Floaties and sinkies, flinkers and Archimedes thinkers : embodied writing in grade eight science class

Abstract

This study has emerged from concerns expressed by science students, educators,
 and researchers, and from my own teaching experience, that writing in school science
 often remains disconnected from students' experience, and rarely stimulates further
 learning. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of open, expressive writing
 tasks to illustrate students' understanding of the phenomena of floating and sinking.
 A specially selected series of seven explorations in physical properties of matter
 provide a rich context for Grade Eight students and I, their teacher, to experience and
 explore this topic. The interconnections between lab explorations and writing in school
 science, and the interactions in a classroom fostering science inquiry, are central to this
 study.
 A classroom-based story is unraveled from an enactivist perspective. My analysis
 of students' writing tasks and reflections on learning illuminates possibilities for
 encouraging personal connections and embodied writing in science class. Students'
 insights into learning about science and about themselves through expressive ways of
 writing shape this story.

Education, Faculty of

Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of

Graduate