Dialogic teaching strategies and talk moves : associations with student academic achievement and creative thinking

Abstract

Grounded in the recognized importance of classroom dialogue for student learning and thinking, emerging studies have advocated for dialogic teaching and investigated its effectiveness on student learning outcomes and thinking development. However, existing research has yielded inconsistent findings on the association between dialogic teaching and academic achievement. Moreover, little research has explored the role of dialogic teaching in fostering creative thinking. Therefore, this thesis aimed to examine the relationship between dialogic teaching and student academic achievement as well as creative thinking. To this end, the thesis comprises four interrelated studies, with the goals of (1) achieving a comprehensive understanding of analytic indicators for dialogic teaching; (2) examining the overall strength of the association between dialogic teaching and academic achievement; (3) investigating the relationship between dialogic teaching and creative thinking, and elucidating the underlying mechanisms by examining the mediating roles of academic motivation and discursive engagement; and (4) exploring sequential patterns of classroom dialogue associated with creative thinking. Specifically, Study 1 used a systematic review to formulate a coding scheme for dialogic teaching based on 32 empirical studies, categorizing a repertoire of 12 talk moves into three dialogic teaching strategies: sharing, articulating, and building on. This coding framework served as the foundation for analyzing dialogic teaching throughout the thesis. Study 2 was a meta-analytic review that synthesized 16 studies with 51 effect sizes to examine the relationship between dialogic teaching and student academic achievement. The results found a significant positive relationship between dialogic teaching and academic achievement, mediated by student engagement but not moderated by geographical region, grade level, achievement domain, or measure of teacher talk. Study 3, involving 16 teachers and 709 primary school students, revealed distinct mechanisms through which dialogic teaching strategies were linked to creative thinking. The sharing strategy directly and positively influenced creative thinking. However, it also had an indirect negative effect, mediated through discursive engagement. The building on strategy demonstrated a direct and positive effect on creative thinking. Additionally, it had an indirect positive influence, mediated through academic motivation and discursive engagement. Conversely, the articulating strategy was negatively associated with creative thinking through academic motivation and discursive engagement. A micro-analysis offered deeper insights into the nuanced influence of these three strategies on shaping creative learning. Finally, Study 4 employed lag sequential analysis to investigate dialogue patterns associated with creative thinking, comparing two types of classes with differing levels of student creative thinking. The results showed that teacher-student dialogue patterns emphasizing reasoned discourse and connecting students’ ideas contributed to the development of creative thinking, whereas those involving persistent questioning or excessive evaluation did not. In summary, the thesis formulates a comprehensive framework to codify dialogic teaching, clarifies the positive relationship between dialogic teaching and academic achievement, elucidates the distinct mechanisms by which specific dialogic teaching strategies affect creative thinking, and reveals the patterns of teacher-student dialogue associated with the development of creative thinking. The thesis also offers an integrated discussion on the practical implications of dialogic teaching for improving academic achievement and creative thinking.