writing fullfills a Classificatory function and is de-centred in comparison with its
function on the page.
The realisation of the entity ‘particles’, visually and through movement, on screen
offers the students using the CD-ROM a new set of resources for their construction of
the entity and their engagement with it. The potential to ‘hide’ or ‘view’ the particles
provides two different views of the phenomenon being investigated in ways that re-
shape the entities and positions the students in relation to the body of knowledge in
important ways. The ‘hide particles’ viewing option locates the entity in the
everyday world of ‘what is’, while the ‘view particles’ option relates to a scientific
view ‘beyond (or perhaps beneath) the everyday’ and the forces that underpin what is
seen in the everyday. The resources of image and movement realise a link between
one state of matter and another, as in each state the particles are represented as
looking the same and moving slower or faster, and moving in a more free or
constrained manner. The representation of the entity ‘particles’ on screen offers the
potential for students to link the particles between the three ‘states of matter’ and to
generalise the entity particle beyond a specific state. That is, the multimodal
representation of particles enables a move away from conceptualising particles as
either ‘gas particles’ or ‘liquid particles’, a move that marks a curriculum shift from a
focus on discrete states to transformation between states.
Reshaping the Practices of Students in School Science
When working with Multimedia Science School the students are engaged in the work
of prediction, observation, interpretation, explanation and drawing scientific
conclusions. The practices that underpin this work are central to the learning of
school science regardless of the technology used however the practices and the roles
of students are reshaped and transformed by the resources that the CD-ROM and the
screen make available to the students.
275