Scaffolding scientific explanation in chemistry through language-specific support

Abstract

This paper draws on the work of teachers in Singapore in supporting Upper Secondary Chemistry students in the skills required for constructing scientific explanations. Specifically, the focus centres on examining scaffolding through mediating (Scott,1998) learning task and classroom talk to make explicit the demands required of explanations in Chemistry. Scaffolding is contextualized against a socioconstructivist research perspective (Applebee, 2002; Vygotsky,1978, 1986) as language-mediated activity and task-enabling support (Mitchell & Sharpe, 2005) for the construction of coherent, well-structured explanations. Teachers’ design of pedagogic resources was examined specifically with regard to making explicit the links in causal relationships in scientific explanations. Teachers’ classroom discourse was analyzed to highlight explicit moves in teacher–student interaction that support students in their interpreting and construction of content-specific explanations. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for classroom practice to support students’ learning are discussed.