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Understanding teachers' practices and the factors influencing their practices when designing multimodal representations in the topic of temperature and heat
Citation
Wong, W. L. (2024). Understanding teachers' practices and the factors influencing their practices when designing multimodal representations in the topic of temperature and heat [Doctoral dissertation, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore]. https://doi.org/10.32658/10497/29271
Author
Wong, Wai Lit
Supervisor
Tan, Kim Chwee Daniel
Abstract
As society and economy develops, the focus in science education changes in tandem. While the changing focus in science education necessitates a change in the teaching and learning of science, it is widely reported that teachers face issues and challenges coping with new demands of teaching science. One of the current practices of science education focuses on the use of multimodal representations, which has the potential to develop students’ understanding in science, enhance their critical thinking and reasoning and promote science as a way of thinking. However, studies have shown that teachers face challenges in using representations in ways to enhance students’ learning. Thus, to overcome the challenges, this study seeks to understand teacher’s practices and the factors influencing their practices when Designing multimodal representations in the science classroom. Taking a situated perspective of knowledge to underpin the concepts of enacted pedagogical content knowledge (ePCK), pedagogical reasoning and Designing, this study aims to document the selected modes of representations by the teacher and students, the pedagogical actions taken by teachers during the moment-to-moment interaction with the students during the Designing process, the thinking behind those actions taken and the components of ePCK that influences the actions taken. Through a case study approach, this study showed that Designing need not be a linear process due to the situated factors affecting the teacher’s orchestration, and some of the pedagogical actions critical in helping students make meaning include clarifying, connecting, and constructing explanations. Importantly, this study also revealed the interplay of the various components of ePCK and the critical influence of ePCK: knowledge of representation (conceptual and pedagogical) in influencing teacher’s actions such that the scientific meanings construed are aligned to the intended learning outcomes of the lessons. The findings will contribute to the professional development programs on the use of multimodal representations in science teaching. It also advances the literature in the area of PCK (distilling the ePCK: knowledge of representation into three sub components of ePCK: knowledge of representation (conceptual, pedagogical and epistemological) and multimodal representation studies whereby the traditional focus is on the externalization of the meanings made with the representations rather than what influences those actions taken during a communicative event. While there are limitations to this study, it represents a novel attempt to understand teacher’s practices and what affects their practices situated in the classroom context and contribute to the knowledge and skills needed for teachers to carry out effective representational-based inquiry science lessons.
Date Issued
2024