Mapping the Methodological Space of Classroom Interaction Research: Scale, Duration, and Modality in an Age of AI
Authors: Dorottya Demszky, Edith Bouton, Alison Twiner, Sara Hennessy, Richard Correnti
Organizations: Stanford Graduate School of Education, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305 · Lausen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 · Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel · Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8PQ, UK · University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center, 3420 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Research on classroom interaction has long been divided between large-scale observation and in-depth ethnographic work. We propose a framework mapping this methodological space along three dimensions--scale, duration, and modality--where a study's position shapes what it reveals and obscures. We illustrate it through contrasting studies of dialogic teaching--Howe et al. (2019) and Snell and Lefstein (2018)--and an interview with the lead researchers, organized around three questions: what can be operationalized, what mechanisms become visible, and what translates to practice. We then examine how AI is expanding this space and how the framework can guide research and tool design.