Building a group idea

This episode comes from Table 2 on the morning of Day 7, just before the 45 minute mark in E1 120814 1202 T2.  The group has been working on the Gaussian Gun for a few minutes and is trying to figure out if the magnetic energy of the magnet decreases as the ball moves towards the magnet.

Transcript

Mary: Well if it’s giving, if it’s transferring some of it’s (or this?) energy into the ball wouldn’t you have

           to say it’s lost the energy?  Otherwise it would be like a source of endless energy.

Julie: Right.  Right.

Mary: Cause some of it is going into the ball so it has to lose some.

Julie: Unless there’s some sort of energy created by the joining of two charges. [Sid about to speak]

          So [Sid stops] if this one needs this one and the create something “bigger” [Sid nods] than

          what they are individually.

Lane: Are you saying energy that wasn’t there before?

Julie: Energy...

Mary: The only way it could do that is if it got cold right there [gesturing where marble and 

          magnet collide]

Julie: Right...

Lane: It must be thermal!

Julie: It’s always heat!

Mary: It’s always...

Julie: I don’t know...

Sid: But this this magnet right, if this is here [touches magnet and ball together] and then I take this

        away [pulls ball away]

Julie: It still has energy [pointing at magnet]

Sid: It still has magne---tism [Julie nods, ‘yeah’]... right?

Julie: Right.  It hasn’t lost anything in the transfer.

Sid: It hasn’t lost it’s power of magnetism [Julie nods, ‘right’]... right?

Julie: Maybe maybe it’s like you’re saying [pointing at Mary] that it’s it’s not like a battery or

         something that loses energy.  It always has a certain amount it just gives.. something to the steel

         ball.

Mary: Shares it.

Julie: Shares it... I don’t know.

Discussion

The thing that strikes me about this episode is the productivity of the discussion and the way the group arrives at the idea of the energy being shared.  At no point in the discussion do I feel like any one member contributes the key idea.  Rather, the idea of energy sharing emerges naturally from the group as a whole.  In the video I see two sorts of moves happening that support the building of a group idea: Mary, Julie, and Sid support each other sharing ideas and they build on these ideas in a way that always moves the discussion forward.

There is a lot of thinking out loud and tentative language in this discussion.  All of the words and gestures in blue show support and engagement with each other's ideas.  Whether it's verbally saying 'right' or a small nod during a pause, these moves indicate that the listener is valuing the speaker's contribution and encourages the speaker to continue when she might otherwise abandon her idea or feel like she isn't able to communicate her idea to the group.

The words in red are all moves to build on each other's ideas and to keep the discussion moving forward.  Rather than rejecting Julie's idea about a new energy coming out of the magnet meeting Mary offers a condition (not currently met) in which Julie's idea would work.  In response Julie simply says "Right", she does not say "never mind" or "forget it".  Both Mary and Julie's responses keep the conversation moving forward as opposed to throwing an idea away and starting over again.  I interpret the "But" at the start of Sid's comment to be partially validating Julie's idea.  Sid is sort of saying 'But- here's an observation that seems to support Julie's idea that the magnet does not lose magnetic energy.'  This brings Julie right back into the conversation and Julie offers a new idea, explicitly attributing some of it to Mary.  Julie starts to trail off as she is unable to identify the "something" that gets transferred.  Rather than rephrasing any of Julie's statement Mary simply completes it by introducing the idea of sharing energy.  Mary also says shares "it" rather than shares "energy".  Saying "it" attributes the it (energy) to Julie (in the discussion that follows it's clear that the group is talking about energy being the thing that is being shared).