Learning from Animations in Science Education: Innovating in Semiotic and Educational Research

Len Unsworth

Nov 2020 · Innovations in Science Education and Technology Book 25 · Springer Nature

About this ebook

This book examines educational semiotics and the representation of knowledge in school science. It discusses the strategic integration of animation in science education. It explores how learning through the creation of science animations takes place, as well as how animation can be used in assessing student’s science learning.
Science education animations are ubiquitous in a variety of different online sites, including perhaps the most popularly accessed YouTube site, and are also routinely included as digital augmentations to science textbooks. They are popular with students and teachers and are a prominent feature of contemporary science teaching. The proliferation of various kinds of science animations and the ready accessibility of sophisticated resources for creating them have emphasized the importance of research into various areas: the nature of the semiotic construction of knowledge in the animation design, the development of critical interpretation of available animations, the strategic selection and use of animations to optimize student learning, student creation of science animations, and using animation in assessing student science learning. This book brings together new developments in these research agendas to further multidisciplinary perspectives on research to enhance the design and pedagogic use of animation in school science education.

Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

About the author

Len Unsworth is Professor in English and Literacies Education in the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE), at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney, Australia. Len’s current research interests include systemic functional semiotic perspectives on multimodal and digital literacies in English and in curriculum area teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. He is the lead researcher on an Australian Research Council funded project on Multiliteracies for Addressing Disadvantage in Senior High School Scienceand has published in the International Journal of Science Education and in Research in Science Education with an extensive record of publication in leading journals in literacy and education as well book chapters and a number of books, including recently: Functional Grammatics: Reconceptualising Knowledge about Language and Image for School English with Mary Macken-Horarik, Kristina Love and Carmel Sandiford (Routledge, 2017); English Teaching and New Literacies Pedagogy: Interpreting and authoring digital multimedia narratives with Angela Thomas (Peter Lang Publishing 2014); and Reading Visual Narratives (Equinox, 2013) with Clare Painter and Jim Martin.