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- Airey, John, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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On the Disciplinary Affordances of Semiotic Resources
- 2014
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Ingår i: Book of Abstracts. ; , s. 54-55, s. 54-55
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the late 70’s Gibson (1979) introduced the concept of affordance. Initially framed around the needs of an organism in its environment, over the years the term has been appropriated and debated at length by a number of researchers in various fields. Most famous, perhaps is the disagreement between Gibson and Norman (1988) about whether affordances are inherent properties of objects or are only present when they are perceived by an organism. More recently, affordance has been drawn on in the educational arena, particularly with respect to multimodality (see Linder (2013) for a recent example). Here, Kress et al. (2001) have claimed that different modes have different specialized affordances. Then, building on this idea, Airey and Linder (2009) suggested that there is a critical constellation of modes that students need to achieve fluency in before they can experience a concept in an appropriate disciplinary manner. Later, Airey (2009) nuanced this claim, shifting the focus from the modes themselves to a critical constellation of semiotic resources, thus acknowledging that different semiotic resources within a mode often have different affordances (e.g. two or more diagrams may form the critical constellation).In this theoretical paper the concept of disciplinary affordance (Fredlund et al., 2012) is suggested as a useful analytical tool for use in education. The concept makes a radical break with the views of both Gibson and Norman in that rather than focusing on the discernment of one individual, it refers to the disciplinary community as a whole. Put simply, the disciplinary affordances of a given semiotic resource are determined by those functions that the resource is expected to fulfil by the disciplinary community. Disciplinary affordances have thus been negotiated and developed within the discipline over time. As such, the question of whether these affordances are inherent or discerned becomes moot. Rather, from an educational perspective the issue is whether the meaning that a semiotic resource affords to an individual matches the disciplinary affordance assigned by the community. The power of the term for educational work is that learning can now be framed as coming to discern the disciplinary affordances of semiotic resources.In this paper we will briefly discuss the history of the term affordance, define the term disciplinary affordance and illustrate its usefulness in a number of educational settings.
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| 2. |
- Airey, John, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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The Concept of Disciplinary Affordance
- 2014
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Ingår i: The 5th International 360 Conference. Encompassing the multimodality of knowledge, May 8-10 2014, Aarhus University, Denmark. ; , s. 20-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since its introduction by Gibson (1979) the concept of affordance has been discussed at length by a number of researchers. Most famous, perhaps is the disagreement between Gibson and Norman (1988) about whether affordances are inherent properties of objects or are only present when perceived by an organism. More recently, affordance has been drawn on in the educational arena, particularly with respect to multimodality (see Linder (2013) for a recent example). Here, Kress et al (2001) claim that different modes have different specialized affordances. In this theoretical paper the concept of disciplinary affordance (Fredlund et al., 2012) is suggested as a useful analytical educational tool. The concept makes a radical break with the views of both Gibson and Norman in that rather than focusing on the perception of an individual, it focuses on the disciplinary community as a whole. Put simply, the disciplinary affordances of a given semiotic resource are determined by the functions that it is expected to fulfil for the discipline. As such, the question of whether these affordances are inherent or perceived becomes moot. Rather, the issue is what a semiotic resource affords to an individual and whether this matches the disciplinary affordance. The power of the term is that learning can now be framed as coming to perceive the disciplinary affordances of semiotic resources. In this paper we will discuss the history of the term affordance, define the term disciplinary affordance and illustrate its usefulness in a number of educational settings. ReferencesAirey, J. (2009). Science, Language and Literacy. Case Studies of Learning in Swedish University Physics. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 81. Uppsala Retrieved 2009-04-27, from http://publications.uu.se/theses/abstract.xsql?dbid=9547Fredlund, T., Airey, J., & Linder, C. (2012). Exploring the role of physics representations: an illustrative example from students sharing knowledge about refraction. European Journal of Physics, 33, 657-666.Gibson, J. J. (1979). The theory of affordances The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (pp. 127-143). Boston: Houghton Miffin.Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Ogborn, J., & Tsatsarelis, C. (2001). Multimodal teaching and learning: The rhetorics of the science classroom. London: Continuum.Linder, C. (2013). Disciplinary discourse, representation, and appresentation in the teaching and learning of science. European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1(2), 43-49.Norman, D. A. (1988). The psychology of everyday things. New York: Basic Books.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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A social semiotic approach to identifying critical aspects
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 2046-8253 .- 2046-8261. ; 4:3, s. 302-316
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to propose a social semiotic approach to analysing objects of learning in terms of their critical aspects. Design/methodology/approach – The design for this paper focuses on how the semiotic resources – including language, equations, and diagrams – that are commonly used in physics teaching realise the critical aspects of a common physics object of learning. A social semiotic approach to the analysis of a canonical text extract from optics is presented to illustrate how critical aspects can be identified. Findings – Implications for university teaching and learning of physics stemming from this social semiotic approach are suggested.Originality/value – Hitherto under-explored similarities between the Variation Theory of Learning, which underpins learning studies, and a social semiotic approach to meaning-making are identified. These similarities are used to propose a new, potentially very powerful approach to identifying critical aspects of objects of learning.
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| 5. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Att välja lämpliga semiotiska resurser
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scientific literacy. - Malmö, Sweden : Gleerups Utbildning AB. - 9789140684431 ; , s. 59-70, s. 59-70
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Enhancing the possibilities for learning: variation of disciplinary-relevant aspects in physics representations
- 2015
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Ingår i: European journal of physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0143-0807 .- 1361-6404. ; 36:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this theoretical article we propose three factors that can enhance the possibilities for learning physics from representations, namely: (1) the identification of disciplinary-relevant aspects for a particular disciplinary task, such as solving a physics problem or explaining a phenomenon, (2) the selection of appropriate representations that showcase these disciplinary-relevant aspects, and (3) the creation of variation within the selected representations to help students notice these disciplinary-relevant aspects and the ways in which they are related to each other. An illustration of how these three factors can guide teachers in their efforts to promote physics learning is presented.
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| 8. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring knowledge representation in terms of the enactment of idealized patterns of disciplinary-relevant aspects
- 2014
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Ingår i: The 5th International 360 Conference. Encompassing the multi modality of knowledge, May 8-10 2014, Aarhus University, Denmark.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Disciplinary knowledge has been described as consisting of a number of “dimensions of variation” (cf. Marton & Booth, 1997), where the variation along each dimension is qualitatively unique. In order for students to holistically experience disciplinary knowledge each of these dimensions of variation need be enacted (i.e. expressed with representations).We suggest it is possible to construct an idealized pattern of the dimensions of variation that are deemed to be relevant for a given field of knowledge in a given discipline. We call such patterns “idealized patterns of disciplinary relevant aspects,” IPDRA. Each of the dimensions that together constitute an IPDRA can be said to enter discourse in terms of particular configurations, partly prescribed by the “rules” governing the representational format at hand (such as grammar for language). The resultant discursive configurational patterns (cf. Lemke's, 1990, "thematic patterns"; and Tang et al.'s, 2011, "multimodal thematic patterns") can then be compared with the IPDRA to see if the needed dimensions of variation have been enacted.The specialization of representations to express certain (combinations) of dimensions of variation (what we have called “disciplinary affordances”, see Fredlund, Airey, & Linder, 2012) determines which representations that can do which work in terms of representing the knowledge described by an IPDRA. Thus students need to learn to choose representations with appropriate disciplinary affordances to enact a given IPDRA. In this paper we demonstrate the different disciplinary affordances of representations and how changing representation can lead to the possibility to enact different dimensions of disciplinary knowledge. ReferencesFredlund, T., Airey, J., & Linder, C. (2012). Exploring the role of physics representations: an illustrative example from students sharing knowledge about refraction. Eur. J. Phys., 33, 657-666.Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking Science. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and Awareness. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Tang, K. S., Tan, S. C., & Yeo, J. (2011). Students' multimodal construction of the work-energy concept. International Journal of Science Education, 33(13), 1775-1804.
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| 9. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the role of physics representations : an illustrative example from students sharing knowledge about refraction
- 2012
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Ingår i: European journal of physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0143-0807 .- 1361-6404. ; 33:3, s. 657-666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research has shown that interactive engagement enhances student learning outcomes. A growing body of research suggests that the representations we use in physics are important in such learning environments. In this paper we draw on a number of sources in the literature to explore the role of representations in interactive engagement in physics. In particular we are interested in the potential for sharing disciplinary knowledge inherent in so-called persistent representations (such as equations, diagrams and graphs), which we use in physics. We use selected extracts from a case study, where a group of senior undergraduate physics students are asked to explain the phenomenon of refraction, to illustrate implications for interactive engagement. In this study the ray diagram that was initially introduced by the students did not appear to sufficiently support their interactive engagement. However, the introduction of a wavefront diagram quickly led their discussion to an agreed conclusion. From our analysis we conclude that in interactive engagement it is important to choose appropriate persistent representations to coordinate the use of other representations such as speech and gestures. Pedagogical implications and future research are proposed.
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| 10. |
- Fredlund, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Learning in terms of the semiotic enactment of patterns of disciplinary-relevant aspects
- 2014
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Ingår i: IACS-2014, The First Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics. ; , s. 94-94
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Student learning typically takes place in a range of situational contexts. In this paper we consider “sets of situations that have certain relevant aspects in common” (Marton, 2006, p. 503) where each aspect involved is qualitatively unique. We argue that in order for students to come to holistically experience the relevant disciplinary knowledge, they need to become familiar with enacting those relevant aspects (i.e. expressing them with semiotic resources, such as spoken and written language, equations and images.).We suggest it is possible to construct idealized patterns of the aspects that a discipline deems to be relevant for a given field of knowledge – thus characterizing its typical situations and phenomena. We call such a pattern an “idealized pattern of disciplinary relevant aspects” (IPDRA). Each of the aspects that together constitute an IPDRA can be seen to be manifested in discourse in terms of particular configurations, partly prescribed by the “rules” governing the semiotic resource at hand (such as grammar for language). The discursive configurational patterns (cf. Lemke's, 1990, "thematic patterns"; and Tang et al.'s, 2011, "multimodal thematic patterns") that can be empirically found in student discourse can then be compared with the IPDRA to see whether the required aspects have been enacted.The semiotic resources that are used in a scientific discipline are often highly specialized. Any given semiotic resource may therefore be more appropriate for expressing certain (combinations of) situational aspects (what we have called its “disciplinary affordances”, see Fredlund, Airey, & Linder, 2012). We argue it is the disciplinary affordances that determine which semiotic resources that can do which work in terms of representing the knowledge captured by an IPDRA. A pedagogical implication of this is that students need to become fluent in, and learn to choose, those semiotic resources that have the most appropriate disciplinary affordances for enacting a given IPDRA.In this paper we demonstrate how different semiotic resources have different disciplinary affordances and thus how changing the semiotic resource can lead to the possibility to enact different aspects of disciplinary knowledge.
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