A Multimodal Framework for Computer Mediated Learning: The Reshaping of Curriculum Knowledge and Learning

6. The Multimodal Construction of the School Science

Entities ‘States of Matter’ and ‘Particles’ on Screen

Introduction

In this chapter I explore how the multimodal resources of the computer screen
reshape the science curriculum entity ‘states of matter’. In particular, I focus on how
these resources result in a shift from the traditional focus on distinct ‘states of matter’
to a new representation of the process of the transformation from one state of matter
to another. Alongside this I examine how these resources re-mediate the practices of
students in the science classroom and their agency in the production and construction
of knowledge. Throughout the chapter I draw on an illustrative example of a science
lesson with a year seven class in which the CD-ROM Multimedia Science School
(2001) is used to investigate the topic ‘states of matter’.

‘States of Matter’ and the Science Curriculum

Developing an understanding of ‘states of matter’ and ‘particles’ is central to the
school science curriculum at Key Stage 3 (Dfee, 1999). This is a part of the more
general curriculum requirement to “understand materials and their properties” and the
“use of scientific ideas and models to explain phenomena and events”. In particular
the curriculum requires students to “know an example of solid, liquid and gas”, to
“describe the arrangement of ‘particles’ in each of these three states” and to
understand “the impact of heating and cooling on states of matter”. More generally,
the curriculum highlights the need for students to be able to ‘make and test
predictions’ and to make relevant observations. Students are expected to ‘make use of
their existing knowledge and understanding in science’ and to be able to “interpret
and explain their results”. In addition the curriculum states that students should be
able to “use a range of methods to represent and communicate data” including

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