Students' dialogic and justifying moves during dialogic argumentation in mathematics and physics

Abstract

In this study, we focus on dialogic argumentation among students in a whole class setting in mathematics and physics in lower secondary school. By drawing on previous studies on the structure of argumentation and dialogic interactions, we suggest that transparency of student reasoning and students' engagement with each other's ideas are two key aspects in dialogic argumentation. We examine what levels might exist in these key aspects and how they can exist simultaneously. We collected data by video recording mathematics and physics lessons in lower secondary school, and created a coding scheme for students' dialogic and justifying moves. By using the coding scheme, we recognized different kinds of argumentation with respect to how dialogic student–student interaction is and how transparently student reasoning is expressed. Furthermore, we found different ways how students can provide justifications as a dialogic reaction to others' ideas.