Exploring multimodal meaning making in science at the transition to high school

[Extract] Learning how to make and understand scientific meanings is a significant element of teaching and learning in science classrooms. However, communicating scientific ideas can be challenging for learners as they first confront the specialised meaning-making practices of science. As learners progress through school, this challenge increases with greater disciplinary specificity entailed in science learning. In entering the middle years of schooling, learners encounter changing curriculum demands that implicate the development of a repertoire of meaning-making resources that are increasingly distinct to the knowledge under construction (Christie & Derewianka, 2008; Christie & Maton, 2011; Fang, Schleppegrell & Cox, 2006). Alongside the increasing specialisation of knowledge, learners face an expectation of greater independent engagement with multimodal texts for learning. Hence, control over a disciplinary-specific repertoire of literacy practices becomes critical to academic success at the transition to high school (Christie, 2012; Christie & Derewianka, 2008)....