Abstract The complex processes of collaborative knowledge construction require a multimodal approach to capture the interplay between learners, tools, and the environment. While existing studies have recognized the importance of considering multiple modalities, there remains a need for a comprehensive framework that explicitly models the dynamics of knowledge representation and construction. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from collaborative knowledge-building, distributed cognition, and multiple representations in science education, we propose a multimodal representation framework that captures the diverse ways in which learners externalize, negotiate, and advance their understanding. We employ Transmodal Ordered Network Analysis to examine the interplay between knowledge representations across three distinct yet interconnected spaces: the virtual space of the digital environment, the conceptual space of internal knowledge, and the physical space of gestures. This approach enables a more granular and accurate modeling of the temporal dynamics and influences associated with different modalities. Investigating 16 groups of college students (n = 77) who utilized an immersive astronomy simulation in their introductory astronomy course, results reveal distinct patterns between high- and low-learning groups. Notably, high-learning groups demonstrated more frequent and stronger cross-modal connections, linking verbal explanations with digital representations within the simulation and with embodied representations through gestures. It extends the theory of multiple representations by demonstrating its importance not only for individual learning but also for collaborative processes. The findings highlight the need for designing learning environments and analytic approaches that can support and capture the rich multimodal interactions through which students co-construct scientific understanding.

Many students in the United States experience educational disruptions when changing schools for reasons other than grade promotion. These nonstructural moves can detrimentally affect students' mathematics learning. While gender significantly shapes individual learning experiences, how student mobility plays out in mathematics learning based on gender has remained largely unexplored. Analysing six California school districts' panel data using school-fixed effect models, the findings in this study showed that the negative association of nonstructural mobility with mathematics performance is more detrimental for males than females and that self-management competency levels fully account for the differential effect. The findings suggest gender should be considered in understanding students' mobility experiences and underscore the need for incorporating self-management into educational interventions to mitigate the negative effects of nonstructural school transitions on mathematics performance.

This study aims to better understand norms that are potentially relevant for student engagement in peer critique within the modeling context.By analyzing multiple data from a 5 th /6 th grade classroom, we identified social and socioscientific norms within small groups.Students demonstrated productive within-group engagement in peer critique governed by norms, while encountering some difficulty with adopting certain socioscientific norms.