Date of Award

7-13-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Linda Dorn

Abstract

This qualitative multiple case study was conducted to analyze the use of teacher and student discourse that occurred during collaborative reasoning discussions as students examined the wisdom of character choices from characters in texts. Participants included two fourth-grade teachers and four collaborative reasoning discussion groups. Three research questions guided the research process: 1) How do teachers and students use language during collaborative reasoning groups to scaffold students to make wiser decisions? 2) How does the particular activity setting shape the development of wisdom? 3) How does students’ wisdom-related knowledge change over time? The activity setting and collaborative reasoning groups were examined to determine teacher and student scaffolding patterns. Wisdom dilemmas were also analyzed to examine how students’ wisdom knowledge evolved over time. Qualitative data analysis revealed eleven general teacher scaffolds, eleven student scaffolds, and eight wisdom teacher scaffolds that enabled students to discuss wisdom. Teaching style and the activity setting affected the amount and type of scaffolds teachers and students used. Quantitative data analysis revealed that students’ wisdom knowledge increased over time. Mean wisdom dilemma scores were higher after discussion with a partner. Students in dialogic discussions had more authentic and meaningful talk that included interactions with many turns. Students in less dialogic discussion groups used less authentic talk but stayed on task and had higher mean wisdom dilemma scores before discussion with a partner.

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