Students’ Experiences of Teachers’ Ways of Unpacking Visual Representations in the Context of Intermolecular Forces

Abstract

This is the third article in a series, emanating from a project that used social semiotics and phenomenography to explore the role visual representations play in the teaching and learning of chemistry. Building on our earlier work that identified five qualitatively different ways that teachers may use to unpack visual representations in their introductory classes at upper secondary school when dealing with intermolecular forces, this article deals with how students describe their experience of chemistry teachers’ unpacking of visual representations. The theoretical thematic analysis, grounded in phenomenography and social semiotics, foregrounds qualitative differences in students’ experiences of teachers’ representational work. The results show that the ways of unpacking that we previously characterized as student-centered were described by the students as being particularly valuable. Here, a key point from a student perspective is that the teacher reflects on how to verbally guide them through the unpacking process in ways that support them in their meaning-making. We use these results to propose that chemistry teacher practice and education can be modified to emphasize the importance of seeing the practice of unpacking from a semiotic perspective. Furthermore, based on our findings and previous research in the chemistry education field, we conclude by suggesting a strategy that can be used in teacher education and by in-service teachers as a basis for planning chemistry lessons and reflecting on them, particularly with respect to the visual representations employed.