Complete thesis - Murdoch University

• pictures and graphics contain information that is not contained in text• information shown in pictures and graphics is easier to recall as it is encoded both aspropositions and images(Winn and Snyder, 1996).Although attempted from both behaviourist and constructivist perspectives, a generalisedtheory of learning has not been achieved. Wood (1999) proposes reasons to explain thelimitations on generalisations of learning. In effect these summarise the factors identified inthe previous section of this chapter as necessary for higher order thinking:• expertise-based abstraction within a domain of discourse: conceptual understanding ishallmarked by the ability to make effective use of multiple systems of representationas tools to support thinking, reasoning and problem solving. These systems are culturalinventions constructed to serve as a means for representing and thinking aboutthat domain. These then support the identification of patterns and regularities inthe phenomena they were designed to represent, which in turn enable more abstractrepresentations to be constructed. However, although the construction of multiple representationsplays a formative role in the process of conceptual understanding:◦ different species of representation invite different perspectives on a domain andvary in the process of reasoning they are likely to promote – although equivalentinformation may be represented, different systems differ psychologically in whatreasoning, insights and problem solving they support◦ a facility with multiple representations differentiate novice from expert behaviour.Integrated knowledge structures constitute the relations between domain-generalprinciples and the surface appearance of a given task. The expert has the means tomediate between knowledge of abstract principles and observations of phenomena◦ the translation within and between different modes of representation makes ideasmeaningful, and hence leads to conceptual understanding• the issue of transfer: exposure to their use in problem solving does not automaticallyguarantee understanding that it is possible and useful to translate across two or morerepresentations: the connection between them must be turned into a problem space.In addition, knowledge that is overly contextualised can reduce transfer while abstractrepresentations of knowledge can help promote it129