| 1. |
- Ideland, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Who fits into the science classroom? : Critical perspectives on pedagogical models in science education.
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This mini-symposium aims to stress issues about how pedagogical models like e.g. SSI, science for girls and ESD construct who fits in or not in the science classroom. These models are developed from a good intention of including "all" students, opening up possibilities for them who often are seen as outsiders in science culture. But we claim that these seemingly democratic pedagogical models fabricate desirable and undesirable subjects. Often, the norms for fitting in can be understood in terms of images of gender, ethnicity and social class.A movement in science education research highlights the importance of making science knowledge “useful” for "everyone" in "everyday life". The aim with these efforts is to let students develop scientific literacy, which often is talked about as “necessary” for citizenship. Different practices carry strong ideas of designing the future, and emphasize the need of competences that are inscribed in the concept of “future citizen”. These competencies are often described in terms of problem-solving, critical thinking and making rational decisions to contribute to a sustainable world. In relation to this image, those children that don’t want to make decisions, solve problems become constructed as failures. In a wider perspective, they can be seen as threatening the intentions of science contribution to a sustainable world.In this symposium we would like to raise critical issues about what norms that are constructing individuals, from different social categories, as desirable or non-desirable in science classroom. These issues will be discussed in relation to six examples from empirical studies which are problematizing the construction of the desirable science student. These examples are: 1) PISA construction of the science student; 2) Social class in science class; 3) Narratives of females and science; 4) Gender, sexuality and normality; 5) Who is the democratic citizen?; 6) Who is the sustainable citizen?
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| 2. |
- Serder, Margareta
(författare)
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Att förstå naturvetenskapliga kunskapsmätningar utifrån en sociokulturell teoriram
- 2013
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Ingår i: Utbildning och Demokrati. - : Örebro universitet. - 1102-6472 .- 2001-7316. ; 22:3, s. 107-124
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article describes how sociocultural theories can be used to gain knowledge of why, in international knowledge comparisons such as the PISA, it seems so difficult for Swedish students to answer test questions in scientific literacy “correctly”. Sociocultural concepts (interaction, contexts, cultural tools, social languages, resistance, and situatedness), which I mean can contribute to understanding what might take place in the encounter between students and test items, are discussed and illus trated with two brief examples from an ongoing dissertation project. The article also describes the motive for the chosen research design: to study an encounter between 15 year old students collaboratively working with a few selected PISA items on scientific literacy. Possible consequences of the items being embedded in “everyday contexts” and the significance of mastering a scientific discourse are discussed. Finally I ask which image of science the students are afforded by the test items.
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| 3. |
- Serder, Margareta, et al.
(författare)
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Björklund, du har valt helt fel utredare av skolan
- 2014
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Ingår i: Dagens samhälle: kommunernas och landstingens tidning. - : Svenska kommunförbundet. - 1652-6511. ; :20140116
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Alla jublar över Jan Björklunds (FP) förslag att låta OECD utreda krisen i den svenska skolan. Utredningen ska på ett oberoende sätt fördjupa den vetenskapliga analysen. Men OECD är varken oberoende eller experter på utbildning. Så vilken vetenskaplighet och kunskapssyn kommer OECD stå för?
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| 4. |
- Serder, Margareta, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing Danish and Swedish versions of PISA scientific literacy
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a comparison between the Swedish, Danish, English, and French versions of three scientific literacy test-units from the released PISA items 2006. More specifically it compares how different words and concepts have been translated in the Swedish and Danish tests, compared to the English and French original versions. Differences that occur as a result of the translation process concerning words’ meaning are demonstrated. The possible consequences of such differences are exemplified by an excerpt from a situation in which Swedish 15-year-old students collaboratively worked with these three PISA units. In the paper we claim that in spite of detailed and strongly controlled methods for achieving translations of high standard used by the PISA, important and perhaps even decisive, differences between the four versions exist
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| 5. |
- Serder, Margareta
(författare)
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Discouraging results : problematizing test questions in science education
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The increasing importance and consequences of knowledge measurements and international comparisons calls for problematizing tests and test-questions. Previous studies have demonstrated that the way test-questions are formulated in themselves largely affect the ways the students perceive and answer to them. This paper adopts a dialogical theoretical perspective and aims to discuss one of the assumptions that individual assessment relies on, namely that of message-transfer. It does so through exploring the interaction between students and test-questions in scientific literacy, with PISA as an example. How are the texts, illustrations and everyday context in the test negotiated by students, and what meanings are students’ making from them in a situation of collaborative problem-solving? 16 hours of videotaped talk and actions, from situations in which four classes of 15 year old students worked with a selection of PISA science problems in small groups, have been transcribed and content- and semantically analyzed. The analysis shows that all groups of students discuss the meanings of the test questions. It is argued that test-occurring words, such as “reference”, “factor” or “pattern”, that are negotiated among the students can be seen to have an intended meaning in this specific context, but can also be interpreted within other contexts and with other meanings. It is concluded that the students, when put in this situation of collaborative problem solving, above all act as learners of many disciplines at the same time in the sense that their situational meaning making also borrow meanings from mathematical and everyday contexts. Therefore it is argued that meanings are not unambiguously transferred as intended and that this is also reinforced by the descriptions of everyday context and mathematical illustrations, like graphs and diagrams, in the test.
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| 6. |
- Serder, Margareta
(författare)
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Exploring the positivistic assumption of message-transfer in knowledge measurement
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This presentation aims to discuss one of the assumptions that individual knowledge assessment relies on, namely that of meaning- or message-transfer (as in Linell, 2009). I adopt a dialogical theoretical perspective (ibid) by which I explore the interaction between students and test-questions in a test of scientific literacy (through which the students’ knowledge is to be evaluated). The question is how the positivistic assumption of message-transfer translates in the students’ meaning making of the test items and how the texts, illustrations and everyday context in the test are being negotiated among students? In its methodology this study departs from the presumption that meaning making should be studied in action. Therefore, situations were constructed in which 15 year old students worked with a selection of PISA science problems collaboratively in small groups (n=21). In total, 16 hours of videotaped talk and actions were produced and have been transcribed and content- and semantically analyzed. Test-occurring words, such as “reference”, “factor” or “pattern” (which can be seen to have an intended meaning in the test) appear to be interpreted within other contexts and with other meanings. It is argued that meanings are not unambiguously transferred. Further, ambiguity is reinforced by the descriptions of everyday context and mathematical illustrations, like graphs and diagrams, in the test. The results are valuable for interpreting the claims and results of knowledge measurements. Reference: Linell, Per (2009): Rethinking language, mind, and world dialogically: interactional and contextual theories of human sense-making. Information Age Inc.
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| 7. |
- Serder, Margareta
(författare)
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Heteroglossic properties in written tests of scientific literacy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Disruptions and eruptions as opportunities for transforming education. - : Nordic Educational Research Association.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The worldwide growing practice of testing has implications as well on school culture as on current discourses about education; it provides a discursive resource on how to talk about citizens’ knowledge. For instance, in Sweden, the young generation’s knowledge in science is assumed to be decreasing, according to evidence from international comparisons on scientific knowledge, such as the PISA and TIMSS. However, instruments for testing knowledge (such as scientific literacy in PISA) have limitations that are seldom addressed. Among these are the inherent psychometric assumptions that knowledge is individual, hierarchal and stable, and that it can be elicited by clear-cut test questions. I will discuss these assumptions in relation to qualitative empirical findings from my dissertation project, in which I have attempted to explore students’ meaning making of science test questions from PISA 2006. The aim has been to gain knowledge about how young test takers approach and interpret the questions that are used to assess their scientific knowledge. For that purpose I have taken a Bakthinian sociocultural theoretical and methodological perspective. Students’ meaning making was videotaped (16 hours) when 21 small heterogeneous groups of 15-year olds collaboratively worked with eleven selected problems during a science lesson. The semantic analysis suggests that when the students are to interpret these contextual test questions they are confronted with all the heteroglossic properties of human discourse. According to data it seems possible for the students to approach the test-questions with different understandings. Test-language does not appear as univocal but rather as ambiguous, and it actualizes many possible contexts and meanings in the discussions of the students. As such, it becomes crucial to discern between different social languages (scientific, educational, mathematical, everyday life-related or others) and most important: to understand the test constructer’s intentions. The findings raise questions about whether it really can be assumed that students who take tests answer the questions we think they do. The relevance is therefore a caution in not over-interpreting results from large scale assessments.
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| 8. |
- Serder, Margareta, et al.
(författare)
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Opportunities and difficulties for students’ engagement in PISA Science items
- 2011
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper presents an empirical study on how 15-year old students engage in and discuss three PISA science items. The purpose is to describe and raise questions about what the students’ written answers on a PISA assessment may represent, in the light of how the 71 students in this study understand and choose to answer questions in the test. Departing from a socio cultural perspective on knowledge and action (Säljö, 2000), we chose a design where the students worked with the items in small groups, allowing us to study their conversations in action. We have analyzed the video recorded material in order to describe what difficulties and opportunities the students may meet in PISA. Our results indicate problems with interpretations of the tasks due to translation, to the meaning potential of many of the words used in the text and to the context provided by the items.
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| 9. |
- Serder, Margareta, et al.
(författare)
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Opportunities and difficulties for Swedish students’ engaging in PISA Science items
- 2011
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper presents an empirical study on how 15-year old students engage in and discuss three PISA science items. The purpose is to describe and raise questions about what the students’ written answers on a PISA assessment may represent, in the light of how the 71 students in this study understand and choose to answer questions in the test. Departing from a socio cultural perspective on knowledge and action (Säljö, 2000), we chose a design where the students worked with the items in small groups, allowing us to study their conversations in action. We have analyzed the video recorded material in order to describe what difficulties and opportunities the students may meet in PISA. Our first observations of their interactions demonstrate in particular difficulties in completing some of the tasks, due to problems in understanding scientific language, complicated formulations and uncommon Swedish words, and confusing translation mistakes. It also occurs that what the students treat as relevant is not always identical to the constructer’s intentions. Our conclusion about the language use in and the relevance of some PISA tasks should have implications in how new items should be constructed and how written results should be interpreted.
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| 10. |
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