Multiple Modes Of Representation Research Articles

Assessing early primary students’ growth in a science unit using multiple modes of representation: investigating the promise of explicit drawing instruction

ABSTRACT In order to investigate the impact of science drawing instruction in a first-grade unit on carnivorous plants (CPs), we analysed student-produced drawings after explicit instruction in drawing scientifically (n=38), as well as compared their drawings with students in a previous implementation (year 1) who did not experience explicit drawing instruction (n=31). The year 2 students experienced a science unit using multiple modes of representation (MMR) that began with a class session focused on the scientific purposes of observational drawings, including the use of labels as a science convention of communication in visual representations. Students who participated in the unit with explicit drawing instruction increased the number of structures and labels that they included when comparing their pre- and post-unit drawings, and included a statistically significant higher number of elements and labels than their year 1 peers. The results indicate that the explicit drawing instruction served as a semiotic tool for students as they constructed meaning about the structure and function of CPs, as well as supported early primary students in engaging in the epistemic practice of drawing for science communication. Implications of the study include the importance of incorporating explicit drawing instruction into science units involving student-generated drawing.

Student Meaning-Making of the Artwork in a Science Trade Book: An Interdisciplinary Opportunity for Developing Visual Literacy

ABSTRACT During a classroom-based study, Grade 4 students were provided with multiple opportunities to develop their visual meaning-making skills and competences, as well as their aesthetic understanding of and critical thinking about multimodal texts. Intentionally designed instruction during the research included a range of activities focused on specific elements of visual art and design. Student participants read and discussed, and wrote about selections of children’s literature during Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. The Sea Book was one of the books featured during an interdisciplinary unit on Ocean Literacy, a component of the overall case study research. Content analysis of the students’ responses about the trade book revealed their capacity to engage in five synergistic visual reading skills. As well, data analysis revealed how the students perceived, described, and interpreted the use of color, visual point of view, typography, framing and line in Milner’s artwork as fulfilling multiple, and often concomitant, meaning-making purposes. The findings demonstrated that instruction about how to read and understand visual representations can enhance students’ knowledge and interpretation of content conveyed through multiple modes of representation, and develop students’ capacity and agency for critically reading visual and multimodal texts.

Posing mathematically worthwhile problems: developing the problem-posing skills of prospective teachers

Problem solving is a key priority in school mathematics. Central to the valuable role played by problem solving is the quality of the problems posed. While we recognize the features of good problems and how to support learners in solving problems, less is known about the ways in which prospective teachers’ (PTs) conceptions of what constitutes a ‘good’ problem develop within the confines of an Initial Teacher Education program. This study explored the effect of engagement in a mathematics education course on the problem-posing skills of 415 prospective primary teachers. A 3-week instructional unit consisting of a series of lectures and tutorials on problem solving and problem posing was implemented. A questionnaire examining participants’ understandings of and ability to pose problems was administered prior to and following instruction. Results reveal that participation brought improvements in conceptions of what constituted a good problem and in the ability to pose good problems (targeted at grades 1–4). Initial problems generally were arithmetic, required one step to solve and had only one correct solution. Following the instructional unit, attention was paid to designing problems that had the potential of multiple strategy use, multiple possible correct solutions, multiple modes of representation and the incorporation of extraneous information. Despite these improvements, the complexities of problem posing and the challenges that persist for PTs in posing good problems are evidenced. Recommendations are made for the enhancement of problem-posing experiences, most notably developing skills in identifying mathematically worthwhile problems from a selection of problems or in reformulating given problems to make them better, that support PTs in developing the knowledge and understandings required to pose mathematically worthwhile problems.

Engendering algebraic readiness through pictorial representations

ABSTRACTPrior to leaving middle school, students are expected to be able to solve linear equations with one unknown using multiple modes of representation, including pictorial models. Although solving these linear equations is important, many students do not have the conceptual understanding to solve these types of linear equations successfully. In this article, the authors report on an investigation of the ways that middle school students use pictorial representations to set up and solve word problems involving linear equations with one unknown. A multiple case study design was used to analyze 16 students’ responses to two word problems involving linear equation tasks. Findings revealed that students were able to invoke the equivalence-relation meaning of the equal sign, apply properties of mathematical operations, use definitions of operations, and use strategic decomposition to set up and solve word problems involving linear equations with one unknown. The findings further suggest that the use of pictorial representations offered students multiple points of entry for setting up and solving word problems successfully.

Teaching and Learning Context in Augmented Reality Environment

The article presents Augmented reality (AR) as a step between reality and virtual reality for the benefit of education. After some introductory example of where AR heads, the technology will be explained itself. Then, I describe the modules of the AR that are developed and how it can be used in university courses and activities.AR is the mid-point on a continuum between the real physical world around us, and the virtual digital world online superimposing information on our sensory experiences as we move through time and space. Viewing physical objects through a mobile’s camera, AR uses image recognition, geo-location, the device’s accelerometer, and online databases to provide information relevant in time and space to the user. Research continues into different interaction methods and display possibilities making engagement with online data more natural and intuitive. The article explores current research in AR and associated technologies in order to understand possibilities for learners today and in the future.This literature review focuses on AR for learning that utilize mobile, context-aware technologies (e.g., smartphones, tablets), which enable participants to interact with digital information embedded within the physical environment. Summarizing research findings about AR in formal and informal learning environments (i.e., schools, universities, museums, parks, zoos, etc.), with an emphasis on the affordances and limitations associated with AR as it relates to teaching, learning, and instructional design. As a cognitive tool and pedagogical approach, AR is primarily aligned with situated and constructivist learning theory, as it positions the learner within a real-world physical and social context while guiding, scaffolding and facilitating participatory and meta-cognitive learning processes such as authentic inquiry, active observation, peer coaching, reciprocal teaching and legitimate peripheral participation with multiple modes of representation.

The pedagogical potential of drawing and writing in a primary science multimodal unit

ABSTRACTIn consideration of the potential of drawing and writing as assessment and learning tools, we explored how early primary students used these modes to communicate their science understandings. The context for this study was a curricular unit that incorporated multiple modes of representation in both the presentation of information and production of student understanding with a focus on the structure and function of carnivorous plants (CPs). Two science teacher educators and two first-grade teachers in the United States co-planned and co-taught a multimodal science unit on CP structure and function that included multiple representations of Venus flytraps (VFTs): physical specimens, photographs, videos, text, and discussions. Pre- and post-assessment student drawings and writings were statistically compared to note significant changes, and pre- and post-assessment writings were qualitatively analysed to note themes in student ideas. Results indicate that students increased their knowledge of VFT structure and function and synthesised information from multiple modes. While students included more structures of the VFT in their drawings, they were better able to describe the functions of structures in their writings. These results suggest the benefits for student learning and assessment of having early primary students represent their science understandings in multiple modes.

Teaching Multiple Modes of Representation in Middle‐School Science Classrooms: Impact on Student Learning and Multimodal Use

This quasi‐experimental study investigated how explicit instruction about multiple modes of representation (MMR) impacted grades 7 (n = 61) and 8 (n = 141) students’ learning and multimodal use on end‐of‐unit assessments. Half of each teacher's (n = 3) students received an intervention consisting of explicit instruction on MMR in science discourse, in addition to regular science instruction enhanced by a focus on MMR; comparison groups of students received regular science instruction. Three ordinary least squares regression models used student demographic variables and whether or not students received the intervention to predict students’ (a) gain scores on end‐of‐unit tests, (b) voluntary use of embedded MMR on unit tests, and (c) retention of science knowledge as measured by a state end‐of‐level criterion‐referenced assessment. Analyses showed that explicit instruction on MMR did not make a significant impact on student gain scores, the amount of embeddedness on unit tests, or end‐of‐level scores. However, Models 2 and 3 showed Hispanics and females used MMR more on end‐of‐unit tests than Whites or males, respectively, whether or not they received the intervention. Hispanics and females scored lower than Whites or males, respectively, on end‐of‐level, multiple‐choice assessments. Implications for classroom teachers and educational researchers in relation to these underserved populations are discussed.

Imag(in)ing Everyday Geographies: A case study of Andrew Buckles’ Why Wait? Project

This article introduces an interdisciplinary collaboration that brings together sympathetic trends in qualitative geographic visualization (from the perspective of one author who is a geographer) and contemporary generative artistic practices (from the perspective of the other author, who is an artist and theorist)—attempting to represent a diverse array of creative and multi-modal data through generative and participatory digital methods. We present how this convergence expands categories of meaning, allowing us to explore experiential/embodied as well as creative/imaginative engagements with everyday geographies distinct to a digital age. The article mediates on the idea of mapping the imagination and the ways we imagine quotidian spaces, as well as possibilities for new methods for the analysis and representation of spatial and emotional complexity. We particularly explore strategies of integrating multiple technologies and multiple-modes of representation for mapping and re-mapping complexities of social and creative living in order to help provide alternate ways to imagine, represent and engage different forms of embodied and imaginative geographies. This article presents a case study with the artist Andrew Buckles, in Seattle, Washington, correlating representational and participatory digital data including geospatial, temporal, audio, video as well as electroencephalography readings from brainwave sensors.

The Vitality of Embracing Changes in Literacies’ Research, Education, and Publication

The Vitality of Embracing Changes in Literacies’ Research, Education, and Publication

Heather Lotherington: Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Rewriting Goldilocks

Heather Lotherington’s ‘‘Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Rewriting Goldilocks’’ is a rich, valuable, and deeply engaging resource that could also be titled ‘‘A Tale of Possibilities.’’ Lotherington’s research-based narrative is eye-opening for educators, linguists as well as policy makers, and is a lively read with all the elements of effective storytelling. She introduces us to interesting characters and their setting (the teachers, students, and leaders at a Toronto based urban elementary school in Canada with a commitment to innovative practices with technology), to an engaging plot with unexpected trips and turns (e.g., a teachers union strike that suspended all possibility for Lotherington and her teacher collaborators to regularly meet), to a satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader energized with creative, tangible tools to rewrite literacy curriculum and pedagogy as well as enact meaningful language policies for multilingual classrooms and schools in the twenty-first century. In Lotherington’s own words, ‘‘The work of a small group of teachers and researchers has illuminated a pathway for teaching literacy more imaginatively, engagingly, inclusively, and coherently with the social world children will inherit upon leaving school’’ (p. 187). Lotherington begins her tale with two important chapters that situate her, the school where her research took place, the political and cultural history of notions of literacy, the positioning of multilingual learners as ‘English learners,’ the uses of technology, multiliteracies and transmodality (or the use of multiple modes of representation) in elementary classrooms, and the sociopolitical barriers to such practices. She begins with extreme clarity in the use of various terms, the context of the work to be described, and the perspective from which the research story is being told. Lotherington locates her research in the work of the New London Group (1996), who originally coined the term ‘‘multiliteracies,’’ in critical literacy (Luke 2000) and in critiques of hegemonic

A Contested Space: The Dialogic Intersection of ICT, Multiliteracies, and Early Childhood

If students are to be equipped with skills necessary to meet the challenging and diverse demands of different forms of communication brought about by the introduction of new technologies, then a broader definition of literacy is required. A pedagogy of multiliteracies recognises that there are multiple modes of representation that communicate meaning beyond language alone. As debate on information and communication technology (ICT) integration and literacy definition intensifies, early childhood teachers contemplate how they will accommodate these changes. How will early childhood education facilitate young children's use of ICT to support multiliteracies learning? This study investigated how two Western Australian teachers integrated ICT to support multiliteracies learning in early childhood classrooms. Two case studies, constructed over a nine-month period and employing ethnographic methodology, illustrated how different curricular, pedagogical, and classroom designs impact on children's early literacy experiences. An analysis across the two cases illuminated how different pedagogy, definitions, support, resources and curriculum shaped the dialogic intersection of ICT and multiliteracies in early childhood education.

Hybrid literacy texts and practices in technology-intensive environments

US youths’ lives are increasingly divided between the academic requirements of school and immersion in new media and culture outside school. Educators can help bridge in-school and out-of-school literacy practices by encouraging students to engage with hybrid texts that draw on multiple modes of representation. In this paper, we analyze the ‘disconnect’ between academic literacy and new media, discuss the concept of hybridity as a way to bridge it, and provide a linguistically grounded analysis of students’ hybrids texts and practices in two technology-intensive learning environments: a digital storytelling project in an after-school university-community collaborative and a one-to-one laptop program in an urban school district.

Planning for Inclusion: Using Universal Instructional Design to Create a Learner-Centered Community College Classroom

A popular freshman social science survey course, Introductory Psychology, serves to illustrate one application of Universal Instructional Design (UID) principles. A seven-step lesson planning process is used to teach a unit on personality theories. Multiple modes of representation allow students multiple means of expression, and provide students with different ways to become engaged. Included in the lesson plan is a survey of nine sample adaptations or instructional design decisions to consider. In addition, learner-centered assessment strategies are discussed with a focus on adapting the multiple-choice exam with UID principles. The author concludes that Universal Instructional Design principles prove to be a powerful pathway for affirming student diversity, promoting a genuine sense of community, and improving student retention, achievement, and motivation.

Listening to the Heartbeat of New York: Writings on the Wall

In this article, the author presents the ways in which her graduate students negotiate and scribe their understandings about the changing landscapes of their lives through dialogue, reflection, artwork, and writing. Secondly, she documents how the communal discourse of Lower Manhattan, more specifically, the “writings on the wall,” is testament to the ways people use multiple modes of representation to bear witness to the unimaginable. These “writings” are interspersed throughout the piece in bold, so as to give them prominence. Lastly, she describes the reflexive, hermeneutic, and interactive process by which she conceptualizes the domains of analysis and frames her understandings about the significance of this transformational literacy event.

L'image de l'espace scolaire dans les livres de lecture de l'école primaire, Buenos Aires 1853‐1942*

This paper seeks to throw new light on an important source for the History of Education, the Reading school book. Within a larger research project we are carrying out on formation of primary schools in the city of Buenos Aires, the Reading book has surfaced as a key documentary source. Our point is that the Argentine Nation State needed an architectonic dimension in configuring its primary school, a dimension that used readings and images that were distinct from material resources that traditionally signified national importance. In brief, Argentina had to turn the primary school into a place easily recognizable for what happens inside ‐ teaching and learning ‐ and for what that teaching and learning stood for. the Nation‐State in its capital city. Reading books took on an important role in this nation buildingprocess, through both iconographie and textual materials that conveyed various ways of imagining school space, especially a poetic sense of space which signified multiple modes of representation and assertion. The most interesting aspect in the paper is its use of the spatial viewpoint, along side of the material aspect of school buildings. The words and images printed in Reading books, their variance and dominance, go beyond the material and evoke the sense and meaning of space in a broader sociohistorical framework. * Traduction française de Lucia Inés Dorín et Maria Sol Dorin. Pour cet article le prix ISCHE‐2000 a été décerné à l'auteur.

Effects of auditory and visual modalities in recall of words.

Ten experimental conditions were used to study the effects of auditory and visual (printed words, uncolored and colored pictures) modalities and their various combinations with college students. A recall paradigm was employed in which subjects responded in a written test. Analysis of data showed the auditory modality was superior to visual (pictures) ones but was not significantly different from visual (printed words) modality. In visual modalities, printed words were superior to colored pictures. Generally, conditions with multiple modes of representation of stimuli were significantly higher than for conditions with single modes. Multiple modalities, consisting of two or three modes, did not differ significantly from each other. It was concluded that any two modalities of the stimuli presented simultaneously were just as effective as three in recall of stimulus words.