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This article describes how middle school students collaborated in small groups to propose creative solutions to a variety of socioscientific issues through composing digital multimodal science fictions. In particular, we illustrate the various ways students explored socioscientific issues (e.g., climate change) through their multimodal sci-fi narratives, embodied different roles (e.g., scientist, designer, and writer) while collaboratively composing, and infused elements of their identities into their sci-fis. We conclude by discussing key strategies for integrating collaborative multimodal sci-fi narratives into different classroom contexts in order to support adolescents in creatively exploring and proposing solutions to challenging socioscientific issues.
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Science identity development: how multimodal composition mediates student role-taking as scientist in a media-rich learning environment
Science identity has been widely discussed in recent years; however, research on its development in multimodal composing environments, especially in formal classroom settings, has yet to be fully investigated. This qualitative study unraveled the science identity development of sixth-grade students as they created multimodal science fiction stories in a STEAM course. Thirty-two students enrolled in the course and worked in groups of 3–5, and each student self-selected one of three roles: designer, scientist, or writer. This study focused on the students (n = 9) who took the role of scientist and examined their science identity development. Data sources include digital surveys, semi-structured group interviews, and multimodal artifacts. Our qualitative analysis suggests that (a) composing with modes of choices could drive interests in science; (b) students connected science practices in classrooms with those in professional domains through taking the role of scientist; (c) taking hybrid roles (i.e., a combination of scientist and other roles) while composing with multiple modes contributed to the recognition of science in non-science careers. Based on these findings, we discuss the implications for cultivating positive science identities and engaging early adolescents in career exploration.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1713191
- PAR ID:
- 10184654
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Educational Technology Research and Development
- ISSN:
- 1042-1629
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09816-y
