‘Traveling nutrients’: how students use metaphorical language to describe digestion and nutritional uptake

Pettersson, Alma Jahic; Danielsson, Kristina; Rundgren, Carl-Johan

doi:10.1080/09500693.2020.1756514

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Regarding possible overarching metaphoric systems, logistics as an underlying metaphor were often used, with metaphor sub-systems, such as transport-related metaphors. At times, metaphors relating to storage and waste management were also used (Pettersson, Danielsson & Rundgren, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forskare både från språkvetenskap och naturvetenskap har därför intresserat sig för att undersöka sambanden mellan språk och meningsskapande inom naturvetenskap och därmed bidragit till forskningsfältet utifrån olika teoretiska perspektiv och metodologiska inriktningar (Tang & Danielsson, 2018;Danielsson, Löfgren & Pettersson. 2018;Pettersson, Danielsson & Rundgren, 2020).…”

Section: Språk I Det Naturvetenskapliga Klassrummetunclassified

“…Cameron, 2003, who discusses challenges in identifying metaphors in educational discourse). We also considered how the metaphors are linked to metaphor systems and anthropomorphisms, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the role of metaphors in this area (Pettersson, Danielsson & Rundgren, 2020).…”

Section: Aimmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Topsar och cellmembran : Kroppens näringsupptag i undervisning och elevtexter på mellanstadiet

Pettersson

2021

Studies in Science and Technology Education

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This dissertation studies upper primary school students' meaning-making of nutrient uptake. The papers in the dissertation are based on two sets of collected data. In the first, written answers to a national test in biology are studied. In the other, classroom teaching is studied in two schools with an animation about nutrient uptake as a context. In one of the schools is a teacher review held in connection with the animation. The overall analytical method is content analysis, more specifically organizational levels and systemic functional grammar (SFG) is used. In this thesis, the results are discussed from three perspectives. First, it is shown that scientifically correct answers and the connection between the digestive and circulatory system are associated with the number of connections between organizational levels and the presence of the meso level in the descriptions. Nutrient uptake is often described in terms of relocation (in a logistics system), with explicit and / or implicit actors where the process is often expressed metaphorically. Second, the results provide an insight into the reach of the metaphors (affordances and limitations) for students meaning-making of nutrient uptake by tracing where the metaphors come from. The animation uses metaphorical expressions to explain specific functions. The students used several metaphors, some were also taken up and used by their teachers. Third, the results of the dissertation show that students in both schools combine scientific terms with everyday expressions. The students who had a teacher review use more everyday expressions than those who have not. Furthermore, students show signs of scientific meaning-making at the meso level by using everyday expressions about the function of membrane proteins in terms of molecules that go through channels and have their own entrance into the blood.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Språk I Det Naturvetenskapliga Klassrummetunclassified

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Topsar och cellmembran : Kroppens näringsupptag i undervisning och elevtexter på mellanstadiet

Pettersson

2021

Studies in Science and Technology Education

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“…the context, because they provide valuable indications of pupils' knowledge (Pettersson, Danielsson & Rundgren, 2020), and the organizational levels where deficiencies lie. We therefore incorporated these expressions into our analytical tool when their meaning was clearly stated (Table 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘The brain needs nutrition’: pupils’ connections between organizational levels

Pettersson

Tibell²,

Löfgren³

2021

NorDiNa

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Previous research suggests that connecting organizational levels of biological systems is challenging forpupils. In the present study we investigated 122 pupils’ written responses to a question in a national biologytest concerning how nutrient molecules are adsorbed by the small intestine and transported to thebrain. We aimed to investigate what awareness the pupils have of the connection between the digestiveand circulatory systems. We mapped the pupil’s expressed knowledge by using content analysis whichwas performed in five steps including connection between the systems, organizational levels and scientificexplanations. We found that the most correct descriptions contained the highest number of connectionsbetween the digestive and the circulatory systems and linking of the different organizational levels. Themost correct descriptions included the highest proportion of the meso level. Therefore, knowledge at themeso level seems to be essential for grasping connections between macro- and submicro-level processes,and connections of digestion and circulation systems.

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“…Finally, the interpersonal metafunction concerns how we relate to the content and to others through interaction. Whereas the ideational metafunction has been the focus of a number of analyses of science texts (Jahic Pettersson et al, 2020;Martinec & Salway, 2005;Unsworth, 2007), Tang and colleagues (2019) investigated students' representations of concepts in physics and chemistry in relation to all three metafunctions, using terminology based on Lemke (1998).…”

Section: Social Semiotics Multimodality and Systemic Functional Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing Multimodal Texts in Science—a Social Semiotic Perspective

2021

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Teaching and learning in science disciplines are dependent on multimodal communication. Earlier research implies that students may be challenged when trying to interpret and use different semiotic resources. There have been calls for extensive frameworks that enable analysis of multimodal texts in science education. In this study, we combine analytical tools deriving from social semiotics, including systemic functional linguistics (SFL), where the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions are central. In regard to other modes than writing—and to analyse how textual resources are combined—we build on aspects highlighted in research on multimodality. The aim of this study is to uncover how such a framework can provide researchers and teachers with insights into the ways in which various aspects of the content in multimodal texts are communicated through different semiotic resources. Furthermore, we aim to explore how different text resources interact and, finally, how the students, or authors of teaching resources, position themselves in relation to the subject. Data consist of one student text and one teaching resource text, both comprising drawn and written elements in combination with symbols. Our analyses of the student text suggest that the proposed framework can provide insights into students’ content knowledge and, hence, how construction of multimodal texts may be a useful tool for formative assessment. When it comes to teaching resources, the framework may be a useful tool for teachers when choosing resources, particularly in relation to students’ possibilities of meaning making when engaging with such texts, but also, as a basis for classroom discussions.

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‘Traveling nutrients’: how students use metaphorical language to describe digestion and nutritional uptake

Cited by 14 publications

References 34 publications

Topsar och cellmembran : Kroppens näringsupptag i undervisning och elevtexter på mellanstadiet

Topsar och cellmembran : Kroppens näringsupptag i undervisning och elevtexter på mellanstadiet

‘The brain needs nutrition’: pupils’ connections between organizational levels

Analysing Multimodal Texts in Science—a Social Semiotic Perspective

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