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- Karlsson, Göran, 1954-
(author)
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Learning science by digital technology : Students’ understanding of computer animated learning material
- 2010
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Digital learning material is associated with grand expectations among educational policy makers. Several attempts to introduce this new technology with the purpose of enhancing learning have been made in recent years. The schooling system has, however, been rather hesitant and not so ready to adopt this kind of teaching aid. The aim of this thesis is to probe into students‘ practical problems of understanding computerised science learning material involving animated sequences and educational text. For the purpose of this investigation an application describing the different events in the carbon cycle was developed. Two studies present analyses of students‘ reasoning and actions when working collaboratively with the task of making a written account of what is illustrated in the learning material. Both studies present examples of identified phenomena that were observed in more extensive empirical materials. The data is represented by video recordings of students‘ interaction with each other and the interface. Results from the studies reveal students‘ propensity for concentrating their attention to prominent characteristics of the animated display and to describe the animated models in correspondence to their resemblance of objects and occurrences in everyday life. In study II it is revealed how students, when constructing a written report of the described events, derive noun phrases from attentionally detected objects in the animation and from the educational text. In their effort to express themselves in colloquial language, when preparing their report, they deliberately select verbs that differ from the educational text. These courses of action together, contribute to give the report on what happens in the process a non-scientific explanation. It is concluded that students, lacking definite access to the relevant subject matter knowledge, consequently, cannot judge whether they have given an approvable account or not. Findings from the studies show that the school context with its explicit stipulations of assignments and implicit request for expressing oneself in your own words frames the learning and creates conditions for how the technology is used and understood. The results indicate that animated models of scientific concepts risk inferring misconceptions if students are left on their own with interpreting information from the learning material. Despite the detected problems of students‘ interpretations of the described phenomena, the results indicate that animated learning material can proffer an exploitable resource in science education. Such a prospect is the ability of animation to engage students in discussions of the subject and to make them recognise otherwise unobservable phenomena.
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| 2. |
- Weman-Josefsson, Karin Anna, 1975-
(author)
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EXPLORING MOTIVATIONAL MECHANISMS IN EXERCISE BEHAVIOUR : Applying Self-determination theory in a person-centred approach
- 2014
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Involvement in physical activity (PA) and exercise behaviour is multifaceted and depends on bidirectional correlations between multiple factors; one avenue to increase the understanding of sustainable exercise behaviours would be to employ a motivational perspective. In this thesis, this was done by placing the primary focus on Self-determination theory (SDT) as a person-centred approach to study the motivational mechanisms believed to impact exercise behaviour based on the SDT process model. Study 1, conducted in a cross-sectional design, included 1,091 members of a web-based exercise service. Based on sophisticated mediation analysis, the results support the hypothesized associations between latent constructs and exercise behaviour in the related steps of the SDT process model. Moreover, moderating effects were discovered, demonstrating that these associations could differ in different subgroups based on gender and age. The results of Study 1 thereby represent a first indication that exercise intervention design might benefit from slightly different approaches when addressing different demographical groups like gender and age. Study 2 was conducted in a two-wave RCT design to test an SDT-informed intervention on 64 voluntary participants. Components of Motivational interviewing (MI), the Relapse prevention model (RPM) and Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) were used as practical application guidelines to deliver the intervention content. Results showed intervention effects on exercise level, exercise intensity and motivation quality as well as mediating effects of the RAI (Relative Autonomy Index; an index of the degree of self-determination), and identified regulation in relation to exercise behaviour. The experimental group also demonstrated significantly lower levels of extrinsic motivation than the control group post-intervention. Besides strong support for applying the basic tenets of SDT in the exercise domain, there are some main findings in this thesis. First of all, self-determined motivation was found to act as a mediating variable in the relationship between psychological need satisfaction and exercise, and these patterns of indirect effects differed across age and gender. This indicates that mechanisms in the SDT process model could vary (qualitatively) depending on subgroup, which carries potential implications for practice. Second, the results of Study 2 also provide evidence that the mediating mechanisms of the process model could be manipulated in an intervention, e.g. by creating need-supportive environments facilitating internalization and subsequent exercise behaviour. Furthermore, both studies demonstrated that identified regulation plays a prominent role in the motivational processes, supporting the significance of promoting internalization in activities like exercise. Finally, this thesis represents prospective value for the utility of employing a polytheoretical approach in exercise intervention design, more specifically regarding the prosperous outlooks in combining SDT with other theories and methods.
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