Semiotic technologies: a case study of discipline-based practices and pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This paper examines semiotic technologies, both in terms of the resources they harness and the practices developed around their use. It draws on data collected as part of an ethnographic investigation into the meaning-making practices deployed within civil engineering study. The data is used as a case study for examining semiotic technologies as socially situated resources for disciplinary practices. Using a multimodal social semiotic approach, we argue that technologies are not self-evident, and that their use constitutes specific social practices that require development in the classroom. In order to deploy technologies in pedagogically effective ways, we need to understand the semiotic resources they draw on (including embodied resources). Awareness that technologies are not neutral or value-free, but are socially situated and ideologically laden, may enable meta-level understanding of the discipline, thus creating the possibility for improved pedagogical practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Multimodality
• social semiotics
• technology
• higher education
• engineering education
• discipline-based pedagogy

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) through a Science and Technology Research Collaboration Grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Zach Simpson, PhD, works in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, as an educational development lecturer. His research combines interest in multimodal social semiotics, academic literacy development, higher education studies and engineering education. He has contributed to books in international series, such as Routledge’s Studies in Multimodality and Brill’s Studies in Writing.

Arlene Archer, PhD, is the co-ordinator of the Writing Centre at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research draws on social semiotics and multimodal pedagogies to enable student access to writing and to Higher Education. She has recently co-edited three books on multimodality and pedagogy.

Notes

1 BODMAS stands for Brackets-Of-Division-Multiplication-Addition-Subtraction. This rule-of-thumb dictates the order in which operations are carried out in a mathematical equation. Expressions within brackets, therefore, are resolved before applying any other mathematical operation. For example, ¼ of (4 + 4) = 2, while ¼ of 4 + 4 = 5. Similarly, 6 ÷ (2×3) = 1, while 6 ÷ 2 × 3 = 9.

2 Descriptive statistics, in simple terms, refers to the calculation of the average, median and mean of a given set of values.