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8 Examining Teacher Discourse in STEM Classrooms in a Summer Enrichment Program
Teacher talk constitutes an essential part of today's classrooms and exploring the different types of teacher talk that occur in STEM classrooms can inform teacher preparation and in-service training. A number of studies (e.g., Dagher & Cossman, 1992; Liberali, 2017; Van deer Veen & Van Oers, 2017) have suggested that orchestrations of classroom talk might yield desired student learning and development since teacher-student and student-student conversations affect children learning and development in classrooms. However, previous studies examining teacher talk have been limited and further research is needed to examine different types of teacher talk that occur in STEM classrooms. STEM education is one of the most popular areas in gifted education (Jolly, 2009; Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011). Olszewski-Kubilius (2009) emphasized that the role of teachers is to promote gifted students’ advanced learning in STEM; however, there is still a need to explore the effectiveness of teacher talk in STEM classrooms and effects of different types of teacher talk. An important point to be addressed is the lack of qualitative studies on teacher discourse and the limited validity information on instruments. In this study, we used a qualitative approach since, to our knowledge, no studies have examined patterns of classroom talk in gifted STEM classrooms using that methodological approach. In this qualitative study, the science talk of five teachers in a summer enrichment program was investigated during the implementation of STEM curriculum units by looking at the content, complexity, structure, and orchestration of classroom discussions. We explored successful pedagogies of science talk in five kindergarten to fourth grade classrooms for students who are gifted and talented that might provide significant contributions to the literature on science talk in STEM classrooms as well as gifted student learning. The results of this study will be shared with participants, and we will discuss ways that our results can be used in teacher professional development.