Objective and rationale

The research presented here is part of a larger project focussing on the understanding of explanatory pictures and models in pre- and primary school ages in Sweden. More precisely, we have investigated young students’ making sense of an often used illustration for explaining the lunar phases in and outside school not only in our country but all over the world.

     Our interest in students’ understanding of illustrations emanates from the fact that illustrations in children’s books have become increasingly important and ‘now carry as much, if not more, meaning as the written text’ (Norman, 2010, p. 2). Textbooks for the teaching and learning of science are no exceptions. This trend seems to comprise a tacit assumption of transparency and effectivity of visual language in multi-modal contexts (Pintó & Ametller, 2002). However, visual information is always coded and its interpretation is always related to particular cultures and situations. Its ‘transparency’ depends on whether or not we are familiar with the code (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996; Meira, 1998). From a Vygotskian perspective illustrations, like other sign systems, may be regarded as cultural artefacts that mediate human-world relations. They obtain their meaning from the cultural and historical context where they are created and used (see, e.g., Vygotsky, 1978). In the words of Wartofsky: ‘Representing is something we do, […] nothing is a representation except insofar as we construct or construe it to be one’ (Wartofsky, 1979, p. xxi). Consequently, when illustrations are used in education we must ask ourselves if the students’ making of meaning from these pictures is in accordance with the intended one or if we take their understanding too much for granted.  

     The Swedish national curriculum states that the children already from the earliest school years shall be taught about the movements of the earth, the sun and the moon in relation to each other, as well as about the phases of the moon. However, from a substantial body of international research, it is well documented that the moon phases is a phenomenon difficult to explain not only for children but also for adults. An ‘eclipse model’ (i.e., that the shadow of the earth is blocking varying parts of the moon) is, for example, a common idea (see, e.g., Baxter, 1989; Schoon, 1992). Subramaniam and Padalkar (2009) emphasize the importance of using images in all kinds of teaching about astronomy. Martinez Pea and Gil Quilez (2001) studied images in primary and secondary textbooks. For all studied books the images used to illustrate and explain the lunar phases were not, by themselves, sufficiently explanatory. Neither was the written text sufficient to facilitate learning. Furthermore, most images were rather similar and had not been adapted to the intended age groups. Texts are usually mere descriptions of the phases, but do not add any explanatory value.

Research questions

     The present study deals with primary students’ making sense of an illustration showing the sun, the earth and the moon drawn as semi-filled circles at four positions in the lunar orbit, read together with an accompanying text. Three specific research questions were posed:

• Which central features of the illustration do the students identify?
• Are the students able to point out the new and full moon phases in the lunar orbit with point of departure in the provided information?
• Are there indications of the students’ adopting necessary perspectives and if not what are the consequences? 

Baxter, J. (1989). Children’s understanding of familiar astronomical events. International Journal of Science Education, 11, 502–513. Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2002). Pictorial illustrations still improve students’ learning from text. Educational Psychology Review, 14(1), 5–26. Engebretsen, M. (2012). Balancing cohension and tension in multimedia rhetoric: An interdisciplinary approach to the study of semiotic complexity. Learning, Media and Technology, 37(2), 145–162. Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. London: Routledge. Martinez Pena, B. & Gil Quilez, M.J. (2001). The importance of images in astronomy education. International Journal of Science Education, 23, 1125–1135. Meira, L. (1998). Making sense of instructional devices: The emergence of transparency in mathematical activity. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 29, 121–142. Norman, R. R. (2010). Picture this: Processes prompted by graphics in informational text. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 14(1-2), 1–39. Pintó, R., & Ametller, J. (2002). Students’ difficulties in reading images: Comparing results from four national research groups. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 333–341. Subramaniam, K. & Padalkar, S. (2009) Visualisation and reasoning in explaining the phases of the moon. International Journal of Science Education, 31, 395–417. Schoon, K. J. (1992). Students’ alternative conceptions of earth and space. Journal of Geological Education, 40, 209–214. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wartofsky, M.W. (1979). Models. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Reidel.