As students read scientific texts created in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, they need to draw on their epistemic knowledge of GenAI as well as that of science. However, only a few research discussed multimodality as a methodological approach in characterising students' ideas of GenAI-science epistemic reading. This study…

Students' understanding of nature of science (NOS) has been largely examined primarily in written or verbal modes. The visual, verbal, and written modes are essential for students' meaning-making of NOS. However, research has sidelined the interaction among these three modes in understanding students' collaborative discourse of NOS. Informed by…

Background: With a growing new materialism paradigm and research on multimodality, there is an increasing attention on the role of material objects in science teaching and learning. However, there is currently no available framework, coding scheme, or method of inquiry to specifically analyze the use of material objects in science meaning-making.…

This manuscript examines multimodal storytelling as community inquiry for an urban high school class of 30 first- and second-generation bi/multilingual immigrant students, most of whom maintained transnational connections. We share how these students, in an A.P. Research class, engaged in community-based inquiry and utilized various multimodal…

This article reports on the design and implementation of a didactic sequence in the frame of a design-based research study. The research aim is to test the hypothesis that affordances of dynamic geometry may support students' awareness of logical relationships between geometrical properties of constructed figures. We elaborate on the task design…

The area concept may appear in a wide range of problem situations. The representations used (geometrical, numerical and algebraic) in such situations entail particular practices that condition the partial area meanings. Thus, this study aims to characterize the partial area meanings mobilized in the resolution of area tasks. Each of the area…

Representations constitute an important part of chemistry knowledge. This paper revisits the notion of the term, symbolic, in the chemistry triangle proposed by Johnstone using the theoretical lens of social semiotics. In doing so, this paper proposes a framework of chemistry learning that highlights representational re-description and…

This essay aims to advance the debate on the conceptualization of interdisciplinarity in mathematics education by presenting the idea of the border as a dynamic semiotic cross-cultural space. We refer to three theories, that originate in different research fields and use specific languages: De Luca Picione and Valsiner's idea of the border as a…

Background: In learning astronomy, students need to shift between 3D and 2D representations involving complex interactions between the body and material environment. Little attention has been paid to the iconic nature of this astronomical diagramming. Purpose: This research explored the value for students of diagramming to reveal the structural…

There is currently a lack of systematic study examining the integration of verbal-visual elements in science textbooks. In particular, few research has investigated how different types of visual representations (e.g. photograph, diagram, table) vary across the major written genres of science (e.g. information report, explanation). Based on the…

In science education, there is a now established focus on fostering students' meaning making through/as multimodal representations as part of their induction into the epistemic practices of the discipline. Increasingly, this agenda is aligned with an emphasis on nurturing students' creative reasoning, as researchers move to enrich theories of…

As highlighted in the literature, one of the main difficulties in mathematics is the management of different semiotic representations. This difficulty occurs in verticals throughout schooling and is often an obstacle to the proper learning process of mathematics. The present study aims to investigate the different facets of these difficulties with…

This article explores how seven Swedish digital teaching platforms in mathematics make use of the affordances provided by various modalities and dynamic functions. A model based on social semiotics is used to analyse how dynamic functions are used, whether or not the language is technically oriented, if relational or operational processes are…

In this study, we propose to analyse students' drawings using the Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), a socio-cultural psychological model that integrates semiotics with dynamic systems theory. According to the SCPT framework, students-generated drawings can be analysed in terms of generalised meanings, i.e., implicit assumptions about…

Textbooks use images, in addition to text, for delivering knowledge, thereby convey attitudes and values of students including those on gender bias. The gender bias presented in textbook images affects in subtle ways the students' learning outcomes, career choices, and how they perceive science. However, prior research has relied on explicit…