Using Student Knowledge to Enhance Inquiry: A Theoretical and Practical View of Negotiation in a Science Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of negotiation in a science classroom, specifically how teachers can improve their student's ability to construct a scientific claim by focusing on their students' knowledge and how it changes throughout the unit. The paper will attempt to define key aspects of negotiation, the student’s role in negotiation, the teacher’s role in promoting negotiation, and how negotiation can potentially increase the opportunity for conceptual change in students. Negotiation will be discussed as a notion of assimilation, accommodation, and a relationship of construction and critique.