| 1. |
- Nordén, Birgitta, et al.
(författare)
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Student-centered learning for extended learning processes in HE : assessing international students on global challenges in "Teaching for sustainability"
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Without a sense of adventure and an awareness that we all - students, teachers and educational developers - are on an endless journey of discovery, the good learning assessment (Sonesson & Nordén, 2015) or the good teaching does not take place. At the beginning of their teaching careers Prosser & Trigwell (2001) thought, as well as many teachers in science do, that the essence of good teaching was about to get knowledge in a scientifically correct manner and develop their teaching skills in presenting subject knowledge for the students. As teachers, they searched reliable ways to measure student learning, rather than trying to find valuable indications of the students´ understanding. No attempt was made to help students see how the topic they introduced related to the students´ previous subject studies. They did not about to sensitize students about their preconceptions or previous experiences, which might be needed again (Prosser & Trigwell, 2001). In-depth learning (with a deep learning approach) the learner searches meaningfulness and want to understand the behind-lying ideas (Marton & Booth, 1997). Enthusiastically and curiously integrating and relating the learning in a strategic manner to all the individual experiences, besides theorizing and being fully aware of that the words just are carriers of meanings. The meaning of the arguments is focused. On the contrary, with surface learning approaches, the learner focuses - without any reflection on the purpose or strategy of life-long learning - on the least possible effort to root memorize information (Tsui, 2004) only for the knowledge exam without any thought of enhanced meaning-making or understanding (Lundström et al, 2016). The focus is then on the text, formulas or words, actual data and they represent purely symbolically knowledge formation (Prosser & Trigwell, 2001). Anderberg (1999) argues that the expression of intent is of great importance regarding the student´s opportunities to develop meaningful theoretical conclusions and deep learning approaches. Thereby, the importance of experienced knowledge formation situations is emphasized. By activating students' experiences of word meanings and understanding, as during an assessing literature seminar, promotes access to their prior knowledge and could develop extended learning processes and deeper understanding within in higher education. Thus, for their upcoming teaching they are offered new opportunities heading for deep learning approaches based on the theoretical part (Anderberg, 1999). Teacher education is of particular importance for developing competences and knowledge capabilities (Nordén, 2016) required for societal changes towards sustainability (Mochizuki & Yarime, 2016; UE4SD, 2015; Wals 2014; Rauch & Steiner 2013). This research is based on international teacher students´ learning experiences. In the campus course Teaching for sustainability (15 credits) at Malmö university,the perspective is learner focused with a holistic approach on education of the environmental and sustainability challenges in local-global contexts (Avery & Nordén, 2017). The heterogeneous group of students has a variety of knowledge on sustainability issues, different experiences of learning activities and examination forms, since attending the course in Sweden from different continents, cultures and countries worldwide. Consequently, a common foundation for further progression of knowledge formation among the students is valuable to achieve at the course start. One initial learning activity is to read World on the Edge (Brown, 2011) and thereafter construct three questions on environmental and sustainability challenges that the student considers urgent and of particular interest. These questions are sent to the lecturer, who chooses one question from each student. The student that raised it prepares and directs a discussion in the teacher student group with 5-7 students in a student-driven literature seminar. The student thereby introduces the topic, has the responsibility for actively chairing the discussion through the seminar, and sums up the shared thoughts, opinions and knowledge for meaning-making afterwards. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The learning outcome is that the student will be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment, actively discuss the scope of environmental problems and challenges in sustainable development in the participants´ respective home country and worldwide. The aim of this research is to investigate how heterogeneous groups of teacher students experience a student-driven, non-traditional literature seminar for learning assessment purposes within the extended learning process in higher education, and offered for meaning-making within environmental and sustainability learning and teaching (Anderberg, Nordén & Hansson, 2009; Lundström et al, 2016). Qualitative group interviews with semi-structural questions and analysis were conducted by a phenomenographic approach. Previous experiences of assessments, ways of reading the course literature and formulating questions, expectations and reflections, and student-centered learning processes were focused. The group interviews with the international teacher students (n=63) in 2012, 2014 and 2016 took place in 11 group meetings. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically categorised from the reflected experiences made visible through the analysis of the qualitative data gathered. (P.M. This is work in progress and when analysis has been carried out more details will be avilable, which could be presented if accepted for the ECER 2017...) Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The analysis of the assessment seminars suggests that for many students this form of assessment was a new learning experience. While reading the book students were mainly concentrating on bigger concepts. A few students were afraid as they were unfamiliar with planning and taking responsibility for a discussion. However, the participatory and collaborative learning assessment with sharing of experiences among the students resulted in a rewarding challenge based learning process. After the assessment students continued to reflect and talk about the questions raised. According to them, it generated a deep learning opportunity compared to written examination. This meant that they had a deeper understanding of the questions at hand, and they could draw on richer contextualised resources from their own experience to develop school oriented subject matters through the discussion. A tentative result shows some categories of the students’ experiences of meaning-making: developing critical thinking, focusing on learning and understanding, learning by collaboration, seeing a bigger picture, and taking responsibility in learning for understanding. Besides assessing the learning outcome, the learning needs are identified through the learning activity to be promoted for continued learning in the course. When students share their knowledge and experiences of global environmental and sustainability challenges, extended learning processes for sustainability enhanced literacy seems to develop. The students describe their learning processes as consistent and progressively on-going also after the closing of the seminar (Sonesson & Nordén, 2015).
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| 2. |
- Sonesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing international teacher students´ knowledge on environmental and sustainability challenges through a literature seminar
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This presentation is based on international teacher students` experiences of a learning assessment on environmental and sustainability challenges. In Teaching for sustainability (15 credits, http://edu.mah.se/en/Course/NM164E#Overview ), a course offered once a year by Malmö University, the perspective is learner oriented with a holistic approach on education and sustainability. The heterogeneous group of students has a variety of knowledge on sustainability issues, different experiences of learning activities and examination forms. Consequently, a common platform for progression of knowledge formation among the students is needed. One of the first learning activities is to read World on the Edge (Brown, 2011) and to formulate three questions on environmental and sustainability challenges that the student considers important. Prior to the first out of three assessments in the course, the lecturer selects one question per student and during the assessment seminar the student directs the discussion of the selected question among a group of 5-7 students. During the seminar, the students share their thoughts, experiences and knowledge for meaning-making through discussions. The learning outcome is to be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment. Students are graded “Passed with distinction”, “Passed” or “Fail”, whereas the full course has a six-pointed grading system (Passed with distinction; A-B, Passed; C-E, Failed; F). Our aim of the research study is to investigate how heterogeneous groups of teacher students experiences a student-driven, non-traditional learning assessment, their learning process and meaning-making within environmental and sustainability education. Qualitative group interviews, semi-structural questions, and analysis were carried out through a phenomenographic approach. Focus was on previous experiences of assessments, ways of reading the book and formulating questions, expectations and reflections, and learning processes for meaning-making. The interviews with the international teacher students (n=41) in 2012 and 2014 were recorded, transcribed and thematically categorised. To many students the assessment was a new learning experience. While reading the book students were mainly concentrating on bigger concepts. A few students were afraid and nervous as they were unfamiliar with planning and taking responsibility for a discussion. However, the participatory and collaborative learning assessment with sharing of experiences among the students resulted in a rewarding meaning-making process. After the assessment students continued to reflect and talk about the questions raised. According to them, it generated a deep learning opportunity compared to written examination. A tentative result shows some categories of the students’ experiences of meaning-making: developing critical thinking, focusing on learning and understanding, learning by collaboration, seeing a bigger picture, and taking responsibility in learning for understanding. When students share their knowledge and experiences of global environmental and sustainability challenges, sustainability literacy for understanding seems to develop. The students describe their learning processes as on-going after closing the seminar.
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| 3. |
- Sonesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges and Learning Outcomes in a Mutual Municipal Partnership on Education for Sustainable Development from Southern African/North European Perspectives
- 2021
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Ingår i: Book of Abstract: Vitalizing partnerships - Moving forward to a sustainable future. - : Sanord.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Two cities, Swakopmund and Malmö, in Namibia and Sweden have developed a strong mutual partnership on sustainable development. The collaboration started within The Municipal Partnership Programme at the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), working with poverty reduction through local democracy development funded by SIDA. The municipal partnership aims to increase civil influence by strengthening local and regional political governance organization within certain core areas, e.g. equity/inclusion, transparency, possibility to demand accountability and/or citizen participation. During 2012-2014 the two cities collaborated on two projects; Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Eco Tourism. The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of processes and learning outcomes of SDG 17 in a mutual municipal partnership in the ESD-project focusing experiences on challenges and solutions. Eight project team member i.e. municipal officials, teachers, museum- and marine pedagogues, as well as three senior municipal officials in the Project Steering Committee were interviewed using semi-structured questions in the second year of the ESD-project. A phenomenographic approach was applied to analyse the transcriptions of nearly six hours recorded interview material. The findings show the experience of various challenges the respondents faced, how the challenges were solved and the benefits of the learning outcomes. This were discussed also in longer terms to shed light on what South and North can learn from one another by being in a mutual partnership, focusing how work processes contribute to develop democratic governance locally in the municipalities.
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| 4. |
- Sonesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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International teacher students' meaning-making of environmental and sustainability challenges through a learning assessment
- 2015
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Ingår i: Abstract list of WEEC 2015. - : WEEC.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: This research is based on experiences by international students. In Teaching for sustainability (15 credits), the perspective is learner oriented with a holistic approach on education and sustainability. The heterogeneous group of students has a variety of knowledge on sustainability issues, different experiences of learning activities and examination forms. Consequently, a common platform for progression of knowledge formation among the students is needed. One learning activity is to read World on the Edge (Brown, 2011), formulate three questions on environmental and sustainability challenges that the student considers important. One question per student is selected by the lecturer and the student directs the discussion among 5-7 students. The students share their thoughts and knowledge for meaning-making, discussions through the seminar. The learning outcome is to be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment. Objectives: The aim of the study is to investigate how heterogeneous groups of teacher students experience a student-driven, non-traditional learning assessment, their learning process and meaning-making within environmental and sustainability education. Methods: Qualitative group interviews, semi-structural questions, and analysis were carried out through a phenomenographic approach. Focus was on previous experiences of assessments, ways of reading the book and formulating questions, expectations and reflections, and learning processes for meaning-making. The interviews with the international teacher students (n=41) in 2012 and 2014 were recorded, transcribed and thematically categorised. Results: To many students the assessment was a new learning experience. While reading the book students were mainly concentrating on bigger concepts. A few students were afraid as they were unfamiliar with planning and taking responsibility for a discussion. However, the participatory and collaborative learning assessment with sharing of experiences among the students resulted in a rewarding meaning-making process. After the assessment students continued to reflect and talk about the questions raised. According to them, it generated a deep learning opportunity compared to written examination. A tentative result shows some categories of the students’ experiences of meaning-making: developing critical thinking, focusing on learning and understanding, learning by collaboration, seeing a bigger picture, and taking responsibility in learning for understanding. Conclusion: Besides assessing a learning outcome, the learning needs are identified through the learning activity to be promoted for continued learning in the course. When students share their knowledge and experiences of global environmental and sustainability challenges, sustainability literacy for understanding seems to develop. The students describe their learning processes as on-going after closing the seminar.
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| 5. |
- Sonesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Studentorienterat litteraturseminarium som läraktivitet och examinationsform
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstrakt till NU2016 – Bedömning, examination och betyg Studentorienterat litteraturseminarium som lärandeaktivitet och examinationsform Denna presentation är baserad på en studie av internationella lärarstudenters erfarenhet av studentorienterade litteraturseminarier om globala miljö- och hållbarhetsfrågor som examinationsform. Syftet med forskningsstudien är att undersöka hur en heterogen studentgrupp upplever en icke-traditionell examinationsform, sin lärandeprocess och kunskapsutveckling inom ämnesområdet globala utmaningar och hållbar utveckling genom ett studentdrivet litteraturseminarium. Kursen Teaching for sustainability (15 hp, http://edu.mah.se/en/Course/NM164E ) har ett holistiskt perspektiv på lärande för hållbar utveckling. Det teoretiska innehållet består av globala utmaningar, hållbar utveckling och didaktik. Kursen utgår från studentorienterat lärande och varierande arbetssätt. Kursdeltagarna utgörs av en heterogen grupp av lärarstudenter, av utbytes- och svenska studenter. Förkunskaperna varierar och likaså studenternas erfarenheter av olika examinationsformer. En av kursens första aktiviteter är att läsa boken World on the Edge. How to prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (Brown 2011) och att formulera tre frågor om globala utmaningar. Frågorna ska vara inspirerade av boken och frågor som studenten vill diskutera i ett seminarium med 5-7 kurskamrater. Lärandemål som examineras: The student will be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment, actively discuss the scope of environmental problems and challenges in sustainable development in the participants´ respective home country and worldwide. Inför litteraturseminariet väljer läraren ut en fråga per student och studenten får introducera och leda diskussionen kring sin fråga. Under diskussionen bidrar varje student med sin erfarenhet och kunskap. På så sätt bidrar alla med sina perspektiv på de frågeställningar som behandlas. Studenterna bedöms enligt en tregradig skala; väl godkänd, godkänd samt underkänd. Efter litteraturseminarier vid två kurstillfällen (2012 och 2014) genomfördes intervjuer med semi-strukturella frågor i fokusgrupper (7 grupper och sammanlagt 41 studenter). Intervjufrågorna fokuserades på studenternas tidigare erfarenheter av examinationer, läsande av kursboken, formulering av frågor och förväntningar litteraturseminariet, samt reflektioner efter genomförandet. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades samt analyserades med en fenomenografisk ansats. För flertalet studenter var det studentorienterade litteraturseminariet en ny erfarenhet. Medan de läste boken fokuserade studenterna i huvudsak på de stora sammanhangen och inte på detaljer. De sökte vidare information kring frågor de ville veta mera om. Några studenter uppgav att de var nervösa inför seminariet och förklarade detta med att de var ovana vid att planera, leda och ansvara för en diskussion kring en fråga de själva valt. Studenter menade att alla i gruppen bidrog till en gemensam lärandeprocess då de delade erfarenheter, tankar och kunskap kring globala utmaningar och hållbar utveckling. Efter avslutat seminarium fortsatte de fundera kring frågorna som diskuterats.
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| 6. |
- Sonesson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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We Learnt a Lot : Challenges and Learning Experiences in a Southern African—North European Municipal Partnership on Education for Sustainable Development.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 12:20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates a reciprocal partnership between two cities in Namibia and Sweden to deepen the understanding of challenges and learning outcomes in a project on education for sustainable development. Since 2008, two municipalities have developed a strong partnership via The Municipal Partnership Programme at the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy. Municipal partnerships are results-oriented collaborations in joint projects on sustainability. The purpose is to describe how eight team members in the mutual South-North project, by addressing similar problems in different contexts, experienced challenges in the implementation of the project plan, solutions and learning processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the end of the second project year. Transcripts and field notes were analysed using a phenomenographic approach and contextual analysis. Five main categories of description based on collective statements and three dimensions of learning were recognised in the research data. The analysis identifies strategies for critical knowledge formation and capability building to support mutual learning in South-North Municipal Partnerships. The concluding discussion spots the learning dimensions—how sharing experiences by justifying non-formal and transformational learning promotes organisations’ readiness for knowledge formation by conducting mutual global learning towards sustainable development goals.
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