The following essay was written in Stockholm, Sweden in the autumn of 2015 at Stockholm University. The purpose of this study is to explore the forms of multimodal communication that are used in the classroom as meaning making prompts. The study is from a multimodal and design theoretical perspective and uses the model Learning Design Sequence as a framework for collecting and analysing data. A qualitative method is being used for collecting data from video observation, from two eighth grade History classes. Video Observation and multimodal transcription produce rich data from a multimodal perspective, for seeing what modes of communication are being used. However, to observe what modes of communication functioned as meaning making prompts, other methods could be employed. The results show that speech, gesture and tone of voice are used in the foreground as modes of communication. Gaze, image, text, posture and movement can fluctuate between the background and foreground depending on their use. Social practices such as turning the lights off, or turning the overhead projector on can function as meaning making prompts, as can hand gestures such as pointing, clapping and enacting. Speech, gesture, tone of voice, movement, image and sound can all work as a meaning making prompts individually or combined together. / VAL projekt

Den här studien undersöker utifrån ett multimodalt, designteoretiskt perspektiv den didaktiska designen i läromedlet Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet. Syftet med studien är att visa de teckensystem som används i designen för lärande i Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet och den mening som deras semiotiska resurser erbjuder i lärandet. Dessutom tar studien upp det engagemang som eleverna visar, som ett tecken på transformation. Med transformation menas hur eleverna börjar bearbeta den erbjudna meningen och formar den till kunskap. Undersökningen är genomförd i en åk 4 på en svensk grundskola med hjälp av videoobservationer, lektionsanteckningar samt själva läromedlets utrustning. Resultatet blev att Bibeläventyret Gamlas testamentet fungerar multimodalt med många olika teckensystem och artefakter, där vissa är bärande och andra stöttande. Klassrummets spatiala möjligheter, instruktörens muntliga berättande med stöd av intonation, gester, blickar, kroppsspråk och förflyttningar, samt elevernas deltagande i meningsskapandet används om vartannat. Studien tyder på att den multimodala designen erbjuder stor mening och i det engagemang som eleverna visar finns en början till transformation och formation till ny kunskap. Tidigare forskning har kommit fram till att det finns signifikanta tecken på lärande i multimodala miljöer, ofta med inslag av digitala medier. Där bidrar studien till att visa att många fler teckensystem än vad som ofta används multimodalt kan kombineras och utöka möjligheten till lärande, särskilt i undervisningen av Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet. / This study analyses, from a multimodal, design theoretical perspective, the design for learning in the educational material Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet (The Bible Adventure – The Old Testament). The aim is to display the modes that are used in the design for learning in Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet and the meaning that is offered in learning by semiotic resources of these modes. The study also presents the involvement that the students show, as a sign of transformation. Transformation refers to how the students start to process offered meaning and form it into knowledge. The study was conducted in 4th grade classes in a Swedish compulsory school and is based on video observations of two hours of teaching, field notes and the analysis of the teaching material. The study shows that teaching Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet is multimodally conducted with many different modes and artefacts, where some bear more meaning and others are more supportive. The spatial opportunities of the classroom, the oral narrative of the instructor, including prosody in talk, body movements, gesture and gaze, as well as the students’ involvement in meaning making are used variously. The study shows that the multimodal design offers a significant meaning for learning and the involvement of the students shows how they make an initial transformation and formation of new knowledge. Previous research points to major signs of learning in multimodal environments, where digital media is often included. This study contributes to previous research in showing that many more modes can be used and combined multimodally at the same time compared to what is usually done and so extend the learning possibility particularly in teaching Bibeläventyret Gamla testamentet.