Facilitating Classroom Talk that

Builds the Mind

Gaowei Chen

Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong

Meeting of Minds Series, SoL

Nov 26, 2015

Teacher-led classroom talk is

fundamental to student learning

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Teacher talk

How do you know it has more

volume? What’s your

proof?

Teacher

Louie

Because I can tell that A doesn’t

have that much volume.

Why? What is it about container A

or the liquid in A that makes you

think there’s not a lot in there?

Teacher

Press for Reasoning

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Teacher talk

What do you think Amalia

means when she says it

causes physical breakdown?

Teacher

Amalia

…sometimes hot weather… it causes

physical breakdown of the rocks.

Marcel

Well, I- I think she means like the

rocks like after you get - it starts to

cool and when it starts to warm again

usually a lot of stuff starts to break out

there.

Restate Someone Else’s Reasoning

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Teacher helps students think by self

• Press for Reasoning “Why do you think that?” “What’s your evidence?”

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• Say More “Can you say more about that?”

“Can you give an example?”

• Revoice “So, let me see if I’ve got what you’re saying. Are you

saying…?”

• Challenge “Does it always work that way?”

“I kind of disagree with you”

Teacher helps students think with others

• Restate “Who can repeat what he just said or put it into their own

words?”

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• Agree/

Disagree

“Do you agree/disagree? (And why?)”

“Does anyone want to respond to that idea?”

• Add On “Who can add onto the idea that he is building?”

“Can anyone take that suggestion and push it a little further?”

• Explain Other “Who can explain what he means when she says that?”

“Why do you think he said that?”

• Improved student achievement and reasoning

skills

(Bill et al., 1992; Chapin & O’Connor, 2004; Kuhn et al., 2013; Resnick et al., 2015)

• Long term effect and transfer

(Adey & Shayer, 2001; Bill, Leer, Reams, & Resnick, 1992; Chapin & O’Connor, 2004; Shayer, 1999;

Topping & Trickey, 2007)

When teachers use such talk moves

in the classroom…

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However, very little teaching includes

such talk in the classroom

8(Kane & Staiger, 2012; Mercer, Dawes, & Staarman, 2009; Pimentel & McNeil, 2013)

• Teachers find it difficult to learn and effectively integrate such talk moves into their instruction

• Teachers believe that basic information must first be taught “directly”

• Teachers believe that only a few students are capable of the kind of effective talk that appears to have robust effects

• …

Hence the Need for…

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facilitating teacher professional

development in the skills of

discussion-based teaching

An Analytics-supported Reflection

Approach

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• Teacher professional development context

– School embedded, evidence based

• Teacher and facilitator community

• Joint reflection supported by visual analytics, video,

and transcripts

• Visual representations serve as a lens for identifying meaningful segments

Visualization Transcripts

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Visualization Transcripts

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Research Questions

• How do the teachers view the analytics-

supported reflection approach?

• How does the analytics-supported

reflection approach impact classroom talk

and student learning?

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Research Design• Secondary mathematics classes

• A year-long intervention involving school-embedded, evidence-based

teacher learning activities

• A post-test and a delayed post-test of the impact of teacher learning

on classroom talk and students’ mathematics achievement14

Preliminary Findings

North Carolina school district with 6 reading teachers and 3 facilitators

After the analytics-supported intervention…

• Growth in specific talk moves

– 4 of the 6 teachers showed growth in specific talk moves

– This targeted growth corresponds to specific talk goals that teachers and facilitators

identified in coaching sessions

• Level of student involvement

– 5 out of the 6 teachers engaged more students in the discussion

– Teachers tended to be more aware of the number of students involved in classroom

discussions

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Some Challenges

• Recording of classroom talk

– Tracking camera, microphone-array?

• Transcribing

– Speech recognition software that can pick up multi-party discussion?

• Coding

– Automated coding software?

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Thank You!

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