Author(s):
Learning biochemistry often involves the use and coordination of multiple external representations. There are multiple examples in the literature highlighting the connection between gestures and meaning-making by students learning chemical concepts in chemistry; however, there is little known about whether this connection extends to student learning in biochemistry. How does use of these external representations impact student gesture production and meaning-making when learning new biochemical content? In this study, we used a newly developed augmented reality (AR) model of the KscA channel to investigate the influence of external representations on student produced gestures during a discussion on KscA function. Exposure to the AR model resulted in a shift from gestures that were more general (for example, holding two hands parallel to represent the channel) to more specific to the channel representation they say (for example, holding two hands to form a funnel shape or curling one hand into a tube shape). Our findings add to existing literature on the use of external representation in biochemistry education by highlighting the relationships between AR mediated external representations and gesture mediated external representations. Implications for both the development of new external representations and instructor’s choice of external representations are discussed.
