Creative drama in chemistry education: a social semiotic approach

Abstract

University. She is also active as a teacher of chemistry and biology at upper secondary school.Maria Andrée is docent and senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Stockholm University. Her research focuses on science teaching and conditions for student participation and learning, particularly in relation to questions of science curricula and scientific literacy. The research draws on methodologies of design-based and ethnographic research as well as policy discourse analyses.Margareta Enghag is senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Stockholm University.Her research relates to the design of education and of student interactions about scientific content that is close to the subject discourse and concern social issues. Abstract Drama is a way of teaching that has been suggested to support learning, but studies in science education are limited and the potential of using drama needs further scrutiny and design development. In this study, we investigate how creative drama may afford students' meaning-making of abstract non-spontaneous chemical concepts related to chemical bonding, by exploring what kind of semiotic work students are engaged in when given the opportunity to use their own bodies as semiotic resources. We combine sociocultural theory of learning with multimodal social semiotic analysis. Our results show how creative drama opens up for different types of transductions and transformations that have consequences for students' meaning-making. A conclusion is that the creative drama activities may afford student exploration of intermolecular forces in new ways in particular when students use bodily mode in combination with other semiotic resources.

The drama of chemistry – supporting student explorations of electronegativity and chemical bonding through creative drama in upper secondary school

“…This enables the students to reconstruct and develop their understanding of specific scientific concepts (Ødegaard, 2015). In relation to chemical bonding, Danckwardt-Lillieström et al, 2018 showed that when the students (in creative drama) created meaning in the bodily mode together with the verbal and the written modes, other types of semiotic work were afforded than are usually offered in chemistry education. The ways of meaning-making can be expanded by widening the types of semiotic resources used in teaching (e.g.…”

“…Thus, it is highly important that a teacher organising drama activities are aware of limitations of simplified models and act to provide students with opportunities to react on incorrect or limited models (cf. Danckwardt-Lillieström et al, 2018).…”

Science learning with emotions

“…Explanations for science learning Electrolysis of water (Saricayir, 2010) Active participation, engagement and discussion explains learning Ecosystem and matter cycles (Çokadar & Yılmaz, 2010) Active participation, interaction between students and incorporation of emotion with the content Photosynthesis (Carlsson, 2003) Emotions, fantasy, metaphors, distance and intimacy are incorporated into the knowledge in a holistic manner Reactions with copper (Aubusson & Fogwill, 2006) Clear portrayal of scientific ideas through analogical modelling accompanied by social interaction Energy transfer and transformations (Close & Scherr, 2015) Body motions, gestures, and coordination of speech become blended with the concepts Chemical bonding (Danckwardt-Lillieström et al, 2018) Socio-semiotic meaning-making, recreation, and reinterpretation of meaning between bodily, written and verbal modes of communication States of matter and heat transfer (Abed, 2016) Bodies as tools, humorous conversations with peers, anxiety reduction States of matter and food web (Varelas et al, 2010) Negotiating meaning through bodies, gestures and talk, embodied learning Table 1 illustrates the different approaches taken by these studies in explaining science learning. They are elaborated below.…”

“…Drama practices draw from professional theatre and drama groups, who employ mimicking, dance, role-play, improvisation and so on, in their work (Lee, Patall, Cawthon, & Steingut, 2015). Previous studies illustrate how these activities enable exploration of abstract scientific ideas on a more personal level (Close & Scherr, 2015;Danckwardt-Lillieström, Andrée, & Enghag, 2018). However, science teachers rarely adopt drama activities in their daily practice (Barbalet, 2011).…”

Poems: A Tool for Amalgamating Chemistry With Arts for Effective Learning

“…Therefore these can be framed by the instructor and used as need be. Uses of drama/movies in learning have been adopted at various places, [2][3][4][5] showing us that books are not the ultimate source of learning. This method enhances psychomotor skills and lays a huge impact on receptivity of brain.…”