Constructing Scientific Knowledge through the Teacher´s Questions in a Guided-Inquiry Primary Lesson of the Water Cycle

Abstract

Background : This paper deals about how scientific content emerged through the guide of teacher questions in an inquiry-based activity. The lesson takes place with an experimental device which aims to enable students to explain the phase transitions in the water cycle. Objectives : What scientific concepts are constructed by students and teacher? What kind of questions uses the pre-service teacher in order to guide the thought of students? Design : The methodology used is based on video-analysis. The analysis is carried out at two scales, one mesoscopic (minutes) based on a thematic approach (games), the other microscopic (seconds) based on the cognitive demand of each question from the teacher as well as the decomposition of the knowledge involved in each oral intervention (facets). Setting and Participants : The study is carried out with a pre-service teacher in a science lesson of 6 th grade formed by 17 students in a public school. Data collection and analysis : Our source of data is a 1-hour video recording made during a science lesson. The data is analyzed with Transana software. Results : Findings show how the pre-service teacher uses questions in all games as a key lever to engage students in the construction of meanings. Difficulties are perceived when students try to explain the scientific concepts (evaporation and condensation) in a context of the water cycle. Conclusions : The video allowed us to observe the difficulty involved in making knowledge move forward as the session progresses if the student diversity is to be dealt with.