Transmedia in Geosciences education

Abstract

This paper describes a research study related to the development (conception, production, implementation and evaluation) of a set of transmedia activities associated with the study of humans ‘use of rocks. To do so, a narrative was created to guide students through a set of tasks—namely, during and after a field trip. During this field trip, students had to macroscopically identify a rock sample and record its geographical location, as well as take pictures in six stations. According to the data collected, students would, after the field trip, share this knowledge in a digital learning environment and collect pieces of a puzzle and, in some cases, badges. These transmedia activities, in line with the STS (Science-Technology-Society) perspective, aimed at contributing to the diversification of educational resources for Geosciences education. The study, predominantly qualitative in nature, reached 104 students from the 7th and 5th grades in a Natural Sciences course and the analysis of data suggests that students showed some skills in areas such as “interpersonal relationships”, “scientific, technical, and technological knowledge” and “information and communication”, although in this case they can be considered rather limited.