The Use of Multiple Resources in Teaching and Learning Science

Dear Colleagues,

For a long time, research into science education has focused on studying how learning is expressed and developed through verbal and written language. In the past two decades, researchers have widened the scope to include the use of other resources besides language, such as drawings, diagrams, gestures, and physical artefacts (e.g., Kress et al., 2001). Research focusing on the use of multiple resources in science education draw from various theoretical perspectives. These theoretical perspectives within science education include, for example, research from i) a social semiotic perspective, where resources are defined as modes, and the concept multimodality is used to draw attention to the use of several modes in a certain situation (e.g., Jewitt, 2013; Kress, 2010); ii) sociocultural perspectives, where resources are viewed as mediating means and learning as mediating action (e.g., Leontev, 1978; Vygotsky, 1978); iii) more cognitive-oriented perspectives, where resources are important for building up schema (Piaget & Inhelder, 1956) and the idea of schemata is used, for example, to describe metaphor formation (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) or developed in an analytical framework to describe a conceptual change (cf. P-prims, diSessa, 1993) in science education. In addition, it is well documented that scientific language differs from students' everyday language, not only due to subject-specific terminology but also because it is often more abstract and information-dense. The development of multimodal strategies illustrating scientific content through the use of different recourses might be a way to support students’ learning, regardless of the students’ linguistic background (Hubber et al. 2010).

The aim of this Special Issue is to contribute with knowledge regarding how different resources are used when teaching and learning science. In this Special Issue, we encourage further exploration, discussion and debate regarding how it is possible for science education research to take the next step and to discuss and compare theories, empirical findings, and implications for inclusive science education, building on the idea that science education involves the use of a range of resources besides language.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Teaching and learning with the help of modern information and communication technology (CSCL).
• Visualisation technology in teaching science.
• Artificial intelligence in science teaching.
• Teaching and learning in multilingual science classrooms by using multiple resources.
• Different strategies for improving students’ writing in science.
• Multimodal discourse studies in the science classroom.
• Explicit or implicit metaphors (verbal or gestures) in teaching and learning science.
• Drawings, gestures and/or physical artefacts to teach and learn science.

The assessment of students’ knowledge by using other resources besides written and oral language.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Fredrik Jeppsson
Dr. Zeynep Ünsal
Guest Editors

References

DiSessa, A. A. (1993). Toward an epistemology of physics. Cognition and instruction, 10(2–3), 105–225.

Hubber, P., Tytler, R., & Haslam, F. (2010). Teaching and learning about force with a representational focus: Pedagogy and teacher change. Research in Science Education, 40(1), 5–28.

Jewitt, C. (2013). Multimodality and digital technologies in the classroom. In I. de Saint-Georges & J-J. Weber (Eds.), Multilingualism and Multimodality: Current challenges for educational studies (p. 141–152). Sense Publishers.

Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Ogborn, J., & Tsatsarelis, C. (2001). Multimodal teaching and learning: The rhetorics of the science classroom. Continuum.

Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality. A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.

Leontev, A. N. (1981). The problem of activity in psychology. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet Psychology (pp. 37–71). M. E. Sharpe.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1956). The child's conception of space. Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Vygotskij, L. S. (1978). In M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.), Mind in society: The development of higher pedagogical proceses. Harvard University Press.

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• multimodal science learning and teaching
• mediating means
• multilingual science learners
• visualisation technology in science
• metaphors
• classroom discourse
• drawings
• gestures
• diagrams
• assessment with other resources than language