Optical Pulsars and Black Arrows: Discoveries as Occasioned Productions

The current paper represents a methodological proposal. It seeks to address the question of how one might recognize a discovery as a discovery without knowing in advance what is available to be discovered. We propose a solution and demonstrate it using data from a study previously reported by Roschelle (1992). Roschelle investigated two students’ discovery of certain abstract features of Newtonian mechanics while working within a computer-based microworld, the Envisioning Machine. We employ an approach we term discovery-as-occasioned-production to re-examine his data. Such an approach proceeds stepwise from the identification of some matter discovered, working backwards to see just where that matter entered the conversation and, then, finally, tracing from that point forward to illuminate how the proposal for a possible discovery was ultimately transformed into a discovery achieved. The notion of “evident vagueness,” borrowed from Garfinkel, Lynch, and Livingston’s (1981) account of the discovery of an optical pulsar, emerges as an important feature of our analysis. Following Garfinkel (2002), we present our findings as a “tutorial problem” and offer a suggestion for how a program of practice studies in the learning sciences might be pursued

Learner Articulation as Interactional Achievement: Studying the Conversation of Gesture

Studied under a variety of names (e.g., self-explanation, self-directed and generative summarization), it is now a well-accepted finding that the process of learner articulation contributes to new learning. While prior research has focused on measuring the effects of various forms of articulation on learning outcomes, this report focuses on how such articulation maybe accomplished, moment to moment and turn by turn. Specifically, it documents some of the ways in which participants use their bodies and, in particular, their hands while displaying what they know. It presents fine-grained analyses of three videotaped fragments of naturally occurring interaction among medical teachers and students participating in tutorial meetings in a Problem-Based Learning curriculum. Within these three exhibits, we find evidence of recipient design with regard to gesture production and recipient response with reference to its performance. We also find evidence of gesture re-use as a mechanism for cohesion across turns at talk and as a display of mutual understanding. This paper represents a preliminary step toward a more general program of research focusing on sense making practices in learning settings. Extending our understanding of how such practices are accomplished interactionally is a crucial step toward eventually being able to give an adequate account of what makes any exemplary form of instruction effective

Bridging the Gap between Object-oriented and Logic Programming

A description is given of an interface that was developed between Loops and Xerox Quintus Prolog. Loops is an extension to the Xerox AI environment to support object-oriented programming; Xerox Quintus Prolog is a version of Prolog that runs on Xerox Lisp machines. Such a bridge enables all the support tools of both environments to be accessed, and degradation of performance that occurs when one language is implemented top of another is avoided. The interface has three layers. At the lowest level, a set of Prolog predicates gives the Prolog programmer access to Loops objects. This lowest level is the bridge from Prolog to Loops. At the next level, programming tools in the Loops environment let object methods be defined in Prolog. At the highest level, the Prolog programmer can treat Prolog clauses as Loops objects that can be manipulated outside the Prolog database. Each layer can be used independently

“No! That's not what we were doing though”. Student-Initiated, Other Correction

The current paper examines two examples of other-correction produced by students during the course of a classroom exercise. One of these efforts culminates in replacement, the other fails. The two efforts are examined in the light of the existing literature focusing on conversational repair in the classroom. The data comes from a corpus of materials collected in a 5th grade math and science class. We will examine how each corrective effort was organized in order to better understand their different outcomes. It is argued that the kinds of trouble evidenced here may not be uncommon in “conversations with the not-yet-competent.” In studying these matters, the paper seeks to illuminate some of the lived work of the classroom, both the lived work of being a teacher and the lived work of being a student.Cet article examine deux exemples d'hétéro-correction produits par des élèves au cours d'une activité en classe. L'un de ces efforts aboutit au remplacement de la forme considérée, l'autre échoue. Ces deux efforts sont examinés à partir de la littérature existante, en mettant l'accent sur le processus de réparation de la conversation dans le cadre de la classe. Les données proviennent d'un corpus (mathématiques et sciences) recueilli dans une classe de CM2 (5th grade). Nous examinons comment chaque effort de correction est organisé afin de mieux comprendre chaque résultat. On fait valoir que les difficultés mises en évidence ici peuvent ne pas être rares au sein des « conversations avec les non-encore-compétents ». Avec l'étude de ces questions, l'article vise à éclairer une partie du travail vécu dans la classe, à la fois le travail vécu du professeur et le travail vécu de l'élève