Mapping the Methodological Space of Classroom Interaction Research: Scale, Duration, and Modality in an Age of AI
Artificial Intelligence
2026-05-01 v1 Computation and Language
Computers and Society
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.28098,
title = {Mapping the Methodological Space of Classroom Interaction Research: Scale, Duration, and Modality in an Age of AI},
author = {Dorottya Demszky and Edith Bouton and Alison Twiner and Sara Hennessy and Richard Correnti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.28098},
year = {2026}
}