Metaimagining and Embodied Conceptions of Spacetime

Abstract

Though we live in a 4-dimensional universe, our minds and bodies are not particularly good at perceiving and depicting 4 dimensions. This study contributes to our understanding of collaboration with abstract concepts by examining particular activities where bodily and experiential understandings may conflict with the conceptual domain. Specifically, upper secondary physics classrooms studying Einstein’s general theory of relativity are taken as a setting to identify the representational practices and conceptual challenges that arise when learners attempt to make meaning with, and express conflicting notions of, space and time. To unpack these challenges, we draw on the concept of imagination and on theoretical perspectives that treat imagining as a social activity. We also present the concept of metaimagining to characterize layered processes in which learners attend to and manage shifts between their own imaginative activities. This concept is illustrated through a detailed analysis of an extended conversation between 2 upper secondary physics students working with general relativity and spacetime. The students perform a diverse set of imaginative activities that are strongly tied to communicative, cognitive, and bodily action. We also show how the unique domain of general relativity presents particular challenges to student meaning making of abstract concepts which in turn prompt metaimagining. Based on our analysis, we offer recommendations to improve instructional practices in general relativity and argue for the consideration of imagining as a transdisciplinary competency in math and science education.

Acknowledgements

We thank Ellen Henriksen, the rest of our ReleQuant colleagues, as well as our LiDA Research Group colleagues, for feedback and suggestions in earlier versions of this article.

Notes

Notes

1 We present a simplified version of this account. See Hutchins (1995) for a much more detailed summary and discussion.

2 The video material, unfortunately, does not allow us to see these drawings clearly; we can only observe when drawing is taking place and when they are being attended to.

Additional information

Funding

This work was made possible through the ReleQuant project with support from the Research Council of Norway [projectno. 246723] and the Olav Thon Foundation. We are grateful to the teachers and students for participating in the study, as well as the many people involved in the development of the learning resources.