Multimodal Representation and Reasoning in an Australian Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 105
  In Roundtable Session: A Cross-National Exploration of Quality Learning and Reasoning in Elementary Science

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
This study is set within the context of the cross-national EQUALPRIME project which is investigating opportunities for quality reasoning and learning in elementary science in diverse cultural traditions. The Australian study reported in this paper addresses the following research questions:
I. How does the teacher offer productive opportunities for student engagement with multimodal representations and reasoning and the development of scientific literacy outcomes?
II. How do students use various forms of representation and reasoning to construct their undertandings of science phenomena?
Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
The international consensus that scientific literacy is the major aim of science education (Goodrum, Hackling & Rennie, 2001; OECD, 2003; Roberts, 2007) has increased the focus on the science knowledge, reasoning and investigative skills needed to actively engage with science phenomena. Research on pedagogies involving student reasoning with representations has demonstrated their potential to support the development of scientific literacy (Tytler, Prain & Petersen, 2007). The study is framed from a socio-cultural perspective that recognises the importance of the broader societal culture and the culture of science with its particular forms of language, reasoning and representation for shaping effective teaching and learning that support the social construction of understandings about natural phenomena.
Methods
The study used video capture and ethnographic analysis to make connections between teaching strategies, engagement of students with academic tasks and learning outcomes. The power of video relates to its ability to capture multiple interactions and diverse modes of representation including discursive, graphical, and embodied forms. In this study, data was gathered using two cameras coupled to FM transmitter microphones, one following the teacher and the other a focus group of students. Teacher and student interviews and collection of classroom artefacts complemented the video data.
Ethnographic microanalysis (watching a video sequence, identifying major events, looking at the links between event segments, transcribing interactions, and comparing segments across the video data set) was used in this study (Erickson, 1992).
Data sources
Video recordings, transcriptions of multimodal representations and interview data enabled the use of representations and reasoning to be analysed and interpreted in the context of developing learning outcomes related to scientific literacy.
Results
In this astronomy topic, the Year 4 students used a variety of representational modes (discourse, gesture, manipulation of objects, role play, drawing and writing) and reasoning to connect various representations of their experiences and make sense of how day and night occur. Further, the analysis demonstrates the important role of discourse and gesture in mediating other forms of representation in sense making.
Scientific or scholarly significance
The study contributes new knowledge about the use of informal reasoning in coordinating representations and experiences in generating understanding of natural phenomena and extends our view of reasoning beyond more formal syllogistic forms of argumentation. Further, the study extends existing methods of transcribing and analysing the use of multimodal representations.

Authors

• Mark W. Hackling, Edith Cowan University

• Karen Janette Murcia, Edith Cowan University