Abstracts - Earli

I 1230 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: 0.89 JedlikSymposiumExamining the potential of classroom discussion to promote high-levelcomprehension of textChair: Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Helsinki, FinlandOrganiser: Ian A. G. Wilkinson, The Ohio State University, USADiscussant: Michael Townsend, Massey University, New ZealandThe aim of this symposium is to present results from a 4-year project that examined the potentialof classroom discussions as a means of promoting students’ high-level reading comprehension.First, we identify 9 approaches to conducting discussion that have a record of peer-reviewedempirical research over the last three decades and consistency of application in elementary orhigh-school settings. We present a conceptual framework for understanding the similarities anddifferences among these 9 approaches in terms of various parameters of group discussion. Second,we present results of a meta-analysis of 46 quantitative studies that examined the effects of theapproaches on measures of teacher-student discourse as well as on individual comprehension andlearning outcomes. Third, we present results of an analysis of the discourse arising from thediscussions to provide an understanding of the nature of students’ thinking in each of theapproaches. Fourth, we describe an integrative model of text-based discussion to promote highlevelreading comprehension that combines features of the 9 approaches while foregrounding thosefeatures that give prominence to fostering a critical-analytic stance toward text. We present resultsof a quasi-experimental study in 14 grades 4-6 language arts classrooms that examined teachers’implementation of the model and investigated its impact on students’ comprehension. Takentogether, the results provide converging evidence on the use of classroom discussions as a meansof promoting high-level comprehension of text. They provide a basis for developing a generalmodel of productive discussions that teachers can implement in a variety of ways depending ontheir instructional goals and the contexts in which they work.Developing a conceptual framework for classroom discussions about textIan A. G. Wilkinson, The Ohio State University, USAThe aim of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for understanding different approachesto conducting classroom discussions that have potential for promoting high-level comprehensionof text. We identified 9 approaches to conducting discussion that have a record of peer-reviewed,empirical research conducted in the last three decades and consistency of application in elementaryor high-school settings. Coders read documents and viewed videos describing the approaches andcharacterized them on various parameters of discussion. Results showed that most variation acrossapproaches was in the degree of control exerted by the teacher versus the students in terms ofinterpretive authority, turn-taking, topic, and choice of text. The approaches also varied in stancetoward text. Discussions in which students have the greatest control tend to be those that giveprominence to an expressive stance to the text; discussions in which teachers have the greatestcontrol tend to be those that give prominence to an efferent stance; discussions in which teachersand students share control tend to be those that give prominence to a critical-analytic stance.Coders’ ratings suggest that at least a reasonable degree of focus on the efferent and the expressive– 503 –