Table 3 Definitions of student interaction discourse moves nature of utterance codes. Abbreviations of each discourse move are in parenthesis next to the name of the code

Activity Prompt (AP)

Reading the activity prompt out loud

Agreeing (A)

Voicing agreement to a previous utterance

Assessing (AS)

Determining if the strategy addresses all aspects of the problem/task and is functional or if an answer makes sense

Building (B)

Completing an incomplete utterance or expanding on an utterance with more detail or adding additional claims. (This is coded along with another code to describe the nature of the building utterance.)

Clarification Seeking (CL)

Requesting clarification of what another student said or what is being stated or confirming their interpretation is correct

Explanation Seeking (E)

Requesting another student to share ideas, seeking an initial answer to a question or how to think about a problem, or requesting backing to a claim

Information Processing (IP)

Evaluating, interpreting, or transforming given information (students trying to make sense of given information)

Information Seeking (IS)

Requesting for more information needed to solve the problem such as conversion factors, definitions, or rules

Motivating (M)

Providing encouragement to group members

Organizing (O)

Getting ready to work on the task, making sure members are working on the correct task, keeping up with discussion, or assignment of student roles/tasks

Past Experiences (PE)

Describing experience(s) with science

Personal Remarks (PR)

Describing current state of being, or how they feel about the activity, prompt, something they need to complete or other comments not related to completing the task

Presenting a Claim (PC)

Suggesting an answer (may be tentative in nature)

Procedural (P)

Describing how to solve the problem. This can include the calculational process

Providing Information (PI)

Conveying an idea that is needed to solve the problem (ex. conversion factors, definitions, rules, formulas, data) or move the conversation forward

Reasoning (RS)

Thinking through the problem/scenario or justifying or supporting an idea with scientific reasoning

Rebutting (RB)

Rejecting an assertion supported with reasoning

Rejecting (RJ)

Explicitly voicing disagreement with an utterance

Repeating (RP)

Revoicing an utterance that has been previously stated

Reporting (RT)

Revoicing an idea or feedback to move the conversation forward

Summarizing (SM)

Summarizing ideas or steps to solve a problem that arose from the conversation

Non-Verbal Interaction (NVI)

Contributing to the completion of the activity by engaging in conversation without words (This is coded along with another code to describe the nature of the non-verbal utterance.)

Not Audible or Applicable (N/A)

Utterances that are inaudible due to static or are not appropriately described by any of the proposed codes