From Gesture/Object to Writing/Image: Semiotic Transformations in Adolescents’ Engineering Designs

• In Event: Semiotic Understandings of Education

Abstract

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe the representational practices of two teams of high school students as they sought to solve problems through engineering design processes. Findings suggest that the presence of gestures in the early stage of the design process served as a mediator to ensure that all students were referring to the same object. However, students experienced difficulty in translating what they communicated in gesture to a more permanent form of communication, such as image or writing.

Author

• Amy Alexandra Wilson, Utah State University