Orchestrating the multiple voices and inscriptions of a mathematics classroom

The purpose of this article is to explore how inscriptions are used to create argumentative positions in the 2 classroom episodes, Batteries and AIDS. This activity is similar to a prominent practice of scientific communities: the use of inscriptions to advance knowledge claims. We begin by discussing the meaning and function of inscriptions in scientific communities and then apply some notions from the history and sociology of science to our analyses of the case study data in the 2 episodes. In addition, we address some of the challenges for teachers in incorporating scientific practices into their classroom activities. Among these challenges is the need to alter the nature of the problems and inscriptions used as well as change classroom discourse structures. In our analyses of the 2 episodes, we found that the classroom activities resembled those of scientific communities in several ways: Real-world, dilemma-driven problems were presented; students evaluated the inscriptions offered in terms of their adequacy for advancing particular knowledge claims; and the teachers helped their students reflect on, clarify, expand, evaluate, oppose, or integrate each other's explanations into their argumentative positions. We also found that the teachers legitimated student contributions to the discussion by revoicing their arguments. Despite the positive findings from our analyses, we were able to identify and illustrate one additional challenge for future design experiments: How do we orchestrate the multiple voices of the classroom in an equitable fashion while pursuing our instructional goals?.