How Do Teachers of Physical Sciences With Different Professional Experiences Use Visual Representations With Epistemic Functions in the Classroom

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the role of visual representations (VR) on the promotion and development of students’ epistemic practices (EP) in the physical sciences (PS) classroom. The use of VR is crucial for supporting and developing students’ EP (student work in inquiry context). Research questions: (a) how do teachers trigger the use of VR by students in the classroom? (b) What functions can be attributed to VR in PS classrooms? (c) What is the impact of VR on students’ EP? In all questions the dependence on the context and teacher experience will be analyzed. This is a multicase study with five PS teachers, with different teaching experience, from Portuguese basic schools (students aged 13-15 years). Multimodal narratives were used (a description of what happens in the classroom, using several types of data collected). Using open coding analysis, categories were found and then cluster analysis was used to find patterns. Main findings: (a) teacher’s efforts are the triggers for the use of VR by students, especially the task proposal; (b) VR can be used as an illustration (does not increase students’ EP) or as epistemic mediator (increases students’ EP); (c) all these aspects are dependent on teacher experience. Key words: Epistemic mediators, students’ epistemic practices, teacher mediation, visual representations.