Digital stories in science

Abstract

Meaning making is an essential aspect of learning as a process of interpreting and negotiating information while sharing it with others. One way of constructing meaning is through (digital) stories. This research sought to encourage students’ engagement in a science topic through collaborative learning and digital story creation. To this aim, two digital story activities were created – the first was based on story sequencing and the second on story verbalisation. Participants were 31 Greek primary students aged 10–11 years old, from two Grade 5 classes, who worked collaboratively. Class A worked on the first activity and Class B on the second activity. A thorough analysis of students’ resultant digital stories and follow-up group interviews was conducted using qualitative methods. Findings revealed that story sequencing positioned students as story makers, who had to employ decision-making strategies to determine the content of the story according to their preferred order of presentation. In contrast, story verbalisation positioned students as story re-tellers, who had to verbalise its pre-defined content. The process of story making is linked to the meaning-making process, because it enables learners to see their understanding of something come together and as such it facilitates the construction of meaning.