Students' construction of external representations in design-based learning situations

This article develops a theoretical framework for the study of students' construction of mixed multiple external representations in design-based learning situations involving an adaptation of professional tasks and tools to a classroom setting. The framework draws on research on professional design processes and on learning with multiple external representations. An authentic classroom situation and student dialogue and productions from one dyad were interpreted in the light of the framework in order to uncover major pitfalls of design-based learning situations. In particular, students showed a preoccupation with geometrical features of problems and solutions in contrast to the framework-derived importance of geometrical, material and functional features of future artefacts. Lack of occurrences of deep understanding in relating representations by students might be due to them being novices to the design task as the intertwined construction and representation of a future artefact.