We investigate the dynamics of student behaviors (posture, gesture, vocal
register, visual focus) and the substance of their reasoning during
collaborative work on inquiry-based physics tutorials. Scherr has characterized
student activity during tutorials as observable clusters of behaviors separated
by sharp transitions, and has argued that these behavioral modes reflect
students' epistemological framing of what they are doing, i.e., their sense of
what is taking place with respect to knowledge. We analyze students' verbal
reasoning during several tutorial sessions using the framework of Russ, and
find a strong correlation between certain behavioral modes and the scientific
quality of students' explanations. We suggest that this is due to a dynamic
coupling of how students behave, how they frame an activity, and how they
reason during that activity. This analysis supports the earlier claims of a
dynamic between behavior and epistemology. We discuss implications for research
and instruction.Comment: 4 pages, PERC 200
