Multimodality and New Materialism in Science Learning: Exploring Insights from an Introductory Physics Lesson

Science disciplines are inherently multimodal, involving written and spoken language, bodily gestures, symbols, diagrams, sketches, simulation and mathematical formalism. Studies have shown that explicit multimodal teaching approaches foster enhanced access to science disciplines. We examine multimodal classroom practices in a physics extended curriculum programme (ECP) through the lens of new materialism. As De Freitas and Sinclair note in their book, Mathematics and the Body, there is growing research interest in embodiment in mathematics (and science) education—that is, the role played by students’ bodies, in terms of gestures, verbalisation, diagrams and their relation to the physical objects with which they interact. Embodiment can be viewed from a range of theoretical perspectives (for example, cognitive, phenomemological, or social semiotic). However, they argue that their new materialist approach, which they term “inclusive materialism”, has the potential for framing more socially just pedagogies. In this article, we discuss a multimodal and new materialist analysis of a lesson vignette from a first-year extended curriculum physics course. The analysis illuminates how an assemblage of bodily-paced steps-gestures-diagrams becomes entangled with mathematical concepts. Here, concepts arise through the interplay of modes of diagrams, gestures and bodily movements. The article explores how multimodal and new materialist perspectives might contribute to reconfiguring pedagogical practices in extended curriculum programmes in physics and mathematics.

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The Teaching Practices Inventory: A New Tool for Characterizing College and University Teaching in Mathematics and Science

CBE—Life Sciences Education ◽

10.1187/cbe.14-02-0023 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 552-569 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Carl Wieman ◽

Sarah Gilbert

Keyword(s):

Teaching Practices ◽

University Teaching ◽

Mathematics Courses ◽

College And University ◽

University Instructors ◽

And Mathematics ◽

High Degree ◽

Mathematics And Science ◽

Use Of Research ◽

Science Disciplines

We have created an inventory to characterize the teaching practices used in science and mathematics courses. This inventory can aid instructors and departments in reflecting on their teaching. It has been tested with several hundred university instructors and courses from mathematics and four science disciplines. Most instructors complete the inventory in 10 min or less, and the results allow meaningful comparisons of the teaching used for the different courses and instructors within a department and across different departments. We also show how the inventory results can be used to gauge the extent of use of research-based teaching practices, and we illustrate this with the inventory results for five departments. These results show the high degree of discrimination provided by the inventory, as well as its effectiveness in tracking the increase in the use of research-based teaching practices.

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Imre Lakatos

Philosophy ◽

10.1093/obo/9780195396577-0205 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Brendan Larvor ◽

Colin Jakob Rittberg

Keyword(s):

Philosophy Of Science ◽

Philosophy Of Mathematics ◽

London School ◽

Mathematical Concepts ◽

Imre Lakatos ◽

Gregory Currie ◽

And Mathematics ◽

London School Of Economics ◽

Modern Mathematics ◽

Mathematics And Science

Imre Lakatos (b. 1922–d. 1974) was a philosopher of mathematics and science. Having left Hungary in 1956, he made his first appearance on the international stage with a series of four papers during 1963 and 1964 in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, later published together posthumously in Proofs and Refutations (1976), in which he discusses the formation of mathematical concepts by proof-analysis. This radical break with classical approaches to the philosophy of mathematics attracted sufficient interest that Kitcher and Aspray deem Lakatos to have started a new and “maverick” tradition in the field (“An Opinionated Introduction,” in History and Philosophy of Modern Mathematics, 1988). By 1959, Lakatos had become an assistant lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This department was still under the direction of its founder, Karl Popper, and Lakatos’s evolving and ultimately antagonistic relations with Popper and the Popperians conditioned much of his work. The chief part of this work was a series of influential papers on the philosophy of science. These are included in the two books of his work that two of his former students, John Worrall and Gregory Currie, published after his death (Lakatos 1978a and Lakatos 1978b, cited under Posthumously Published). In 1974, Lakatos died of a heart attack, leaving his projects in philosophy of science and mathematics incomplete.

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BSc Applied Physics: A physics degree for students with non-standard qualifications

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1564 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alan Wood ◽

Bill Neal ◽

Nicolas Sawyer ◽

James Rawlings

Keyword(s):

First Year ◽

Access To Higher Education ◽

Applied Physics ◽

Advanced Level ◽

Physics Students ◽

Mature Students ◽

And Mathematics ◽

The Uk ◽

Physics Course ◽

Entry Qualifications

In the UK, the primary route to a physics degree is through studying for advanced level qualifications (known as A-levels) in both physics and mathematics. 38,958 students were entered for A-level examinations in physics in 2019, with the majority of these candidates also entered for A-level mathematics.In recent years the UK has seen a growth of vocational, technical and wide entry qualifications. The vocational and technical qualifications are targeted at teenagers, and the latter targeting mature students returning to education later in life. These qualifications all cover a wider breadth of material, but in less depth than traditional A-levels. In order to ensure that these students can succeed at a physics degree, Nottingham Trent University developed a new course, BSc Applied Physics.BSc Applied Physics is designed to follow on directly from vocational, technical and wide entry courses, including the BTEC Extended Diploma in Applied Science and Diplomas in Access to Higher Education. In the first year of BSc Applied Physics students have extra workshops to support their studies, and extra sessions on mathematics for physics. The aim is that, at the end of the first year, these students should have the same mathematical ability as year 1 students on our main BSc Physics course. The BSc Applied Physics students then have a choice. They can either continue with BSc Applied Physics, which focusses on the applications of physics, or transfer to a more traditional BSc Physics programme.The purpose of this poster is to showcase to teachers how this type of non-standard degree programme can benefit students studying for non-traditional qualifications.

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Determination of learning styles and achievements of talented students in the fields of science and mathematics

Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences ◽

10.18844/cjes.v14i1.3441 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 80-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hasan Altun ◽

Oguz Serin

Keyword(s):

Learning Styles ◽

Learning Style ◽

Screening Method ◽

The Other ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Ninth Grade Students ◽

Talented Students ◽

Physics Course ◽

Mathematics And Science

The purpose of this study is to determine the distribution of talented students’ course achievements in the fields of mathematics and science, according to the learning styles. General screening method was used in this research. The universe of the research consists of Ninth grade students (2016–2017) who study at Bornova Anatolian High School. The sample of the study was composed of 11 talented students. After determining learning styles, the distribution of the students according to the learning styles was determined. At the end of the study, it was detected that mathematics course achievements’ average of the students who have assimilator learning style is higher than averages of the other students’s who have other learning styles. It was determined that physics course achievements’ average of the students who have assimilator learning style is higher than averages of the other students’s who have other learning styles. Keywords: Learning styles, talented students, science and mathematics.

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Compulsive Bodies, Creative Bodies: Beckett'sQuadand Agency in the 21stCentury

Journal of Beckett Studies ◽

10.3366/jobs.2018.0217 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 5-21

Author(s):

Amanda Dennis

Keyword(s):

Human Action ◽

The Body ◽

New Materialism ◽

Illustrative Case ◽

Repetitive Movement ◽

Repetitive Tasks ◽

The Subject ◽

Object Oriented Ontology ◽

Geological Space ◽

Alternative Reading

Lying in ditches, tromping through mud, wedged in urns, trash bins, buried in earth, bodies in Beckett appear anything but capable of acting meaningfully on their environments. Bodies in Beckett seem, rather, synonymous with abjection, brokenness, and passivity—as if the human were overcome by its materiality: odours, pain, foot sores, decreased mobility. To the extent that Beckett's personae act, they act vaguely (wandering) or engage in quasi-obsessive, repetitive tasks: maniacal rocking, rotating sucking stones and biscuits, uttering words evacuated of sense, ceaseless pacing. Perhaps the most vivid dramatization of bodies compelled to meaningless, repetitive movement is Quad (1981), Beckett's ‘ballet’ for television, in which four bodies in hooded robes repeat their series ad infinitum. By 1981, has all possibility for intentional action in Beckett been foreclosed? Are we doomed, as Hamm puts it, to an eternal repetition of the same? (‘Moments for nothing, now as always, time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended.’)This article proposes an alternative reading of bodily abjection, passivity and compulsivity in Beckett, a reading that implies a version of agency more capacious than voluntarism. Focusing on Quad as an illustrative case, I show how, if we shift our focus from the body's diminished possibilities for movement to the imbrication of Beckett's personae in environments (a mound of earth), things, and objects, a different story emerges: rather than dramatizing the impossibility of action, Beckett's work may sketch plans for a more ecological, post-human version of agency, a more collaborative mode of ‘acting’ that eases the divide between the human, the world of inanimate objects, and the earth.Movements such as new materialism and object-oriented ontology challenge hierarchies among subjects, objects and environments, questioning the rigid distinction between animate and inanimate, and the notion of the Anthropocene emphasizes the influence of human activity on social and geological space. A major theoretical challenge that arises from such discourses (including 20th-century challenges to the idea of an autonomous, willing, subject) is to arrive at an account of agency robust enough to survive if not the ‘death of the subject’ then its imbrication in the material and social environment it acts upon. Beckett's treatment of the human body suggests a version of agency that draws strength from a body's interaction with its environment, such that meaning is formed in the nexus between body and world. Using the example of Quad, I show how representations of the body in Beckett disturb the opposition between compulsivity (when a body is driven to move or speak in the absence of intention) and creative invention. In Quad, serial repetition works to create an interface between body and world that is receptive to meanings outside the control of a human will. Paradoxically, compulsive repetition in Beckett, despite its uncomfortable closeness to addiction, harnesses a loss of individual control that proposes a more versatile and ecologically mindful understanding of human action.

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Performance in grade 12 mathematics and science predicts student nurses’ performance in first year science modules at a university in the Western Cape

Curationis ◽

10.4102/curationis.v40i1.1776 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katlego D.T. Mthimunye ◽

Felicity M. Daniels

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Academic Performance ◽

Predictive Validity ◽

Life Science ◽

Student Nurses ◽

First Year ◽

Western Cape ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mathematics And Science ◽

First Year Student

Background: The demand for highly qualified and skilled nurses is increasing in South Africa as well as around the world. Having a background in science can create a significant advantage for students wishing to enrol for an undergraduate nursing qualification because nursing as profession is grounded in scientific evidence.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.Method: A quantitative research method using a cross-sectional predictive design was employed in this study. The participants included first year Bachelor of Nursing students enrolled at a university in the Western Cape, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyse the data by using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences versions 24. Descriptive analysis of all variables was performed as well as the Spearman’s rank correlation test to describe the relationship among the study variables. Standard multiple linear regressions analysis was performed to determine the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.Results: The results of this study showed that grade 12 physical science is not a significant predictor (p > 0.062) of performance in first year science modules. The multiple linear regression revealed that grade 12 mathematics and life science grades explained 37.1% to 38.1% (R2 = 0.381 and adj R2 = 0.371) of the variation in the first year science grade distributions.Conclusion: Based on the results of the study it is evident that performance in grade 12 mathematics (β = 2.997) and life science (β = 3.175) subjects is a significant predictor (p < 0.001) of the performance in first year science modules for student nurses at the university identified for this study.

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Bridging the gap: blending spatial skills instruction into a technology teacher preparation programme

International Journal of Technology and Design Education ◽

10.1007/s10798-021-09691-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diarmaid Lane ◽

Sheryl Sorby

Keyword(s):

Teacher Preparation ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Future Research ◽

First Year ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

First Year Students ◽

Base Level ◽

Technology Teacher ◽

And Mathematics ◽

The Impact

AbstractIn recent years, there has been a surge in research in spatial thinking across the international community. We now know that spatial skills are malleable and that they are linked to success across multiple disciplines, most notably Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). While spatial skills have been examined by cognitive scientists in laboratory environments for decades, current research is examining how these skills can be developed in field-based environments. In this paper, we present findings from a study within a Technology Teacher preparation programme where we examined first-year students’ spatial skills on entry to university. We explain why it was necessary to embed a spatial skills intervention into Year 1 of the programme and we describe the impact that this had on students’ spatial scores and on academic performance. The findings from our study highlight a consistent gender gap in spatial scores at the start of the first-year with female students entering the Technology Teacher preparation programme at a lower base level than male students. We describe how we integrated spatial development activities into an existing course and how an improvement in spatial scores and overall course performance was observed. The paper concludes by discussing the long-term sustainability of integrating spatial interventions within teacher preparation programmes while also highlighting the importance of future research to examine spatial skills as a fundamental component of technological capability.

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Mobilizing the Sense of “Fat”: A Phenomenological Materialist Approach

Human Studies ◽

10.1007/s10746-021-09595-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jenny Slatman

Keyword(s):

Lived Experiences ◽

Fat Body ◽

The Body ◽

New Materialism ◽

Writing Style ◽

Conceptual Frame ◽

Fat Bodies ◽

The Way ◽

Phenomenological Exploration

AbstractThis paper aims to mobilize the way we think and write about fat bodies while drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy of the body. I introduce Nancy’s approach to the body as an addition to contemporary new materialism. His philosophy, so I argue, offers a form of materialism that allows for a phenomenological exploration of the body. As such, it can help us to understand the lived experiences of fat embodiment. Additionally, Nancy’s idea of the body in terms of a “corpus”—a collection of pieces without a unity—together with his idea of corpus-writing—fragmentary writing, without head and tail—can help us to mobilize fixed meanings of fat. To apply Nancy’s conceptual frame to a concrete manifestation of fat embodiment, I provide a reading of Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger (2017). In my analysis, I identify how the materiality of fat engenders the meaning of embodiment, and how it shapes how a fat body can and cannot be a body. Moreover, I propose that Gay’s writing style—hesitating and circling – involves an example of corpus-writing. The corpus of corpulence that Gay has created gives voice to the precariousness of a fat body's materialization.

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An analysis of Italian university students’ performance through segmented regression models: gender differences in STEM courses

Genus ◽

10.1186/s41118-021-00118-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 77 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Priulla ◽

Nicoletta D’Angelo ◽

Massimo Attanasio

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Regression Models ◽

First Year ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Segmented Regression ◽

Freshmen Students ◽

Female Performance ◽

And Mathematics ◽

The Relationship ◽

Better Than

AbstractThis paper investigates gender differences in university performances in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses in Italy, proposing a novel application through the segmented regression models. The analysis concerns freshmen students enrolled at a 3-year STEM degree in Italian universities in the last decade, with a focus on the relationship between the number of university credits earned during the first year (a good predictor of the regularity of the career) and the probability of getting the bachelor degree within 4 years. Data is provided by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). Our analysis confirms that first-year performance is strongly correlated to obtaining a degree within 4 years. Furthermore, our findings show that gender differences vary among STEM courses, in accordance with the care-oriented and technical-oriented dichotomy. Males outperform females in mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer science, while females are slightly better than males in biology. In engineering, female performance seems to follow the male stream. Finally, accounting for other important covariates regarding students, we point out the importance of high school background and students’ demographic characteristics.

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Model-Eliciting Activities: A Research-Based Method for Inquiry Learning and Professional Development in the Engineering Classroom

Volume 3: Design; Tribology; Education ◽

10.1115/esda2008-59440 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Tamara J. Moore

Keyword(s):

Complex Systems ◽

Student Development ◽

Engineering Problem ◽

First Year ◽

Foundation Engineering ◽

Underrepresented Populations ◽

Model Eliciting Activities ◽

Engineering Problems ◽

The Given ◽

Mathematics And Science

Attracting students to engineering is a challenge. In addition, ABET requires that engineering graduates be able to work on multi-disciplinary teams and apply mathematics and science when solving engineering problems. One manner of integrating teamwork and engineering contexts in a first-year foundation engineering course is through the use of Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) — realistic, client-driven problems based on the models and modeling theoretical framework. A Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA) is a real-world client-driven problem. The solution of an MEA requires the use of one or more mathematical or engineering concepts that are unspecified by the problem — students must make new sense of their existing knowledge and understandings to formulate a generalizable mathematical model that can be used by the client to solve the given and similar problems. An MEA creates an environment in which skills beyond mathematical abilities are valued because the focus is not on the use of prescribed equations and algorithms but on the use of a broader spectrum of skills required for effective engineering problem-solving. Carefully constructed MEAs can begin to prepare students to communicate and work effectively in teams; to adopt and adapt conceptual tools; to construct, describe, and explain complex systems; and to cope with complex systems. MEAs provide a learning environment that is tailored to a more diverse population than typical engineering course experiences as they allow students with different backgrounds and values to emerge as talented, and that adapting these types of activities to engineering courses has the potential to go beyond “filling the gaps” to “opening doors” to women and underrepresented populations in engineering. Further, MEAs provide evidence of student development in regards to ABET standards. Through NSF-funded grants, multiple MEAs have been developed and implemented with a MSE-flavored nanotechnology theme. This paper will focus on the content, implementation, and student results of one of these MEAs.

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