Conceptual Coherence Revealed in Multi‐Modal Representations of Astronomy Knowledge

Blown, Eric; Bryce, Tom

doi:10.1080/09500690902974207

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Although, in general, there was consistency of dynamic concepts within and across media and their associated modalities in keeping with the theory of conceptual coherence (see Blown and Bryce 2010), there was substantial evidence of children using both everyday and scientific language. There was also evidence of language mode switching from embedded to 7.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Switching Between Everyday and Scientific Language

Blown

Bryce

2016

Res Sci Educ

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The research reported here investigated the everyday and scientific repertoires of children involved in semi-structured, Piagetian interviews carried out to check their understanding of dynamic astronomical concepts like daytime and night-time. It focused on the switching taking place between embedded and disembedded thinking; on the imagery which subjects referred to in their verbal dialogue and their descriptions of drawings and play-dough models of the Earth, Sun and Moon; and it examined the prevalence and character of animism and figurative speech in children's thinking. Five hundred and thirty-nine children (aged 3-18) from Wairarapa in New Zealand (171 boys and 185 girls) and Changchun in China (99 boys and 84 girls) took part in the study. Modified ordinal scales for the relevant concept categories were used to classify children's responses and data from each age group (with numbers balanced as closely as practicable by culture and gender) analysed with KolmogorovSmirnov two-sample tests (at an alpha level of 0.05). Although, in general, there was consistency of dynamic concepts within and across media and their associated modalities in keeping with the theory of conceptual coherence (see Blown and Bryce 2010; Bryce and Blown 2016), there were several cases of inter-modal and intra-modal switching in both cultures. Qualitative data from the interview protocols revealed how children switch between everyday and scientific language (in both directions) and use imagery in response to questioning. The research indicates that children's grasp of scientific ideas in this field may ordinarily be under-estimated if one only goes by formal scientific expression and vocabulary.Keywords Everyday and scientific language . Embedded and disembedded thinking . Switching . Animism and figurative speech . Astronomy . Daytime and night-time Much of the published research into the acquisition of scientific ideas by young people has concentrated upon their growing accumulation of correct or appropriately expressed terms for important concepts. This paper explores the boundaries between such language and the communications which precede and pre-determine its character. The empirical research which Res Sci Educ (2017) 47:621-653

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Switching Between Everyday and Scientific Language

Blown

Bryce

2016

Res Sci Educ

Self Cite

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“…Van Gelder (1998) has even gone as far as to dispense with the idea of representation entirely in his consideration of the relationships between skill and knowledge. We have not resorted to this in our own previous work on the coherence of conceptions (see, for example, Blown and Bryce (2010) where we have assessed young people's understandings via different modalities-talking, drawing and play-dough modelling), but we have certainly demonstrated conceptual coherence in children's thinking compatible with both a representational connotation and a cognitive skill interpretation of concepts. We found no evidence in support of the counter-theory of knowledge-in-pieces proposed by diSessa (1988,2008) and advocated by Nobes et al (2003).…”

Section: Neuroscience and Recent Ideas In Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating Models and Grasping the Ideas They Represent

Bryce

Blown

2016

Sci & Educ

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This article notes the convergence of recent thinking in neuroscience and grounded cognition regarding the way we understand mental representation and recollection: ideas are dynamic and multi-modal, actively created at the point of recall. Also, neurophysiologically, re-entrant signalling among cortical circuits allows non-conscious processing to support our deliberative thoughts and actions. The qualitative research we describe examines the exchanges occurring during semi-structured interviews with 360 children age 3-13, including 294 from New Zealand (158 boys, 136 girls) and 66 from China (34 boys, 32 girls) concerning their understanding of the shape and motion of the Earth, Sun and Moon (ESM). We look closely at the relationships between what is revealed as children manipulate their own play-dough models and their apparent understandings of ESM concepts. In particular, we focus on the switching taking place between what is said, what is drawn and what is modelled. The evidence is supportive of Edelman's view that memory is non-representational and that concepts are the outcome of perceptual mappings, a view which is also in accord with Barsalou's notion that concepts are simulators or skills which operate consistently across several modalities. Quantitative data indicate that the dynamic structure of memory/concept creation is similar in both genders and common to the cultures/ethnicities compared (New Zealand European and Māori; Chinese Han) and that repeated interviews in this longitudinal research lead to more advanced modelling skills and/or more advanced shape and motion concepts, the results supporting hypotheses (Kolmogorov-Smirnov alpha levels .05; r s : p \ .001).

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“…It is known that the modal representations make learning scientific concepts easier (Ainsworth, 2008). Using modal representations enables the students to indicate the concepts they learn in different ways (Waldrip, Prain & Carolan, 2006;Blown & Bryce, 2010), think what they learn and be able to review within a scientific process (Mayer, 2003;Schnotz & Bannert, 2003). Using modal representations is understood from the use of the modal representations by the students in the experimental group more frequently and variously when compared to the students in the control group in their writings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Using Representation Modes within Writing to Learn Activities on the Scientific Process Skills of the Fifth Grade Students

Memiş¹,

Öz²

2017

JETS

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The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of using multimodal representation modes in the writing practices done by the fifth grade students on their scientific process skills. A combined research method which had both quantitative and qualitative characteristics was used in the research and the groups were chosen as control and experimental groups. 32 5 th grade students at an elementary school in the North of Turkey formed the study group. Scientific Process Skills Test and writing activities for learning were used as data collection tools in the study. When the unit was completed, the students were asked to tell their peers about the subjects in the unit with a writing activity in the summary writing type. While the students in the experimental group were obliged to use the representation modes in these writing to learn activities, the students in the control group were asked only to complete the writing activity. In this process, the students performed three writing activities, one preparation and two real practice activities. The criteria determining the content and the features of these writing activities (purpose, subject, interlocutor, writing type and page limit) were standards explained in the instructions distributed to the students. The most basic discrepancy between the groups was the request of using of multimodal representations for the students in the experimental group. The writing activities performed within the scope of the study were scored after they were evaluated in consideration of the criteria determined by the researchers. The Cronbach's alpha credibility coefficent of the scientific process skill test applied as the preliminary test in the beginning of the practice and the post-test at the end of it was determined as 72. The results of the research indicate that using multimodal representations make statistically significant differences on behalf of the experimental group in the scientific process skills of the students.

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Conceptual Coherence Revealed in Multi‐Modal Representations of Astronomy Knowledge

Cited by 26 publications

References 33 publications

Switching Between Everyday and Scientific Language

Switching Between Everyday and Scientific Language

Manipulating Models and Grasping the Ideas They Represent

The Impact of Using Representation Modes within Writing to Learn Activities on the Scientific Process Skills of the Fifth Grade Students

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