CONSTRUCTING FUNCTIONS BETWEEN DIAGRAM AND TEXT 1 Constructing by Information Extension

Multiple representations support the constructing of deeper understanding when the information has been extended from a known representation to an unknown

representation, and has not been fundamentally reorganized (Ainsworth, 2006). When diagram and text were introduced into students’ biological learning, students were found to have their biological learning accomplished by extending information from text to diagram, or vice versa.

By looking back into the interview process, students may reach different learning outcomes by referring to the two distinct representations, respectively. Some may prefer to learn with the text, because ‘the text explains more to you and it doesn’t just say this is what happens, it describes what the process is and why it happens (student 6)’; while some others would like to learn this topic by relying on diagram, as the diagram allowed them ‘to see how the urine and the blood travels, and again it shows the excretory system organs., like the veins and everything (student 9). Students chose either diagram or text as their favorite representation, from which the domain knowledge could be picked up by the learners much easier.

Information extension can be considered to have occurred in the students’ learning, as students admitted that they could transfer some learning from one representation to the other (see results 7.10). The information has been extended from a known situation (either diagram or text) to an unknown or less known situation (text or diagram). For the interview participants who believed that some information could be transferred from text to interpret diagram, the textual representation thus constructed their interpretation of the diagrammatic representation. Student 1 proved a thorough understanding of the diagram was achieved with the assistant information from the text. He explained the biological domain knowledge with more confidence in the end: ‘during the filtration, the arrow shows the blood goes into the lumen. Substances like urea were filtered from the blood. And the diagram tells where it is filtered from and where it filtered to. Reabsorption, I borrowed understanding from the text. I know the arrow means that stuff from the lumen filtered into the capillaries. With the text we can know that things are filtered back into capillaries and solute in the water’. Therefore, the constructing function applied to the students’ conceptual learning.

7.4.5.2 Constructing by Relational Understanding

Multiple representations support the construction of relational understanding, which needs the learner to associate two representations without reorganization of knowledge (Ainsworth, 2006). Building up the connections between representations can sometimes be considered to be the goal of learning in itself (Ainsworth, 2006). The researcher found that when the combination of diagram and text were introduced in the biological learning, the goal of learning may also lie in having learners relate the contents from both representations. When learners interpreted the domain knowledge from one representation, they are also expected to construct their learning with another type of representation, i.e. the relation between representations.

Evidence indicated that learners were able to perceive the similarities in the conceptions contained by the diagram and text when both representations were engaged in the biological learning. For example, student 6 described how she found the same content information from the diagram and text: ‘I am guessing both diagram and text are talking about filtration, absorption, and secretion.’ She also realized different representational features played particular roles in demonstrating the domain: ‘The text explains more to you what everything is and why it happens, but it doesn’t tell where everything happens. While the diagram shows where each process happens in the cycle. It shows all the details.’ The overall response of student 6 revealed that the relation between the two representations has been identified during the individual’s representational learning. Student 6’s integration of the biological knowledge from both representations could also be considered to be the process of constructing the deeper understanding of the domain.

Another learner could also understand how different formats of representations related to each other in conveying the domain knowledge. Student 5 reflected his learning outcomes from the diagram and the text: ‘I would have not a very good understanding by reading the text, but later I can see its links with the diagram. Such as, the definition of the filtration, I immediately related my understanding from the text to the interpretation of the diagram. The corresponding knowledge from the diagram and text fully supported my overall understanding of this biological concept.’ Apparently, the student 5 achieved the insight that would be difficult to be obtained with only a single representation. Furthermore, the insight achieved in one

representational format was transferred to another representational learning situation. Learners constructed references across multiple representations that expose the underlying structure of the domain represented.

7.5SUMMARYANDRESPONSETOTHERESEARCHQUESTION

This chapter has reported research findings that in regard to answer Research Question 7: What are the roles that diagrams and text have when learners relate both representations to understand biological concepts. Students’ interpretative process has been described by which the researcher developed a set of interview protocols to investigate how multiple representations are integrated with each other to assist students in making sense of complicated biological domain knowledge. Each of the three interview protocols contained textual and diagrammatic representations that allowed the researcher to compare individual’s conceptions gained from both sources. It is apparent that diagram and text differ in their roles in having students process the domain knowledge. Three are three key cognitive functions applied to the learners’ learning when the combination of diagram and text are employed in the learning secondary biology: to constrain, complement and construct.

Diagram and text would constrain the each other in demonstrating information. This may occur if the information is too complicated to be presented by the single representation, either diagram or the text. Furthermore, individual’s interpretation may be constrained by different representational properties (see section 7.2); constraining function could also be achieved when learners have different familiarities toward the representational formats.

Diagram and text may complement each other when they differ in the information that each representation contains. As a result of learning with the combination of diagram and text, learners could benefit from the advantages in each of the representations (see section 7.3).

Diagram and text may construct learners’ coherent understanding when learners were not able to achieve the insight with only a single representation (see section 7.4). In particular, students’ coherent understanding of the domain knowledge can be

achieved by relating the diagram and text; or by extending the conceptions between representations.

CHAPTER 8