152), the definition for indicator was formed, ie, indicators are substances that change color when added to another solution. From this DP, the potential of tepeating answers as a way to enhance the use of inquiry skill such as defining operationally a concept, is found to be evident. 159Snippet 14 Teacher Rex 139 Teacher: So, okay from the setup sabi mo kanina so ibig sabihin sinasabi ang question ko kasi what brought on the change in color? you said is the indicator so what is meant by indicator from there? Ha? From the setup ‘now, what is meant by indicator? Or what are indicators? Ha? ‘So, okay from the setup, you said earlier and when | asked what brought on the change in color? You said it is the indicator. So what is meant by indicator from there? What? From the setup now, what is meant by indicator? Or what are indicators? What? 140 Mij: Solution C. 141 Teacher: Solution C? So, what is the solution C? Sabi: niya nagsplit daw iyong kulay. Di ba? Okay. Very good. Actually, from here you have the indicator no, so di ba anong nangyari sa kanya kanina? What happened? Solution C? So, what is the solution C? According to one, the color has “split”. Right? Okay. Very good. Actually, from here you have the indicator, so what happened to it earlier? What happened? 142 Marlon: Nag-iba ang kulay. The color changed, 143 Teacher: Nag-iba ang kulay. The color changed. So what are indicators? How do you describe an indicator? Combine —- anyone? Substances that... what happened to it? 144 Carlo: change 145 is 6. . Change lat is being changefd] in tt 146 Susan: Color 147 Teacher: Change its color, Kailan? When? When does it change color? 148 Alice: When you add something... 149 Teacher: When? What did | do before it change{d) color? 150 Al: When you added another substance. 151 Teacher: When added to... Where? Saan? 152 Malu: solution 160153 Teacher: Another substance; okay, so iyon yong definition (pointing to the definition given by the students as written on the board: indicators are substances that change color when added to another solution) based on that, ibig sabihin, so, what can you predict now from that? pag nagbabago depende sa substance ibig sabihin different... different what? Different? Another substance; okay, so that is the definition (pointing to the definition given by the students as written on the board: indicators are substances that change color when added to another solution). Based on that, it means... So, what can you predict now from that? If it changes, it depends on the substance, it means it is different...different what? Different? Discourse Practice 8 This discourse practice was initially observed after the snippet 11 discourse. Here, Teacher Rex started drawing out from the students another defining feature of the indicator. However, the students were not able to give the response expected by the teacher until the teacher blurted out the expected response (line 167). However, it is important to note that the students were not able to give the expected response because they had not yet discussed pH of acidic and basic solutions. In other words, it was difficult for them to relate the change in color that they had observed with that of the pH changes. Similarly, in snippet 13, Teacher Mia intended to draw from the students the definition of an indicator (line 101). A student was able to give one defining feature of an indicator (line 102). Although Teacher Mia accepted the response of the student (line 103), she still posted a definition of indicator using words that did not come from the students. Moreover, there was another idea from the teacher-given definition that was not drawn from the students but could be drawn from the activity they had done. This DP is in stark contrast to DP7, where students have a sense of ownership in defining a certain concept. In this DP, the teachers still resorted to using their own words despite the intention of using the ideas of the 161students in coming up with a common idea that can be shared by the class. Snippet 12 Snippet 13 Teacher Rex Teacher Mia 154 Arlene: substance 185 Teacher: different substances have...bakit? Bakit? Diba kanina nagpink. When | added B to C tum to pink but when | added Solution A to Solution C tum or go back to its original... Different substances have... Why? Why? Earlier, it tumed to pink. When | added B to C, it tumed to pink but when | added Solution A to Solution C, it tumed or went back to its original... 156 Amy: color 157 Teacher: So, from that different Solu... we can therefore conclude that different Substances have different... different... 158 Ruben: Chemical? 159 Teacher: Different what? Bakit when | added B tum to pink, when | added A it tum to colorless. Different... different Substances exhibit different Color in the... Different what? Why is it when | added B, it tumed to pink, when Vadded A it tumed to colorless. Different... different substances exhibit different color in the... 162 101 Teacher: A and B? Maybe. So ako na. Tapusin na natin ang paghihirap nyo. Ok, solution C itis because ahh...solution C contains an indicator...indicator, If solution C contains an indicator what does an indicator do? Solution C contains an indicator. So what does an indicator do? Yes Gino ulit, Aand B? Maybe. I'll just be the one. Let us end your difficulty. Ok, solution C. Itis because ahh...solution C contains an indicator... indicator. If solution C contains an indicator what does an indicator do? Solution C contains an indicator. So what does an indicator do? Yes Gino, again. 102 Gino: Changes the color-of a ‘substance 103 Teacher: Ok, so indicator changes the color of a substance. Particularly or let us define properly the indicator (teacher posts on the board the definition of indicator) Kindly read, pakibasa po, yes, Jeffrey, 104 Jeffrey: Indicator is a substance that reveals true characteristic color changes as it reacts to other ‘substances.