Abstract
This article reports on initial findings of a study that aims to devise, trial, and evaluate teaching and learning strategies to improve students’ learning of science in the middle years in schools in regional Australia through a focus on multiple and multimodal representations of science concepts. Initially, 20 teachers were surveyed about their planning and usage of different representational modes. These teachers tended to focus on resources and students’ learning styles rather than modal variation, sometimes confusing modes and resources. Few teachers expected students to be able to represent the same concept in different modes as part of understanding science. In this article we report in detail the beliefs and practices of two elementary teachers in the survey who focused on the value of representational diversity in learning science. In analyzing their beliefs and practices we identified some key implementation issues in pursuing this multimodal focus.
Résumé
Cet article rend compte des premiers résultats d’une étude visant à mettre au point, à tester et à é valuer les stratégies d’enseignement et d’apprentissage afin d’améliorer l’apprentissage des sciences chez les élèves du premier cycle du secondaire dans les écoles régionales australiennes, grâce à une attention toute particulière pour les représentations multimodales et multiples des concepts scientifiques. Au début de l’étude, 20 enseignants ont fait l’objet d’une enquête sur les façons dont ils planifiaient et utilisaient les différents modes représentationnels. Ces enseignants tendaient à se concentrer sur les ressources et les styles d’apprentissage des étudiants plutôt que sur les variations modales, et confondaient parfois les modes et les ressources. Peu d’enseignants s’attendaient à ce que les élèves soient en mesure de représenter le même concept en se servant de différentes modalités. Dans cet article, nous présentons en détail les convictions et pratiques de deux enseignants au niveau élémentaire ayant participé à l’enquête, lesquels ont centré leur attention sur la valeur de la diversité représentationnelle en apprentissage des sciences. Dans notre analyse, nous avons déterminé la portée de certaines questions clés en matière de représentations multimodales.
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Prain, V., Waldrip, B. A Study of Teachers’ Perspectives About Using Multimodal Representations of Concepts to Enhance Science Learning. Can J Sci Math Techn 8, 5–24 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/14926150802152152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14926150802152152