| 1. |
- A. Manneh, Ilana, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Tutor-student interaction in undergraduate chemistry : a case of learning to make relevant distinctions of molecular structures for determining oxidation states of atoms
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 40:16, s. 2023-2043
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we explore the issues and challenges involved in supporting students’ learning to discern relevant and critical aspects of determining oxidation states of atoms in complex molecules. We present a detailed case of an interaction between three students and a tutor during a problem-solving class, using the analytical tool of practical epistemology analysis (PEA). The results show that the ability to make relevant distinctions between the different parts of a molecule for solving the problem, even with the guidance of the tutor, seemed to be challenging for students. These shifts were connected to both purposes that were specific for solving the problem at hand, and additional purposes for general learning of the subject matter, in this case how to assign oxidation states in molecules. The students sometimes could not follow the additional purposes introduced by the tutor, which made the related distinctions more confusing. Our results indicate that in order to provide adequate support and guidance for students the tutor needs to consider how to sequence, move between, and productively connect the different purposes introduced in a tutor-student interaction. One way of doing that is by first pursuing the purposes for solving the problem and then successively introduce additional, more general purposes for developing students’ learning of the subject matter studied. Further recommendations drawn from this study are discussed as well.
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| 2. |
- Adbo, Karina, et al.
(författare)
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Developing an Understanding of Chemistry : A case study of one Swedish student's rich conceptualisation for making sense of upper secondary school chemistry
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 36:7, s. 1107-1136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we report a case study of a 16-year-old Swedish upper secondary student's developing understanding of key concept areas studied in his upper secondary school chemistry course. This study illustrates how the thinking of an individual learner, Jesper, evolves over a school year in response to formal instruction in a particular educational context. Jesper presented a range of ideas, some of which matched intended teaching whilst others were quite inconsistent with canonical chemistry. Of particular interest, research data suggest that his initial alternative conceptions influenced his thinking about subsequent teaching of chemistry subject matter, illustrating how students' alternative conceptions interact with formal instruction. Our findings support the claims of some researchers that alternative conceptions may be stable and tenacious in the context of instruction. Jesper's rich conceptualisation of matter at submicroscopic scales drew upon intuitions about the world that led to teaching being misinterpreted to develop further alternative conceptions. Yet his intuitive thinking also offered clear potential links with canonical scientific concepts that could have been harnessed to channel his developing thinking. These findings support the argument that identifying students' intuitive thinking and how it develops in different instructional contexts can support the development of more effective science pedagogy.
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| 3. |
- Adbo, Karina, et al.
(författare)
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Learners' Mental Models of the Particle Nature of Matter: A study of 16-year-old Swedish science students
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 31:6, s. 757-786
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The results presented here derive from a longitudinal study of Swedish upper secondary science students' (16-19 years of age) developing understanding of key chemical concepts. The informants were 18 students from two different schools. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mental models of matter at the particulate level that learners develop. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews based around the students' own drawings of the atom, and of solids, liquids, and gases. The interview transcripts were analysed to identify patterns in the data that offer insight into aspects of student understanding. The findings are discussed in the specific curriculum context in Swedish schools. Results indicate that the teaching model of the atom (derived from Bohr's model) commonly presented by teachers and textbook authors in Sweden gives the students an image of a disproportionately large and immobile nucleus, emphasises a planetary model of the atom and gives rise to a chain of logic leading to immobility in the solid state and molecular breakdown during phase transitions. The findings indicate that changes in teaching approaches are required to better support learners in developing mental models that reflect the intended target knowledge.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Anderhag, Per, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Students' choice of post-compulsory science : In search of schools that compensate for the socio-economic background of their students
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 35:18, s. 3141-3160
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is commonly argued that socio-economic inequalities can explain many of the differences in achievement and participation in science education that have been reported among countries and among schools within a country. We addressed this issue by examining (a) the relationship between variables associated with socio-economic background and application frequencies to the Swedish Natural Science Programme (NSP) in upper secondary school and (b) whether there are lower secondary schools in Sweden that seem to compensate for these variables. Data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) covering the whole population of 106,483 ninth-grade students were used to calculate the probability for each student to apply to the NSP. Our results indicate that the variables, such as parental educational level and grades, have explanatory power, but with varying effect for different subpopulations of students. For example, grades in mathematics have a greater impact than grades in science for females’ choice of the NSP. The opposite holds for male students. Out of 1,342 schools, 158 deviated significantly from predicted, that is, the students in these schools applied to the NSP in greater or lesser extent than expected. The number of deviating schools is greater than predicted by pure random variation. This suggests that variables of socio-economic background are only a partial explanation of the application frequencies, and that the deviation needs to be investigated further. Our findings suggest that in order to understand why schools deviate positively and so compensate for the socio-economic background of their students, we need to study their practices more closely
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Björn, 1939, et al.
(författare)
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On developing content‐oriented theories taking biological evolution as an example
- 2006
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 28:6, s. 673-695
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both in Europe and the United States there is a growing interest in design research. One example is the design and validation of topic‐oriented teaching–learning sequences. This research may be said to have two objectives. One is to design and test “useful products”, such as teachers’ guides and study material for students, which may be put into practice in various ways. The second is to contribute to the development of educational science; for example, understanding conditions for learning of given topics under regular classroom conditions. This article concerns the latter objective and deals with the development of content‐oriented theories stating conditions that promote learning with long‐term understanding of given topics. We present one such theory, concerning evolution by natural selection, and describe the arguments and evidence that underlie the theory, which we regard as a well‐founded hypothesis. Some methodological problems associated with testing this type of theory are discussed, as well as the role of content‐oriented theories in strengthening science education research as an autonomous specialization within educational science.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Jan, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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The relation between students' communicative moves during laboratory work in physics and outcomes of their actions
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 39:2, s. 158-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this case study, we explore students' communication during practical work in physics at an upper secondary school in Sweden from a sociocultural perspective. We investigate the relation between the interaction and content of students' communication and outcomes of their actions, with the purpose of finding new knowledge for informing teachers in their choice of instruction. We make discourse analysis of how students interact but also of what students are discussing in terms of underlying content at a linguistic and cognitive level. Twenty students divided into five groups were video recorded while performing four practical tasks at different stations during laboratory work about motion. An analytical framework was developed and applied for one group to three parts of the transcripts in which three different talk-types occurred. Discursive, content, action and purposive moves in the process were identified for each talk-type at both linguistic and cognitive levels. These moves represent information concerning what the teacher actually assigns students to do, and how students make meaning of the activities. Through these different communicative moves, students experience how laboratory work can enhance their competence to collaborate in a scientific environment with complex practical and theoretical questions to solve quickly. Implications of the findings are discussed.
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| 8. |
- Andrée, Maria, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Marketing the ‘Broad Line’ : Invitations to STEM education in a Swedish recruitment campaign
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 35:1, s. 147-166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many Western societies, there is a concern about the tendency of young people not choosing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and occupations. In response, different initiatives have been launched. If one believes that science should have a place in more young people's lives, an important question is to what extent recruitment campaigns communicate messages that open up for STEM education to become relevant in young people's identity formation. Here, we analyse a Swedish government-initiated, primarily Internet-based recruitment attempt (‘The Broad Line Campaign’) aimed at increasing the number of young people choosing the natural science programme in upper secondary school. The campaign is based on marketing principles and deliberately draws on identity issues. The data analysed consists of campaign films and written resources describing the campaign. Data are analysed by use of the constant comparative approach in order to produce categories describing different messages about why to engage in STEM education. These messages are then analysed from an identity perspective using the concept of subjective values. Our results show that the messages communicated in the Broad Line campaign emphasise utility value, attainment value and relative cost rather than interest-enjoyment. The campaign communicates that the natural science programme is to be associated with a high attainment value without establishing relations to the field of science. Finally, potential consequences of the communicated messages in the campaign are discussed in light of previous research.
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| 9. |
- Andrée, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Recruitment Campaigns as a Tool for Social and Cultural Reproduction of Scientific Communities : A case study on how scientists invite young people to science
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 36:12, s. 1985-2008
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Young people's interest in pursuing science and science-intense educations has been expressed as a concern in relation to societal, economic and democratic development by various stakeholders (governments, industry and university). From the perspective of the scientific communities, the issues at stake do not necessarily correspond to the overall societal aims. Rather, initiatives to recruit young people to science are also ways for the scientific community to engage in the social and cultural reproduction of itself. For a community to survive and produce a future, it needs to secure regeneration of itself in succeeding generations. The aim of this study is to, from a perspective of social and cultural production/reproduction, shed light on an initiative from the scientific community to recruit young people to science education. This is a case study of one recruitment campaign called the Chemistry Advent calendar. The calendar consists of 25 webcasted films, produced and published by the science/technology faculty at a university. The analysed data consist of the films and additional published material relating to the campaign such as working reports and articles published about the campaign. The analysis focussed on what messages are communicated to potential newcomers. The messages were categorised by means of a framework of subjective values. The results are discussed both from a perspective of how the messages mirror traditions and habits of the scientific community, and in relation to research on students' educational choices.
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| 10. |
- Anker-Hansen, Jens, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Affordances and Constraints of Using the Socio-Political Debate for Authentic Summative Assessment
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Science Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0950-0693 .- 1464-5289. ; 37:15, s. 2577-2596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article reports from an empirical study on the affordances and constraints for using staged socio-political debates for authentic summative assessment of scientific literacy. The article focuses on conditions for student participation and what purposes emerge in student interaction in a socio-political debate. As part of the research project, a socio-political debate was designed for assessing student competences of scientific literacy in classroom practices. The debate centred on a fictive case about a lake where a decline in the yield of fish had been established. The students were assigned the task of participating in the debate from appointed roles as different stakeholders. Data were collected with video recordings of the enacted student debates. Student participation was analysed with the theoretical framework of communities of practice. The results show that multiple conflicting purposes of the socio-political debate as an assessment task emerged. The emergent purposes were: (I) putting scientific knowledge on display versus staying true to one’s role, (II) putting scientific knowledge on display versus expressing social responsibility, (III) putting scientific knowledge on display versus winning the debate, (IV) using sources tactically versus using sources critically. As these purposes emerged in classroom practice, tensions between different ways of enacting participation in the debates became manifest. Based on these findings, this paper discusses the affordances and constraints for using a socio-political debate for classroom-based assessment of scientific literacy and argumentation in terms of validity, reliability and affordability.
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