Introduction to Multiple Representations: Their Importance in Biology and Biological Education
This chapter introduces the theoretical perspectives associated with multiple external representations (MERs) (Ainsworth, Comput Educ, 33(2/3):131–152, 1999) and their importance in biology and biological education. We first review Ainsworth’s functional
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Introduction to Multiple Representations: Their Importance in Biology and Biological Education Chi-Yan Tsui and David F. Treagust
Information gently but relentlessly drizzles down on us in an invisible, impalpable electric rain. . .just plug in a modem and watch a flood of information from the world’s uncounted electronic memories come pouring out into your laptop. . . For better or worse the world is awash with information. (von Baeyer, 2003, pp. 2–3)
Seeking a Unifying Theoretical Framework for Learning with Multiple Representations A review of the extant literature shows over the past decades how science teachers and science teacher educators, as well as science education researchers, have effectively used various external representations for teaching and learning. The variety of external representations in the literature includes analogies (e.g., Dagher, 1994; Spiro, Feltovich, Coulson, & Anderson, 1989; Treagust, Harrison, & Venville, 1998), metaphors (e.g., Aubusson, Harrison, & Ritchie, 2006; Martins & Ogborn, 1997), visualization (see its Convention 2 definition in Gilbert, Reiner, & Nakhleh, 2008, p. 2), discourse (e.g., Lemke, 1990, 1998), models and modelbased learning (e.g., Buckley, 2000; Clement & Rae-Mamirez, 2008; Gilbert & Boulter, 1998), multilevel representations (Johnstone, 1982, 1991), multimodal representations (e.g., Jaipal, 2010; Waldrip, Prain, & Carolan, 2010), and others. Given this diversity in use of external representations in various combinations Unless stated otherwise, the term multiple representations in this chapter refers to multiple external representations (MERs) used by Ainsworth (1999). C.-Y. Tsui • D.F. Treagust (*) Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] D.F. Treagust and C.-Y. Tsui (eds.), Multiple Representations in Biological Education, Models and Modeling in Science Education 7, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-4192-8_1, # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013
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C.-Y. Tsui and D.F. Treagust
across different content areas and contexts in the teaching and learning of science, there is a need for a unifying theoretical framework. We have attempted to seek such a framework that could show how these seemingly disparate external representations can be harnessed for improving higher order learning, such as reasoning and problem solving, as well as for constructing learners’ internal representations (mental models) of understanding (e.g., Gentner & Stevens, 1983). On the basis of the recent literature and our previous research work on learning of genetics (Tsui & Treagust, 2003, 2007, 2010), we believe that the use of Ainsworth’s (1999) pedagogical functions of multiple external representations (MERs) can be a useful framework for conceptualizing learning with different external representations in science education in general and in biological education in particular. This functional taxonomy from the research area of cognitive science and computational approa
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