Collaborating with Relational References

A previous analysis of the data considered here used a simple concept of reference in which an utterance refers to an identifiable object in the world – a specific rocket description in the simulation list. In this paper, the analysis is deepened to reveal the learning by the group of students of a more sophisticated reference that involves pairs of objects compared in a subtle way. Mastering practices that define such reference is necessary for conducting collaborative scientific experiments involving controlled variables. This accomplishment is achieved by the group of students as a whole, working with computerbased artifacts under the guidance of an adult mentor. The group of students in the previous paper encountered confusion about which rockets they were referring to in their talk-in-interaction. In this paper, it becomes clear that their task of referring was complicated; it involved a new way of looking at the meanings embedded in the simulation artifact.