The DOI matches its Crossref record; 65 of the 67 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
‘Explain to your partner’: teachers' instructional practices and students' dialogue in small groups
Abstract
Collaborative group work has great potential to promote student learning, and increasing evidence exists about the kinds of interaction among students that are necessary to achieve this potential. Less often studied is the role of the teacher in promoting effective group collaboration. This article investigates the extent to which teachers' instructional practices were related to small‐group dialogue in four urban elementary mathematics classrooms in the US. Using videotaped and audiotaped recordings of whole‐class and small‐group discussions, we examined the extent to which teachers pressed students to explain their thinking during their interventions with small groups and during whole‐class discussions, and we explored the relationship between teachers' practices and the nature and extent of students' explaining during collaborative group work. While teachers used a variety of instructional practices to structure and orchestrate students' dialogue in small groups, only probing students' explanations to uncover details of their thinking and problem‐solving strategies exhibited a strong relationship with student explaining. Implications for future research, professional development, and teacher education are discussed.
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“Several studies suggest that it is mainly the contingency of teacher support that determines the effectiveness of the support.”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Webb et al. (2009)
In the citing paper
“Webb et al. (2009) showed that when teachers used students' initial thinking in their probes for explanation, students gave additional explanations beyond their initial explanations.”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Webb et al. (2009)
In the citing paper
“and these previous studies suggest that it is mainly the contingency of teacher support that determines the effectiveness of the support in fostering students' learning (Chiu, 2004;Meloth & Deering, 1999;Webb et al., 2009).”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Webb et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Adding to previous studies that have shown that listening to students before interacting with them is important (e.g., Meloth & Deering, 1999;Webb et al., 2009)”
From Scaffolding Student Understanding in Small-Group Work: Students’ Uptake of Teacher Support in Subsequent Small-Group Interaction (2019) · cites this paper as Webb et al., 2009
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Metadata
- Authors
- Webb, N. M., Franke, M. L., De, T., Chan, A. G., Freund, D., Shein, P., & Melkonian, D. K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Webb, Noreen M.
- Venue
- Cambridge Journal of Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 49-70
- ISSN
- 0305-764X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-3577
- OpenAlex
- W2060788913
- Cited by
- 193
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 22.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge Journal of Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- collaborative group work, teacher instructional practices, whole-class discussion, mathematics education, urban elementary schools, teacher questioning, problem-solving strategies
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