a fixed point and tightly packed together. The focus of what to attend to is changed
with the potential to observe the usually unobservable behaviour of ‘particles’. In the
‘Hide Particles’ view a change in state is reflected in a visual change of shape and
texture, and movement. The question of what motivates the change of shape is
answered at a general external level; that is the change is represented as being
motivated by heating or cooling. (Although this too is represented as needing an
‘external cause’, hence the tripod.) In the ‘View Particles’ viewing option the
representation of what motivates change is now seen as an ‘internal’ matter, a change
of the particle arrangement and movement. The focus of what the students are
required to attend to has changed. The ‘View Particles’ viewing option offers a
theoretical explanation visually: a different view of the phenomena displayed.
Some of the students engaged with the entities ‘states of matter’ and ‘particles’ as
instructed by the worksheets, first working in the ‘Hide Particles’ viewing option and
then in ‘View Particles’ option. For example, one student Jemima observed the ice
melt in the ‘Hide Particles’ viewing option and when viewing the liquid on the screen
she switched to the ‘View Particles’ option, and, using the temperature settings, she
observed the liquid change back to a solid in the form of an ice cube. By moving
between these two epistemological views she moved from the specific to the general
view of ‘states of matter’ - from the representation of ‘common sense’ to the
representation of ‘school science’ theory of ‘particles’ and ‘states of matter’.
The choice of viewing position was taken up differently by three students whom I
observed working together in the lesson. One, Lucy, worked primarily in the ‘Hide
Particles’ viewing option, and the other two, Kylie and Connie, worked primarily in
the ‘View Particles’ viewing option. Although these students were working on
separate computers they observed the displays on screens across all three computers.
The students’ different choice of viewing positions (viewing positions that might in
any case conform more with their own position epistemologically) informs their
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