Stamatis and Leslie both begin their respective interactions by sitting to the side of the group and listening without speaking for a while while their groups go over their energy diagrams for a hand pushing a box horizontally with no friction. Stamatis's interaction was initiated by Stamatis, I infer because he saw his group as being off-topic (talking about the ratio of K's in the hand and the box) and he wanted to help them get on course; in my earlier post, I documented what felt like two unsuccessful "tries" to get the group to talk about the prompt. In this post I will document three beginnings I saw Leslie make. Her first contribution is to respond to a question from a teacher; her second is to affirm and elaborate something the teachers have already agreed on; and her third is to ask the teachers a question.
Here is Leslie's first contribution, a response to a question posed to her by Nina (E2 110811 1034 LA Whatshappening.mov):
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Nina poses her question directly to Leslie, looking at her while she does so. The moment didn't absolutely require that Leslie answer (she could possibly have just continued to sit quietly); but she does answer, pretty directly and concisely. Nina and John seem prepared to think about what Leslie wants them to think about (causation): Nina considers the distinction between explanation and description, and John answers in terms of a push. John's answer about the hand pushing the block doesn't seem to me to go very far, and Nina's response about the block being in the way of the hand seems possibly problematic, but never mind. Leslie watches with apparent attention and doesn't say anything.
For the next two minutes the teachers' discussion ranges over several topics. Rebecca questions Nina's phrasing about the hand using chemical energy. Nina talks about how much kinetic energy the hand would have if the block were not there. Several group members participate in wondering about the relative kinetic energies of the hand and the block (the same question that was occupying the members of Stamatis's group). In the episode below, Rebecca and Nina have a beautiful little bit of agreement about the modest role they want math to have in physics discussions. Leslie's first initiation of an interaction occurs in response to that agreement (E2 110811 1037 LA Thatworksforme.mov):
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Leslie's purpose in speaking up seems to be to affirm and empathize with what the teachers are saying about the proper place of math in their physics learning.
Next Rebecca proposes a video analysis of students discussing physics before and after exposure to the relevant equations. Nina says how useful it would be if teachers of different grades could easily coordinate with one another. Leslie talks about Chico having established a science education department, so that she gets to collaborate with biologists. This is about three minutes of convivial conversation. Then there is a lull, and in the quiet moment Leslie initiates a new topic - or actually, refers back to something that was said ten minutes before (E2 110811 1040 LA Letsthinkaboutthisone.mov):
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This time feels like the first true initiation of an interaction, in that it is something Leslie (and possibly only Leslie) wants to know more about.
To summarize Leslie's opening lines (as I did for Stamatis):
- (responding to Nina's question) "What's happening when it went from C to K, what happened when it went from K to K."
- (summarizing prior discussion) "I think the question is, if they're moving the same speed do they have the same KE. And I think you're saying, let's just make the mass the same."
- (new topic recalling earlier teacher statement) "Let's think about this one."
I don't think that the nature of the beginnings is well captured by the words that are said. I will try to characterize what I see as being some significant differences in another post.
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