SPAIS 2018 Lavori di gruppo: la semiosi dell’iconografia dei testi scientifici

Science teaching relies on a wide range of symbols, iconography, diagrams and any sort of signs, including the signs of natural language. Scientific iconography is a powerful teaching support; nevertheless, it becomes a dangerous tool whenever the teachers overlooks the non-univocal character of its interpretation. In fact, iconography exploits systems of signs, i.e. communication codes, that need to be properly decoded in order to understand the message borne by an image. Otherwise iconography may become a source of misunderstandings and be a barrier to learning, instead of a support. The practical activity carried out in the frame of SPAIS2018 was aimed at fostering teachers’awareness of the need for making the interpretation codes of scientific iconography explicit to their students.