ERIC Number: EJ1471547
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jun
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1898
Available Date: 2024-10-28
Fostering Epistemic Space for Collaborative Solutions in Primary Science through a Socratic Seminar Inquiry Approach
Melinda Kirk1; Russell Tytler1; Peta J. White1; Joseph Paul Ferguson1; Jo Raphael1
Research in Science Education, v55 n3 p619-640 2025
With the critical nature of socio-ecological challenges, the need to empower young people to generatively grapple with these science-related issues is crucial for developing their agentic citizenship. This paper reports on a primary science project that adopted a Socratic Seminar pedagogical strategy to enable student voice and collaborative solutions to a local/global socio-ecological challenge. Exploring microorganisms in a COVID-19-affected world, student agency and investigative practices were prioritised. We report a semiotic analysis of the student-led investigations and discussions informing decision-making and action. Students enacted scientifically grounded reasoning, posed evidence-focused questions and engaged in collaborative argumentation towards solutions. The culminating 'Scientists for Solutions' Socratic Seminar closely emulated the practices of the science community in supporting the generation of evidence-informed solutions. This paper unpacks this pedagogical approach. The findings inform the nature and creation of epistemic space within the primary science classroom that fosters student scientific questioning, inquiry decisions and collaborative decision-making through a Socratic Seminar process.
Descriptors: Elementary School Science, Science Education, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Questioning Techniques, Seminars, Inquiry, Science and Society, Cooperative Learning, Problem Solving, Science Process Skills, Persuasive Discourse, Evidence, Decision Making, Epistemology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Deakin University, School of Education, Burwood, Australia