The symbol systems approach to studying media and computers in education¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The symbol systems approach holds that media can be "usefully distinguished in terms of the symbol systems which they present and the kinds of symbol-using skills which they evoke, afford, or inculcate". It assumes mental representations and operations on them are the core of cognition, developed through interaction with a culture's meaning systems (drawing on Vygotsky). It analyzes both external symbol systems (media codes) and the internal symbol systems learners must acquire, and treats learners as active agents whose expectations and representations shape, and are shaped by, encounters with media. The authors offer it as a framework for generating research questions about computers rather than a recipe for designs.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Research must analyze the symbol systems a medium presents, the activities it affords, and the symbol-using skills and mental representations learners bring to and acquire through it.

Constraints¶

• The authors state it "will not dictate an experimental design nor a method of analysis"; it only suggests the kinds of questions to pose.

Target Learners¶

• children and students encountering media and computers in education

Target Learning Objectives¶

• acquisition of symbol-system literacy and representational skills across media

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Symbol systems framework: symbols, symbol systems, and symbolic products

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Salomon, Gavriel; Gardner, Howard. (1983). The Computer as Educator: Lessons from Television Research. Harvard Project Zero. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED253201