REQUIRED READING:

Chi, M. T. H., deLeeuw, N., Chiu, M., and LaVancher,C. (1994) Eliciting Explanations Improves Understanding. Cognitive Science, 18, pp. 439-477. <Download PDF>

• What do you notice about the facilitation, explanation, or interaction in these clips?
• What counts as an explanation?
• What kinds of data/representations are being used?
• How might you code this? What metrics or coding schemes would you use?
• How does this advance our theories about informal learning and practice schools?

RELATED READINGS

Chi, M.T. H. and Bassok, M. (1989) Learning from examples via self-explanation. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.) Knowing, Learning, and Instruction: Essays in honor of Robert Glaser (pp. 251-282), Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. <Download PDF> [*This reading is a classic and is referred to in the required reading. Students learn more during problem-solving tasks when they stop and explain things to themselves.-SH]

Sandoval, W. A. (2003). Conceptual and epistemic aspects of students' scientific explanations. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(1). 5-51. <Download PDF> [*Bill Sandoval, co-developed BGuILE (biology guided inquiry learning environment) while a PhD student at Northwestern and studied the conceptual and epistemic apsects of student explanations. He does a nice job in this paper reviewing the literature in students' epistemologies of science. He also describes a software tool called ExplanationConstructor designed to help students integrate conceptual and epistemic supports for explanation.]

Callanan, M. & Jipson, L. (2001). Explanatory conversations and young children's developing scientific literacy. In K. Crowley, C. D. Shunn, & T. Okada (Eds.), Designing for Science: Implications from Everyday, Classroom, and Professional Settings. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [*I like this paper because of the simple, yet elegant use of parent diaries as a method to document conversations with children and their families.]