Transformations and transductions across modes of representation and communication in the new life sciences

Abstract

Scientific knowledge and the ways in which it is represented and communicated in its rapidly growing sub-disciplines are highly dependent on visualisations of complex phenomena, very often derived from computer-generated models and combined with high-speed computational power in outputting new information. The impact of digital technologies on transforming scientific knowledge and its representation can be seen in the emergence of the new meta-discipline we describe as the New Life Sciences, which has had a significant influence on how Biology is taught in classrooms today. In the NSW senior Biology syllabus, new knowledge resulting from advances in molecular biology, bioinformatics and biotechnology is evident in the content included in both core and elective units on genetics. The technologies that have been instrumental in transforming traditional disciplinary knowledge have also influenced the ways in which teachers access this knowledge and communicate it in classrooms. This paper reports on research that takes the teaching and learning of new life science topics as a case of special interest - the proliferation of new information and technologies in the study of genetics represents an evolving body of knowledge with social and environmental significance. In this session, I examine how multimodal representations of concepts in genetics are negotiated in the classroom, and focus on the transformations and inter-semiotic transductions traversed as teachers and students connect conceptual meaning and practical application via multiple semiotic modes. Data excerpts are taken from the post-intervention phase of the project investigating teachers' use of digital and multimodal representations of new life science concepts in senior Biology classrooms. Video recordings of lessons across a unit of work, teacher interviews, student work samples, and student pre-test and post-test data were gathered from the classrooms of participating teachers from government and independent schools across the Sydney region.