Exploring Scientific Reasoning in Elementary Science Classroom Discourses

This study aims to explore scientific reasoning that students and their teachers constructed in elementary science classroom discourses in terms of basic reasoning types; deduction, induction, and abduction. For this research, data were collected from 13 classes of 4th grade science activities during a period of three months and analyzed three types of scientific reasoning in elementary school science discourses. We found that deduction (one discourse segment), induction (one discourse segment), and deduction-abduction (two discourse segments) were presented in the discourses. They showed that: first, scientific reasoning proceeded explicitly or implicitly in elementary science discourses; second, the students and their teachers have potentials to increase the quality of reasoning depending on their inter-subjectivity; and last, the students` background knowledge were very important in the development of their reasoning. Implication and remarks on science education and research were presented based on this results as well.