ABSTRACT

Background

Photomicrographs are major biological representations which help students understand more about the structures of cells and tissues. Owing to their abstract nature, students often rely on representations in textbooks to develop their understanding of photomicrographs.

Purpose

This study investigated how students with low, medium and high competence for visualizing photomicrographs integrated textbook representations into their understanding of photomicrographs.

Sample

Twelve 14–15 year-old students who were studying biology in a UK secondary school participated in this study.

Design and methods

We carried out semi-structured interviews with these students. A modified model of integration of text and picture was used to interpret students’ verbal response and their drawing. An innovative discourse analysis approach, Epistemic Network Analysis, was used to analyse the connections between codes which were informed by the model.

Results

Compared to students with high competence, students with low and medium levels of competence did not necessarily understand the structure-behaviour-function relationship of the textual representation, or notice the visual elements in the diagrams. Hence, they could not transfer their understanding of textbook representations into that of the photomicrograph.

Conclusion

This study suggests that the modified model of integration of text and picture can potentially reveal how students with different levels of visualization competence access information from textual and pictorial information. Equally importantly, the study argues for using epistemic network analysis as a tool to examine how students integrate textbook representations.

中文翻译：

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学生将教科书表征整合到他们对显微照片的理解中：认知网络分析

摘要

背景

显微照片是主要的生物学表现形式，可以帮助学生更多地了解细胞和组织的结构。由于它们的抽象性，学生通常依靠教科书中的表示来加深对显微照片的理解。

目的

本研究调查了低、中、高显微照片可视化能力的学生如何将教科书表征融入他们对显微照片的理解中。

样本

十二名在英国中学学习生物学的 14-15 岁学生参与了这项研究。

设计与方法

我们对这些学生进行了半结构化访谈。一种改进的文本和图片整合模型被用来解释学生的口头反应和他们的绘画。一种创新的话语分析方法，认知网络分析，被用来分析模型所告知的代码之间的联系。

结果

与高水平学生相比，中低水平学生不一定理解文本表示的结构-行为-功能关系，也不一定注意到图表中的视觉元素。因此，他们无法将对教科书表示的理解转化为对显微照片的理解。

结论

这项研究表明，修改后的文本和图片整合模型可能会揭示具有不同可视化能力水平的学生如何从文本和图片信息中获取信息。同样重要的是，该研究主张使用认知网络分析作为一种工具来检查学生如何整合教科书表征。