A Multimodal Social Semiotics Perspective on Teaching and Learning Using Biomedical Visualisations.

Abstract

Over recent years, there has been an explosion of digital technologies and infrastructure, and many biomedical education contexts have taken advantage of these new tools and platforms for teaching and learning visualisation practices. However, there are uncertainties, concerns, and debates in the literature, regarding the impact of digital technology on biomedical visualisation, and education more broadly. In this discussion paper, a multimodal social semiotics perspective is applied to examining visual representations, and the visual language we use to make meaning with these representations, in four different ways. Firstly, in terms of the function, role, and positionality of visual representations within the biomedical sciences. Secondly, within the context of a disciplinary Discourse, wherein visual language functions as just one of many socially specific languages, or modes, such as the written, verbal, and symbolic modes, and through which we animate the discourse and make disciplinary meaning. Thirdly, consideration is given to the meaning-making affordances and limitations of biomedical visualisation practices, affirming that no single mode or media is superior and that multimodal integration is a necessity. Finally, there is a discussion of the approaches to teaching and learning for the acquisition of a disciplinary Discourse, which highlights a need to focus on explicating the hidden curriculum. This discussion presents a perspective that offers some valuable insights into the uncertainties expressed in the literature and empowers educators with some productive pedagogical strategies.