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On the hunt for elusive “meanings”

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Abstract

The feature article discussed in this forum presents an interesting description of how students work in the context of a virtual world, where they design phenomena that they subsequently investigate by analyzing graphical representations. The study is aligned with the current canon of science education interested in understanding the inter-psychological and intra-psychological determinants of learning. Its main focus is on “meaning making.” In this contribution to the forum, I articulate some shortcomings inherent in this theoretical notion, which, in essence, hides rather than reveals the real issues in and of learning. I offer some alternative avenues, both theoretical and methodological, for framing pertinent issues; in so doing, I (endeavor to) open up new avenues for research in science education. In essence, therefore, I offer possible avenues in response to the question, “What more can there be done by science education research?” that would allow us to eschew what I perceive to be hidden contradictions that interfere with making theoretical and practical advances in our field.

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Notes

  1. I tend to translate Heidegger’s term “Bedeutung” into English using the term “signification” (as one recent translation of the work), but many scholars, drawing on an older translation of the work, use the term “meaning.”

  2. In the Russian text cited here, Vygotsky sometimes uses the equivalent of “societal” (i.e., obshchestvennij) sometimes the equivalent of “social” (i.e., sozial’nij) to refer to the relations. English translations tend to (inappropriately) translate both Russian words using the same adjective “social.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University, Gold Coast, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Wolff-Michael Roth

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  1. Wolff-Michael Roth
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Correspondence to Wolff-Michael Roth.

Additional information

The review essay is a critique of Krange I., & Arnseth H. C., Students’ meaning making in science: solving energy resource problems in virtual worlds combined with spreadsheets to develop graphs. Cultural Studies of Science Education. doi:10.1007/s11422-011-9361-3.

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Roth, WM. On the hunt for elusive “meanings”. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 7, 607–626 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9392-4

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