Appropriating Scientific Discourse: Findings From Language Minority Classrooms |
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| Abstract: | Although it is common to see extreme case reasoning included in lists of expert heuristics for problem solving, little work has been reported on the role that extreme cases can play in learning that leads to conceptual change. Evidence is presented from video tapes of think-aloud tutoring sessions to document the learning from extreme cases in a unit about levers for seventh graders. The observations support the view that one role of extreme cases is to provide a firm data point or comparison that helps students to establish an ordinal relation between two given variables. Two new additional roles for extreme cases in fostering learning are also identified: (a) their role in activating an intuition, often in the form of a perceptual motor schema, that is used in constructing an imageable, intuitively, grounded, explanatory model as opposed to an empirical role; and (b) their role in facilitating the formation of new causal variables. Pending confirmation of similar effects in other subject areas, these roles are candidates for being included in a set of general learning strategies for science instruction. This illustrates the function that "learning-aloud" studies can play in documenting new types of learning processes and instructional strategies. The study highlights the importance for instructional design of research that uncovers students' existing knowledge structures and natural reasoning processes. The study suggests that explanatory model construction, causal relation construction, and concept formation can result from such instructional designs. The extent to which these three outcomes are evidence for strong conceptual change is also discussed. |
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