Kristianstad University, Faculty of Education, Research environment Learning in Science and Mathematics (LISMA). Kristianstad University, Faculty of Education, Avdelningen för matematik- och naturvetenskapernas didaktik. Nationellt resurscentrum för fysik, Lunds universitet.
Kristianstad University, Faculty of Business, Avdelningen för design. Södertörns högskola.
The design of the green infrastructure in urban areas largely ignores how people's relation to nature, or human-nature connection (HNC), can be nurtured. One practical reason for this is the lack of a framework to guide the assessment of where people, and more importantly children, experience significant nature situations and establish nature routines. This paper develops such a framework. We employed a mixed-method approach to understand what qualities of nature situations connect children to nature (RQ1), what constitutes children's HNC (RQ2), and how significant nature situations and children's HNC relate to each other over time (RQ3). We first interviewed professionals in the field of connecting children to nature (N = 26), performed inductive thematic analysis of these interviews, and then further examined the inductive findings by surveying specialists (N = 275). We identified 16 qualities of significant nature situations (e.g., "awe," "engagement of senses," "involvement ofmentors") and 10 abilities that constitute children's HNC (e. g., "feeling comfortable in natural spaces," " feeling attached to natural spaces," "taking care of nature"). We elaborated three principles to answer our research questions: (1) significant nature situations are various and with differing consequences for children's HNC; (2) children's HNC is a complex embodied ability; (3) children's HNC progresses over time through diverse nature routines. Together, these findings form the Assessment framework for Children's Human Nature Situations (ACHUNAS). ACHUNAS is a comprehensive framework that outlines what to quantify or qualify when assessing " child-nature connecting" environments. It guides the assessment of where and how children connect to nature, stimulating both the design of nature-connecting human habitats as well as pedagogical approaches to HNC.
This chapter describes a case study of the role of mathematics in physics textbooks and in associated teacher led lessons. The theoretical framework (Hansson et al. 2015) used in the analysis focuses on relations communicated between three entities: Theoretical models, Mathematics, and Reality. Previously the framework has been used for analysing classroom situations. In this chapter, the framework is further developed and refined, and for the first time used to analyse physics textbooks. The case study described here is a synchronised analysis of a physics textbook and associated classroom communication during teacher led lessons, and contributes with an in-depth description of relations made between Theoretical models, Mathematicsand Reality. With the starting point in this case we discuss future uses of the analysis framework. We also raise questions for further research concerning how physics textbooks support and not support a meaningful physics teaching with respect to the role of mathematics and how relations between Theoretical models, Mathematics, and Reality are communicated.
This study adds to research on the use of mathematics in physics classrooms at upper secondary school. The aim is to look closer into what types of transfer do the teacher and textbook set up for the pupils with respect to ways of reasoning from other physics contexts as well as from mathematics. The frame for analysis is an analytical model based on relations made between Reality, Theoretical models and Mathematics (Redfors, Hansson, Hansson & Juter, 2016). Horizontal and vertical transfer is defined as mappings of new information to an activated known structure and as the creation of a new structure in the learner’s mind, respectively (Rebello, Cui, Benett, Zollman & Ozimek, 2007). Transfer occurs within mathematics and physics and also between the topics.We will focus on a physics lecture (40 min, video recorded) in a 3rd year class. When reasoning movement of charged particles in electric fields the teacher stresses hori- zontal transfer from mechanics and projectile motion. The procedure used is focused on analysing movement in “x direction” and “y direction” separately, not explicitly relating movement to the field direction. Whereas the argumentation in the textbook is based on movement in relation to the existence of a field direction. When considering velocity, the main focus is in both cases on a framework where the components of velocity is central.The tangent of a curve is a notion the students in the present study are quite familiar with from their courses in mathematics, which makes an opportunity for transfer from a mathematics context to help understanding physics. However, the notion of tangent is not used in the textbook or by the teacher in relation to velocity. Using the vector concept in this way would require students and teachers to perform a vertical transfer. This has been shown hard for both students and teachers. However, introducing this way of reasoning had made use of an opportunity for structural use of mathematics – an opportunity overlooked by both teacher and textbook.
This study adds to research on the use of mathematics in physics classrooms at upper secondary school. The aim is to look closer into what types of transfer do the teacher and textbook set up for the pupils with respect to ways of reasoning from other physics contexts as well as from mathematics. The frame for analysis is an analytical model based on relations made between Reality, Theoretical models and Mathematics (Redfors, Hansson, Hansson & Juter, 2016). Horizontal and vertical transfer is defined as mappings of new information to an activated known structure and as the creation of a new structure in the learner’s mind, respectively (Rebello, Cui, Benett, Zollman & Ozimek, 2007). Transfer occurs within mathematics and physics and also between the topics.We will focus on a physics lecture (40 min, video recorded) in a 3rd year class. When reasoning movement of charged particles in electric fields the teacher stresses hori- zontal transfer from mechanics and projectile motion. The procedure used is focused on analysing movement in “x direction” and “y direction” separately, not explicitly relating movement to the field direction. Whereas the argumentation in the textbook is based on movement in relation to the existence of a field direction. When considering velocity, the main focus is in both cases on a framework where the components of velocity is central.The tangent of a curve is a notion the students in the present study are quite familiar with from their courses in mathematics, which makes an opportunity for transfer from a mathematics context to help understanding physics. However, the notion of tangent is not used in the textbook or by the teacher in relation to velocity. Using the vector concept in this way would require students and teachers to perform a vertical transfer. This has been shown hard for both students and teachers. However, introducing this way of reasoning had made use of an opportunity for structural use of mathematics – anopportunity overlooked by both teacher and textbook.
This study concerns the teaching of drug calculations in nursing education. It is part of a larger study and focuses on the first year of a three-year nursing program when the students are introduced to drug calculations. The students who attended the first year on the program was divided into smaller groups. We followed one group where the lecture and problem-solving session was video recorded.It is well known that drug calculations are a critical component in nursing practice. Nurses need to do drug calculations correctly and as part of their nursing education must take a drug calculation test obtaining no errors in the results. However, in spite of drug calculation tests many adverse events occur in nursing practice (e.g., Røykenes & Larsen, 2010). Studies of nursing practice show that mathematics enters practices in a rich variety of ways and that it is not advisable to avoid the complexity of a situation by only using standard methods to capture its visible arithmetic and teach it (Coben & Weeks, 2014). To restrict the teaching to an elementary use of mathematics will not cover all the knowledge that is actually relevant to practice. In routine use, mathe- matical reasoning can be almost invisible and many artefacts in the nursing profession often depends on this invisibility. But at times nurses will need to understand under- lying mathematical models to sort out what is happening or what has gone wrong (Pozzi, Noss & Hoyles, 1998).The results of the current study show that the teaching of first-year students did not support conceptual understanding of mathematics including discussions about mathe- matical reasoning or relevant mathematical concepts. Instead, the students were ad- vised to forget their previous mathematical skills – in particular if they felt insecure about mathematics – and apply “safe” methods with a strong focus on instrumental use. For example, in drug dose calculations a triangular arrangement of dosage (d), concentration (c) and volume (v) was used in relation to the “formula” d=cv, instead of reasoning about how to solve an equation. Discussions about the use of mathematicsand underlying models were absent in the teaching.
Kristianstad University, Research environment Learning in Science and Mathematics (LISMA). Kristianstad University, Faculty of Education, Avdelningen för matematik- och naturvetenskapernas didaktik. Lunds universitet.
Experiments have a long tradition in physics teaching and there are many examples of classical school experiments. At the same time laboratory teaching is affected by curriculum changes and technological development. In this study experienced teachers at three different upper secondary schools discuss their laboratory teaching. The analysis is based on the logic of events. The study provides insight into factors affecting teachers’ teaching and how classical experiments are adapted and challenged by new conditions. The results indicate that tradition is a stronger factor of influence than policy documents, in particular when very limited time is allowed for professional development.
Physics teachers at upper secondary school indirectly teach mathematics in their physics classes through their teaching strategies and preferred ways of using mathematics. Their views of physics and mathematics are important for the way they depict mathematics to the students. A web-questionnaire was administered to Swedish physics teachers. Part of the questions investigated views of mathematics, i.e. as a means for application, as a schema, as a formal construct or as processes. Mathematics as a means for application was the dominant opinion. Students’ lack of knowledge in mathematics was regarded as a problem to many of the teachers, and particularly problem solving and modelling. Students’ conceptual and relevance proficiencies in mathematics were less problematical.
Students’ mathematics teacher identity is formed in various settings. A study with 45 pre-service students in their first year of education was conducted as part of alongitudinal study of year 4-6 mathematics teachers’ identity formation, to study the development during their education in terms of mathematical knowledge, pupils’ learning and the teacher role. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The result shows that many students were reluctant to use mathematics and had conceptions that may mislead pupils. The students’ learning focus was less on pupils’ learning than mathematics and teacher role, but theirideal teacher focused on pupils’ learning.
Research on teachers’ grading has shown that there is great variability among teachers regarding both the process and product of grading, resulting in low comparability and issues of inequality when using grades for selection purposes. Despite this situation, not much is known about the merits or disadvantages of different models for grading. In this study, a methodology for comparing two models of grading in terms of (a) agreement between assessors (reliability) and (b) justifications for the grades assigned (validity) was used with a small sample of teachers (n = 24). The design is experimental, with teachers being randomly assigned to two conditions, where they graded the same student performance using either an analytic or a holistic approach. Grades have been compared in terms of agreement and rank correlation, and justifications have been analyzed with content analysis. Findings suggest that the analytic condition yields substantively higher agreement among assessors as compared to the holistic condition (66 versus 46 percent agreement; Cohen's kappa .60 versus .41), as well as higher rank correlation (Spearman's rho .97 versus .94), without any major differences in how the grades were justified. On the contrary, there was a relatively strong consensus among most raters in the sample.
Research has shown that sharing explicit assessment criteria with student may positively affect student performance, reduce anxiety, as well as support students’ use of self-regulated learning strategies (Panadero & Jonsson, 2013). Furthermore, it is suggested that students’ motivation for learning is positively affected by their understanding of learning goals and performance criteria (Ellis & Tod, 2015). But there are also indications of students becoming more performance oriented, as opposed to learning oriented, when being provided with explicit assessment criteria. Other fears voiced against the practice of sharing criteria with students is that students may not understand the criteria or that the use of criteria may turn students’ attention away from productive learning towards surface strategies and “criteria compliance” (e.g. Sadler, 2009; Torrance, 2007).
Since there is a lack of studies systematically investigating how students are influenced by the use of explicit criteria, it is currently not fully understood under which circumstances it is productive for student learning and motivation to share explicit assessment criteria. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies making a distinction between how students with different goal orientations are affected by the use of explicit criteria. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the influence of increased transparency in assessment on student motivation and performance, with a specific focus on students’ goal orientations.
The overall design of this study is an intervention study, where the use of transparency in assessment is increased successively over four teaching sequences. During the first sequence, students are provided with feedback based on criteria, but the criteria are not shared with the students. During the second sequence, students are provided with exemplars, which are chosen to exemplify the criteria. But again, the criteria are not shared with the students. During the third sequence, students are provided with rubrics, which include explicit criteria. Finally, during the fourth sequence, students are provided with both rubrics and exemplars.
The study uses a complex design, with a total of eight groups of students from four different primary schools (students 12-13 years old; n = 145). On each school, the same teacher teaches two classes of students. During the first sequence, all students are taught the same (science) content and experience the same level of transparency. During the second sequence, all students are also taught the same content, but while the level of transparency is increased for six of the groups, two groups remain on the first level. Similarly, during the third sequence, all students are taught the same content, but the level of transparency is increased for four of the groups, while two remain on the second level and two on the first. Finally, during the fourth sequence, all students are taught the same content, but the level of transparency is increased for two of the groups, while two remain on the third level, two on the second level and two on the first.
Data collection will be carried out in relation to the four teaching sequences, which are spread over the academic year of 2016-17. For all of the groups, performance tests and motivation questionnaires are distributed before the intervention and after each sequence. The performance tests are composed of items from previous national tests in science, addressing a content similar (but not identical) to the sequence taught. The motivation questionnaire is composed of scales for self-efficacy, performance orientation, and self-regulation (except for one of the self-regulation scales, which has a low alpha value, internal consistency is acceptable for all scales used). There are also shorter questionnaires, with only six items, distributed during each teaching sequence, which target students’ perceptions of transparency.
Data from performance tests and motivation questionnaires is analyzed with descriptive statistics, as well as with ANOVA based models, in order to track changes within each group, but also to compare between the groups. Analyses will be made with students’ goal orientations both as a dependent variable and as a moderating variable.
The correlations between students’ perceptions of transparency and self-efficacy/self-regulation are moderate to strong.
One of the schools in the sample differs significantly from the others with respect to self-efficacy, self-regulation och achievement goals (i.e. means are lower on these scales). Since this is the school that will hold a constant (low) level of transparency during the study, it can be assumed that this observed difference will increase.
Students generally rate their self-efficacy and perception of self-regulation strategies as relatively high (4.72 and 4.53 respectively, on a 6 point scale). Furthermore, according to the pre-test questionnaire students’ ratings on the achievement goals scale is substantially higher (5.38) as compared to the performance goals scale (3.14). If the use of explicit criteria makes students more performance oriented, this relationship is expected to change. According to previous research, ratings on the self-efficacy and self-regulation scales should also be expected to increase.
Despite the widely spread practice of sharing explicit criteria with students, for instance in the shape of scoring rubrics, few studies have systematically addressed the question of how students are influenced by transparency in assessment. This study therefore have great significance for both future research and educational practice.
The practice of grading students’ knowledge is as old as education itself (Lundahl 2006). Yet, it has not been an issue of great concern in teacher education, nor in the educational sciences, until rather recently. This means that current knowledge is limited regarding questions such as how teachers decide upon a grade, the specific competencies needed for grading, the weight assigned by teachers to different aspects of student knowledge, the relationship to official demands on formal grading, and to what degree tradition and/or colleagues affect teachers’ grading. The first part of this presentation is concerned with research on teachers’ grading practices – i.e. the assessment data teachers use when grading – both from a historical and a contemporary perspective. The presentation draws on systematic research reviews and a reading of more than 6,000 peer-reviewed articles on the topic (Hultén, Klapp, Lundahl & Mickwitz 2015, Klapp 2016, Lundahl 2017), as well as on a recent empirical study investigating teachers’ rationales for awarding grades in English. The second part of the presentation reports from an interview study, investigating how grades and assessment data are used as a basis for making decisions about the provision of supplemental support in compulsory school in Sweden. Findings indicate that grades and assessment data are used differently depending on students’ difficulties. This means, for instance, that students with learning difficulties are identified and provided support with greater precision, as compared to students with behavioral or motivational problems.
Even if we recognise a growing body of knowledge on teachers’ grading, we also find that the use of grades as data by teachers and schools is basically a white spot on the research map. We have found some indications in the literature that curriculum and assessment-system designs have neglected the perspective of teachers, leading to a de-coupling between professional assessment practice and formal expectations on data use in grading and using grades as data.
Research on the use of rubrics has shown that rubrics can aid assessors in achieving acceptable levels of consistency when scoring performance tasks. However, by making assessment expectations explicit the use of rubrics has also been shown to promote learning and/or improve instruction. In this contribution we draw on four systematic reviews on the use of rubrics, as well as some other significant publications. From this research we propose and present two different ways in which the transparency provided by rubrics have been shown to support student learning, together with examples of relevant studies. These two ways are through (1) facilitating the understanding and use of feedback and through (2) facilitating students’ self-regulated learning. Based on the same research, we have also sketched recommendations for how to design and use rubrics to support formative-assessment practices. Examples of such recommendations are to use an analytic scoring strategy, several quality levels, task-level specificity and direct criteria, but also to make the rubrics accessible to the students. Furthermore, we have addressed some of the important critique that have been voiced against the use of rubrics, such as the “indeterminacy of criteria”. This paper, however, only focus on the two ways in which the use of rubrics facilitate student learning.
Research about student self-assessment (SSA) has shown that academic performancetends to increase for students trained in SSA, but also that SSA training may increasethe use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. Consequently, there is widespreadadvocacy for SSA, not least through the “assessment for learning” reform agenda. The educational gains from SSA are suggested to be related to the enhancement ofownership of learning and use of self-regulatory strategies. In addition, SSA has beensuggested to support students’ self-efficacy (SE). These relationships between SSA andSRL/SE, have been claimed theoretically, but without proper empirical support. Thisstudy therefore uses meta-analytic methodology to explore the relationships betweenSSA and SRL/SE. The 21 studies included in the analysis were found by a databasesearch and meta-analyses were conducted using a random-effect model. Inter-studyvariance was estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The findings from thisstudy confirms the theoretical connection between SSA and SRL/SE. By training inSSA, students’ use of self-regulating strategies for learning increase, while their use ofperformance/avoidance strategies decrease. SSA interventions also support students’ SE(.73), meaning that they have a more adequate perception of their own capabilities. Thefindings also confirm what has been noted in some of the individual studies on theeffects on SRL/SE from SSA interventions that girls tend to benefit more from suchinterventions, at least in relation to SE.
The study aims to explore upper secondary school students’ written argumentation regarding a socioscientific issue (SSI). Focus lies on how students justify their claims. The data consists of student texts and was collected at the end of an intervention designed to develop skills related to high quality argumentation.
SSI has the potential to put science content into a meaningful and relevant context and also to prepare students for life as citizens in a democratic society. Results in studies focusing on students’ use of knowledge and values as support for their claims in argumentative activities show that students tend to base their arguments on values rather than knowledge. Students also have difficulties to construct arguments where claims and evidence connects to one another in a adequate way.
The intervention took place in a chemistry class in a Swedish upper secondary school. A number of 24 students (age 16-17) from the science-, and technology-major programs participated in the study. The intervention was performed in eight steps during five weeks where the students practiced argumentation in several different ways and studied the issue of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in every-day products. At the end of the intervention, the students had to take a stand in whether they would buy products containing PFAS.
The results show that after being taught about argumentation and the context surrounding the SSI, the students mainly based their arguments on content knowledge. This applies for both supporting-, and counter arguments. Value justifications are present in the students’ texts, but they constitute a smaller proportion. The justifications in the argumentative texts contain a great breadth of different subject areas, where chemistry knowledge plays an important role. This study shows that subject knowledge can constitute an important part in student argumentation.