| 1. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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A student-generated embodied metaphor for binary star interactions
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this presentation, we present an example of a student-generated metaphor for celestial motion in the form of an embodied dance. We examine how this dance played a part in the students’ reasoning about astronomy, paying particular attention to how the students coordinated the movements of their bodies to communicate with one another about the centrality and reciprocity of the interactions between binary stars. We also consider how an open-ended, technology-rich learning environment made such a metaphorical, embodied representation possible, and review how the process of unpacking such metaphors can be embraced by teachers in potentially fruitful ways.
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| 2. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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Discovering variation: learning physics in a creative digital environment
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we investigate the ways in which an open-ended software can support the learning of physics through a case study of a pair of students using Algodoo, a creativity-based 2D Newtonian physics environment which, in contrast to the majority of educational simulations, is not targeted for the investigation of a specific phenomenon (or subset of phenomena). Specifically, we explore how open-ended software such as Algodoo supports the learning of physics by (1) allowing users to experience the variation of physical parameters and, importantly, by (2) requiring users to discern those parameters which are relevant to the learning situation at hand.
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| 3. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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Embodying the abstract or abstracting from the body
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Some discussions of kinesthetic learning activities include a distinction between (1) activities which involve students’ bodies as symbolic representations and (2) activities which incorporate students’ bodies as sensors for experiencing things such as forces and torques. In this poster, we go beyond this binary distinction to propose a theoretical interpretation of how the body can be included in physics learning. We then use our interpretation in discussing an example from a learning activity where a pair of students spontaneously recruited an embodied metaphor as part of their reasoning about binary stars.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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Metaphorical Use of Touch in an Astronomy Activity
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a tendency for many physics teachers, especially while using the more interactive approaches to physics instruction, to want to involve students’ physical bodies in the process of learning. Many teachers include ‘embodied’ (or ‘kinesthetic’) physics learning activities as an effective way to allow students to physically engage with a phenomenon which physics describes mathematically. Nonetheless, as we tend to include more of these activities in our teaching of physics, the physics education community may benefit from a more nuanced look at how meaning-making takes place during students’ embodied interactions, especially in those instances when students happen to involve their own bodies spontaneously (without direct outside instruction).In this paper, we take a closer look at embodied learning in physics by analysing the interaction of two secondary school students as they investigated the orbital motion of stars within a computer simulation, My Solar System. Specifically, we demonstrate how, for this pair of students working with binary stars, a spontaneous dance was an integral component in their peer-to-peer communication alongside talk and gesture. As the students made sense of the orbiting stars, they held hands and leaned outward to enact a metaphor for the motion of the stars. Since this embodied metaphor occurred spontaneously, we then discuss some of the ways in which a teacher might encourage embodied learning through the design of their lessons and the structure of the learning environment.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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Spontaneous use of dance in an astronomy activity
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In science education, there has been recent interest in the ways that the body plays a part in the process of thinking and, concurrently, how learning activities can be designed to explicitly incorporate more embodied engagement. In this paper, we present a case study of an instance where two students spontaneously recruited their bodies as they came to understand the celestial mechanics in an astronomy activity. Working on an open-ended task in a technologically-rich environment, the students instinctively held hands and leaned outward to metaphorically account for the centrality and reciprocity of gravitational forces. Their embodied engagement included a multimodally-rich coordination of talk, gaze, posture, body placement, and haptically-responsive touch in a manner similar to a partnered dance. With an interpretive lens which combines social semiotics, embodied cognition, and conceptual metaphor, we examine the ways in which dance functioned as part of the students’ reasoning about astronomy, as well as reflect on the how the environment afforded the opportunity for such a metaphorical, embodied representation to be recruited in the process of learning.
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| 8. |
- Euler, Elias, et al.
(författare)
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The case for (better) illustrations in qualitative physics education research
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Screenshots and illustrations of video frames are being increasingly used in qualitative physics education research publications, alongside more traditional text-based transcripts, as a way to convey visual features of video data that are not captured by text-based transcripts alone. We present a case for an increased attention to the quality and effectiveness of research-based illustrations, highlighting both the potential affordances of intelligible illustrations in relation to the aims of qualitative research, as well as the relative ease with which professional-looking illustrations can be created with the digital tools at the disposal of most contemporary researchers.
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