Abstract:
Representation-focused approaches in science education have shown promising outcomes in re-engaging students in science, including those traditionally under-represented. These approaches involve creative and active knowledge-construction where studentsconstruct, coordinate, and evaluate representations as a process of conceptual meaning-making.Because much of the research around these approaches has taken place in pre-digital classrooms, there is a need to investigate the potential for the productive integration of digital technologies to support such approaches.
This paper draws on findings from an investigation on how an all-girls Year 9 science class responded to a unit sequenced via a representation construction approach delivered on an interactive online learning platform. The physics unit was based on the Australian national curriculum, focusing on energy transfer in the context of sustainable housing. The research design incorporated an ethnographic case study approach using multiple methods for data generation. Data analysis involved socio-semiotic perspectives to understand students’ meaning-making processes through their generation and coordination of both digital and non-digital multimodal representations.
The findings indicated that the online platform was not only compatible with a representation construction approach, but also allowed for extended flexibility and access to multimodal resources to support students’ engagement in discipline-specific processes. Students showed significant, though inconsistent, learning gains along with a strong engagement with the conceptual content. The socio-semiotic analysis provided insights into the effective design of digitally based learning sequences to support more consistent learning gains.The paper concludes by suggesting how specific digital affordances of cloud-based platforms along with other digital technologies can effectively support the digital delivery of a representation construction approach for science.
This paper draws on findings from an investigation on how an all-girls Year 9 science class responded to a unit sequenced via a representation construction approach delivered on an interactive online learning platform. The physics unit was based on the Australian national curriculum, focusing on energy transfer in the context of sustainable housing. The research design incorporated an ethnographic case study approach using multiple methods for data generation. Data analysis involved socio-semiotic perspectives to understand students’ meaning-making processes through their generation and coordination of both digital and non-digital multimodal representations.
The findings indicated that the online platform was not only compatible with a representation construction approach, but also allowed for extended flexibility and access to multimodal resources to support students’ engagement in discipline-specific processes. Students showed significant, though inconsistent, learning gains along with a strong engagement with the conceptual content. The socio-semiotic analysis provided insights into the effective design of digitally based learning sequences to support more consistent learning gains.The paper concludes by suggesting how specific digital affordances of cloud-based platforms along with other digital technologies can effectively support the digital delivery of a representation construction approach for science.