Narration and multimodality: The role of the human body and material objects in science teaching

Abstract

<span>This article seeks to shed light on the semiotic approach to science teaching and learning. Essentially, the mental representations of learners are also affected by the sign vehicles employed to communicate ideas in the material world. Thus, any learning object also appears as a material representation, consisting of acoustic and visual forms, which affect its content. The human body’s kinetic modalities, spatial configurations (i.e., graphs, images), material objects, prosody, as well as the written and spoken word constitute the perceptual data that encode the concepts. This particular paper deals with the possibility that the more emphatic signifiers, i.e., the human body and material objects, can create narrative spaces and produce meaning during science teaching. It also discusses alternative uses of material objects along with the multiple interpretations their visual images can evoke. As regards the human body, iconic, deictic, and ergotic gestures are analyzed as forms that produce meaning and are autonomous and dynamic when working with the other semiotic systems. Both material objects and the human body rely upon the ability of the learners’ imagination to transport them to narrative worlds located outside the classroom.</span>

O Cinema Como Ferramenta Pedagógica Multimodal No Ensino De Ciências E Biologia

“…Nesse sentido, realizamos uma revisão crítica de artigos científicos (Siry, 2020;Unsworth et al, 2022;Pantidos;Kaliampos;Ravanis, 2022) que discutem a eficácia de abordagens multimodais e do uso do Cinema no Ensino de Ciências e Biologia. Dessa forma, examinamos como o Cinema, por meio de seu sincretismo semiótico, pode ser uma ferramenta multimodal válida para facilitar a aprendizagem de conceitos científicos complexos.…”

Inscriptions in Science Teaching: From Realism to Abstraction

“…In the framework of visual semiotics, every inscription is a figure that the receiver can extract denotations and connotations (van Leeuwen, 2001;Moriarty, 2004). Especially, asking students to interpret sequences of photographs or drawings that describe the historical/morphological transformation of entities stimulates their imagination (Pantidos et al, 2022). For example, by watching the two snapshots of the system Sun-Earth in Figure 2, one can ascertain that Earth has light at different parts.…”

Multiple Representation Approach in Elementary School Science Learning: A Systematic Literature Review

“…However, among the research on multiple representation learning approaches, few have studied the topic systematically in elementary school science. Research on similar topics has been investigated, such as multimodality in natural science (Pantidos et al, 2021), problem-based learning (Batlolona & Souisa, 2020;Permatasari et al, 2019), cognitive and metacognitive learning (Tanti et al, 2020), and virtual learning (Rashid et al, 2020), yet multiple representation learning approaches have not been studied comprehensively.…”