Change in Cognitive Work
The cognitive work of the students is to observe the empirical phenomenon and the
scientific representation of them in order to identify patterns and generalisations in
relation to the issue of ‘states of matter’. In the classroom or in relation to the pages
in the textbooks this work of identifying patterns is usually carried in the talk of the
teacher and her/his gestures. The still images are presented as canonical
representations and the written part of the text or the teacher’s speech foregrounds,
‘pulls out’, the criteria to be attended to, that is, say the spatial arrangements and or
the movement of the ‘particles’. In the science classroom still images are usually
used, and the focus is on the canonical representation of ‘states of matter’ (solid,
liquid and gas). The teacher uses talk, gesture, imaginary demonstration and models
to provide a narrative of the transformation from one state to another. Through
gesture and models the teacher brings the ‘particles’ into existence and communicates
some of their qualities through these modes. In the case of the CD-ROM image and
movement are designed to ‘fill in’ the linguistic terms - the arrangement and
movement of the ‘particles’ is shown - it is displayed but it is not explained
linguistically, and to show the transformation from one state to another.
The work of the student and teacher is no longer focused on the work of bringing the
‘particles’ into existence, but rather the identification of patterns through comparison.
In the process the students are repositioned in relation to knowledge as the producer
of the knowledge the criteria for defining ‘states of matter’, whereas in the traditional
science classroom the student positioned as a reproducer of knowledge, the learner in
terms of acquisition of knowledge.
' The data on traditional science classroom is drawn from the ESRC funded research project ‘The
rhetorics of the science classroom: a multimodal approach’ (1997-1999) on which I was the senior
researcher, directed by Gunther Kress and Jon Ogborn.
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