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Abstract It is important to understand how students reason in K-12 integrated STEM settings to better prepare teachers to engage their students in integrated STEM tasks. To understand the reasoning that occurs in these settings, we used the lens of collective argumentation, specifically attending to the types of warrants elementary students and their teachers provided and accepted in integrated STEM contexts and how teachers supported students in providing these warrants. We watched 103 h of classroom instruction from 10 elementary school teachers and analyzed warrants that occurred in arguments in mathematics, coding, and integrated contexts to develop a typology of warrants contributed in mathematics and coding arguments. We found that these students made their warrants explicit the majority of the time, regardless of the teacher’s presence or absence. When teachers were present, they supported argumentation in various ways; however, they offered less support in integrated contexts. Additionally, we found students relied more on visual observations in coding contexts than in mathematics or integrated contexts, where they often provided warrants based on procedures required to accomplish a task. These findings have implications for improving integrated STEM instruction through engaging students in argumentation.
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PATTERNS OF REASONING: WARRANTS IN ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS AND CODING ARGUMENTS
Argumentation is widely used in teaching mathematics, but little research has been done on argumentation in teaching integrated mathematics and coding. As part of a larger study investigating collective argumentation in teaching mathematics, science, and coding, we classified the warrants given by elementary-age students who were engaged in argumentation in mathematics and coding. Three ma}or categories - calculation, visual, and unformalized knowledge - accounted for the majority of warrants given. Further analysis revealed differences in types of warrants when the primary focus of the argument was coding versus when the primary focus of the argument was mathematics. Our results suggest that expecting students to provide reasons for modifying their code, similar to what is expected in mathematics arguments, helps move them away from a trial-and-error to a more structured approach to coding.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1741910
- PAR ID:
- 10472243
- Editor(s):
- Olanoff, D.; Johnson, K.; Spitzer, S. M.
- Publisher / Repository:
- International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the forty-third annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
- Volume:
- 1
- Issue:
- 1
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1569-1573
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Philadelphia, PA.
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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