Transforming primary teachers' representational practices: Effects on students' scientific reasoning and discourse within contemporary sciences (2011-2013)

This project aims to investigate the effects of training teachers in scientific representation and argumentation on students' development of scientific concepts, discourse and learning. The project will provide key information on the effect these strategies have on students' capacity to construct evidence-based explanations using representations to promote high quality conceptual discussions and learning. It will lead to specific practical recommendations to schools about how scientific representation and argumentation can be taught to students to promote scientific thinking and learning during cooperative inquiries within contemporary sciences.