Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts
This article examines the role of multimodalities in representing the concept of work–energy by studying the collaborative discourse of a group of ninth-grade physics students engaging in an inquiry-based instruction. Theorising a scientific concept as a network of meaning relationships across semio...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Routledge
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21773 |
| _version_ | 1848750684021719040 |
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| author | Tang, Kok-Sing Tan, S. Yeo, J. |
| author_facet | Tang, Kok-Sing Tan, S. Yeo, J. |
| author_sort | Tang, Kok-Sing |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article examines the role of multimodalities in representing the concept of work–energy by studying the collaborative discourse of a group of ninth-grade physics students engaging in an inquiry-based instruction. Theorising a scientific concept as a network of meaning relationships across semiotic modalities situated in human activity, this article analyses the students’ interactions through their use of natural language, mathematical symbolism, depiction, and gestures, and examines the intertextual meanings made through the integration of these modalities. Results indicate that the thematic integration of multimodalities is both difficult and necessary for students in order to construct a scientific understanding that is congruent with the physics curriculum. More significantly, the difficulties in multimodal integration stem from the subtle differences in the categorical, quantitative, and spatial meanings of the work–energy concept whose contrasts are often not made explicit to the students. The implications of these analyses and findings for science teaching and educational research are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:40:44Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-21773 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:40:44Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-217732017-09-13T13:53:06Z Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts Tang, Kok-Sing Tan, S. Yeo, J. This article examines the role of multimodalities in representing the concept of work–energy by studying the collaborative discourse of a group of ninth-grade physics students engaging in an inquiry-based instruction. Theorising a scientific concept as a network of meaning relationships across semiotic modalities situated in human activity, this article analyses the students’ interactions through their use of natural language, mathematical symbolism, depiction, and gestures, and examines the intertextual meanings made through the integration of these modalities. Results indicate that the thematic integration of multimodalities is both difficult and necessary for students in order to construct a scientific understanding that is congruent with the physics curriculum. More significantly, the difficulties in multimodal integration stem from the subtle differences in the categorical, quantitative, and spatial meanings of the work–energy concept whose contrasts are often not made explicit to the students. The implications of these analyses and findings for science teaching and educational research are discussed. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21773 10.1080/09500693.2010.508899 Routledge restricted |
| spellingShingle | Tang, Kok-Sing Tan, S. Yeo, J. Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title | Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title_full | Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title_fullStr | Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title_short | Students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| title_sort | students' multimodal construction of work-energy concepts |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21773 |