Abstract
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Students can now digitally construct their own representations of scientific concepts using a variety of
modes including writing, diagrams, 2-D and 3-D models, images or speech, all of which communicate
meaning. In this study, final-year chemistry students studying a pharmacology subject created a
‘‘blended media’’ digital product as an assignment to summarize an independently prepared technical
literature review on a current research topic in pharmacology for a non-expert audience. A blended
media is a simplified way for students to combine a variety of modes to complement a narration to
explain a concept to others. In this study, the students learned how to create a blended media during a
one-hour workshop, and used the technique to create the representation as an assessment task. The
research question that guided the study was, ‘‘What are the students’ perceptions of making a digital
product such as blended media and how did these shape their multimodal awareness?’’ We draw from
theoretical perspectives in multimodalities, representations and meaning making. Data included
interviews at three points of the semester, the literature review and the digital media product. We
present three case studies with volunteering students, who demonstrated a strong awareness of
effective communications techniques as they attended to the audience. Making a blended media is a
creative way for chemistry students to summarize complex scientific information and as a task may help
to focus their multimodal awareness and developing communications skills.