Recurring questions that sustain the sensemaking frame

TL;DR

This study identifies how recurring questions in student discussions can serve as anchors that sustain and deepen the sensemaking process in physics education, highlighting their importance in fostering meaningful understanding.

Contribution

It provides evidence that specific recurring questions play a crucial role in maintaining and extending students' sensemaking in physics classrooms, a novel insight into instructional strategies.

Findings

Recurring questions mark entry into sensemaking

Questions based on perceived gaps recur to sustain understanding

Recurrences help stabilize and extend sensemaking process

Abstract

Many physics instructors aim to support student sensemaking in their classrooms. However, this can be challenging since instances of sensemaking tend to be short-lived, with students often defaulting to approaches based on answer-making or rote mathematical manipulation. In this study, we present evidence that specific recurring questions can serve a key role in the sensemaking process. Using a case-study of two students discussing an E&M thought experiment, we show how students' entry into sensemaking is marked by the articulation of a particular question, based on a perceived gap or inconsistency in understanding and how this question recurs throughout their subsequent explanations, arguing that these recurrences may serve to stabilize and extend the process.