This work discusses the affordances of the textbook in current classroom scenarios, and identifies the need to design learning media that supports dynamism and enaction, specifically in science education. We illustrate this by a learning tool we've developed-Vector canvas, an AR based application linked with the textbook and the curricula. This is a work in progress attempting to observe and articulate changes in learning practice brought by introducing mixed media.

Educational technology designs in developing countries mostly focus on making knowledge resources widely available, through MOOCs, repositories and computer‐based tutoring. The use of digital media for cognitive augmentation, particularly interactive designs that help learners understand modelling topics in STEM, is underexplored. We report a 3‐year design study examining this potential in the Indian context, testing two iterations of an interactive system, Touchy‐Feely Vectors (TFV). The design supports learning vectors, a modelling topic pre‐university students struggle with. Virtual lesson‐plans were co‐designed with teachers to augment — but not replace — their existing practices, and to address classroom and resource constraints. Pre‐post testing of TFV‐1 (a computer‐based prototype) showed that it helped students develop a more integrated vector concept, and improved their reasoning. Field‐implementation of TFV‐2 (a textbook‐linked touch‐screen based design) in 6‐classrooms (3‐Control, N=135; 3‐Experimental, N=131) showed that it fostered cognitive engagement in average‐students and geometry‐algebra integration (model‐based reasoning) in good‐students. These results, along with a requirements analysis based on textbooks, indicate that the interaction possibilities supported by different representational media critically shape student reasoning. The study also illustrates a systematic approach to design and test digital media systems that support cognitive augmentation in developing countries.

Manipulation of physical models such as tangrams and tiles is a popular approach to teaching early mathematics concepts. This pedagogical approach is extended by new computational media, where mathematical entities such as equations and vectors can be virtually manipulated. The cognitive and neural mechanisms supporting such manipulation-based learning-particularly how actions generate new internal structures that support problem-solving-are not understood. We develop a model of the way manipulations generate internal traces embedding actions, and how these action-traces recombine during problem-solving. This model is based on a study of two groups of sixth-grade students solving area problems. Before problem-solving, one group manipulated a tangram, the other group answered a descriptive test. Eye-movement trajectories during problem-solving were different between the groups. A second study showed that this difference required the tangram's geometrical structure, just manipulation was not enough. We propose a theoretical model accounting for these results, and discuss its implications.

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