The Diffusion and Appropriation of Ideas in the Science Classroom: Developing a Taxonomy of Events Occurring between Groups of Learners

While research on group learning has fucused almost exclusively on interactions among individuals within groups, there has been little research on phenomena occurring between groups of learners in classrooms. This exploratory study identifies, describes, and categorizes events occurring between members of different learning groups in three ninth-grade physical science classrooms. Analysis of interaction data from a collaborative activity involving the construction of complex electrical circuits was used to create a working taxonomy of inter-group events. This taxonomy was then tested for generalizability with four other collaborative student projects and was found to account for all inter-group events during these activities. Evidence gathered from videotape, interview, and observational data further indicated that many types of inter-group interactions are qualitatively different from intra-group interactions, and that inter-group interactions contribute significantly to learning within a design-based classroom context. Students in these classrooms effectively used the special expertise of others outside of their assigned groups and exploited features of the material environment in specific ways with others outside of their assigned groups to create complex products. Examples are included of how concepts, ideas, tools, tool-related practices, and materials diffused throughout the classroom environment and were appropriated by learners in various ways to contribute to the construction of the design artifacts.