Students’ Meaning-Making of Nutrient Uptake in Relation to Organizational Levels

Carl-Johan Rundgren,Alma Jahic Pettersson,Lena A.E Tibell

doi:10.16993/dfl.175

Carl-Johan Rundgren, Alma Jahic Pettersson + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.175

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Abstract

Previous research suggests that everyday expressions are commonly used in students’ descriptions of nutrient uptake. This study investigate a classroom context in year 5 with a focus on signs of scientific meaning-making about nutrient uptake with an animation as a resource in two different schools. In one of the schools there was also a teacher review. The aim of this study is to investigate the pedagogical affordances of scientific terms and everyday expressions in the animation and in classroom teaching. Further, students’ signs of scientific meaning-making at the meso and submicro organizational level in group discussions and written descriptions are analyzed and if taking part of a teacher review influenced the students’ use of scientific terms and everyday expressions.The results show that the students who had a teacher review use everyday expressions at the meso and submicro level to a greater extent than the students who did not have an teacher review. The everyday expressions are often used as a kind of translation from the scientific terms in the students’ drawings.

Highlights

Students in primary school appear to understand the digestive system better than most other systems in the human body (Garcia-Barros, Martínez-Losada, and Garrido, 2011)
We focus on everyday expressions in relation to scientific terms as well as the meso and submicro organizational level, based on learning with an animation of nutrient uptake
On the one hand we focus on how students construe nutrient uptake in relation to different levels of organization, and on the other hand we have a particular focus on the role of everyday expressions in relation to meaningful scientific content

Summary

Introduction

Students in primary school appear to understand the digestive system better than most other systems in the human body (Garcia-Barros, Martínez-Losada, and Garrido, 2011). Previous research suggests that students generally find it difficult to connect processes relating to food digestion taking place at different organizational levels in the body (Carvalho et al, 2004; Rowlands, 2004; Teixeira, 2000). We ask ourselves how we could help students to better understand digestion and nutrient uptake and to connect the processes taking place at different organizational levels to a meaningful whole. Research shows that animations could be used successfully in learning certain aspects of science (e.g., Rundgren & Tibell, 2010). This study investigate how teaching using an animation describing nutrient uptake, created with the intention to connect events taking place at different organizational levels, can be designed to achieve scientific meaning-making

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