A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Animation Design and Use in Science Education

This introductory chapter briefly outlines the factors that motivate this book to provide a catalyst for advancing transdisciplinary research in the use of animation in science education. Fundamental among these is the ongoing development of animation as a resource for scientific investigation and for the representation and communication of knowledge about complex processes in new areas of scientific discovery, which means that science teaching as inducting students into the disciplinary discourse of science necessarily entails developing their competence in the interpretation and creation of science animation. Related to this is the growing recognition by science education researchers of the efficacy of interfacing different disciplinary perspectives, especially those of social semiotics, digital technology and science pedagogy, to investigate the development of innovative approaches to enhancing student engagement and learning. With this orientation, an overview is then provided of the three chapters in each of the four parts of the book, namely (I) Educational Semiotics and the Representation of Knowledge in Science Animation, (II) Learning from Viewing Science Animations, (III) Learning through Creating Science Animations, and (IV) Using Animation in Assessing Students’ Science Learning.