Science discourse through collaborative concept mapping: new perspectives for the teacher

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Abstract
The study reported here is part of a larger project designed to understand the construction of meaning during collaborative concept mapping. The focus of this report is the teacher who engages students through the emerging concept maps in reflections about their knowledge of scientific concepts and how they are integrated in a larger framework. It is based on data collected over a two‐year span with about 150 students in ten sections of junior and senior physics. The data include video‐taped concept‐mapping sessions, concept maps produced during these sessions and those produced individually at home, reflective essays by the students, and the teacher's reflective notes. Based on the data sources, three major dimensions were constructed. First, concept maps served as conscription devices which enlisted the participation of students and their teacher who constructed and used them for a variety of purposes. Second, the teacher engaged students in reflections about their knowledge through the conscription device and in his role as a coach‐facilitator‐guide. Third, in this role, the teacher conducted dynamic assessments of student understanding which were then used to intervene to help students construct meaning of scientific concepts compatible with scientific knowledge. This process of evaluation and intervention by the teacher was conceptualized as coach‐facilitator‐guide in the metaphor of the reflective practitioner. We conclude that, in our construction, collaborative concept mapping becomes a context which can assist teachers in changing their referents of action from objectivist to constructivist metaphors of teaching.