DISCURSIVE INTERACTIONS AND EPISTEMIC PRACTICES IN SCIENCE CLASSROOMS

ABSTRACT:

This paper presents a discussion about the adoption of the epistemic practices concept in analysis of discursive interactions developed in science classrooms. We consider the results of two studies in which we analyze the actions of students groups throughout investigative activities, in order to verify the relation between epistemic practices developed by them and strategies articulated by the teacher conducting activities. The analysis counted with categories present in education's literature, as well as other categories developed while the research was conducted. The concept of epistemic practices, according to a sociocultural perspective of education, emphasizes the role of a community of any practice in deciding what can be considered relevant knowledge and appropriate ways to build it. Under this perscpective, the investigative activities developed by the analyzed student groups created space to a epistemic practice variety, distributed in production, communication and knowledge evaluation's social instances.

Keywords:
Epistemic movements; Epistemic practices; Investigative activities