Abstract:

Representations such as graphs, equations, diagrams, and simulations play a central role in learning physics. Developing representational competence (RC), understood as students’ ability to interpret, construct, and coordinate different forms of representation and relate them to physical phenomena, is therefore a key objective of science education. However, less is known about how RC unfolds in collaborative activities where students interact with multiple dynamically linked representations in digital environments.

This study explores how upper secondary students engage with multiple representations while working with a GeoGebra-based interactive e-book on simple pendulum motion. The research is guided by a multidimensional analytical framework of RC comprising five dimensions: Learning with Representations, Learning about Representations, Constructing Representations, Connecting Representations to Scientific Concepts, and Connecting Representations to Physical Phenomena. The framework is used as an analytical tool to trace how students move across these dimensions during problem-solving activities.

The study adopts a qualitative comparative design. Six students (aged 15–16) from a Romanian upper secondary school worked in three pairs with different prior achievement levels (high, medium, and low). Students engaged in a one-hour collaborative session using the GeoGebra e-book, which integrates symbolic expressions, graphs, numerical data, and animated simulations of pendulum motion. Data consist of synchronized video recordings, screen captures, and audio recordings documenting students’ interactions, gestures, and digital actions. Episodes of representational activity were identified and analysed using the RC framework.

The analysis focuses on how students coordinate multiple representations and how their representational trajectories differ depending on prior achievement. Preliminary findings suggest that students with higher prior achievement tend to move more frequently between interpreting representations and articulating conceptual claims, and they often construct additional representations to support reasoning. Students with lower prior achievement engage actively with the dynamic representations but rely more on exploratory manipulation and less on explicit conceptual connections. Across groups, connections between representations and real-world phenomena appear less frequently than other dimensions of RC.

As the analysis is still ongoing, the results presented are preliminary. Nevertheless, the study illustrates how the proposed RC model can serve as a useful analytical framework for mapping students’ representational practices in digitally mediated learning environments. The findings contribute to understanding how digital tools can reveal and support different trajectories of RC in physics education.

Keywords:

Representational competence, Multiple representations, Digital learning environments, GeoGebra, Physics education.