Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Constructing and Using Multimodal Narratives to Research in Science Education: Contributions Based on Practical Classroom

  • Published:
Research in Science Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study deals with the problem of how to collect genuine and useful data about science classroom practices, and preserving the complex and holistic nature of teaching and learning. Additionally, we were looking for an instrument that would allow comparability and verifiability for teaching and research purposes. Given the multimodality of teaching and learning processes, we developed the multimodal narrative (MN), which describes what happens during a task and incorporates data such as examples of students’ work, photos, diagrams, etc. Also, it describes teachers’ intentions, preserving the nature of teaching practice in natural settings and it is verifiable and comparable. In this paper, we show how the MN was developed and present the protocol that was used for its construction. We identify the main characteristics of the MN and place it in the context of international research. We explore the potential of the MN for research purposes, illustrating its use in a research study that we carried out. We find that the MN provides a way to gather, organize and transform data, avoiding confusing and time-consuming manipulation of data, while minimizing the natural subjectivity of the narrator. The same MN can be used by the same or by different researchers for different purposes. Furthermore, the same MN can be used with different analysis techniques. It is also possible to study research practices on a large scale using MNs from different teachers and lessons. We propose that MNs can also be useful for teachers’ professional development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alsop, S., Bencze, L., & Pedretti, E. (Eds.). (2005). Analysing exemplary science teaching. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldry, A., & Thibault, P. J. (2006). Multimodal transcription and text analysis. London: Equinox.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardin, L. (1997). L’analyse de contenu. Paris: PUF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borko, H., Stecher, B., & Kuffner, K. (2007). Using artifacts to characterize reform-oriented instruction: the scoop notebook and rating guide (CSE Technical Report 707). Los Angeles: The Regents of the University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bot, L., Gossiaux, P. B., Rauch, C. P., & Tabiou, S. (2005). Learning by doing: a teaching method for active learning in scientific graduate education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 30(1), 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branco, M. J., Magalhães, R., Ferreira, A., Lopes, J., & Cravino, J. (2009). Narrações de aulas: um estímulo ao desenvolvimento profissional? In F. Paixão & F. Jorge (Eds.), Proceedings XIII Encontro Nacional de Educação em Ciências (pp. 740–749). Castelo Branco: Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, W., & Bell, B. (2002). Making content easier or adding more challenge in year one university physics? Research in Science Education, 32(1), 81–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemente, M., & Ramírez, E. (2008). How teachers express their knowledge through narrative. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(5), 1244–1258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2010). Research methods in education (6th ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, C. J. (2011). Narrative inquiry in teaching and teacher education. In K. Julian, P. Darlene Ciuffetelli, & P. Debbie (Eds.), Advances in research on teaching (vol. 13) (pp. 19–42). Bingley: Emerald Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunha, A. E., et al. (2012). The influence of the teacher’s research experience in his mediation of secondary school students learning using computer simulations. In R. Pintó, V. López, & C. Simarro (Eds.), Learning Science in the Society of Computers (pp. 11–19). Barcelona: Centre for Research in Science and Mathematics Education (CRECIM).

    Google Scholar 

  • Damasio, A. (2010). Self comes to mind: constructing the conscious brain (1st ed.). USA: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felder, R. M., Woods, D. R., Stice, J. E., & Rugarcia, A. (2000). The future of engineering education II. Teaching methods that work. Chemical Engineering Education, 34(1), 26–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgakopoulou, A. (2006). Thinking big with small stories in narrative and identity analysis. Narrative Inquiry, 16(1), 122–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hage, S. E., & Buty, C. (2012). The effect of an ICT on the coherence of the teacher discourse: case study of an electricity sequence at grade 12. In R. Pintó, V. López, & C. Simarro (Eds.), Learning science in the society of computers (pp 41–47). Barcelona: Centre for Research in Science and Mathematics Education (CRECIM).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammersley, M. (2010). Reproducing or constructing? Some questions about transcription in social research. Qualitative Research, 10(5), 553–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, A. M., & Smith, H. A. (2005). Problem-based contextualized learning. In S. Alsop, L. Bencze, & E. Pedretti (Eds.), Analysing exemplary science teaching. Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hundhausen, C. D. (2002). Integrating algorithm visualization technology into an undergraduate algorithms course: ethnographic studies of a social constructivist approach. Computers & Education, 39(3), 237–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., Brown, C., & Crawford, T. (2000). Experiments, contingencies and curriculum: providing opportunities for learning through improvisation in science teaching. Science Education, 84(5), 624–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramp, M. K. (2004). Exploring life and experience through narrative inquiry. In M. Kathleen De & S. D. Lapan (Eds.), Foundations for research: methods of inquiry in education and the social sciences. New Jersey: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kung, R. L., Kung, P., & Linder, C. (2005). Equipment issues regarding the collection of video data for research. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research 1(1), 010105-1/010105-9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labov, W. (2006). Narrative pre-construction. Narrative Inquiry, 16(1), 37–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemke, J. L. (2005). Research for the future of science education: multiple sites, media and goals. Invited paper presented at the VII Congreso Internacional sobre Investigación en la Didáctica de las Ciencias. Spain: Granada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Cravino, J. P., Branco, M., Saraiva, E., & Silva, A. A. (2008a). Mediation of student learning: dimensions and evidences in science teaching. PEC 2008—problems of education in the 21st century, 9, 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Silva, A. A., Cravino, J. P., Costa, N., Marques, L., & Campos, C. (2008b). Transversal traits in science education research relevant for teaching and research: a meta-interpretative study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(5), 574–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Cravino, J. P., & Silva, A. A. (2010a). A model for effective teaching in science and technology (METILOST). New York: Nova Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Silva, A. A., Cravino, J. P., Viegas, C., Cunha, A. E., Saraiva, E., et al. (2010b). Investigação sobre a Mediação de professores de Ciências Físicas em sala de aula. Vila Real: Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Viegas, C., & Cravino, J. P. (2010c). Improving the learning of physics and the development of competences in engineering students. International Journal of Engineering Education, 26(3), 612–627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes, J. B., Branco, M., & Jiménez-Aleixandre. (2011). ‘Learning experience’ provided by science teaching practice in a classroom and the development of students’ competences. Research in Science Education, 41(5), 787–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magnani, L. (2004). Reasoning through doing. Epistemic mediators in scientific discovery. Journal of Applied Logic, 2(4), 439–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, A. M., & Hand, B. (2009). Factors affecting the implementation of argument in the elementary science classroom. A longitudinal case study. Research in Science Education, 39(1), 17–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez, J. F., Borko, H., & Stecher, B. M. (2012). Measuring instructional practice in science using classroom artifacts: lessons learned from two validation studies. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(1), 38–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J. (2002). Researching your own practice: the discipline of noticing. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melville, W. (2008). Mandated curriculum change and a science department: a superficial language convergence? Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(5), 1185–1199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugur-Schächter, M. (2002). Objectivity and descriptional relativities. Foundations of Science, 7(1–2), 73–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murtonen, M., & Lehtinen, E. (2003). Difficulties experienced by education and sociology students in quantitative methods courses. Studies in Higher Education, 28(2), 171–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perelman, C., & Olbrechts-Tyteca, L. (2000). Traité de l’argumentation. Bruxelles: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, A., Barbot, A., Viegas, C., Silva, A. A., Santos, C. A., & Lopes, J. B. (2012). Teacher education using computer simulations—pre and in-service primary school teacher training to teach science. In R. Pintó, V. López, & C. Simarro (Eds.), Learning science in the society of computers (pp. 28–36). Barcelona: Centre for Research in Science and Mathematics Education (CRECIM).

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiser, B. J. (2004). Scaffolding complex learning: the mechanisms of structuring and problematizing student work. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(3), 273–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reveles, J., Cordova, R., & Kelly, G. (2004). Science literacy and academic identity formulation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(10), 1111–1144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reveles, J., Kelly, G., & Durán, R. (2007). A sociocultural perspective on mediated activity in third grade science. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 1(3), 467–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter, T., & Schmid, S. (2010). Epistemological beliefs and epistemic strategies in self-regulated learning. Metacognition and Learning, 5(1), 47–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (1988). Time and narrative. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, B., Camburn, E., & Correnti, R. (2004). Using teacher logs to measure the enacted curriculum: a study of literacy teaching in third–grade classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 105(1), 75–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, C. A., Lopes, J. B., & Cravino, J. P. (2011). Patterns of didactic decisions made by teachers in physical sciences classrooms. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 36, 76–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saraiva, E., Lopes, J. B., Cravino, J. P., & Santos, C. A. (2012). How do teachers of physical sciences with different professional experiences use visual representations with epistemic functions in the classroom. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 42, 97–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, R. H., & Fisher, D. L. (2004). Development, validation and application of a Malay translation of an elementary version of the questionnaire on teacher interaction. Research in Science Education, 34(2), 173–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, S. J., Isaacs, G., & Andrews, T. (2004). Incorporating authentic learning experiences within a university course. Studies in Higher Education, 29(2), 239–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stinner, A. (1995). Contextual settings, science stories, and large context problems: toward a more humanistic science education. Science Education, 79(5), 555–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, A. L., & Towndrow, P. A. (2009). Catalyzing student–teacher interactions and teacher learning in science practical formative assessment using digital video technology. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(1), 61–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tytler, R. (2003). A window for a purpose: developing a framework for describing effective science teaching and learning. Research in Science Education, 33(3), 273–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, G. (2001). Reflection and theory: conceptualising the gap between teaching experience and teacher expertise. Educational Action Research, 9(3), 437–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuruk, N., Beeth, M. E., & Andersen, C. (2009). Analyzing the effect of metaconceptual teaching practices on students’ understanding of force and motion concepts. Research in Science Education, 39(4), 449–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is funded (or part-funded) by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the project “The role of teacher mediation using Computer simulations to improve students’ learning of physical and engineering sciences./PTDC/CPE/112303/2009”. We acknowledge the support of FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) through scholarships SFRH/BD/36780/2007 and SFRH/BD/28508/2006.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Technology, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    J. B. Lopes, J. P. Cravino, C. A. Santos, A. Cunha, A. Silva, E. Saraiva & M. J. Branco

  2. Higher School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    A. A. Silva & A. Pinto

  3. Higher Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    C. Viegas

  4. Research Centre “Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers”, Aveiro, Portugal

    J. B. Lopes, J. P. Cravino & M. J. Branco

Authors
  1. J. B. Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. A. Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. P. Cravino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. A. Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. Cunha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. Pinto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. A. Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. C. Viegas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. E. Saraiva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. M. J. Branco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. B. Lopes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lopes, J.B., Silva, A.A., Cravino, J.P. et al. Constructing and Using Multimodal Narratives to Research in Science Education: Contributions Based on Practical Classroom. Res Sci Educ 44, 415–438 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-013-9381-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-013-9381-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation