Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Talking Physics during Small-Group Work with Context-Rich Problems - Analysed from an Ownership Perspective

  • Published:
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study provides analyses of the conversations when university students work in small groups solving context-rich physics problems. We constructed context-rich, open-ended physics problems related to everyday life situations that lack some information required to solve and complete the tasks. The students’ ownership of learning, their actions of choice and control, was analyzed in two dimensions: group and individual. Conversation analyses and flowcharts of the conversation were constructed from the complete transcripts of three groups. The theoretical framework for student ownership of learning demonstrated that it was possible to show that even if students have group ownership of the task, the individual student ownership of learning is not self-evident. The study also demonstrates the methodological power and value of the flowchart to identify conversation patterns in the groups that were effective in the search for exploratory talks and individual questions. We discuss implications for teacher development to enhance group work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barnes, D. & Todd, F. (1995). Communication and learning revisited: Making meaning through talk. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudley-Marling, C. & Searle, D. (1995). Who owns learning? Questions of autonomy, choice, and control. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dysthe, O. (2001). Om sambandet mellan dialog samspel och lärande[About the connection between dialog, interplay and learning]. In O. Dysthe (Ed.), Dialog, samspel och lärande [Dialog, interplay and learning]. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J.-A. (2005). Exploratory talk in peer groups: Exploring the zone of proximal development. Paper presented at the Fourth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME 4), Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain, February.

  • Enghag, M., Gustafsson, P. & Jonsson, G. (2007). From everyday life experiences to physics understanding occurring in small group work with context-rich problems during introductory physics work at university. Research in Science Education, 37(4), 449–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enghag, M. & Niedderer, H. (2007). Two dimensions of student ownership of learning during small-group work in physics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. Advance online publication. Retrieved May 23, 2007. doi 10.1007/s10763–007–9075-x.

  • Heller, P. & Hollabaugh, M. (1992). Teaching problem solving through cooperative grouping. Part II: Designing problems and structuring groups. American Journal of Physics, 60(7), 637–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heller, P., Keith, R. & Anderson, S. (1992). Teaching problem solving through cooperative grouping. Part 1: Group versus individual problem solving. American Journal of Physics, 60(7), 627–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N. (2000). Words and minds: How we use language to think together. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Milner-Bolotin, M. (2001). The effects of topic choice in project-based instruction on undergraduate physical science students’ interest, ownership, and motivation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin.

  • Mortimer, E. F. & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, J. (2004). Analysing cognitive or non-cognitive factors involved in the process of physics problem solving in an everyday context. International Journal of Science Education, 26(13), 1577–1595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rennie, L. J. & Parker, L. H. (1996). Placing physics problems in real-life context: Students’ reactions and performance. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 42(1), 55–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (1984). Time and narrative (vol. 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (1992). Oneself as another. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitelegg, E. & Parry, M. (1999). Real-life contexts for learning physics: Meanings, issues and practice. Physical Educator, 34(2), 68–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Physics, Mälardalen University, PO Box 883, SE-721 23, Västerås, Sweden

    Margareta Enghag, Peter Gustafsson & Gunnar Jonsson

Authors
  1. Margareta Enghag
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Gustafsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gunnar Jonsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margareta Enghag.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Enghag, M., Gustafsson, P. & Jonsson, G. Talking Physics during Small-Group Work with Context-Rich Problems - Analysed from an Ownership Perspective. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 7, 455–472 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-008-9125-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-008-9125-z

Key words

Search

Navigation