Making sense of complex data: a framework for studying students' development of reflective inquiry dispositions

TITLE: Making sense of complex data: A conceptual framework for studying students' development of reflective inquiry dispositions To make sense of complex data in inquiry, students must develop reflective modes of classroom work. This study examines the process of developing such reflective dispositions for individual students, in the context of a middle-school earth science inquiry unit designed by the researchers and collaborating teachers. Valid characterization of this learning process requires a conceptual framework through which to attend to the multiple variables that contribute to dispositional learning. The proposed conceptual framework identifies a reflective disposition as a property not just of the individual, but of the individual within an activity system. Relevant variables for study include elements of the classroom activity system, elements of the intended domain of reflective data analysis, and elements of the individual student's modes of understanding. These are proposed as three contexts of reflection, referred to as the " task context, " the " data context, " and the " role context. " This three-context framework for understanding reflection in inquiry is used as a tool for data analysis, characterizing the dispositional learning of each focus student in the study. Reflection was found to be an often-shared social process, shaping and being shaped by the negotiation of the meaning of activity. Learning was mediated by interactions between group interactional modes (in the task context) and individuals' roles (in the role context). Two focus groups studied were found to have markedly different modes of interaction: one characterized as a " comfort zone " for work with complex data, the other a " confrontation zone. " These modes afforded the development of different roles, or modes of participation, for each student. Learning to make sense of complex data was situated within the development of these new roles. The framework and data analysis suggest a coherent approach to representing social activity patterns, individual development, and content-area instructional goals within a common conceptual framework. This is a valuable contribution in that it locates other bodies of educational research in relation to one another.