bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Upflow Anaerobic Filter for Pet Food Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Pukasievicz Silvia Regina Machado , Gomes Simone Damasceno , Oliveira João Guilherme Baggio de , Barana Ana Cláudia
Published: October 2017

A digestão anaeróbia é um processo largamente utilizado no tratamento de efluentes agroindustriais, onde a maior parte da matéria orgânica está presente na forma dissolvida, além de ser facilmente biodegradável. Neste trabalho foi utilizado um filtro biológico anaeróbio de fluxo ascendente para tratar efluente de uma empresa que processa subprodutos de um frigorífico para produzir ração animal. A Demanda Química de Oxigênio (DQO) do substrato apresentou valores que variaram de 738 a 1102 mg O2 L-1 e teor de Nitrogênio Total Kjeldahl (NTK) de 143 a 723 mg L-1. O filtro foi operado continuamente a temperatura ambiente, com cargas orgânicas que variaram de 0,077 a 1,083 kg COD m-3 d-1 e Tempo de Detenção Hidráulica (TDH) de 240, 168, 120, 72, 48, 24 e 21 horas. Os melhores resultados de remoção de DQO foram obtidos com TDH de 24 horas, onde o efluente apresentou DQO de 154 mg O2 L-1. Pode ser concluído que, nas condições empregadas, o processo de digestão anaeróbia é viável.
Effect of Exchange Rate Returns on Equity Prices: Evidence from South Africa and Nigeria
Authors: Daggash Jibrin , Abraham Terfa
Published: October 2017

This paper examines the exchange rate returns of the Rand (relative to the US dollar) and the Naira (relative to the US dollar) for the presence of volatility. It also examines the effect of the exchange rate returns on the performance of their respective stock market. While it was found that the returns of the South African Rand was volatile, the Nigerian naira was not. Estimating the effect of exchange rate returns and crude oil price on the stock market indices of both countries showed that exchange rate return have a positive effect on the performance of the Nigerian stock exchange thus, confirming the stock flow hypothesis for Nigeria and refuting same for South Africa. Although the VAR granger causality identifies short run fluctuation of the naira as a significant factor affecting the performance of the Nigerian stock exchange in the short run, the Johannesburg stock exchange was found to be mostly affected by short run changes in the Rand and the UK FTSE 100. The paper concludes that policies aimed at stabilizing exchange rate and encouraing more non-oil stocks to be quoted in the Nigerian stock exchange will important. For the Johanesburg stock exchange, raising the listing requirement for firms quoted in the UK FTSE 100 and also seeking listing or already listed in the JSE will be a plausible idea. For both countries, however, curtailing swings in their exchange rate returns would help attract new investments and sustain existing ones hence, helping to spur growth.
The Analysis of China’s Grain Output Fluctuation Based on EMD
Authors: Chen Qiting , Wang Meng
Published: October 2017

Food is one of the most important resources for staying alive. This paper analyzes grain output fluctuations and their driving forces in China from 1978 to 2014, based on Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method. These results show that there are two type cycles of cyclical fluctuation, one is 3-yearterm, and another is 8-year term. These results show that the 8-year cyclical fluctuation is the major term. Grain production’s cyclical fluctuation in 3 years was mainly influenced by yield of grain per unit area from 1978-2004 and 2007-2014, and by the area sown from 2004 to 2007. On the other hand, the longer cyclical fluctuation of 8 years is mainly affected by the yield of grain per unit area. The grain output is predicted for the next three years through the RBF neural network optimized by PSO. These results show that China’s annul grain output in the next three years will be stabilized at about 600 million tons, which may grow slowly though.
The Impact of Applying the Accounting Disclosure in Accordance with the IFRS on Increasing Profitability in Listed Banks: An Analytical Study
Authors: Al-Halabi Nabil Bashir
Published: October 2017

The paper provided a content analysis on the impact of applying mandatory and voluntary disclosures (MD&VD) in accordance with selected IAS and IFRS (independent variables) on increasing profitability measured by the net profit margin (the dependent variable) in banks listed at Damascus Stock Exchange (DSE). Data from a sample of 11 banks and their financial statements, including all notes, during period from 2010 till 2014 were gathered and processed using the statistical package of social sciences. The main results showed different significant impacts of applying mandatory and voluntary accounting disclosures under selected IFRS on increasing profitability in Syrian banks. However, when testing the separate application of each selected IAS and IFRS, results showed no such impacts, except for IAS18, on increasing profitability in Syrian banks. The main conclusion indicated that there is a need to develop IFRS internationally to lowering flexibility in selected IFRS aiming at increasing mandatory accounting disclosures, and some examples were provided for this purpose. The research also concluded that the Syrian SEC should harmonize with other governmental agencies to commit full application of all IAS and IFRS and, on the other hand, Syrian banks should be encouraged to disclose numerical and descriptive accounting disclosures in line with the IAS and IFRS within the Syrian context.
A Theoretical Perspective on the Case Study Method
Authors: Cakmak Zafer , Akgün Ismail Hakan
Published: October 2017

Ensuring that students reach the determined goals of the courses at the desired level is one of the primary goals of teaching. In order to achieve this purpose, educators use a variety of teaching strategies and methods, and teaching materials appropriate to the content and the subject of the courses in the teaching process. As a matter of fact, it is known that the methods and materials that appeal to different sense organs of the students influence the learning process positively. In addition, the use of various teaching methods, techniques and materials in the teaching process both attract students’ attention and save the lesson from boredom, which affects the learning positively. In the process of teaching students sometimes have problems using their theoretical knowledge in real life situations. In this context, various teaching methods are also used for the practicalization of theoretical knowledge in the teaching processes. The case study method is one of the effective methods to achieve this purpose, because the case study method is a teaching method that enables students to acquire the knowledge and skills to deal with the problem they are working on and to produce information-based solutions in real life situations similar to the situations they are working with. In this study, the literature related to the case study method was examined and the application of the method, its history, application types, points to be considered in the application process, advantages of using the method in the teaching process and its limitations and teaching techniques to be used with the method are explained.
Autocensura en torno a la dimensión política de las Comunidades de Castilla
Authors: Merle Alexandra
Published: October 2017

La relación de las Comunidades de Castilla en la historiografía del reinado de Carlos V, en particular en los textos redactados en vida del emperador, ha sido objeto de numerosos estudios que han subrayado las ambigüedades de algunos de ellos. Centraremos nuestro análisis en el tratamiento de la dimensión política del movimiento en algunos de estos textos historiográficos — en particular en la crónica de Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, cuya publicación fue diferida por su mismo autor— con el fin de exponer algunos fenómenos de omisión, elisión o ceguedad voluntaria en torno a las reivindicaciones de los comuneros y a las concepciones teóricas que las inspiraron. El estudio se extenderá al tratamiento de temas delicados como el de la resistencia al tirano en obras doctrinales — cuyos autores pudieron ser cronistas del monarca, como fue el caso de Sepúlveda—, en las que se observan también omisiones que pueden ser vistas como formas de autocensura.
«Ante todo, nunca te mientas a ti mismo»: Pedro de Valencia , la «Historia de Chile» y la autocensura
Authors: Kagan Richard L.
Published: October 2017

A lo largo del reinado de Felipe III, el reino de Chile estuvo en crisis. La «pacificación» del sur de aquel lejano reino iba mal, y en la corte real se debatían las tácticas militares necesarias para garantizar la seguridad de aquella región. Había un partido que estaba a favor de una «guerra defensiva» y otro que se mostraba favorable a una «guerra a fuego y a sangre». En medio de este debate, Pedro de Valencia, uno de los cronistas oficiales de Felipe III, decidió, en un acto premeditado de autocensura, abandonar la historia del reino de Chile que se le había encargado escribir. La interrelación entre la crisis en Chile, Valencia y la autocensura es complicada, pero demuestra, ya a principios del siglo XVII, la existencia de un mundo globalizado, en el que una crisis militar en un hemisferio tenía la capacidad de catalizar en otro una crisis de conciencia que, a su vez, resultó en un acto de autocensura. En las páginas siguientes, intentaré hacer todo lo posible por desenredar estos varios hilos que unían lo que, en la superficie, parecen dos crisis totalmente diferentes.
Alteritat, oportunitat i autocensura en la historiografia d’inicis del segle XVII
Authors: Miralles Eulàlia
Published: October 2017

La historiografia barroca, sotmesa sovint als dictàmens polítics de les institucions, es presenta com un marc idoni per poder valorar els nivells de censura i d’autocensura en les obres del període. En aquest context, s’ha de destacar l’obra de Jeroni Pujades, que va buscar el suport institucional per als seus treballs historiogràfics i va escriure una crònica en català (Calamicleon / Corònica) i una altra en castellà (Corónica) del principat de Catalunya. En aquest article s’estudien les versions de la primera, sotmeses a una profunda revisió per part de l’autor, amb la intenció d’individuar alguns processos d’autocensura al segle XVII.
Editorial
Authors: Fernández Terricabras Ignasi
Published: October 2017

Editorial de Manuscrits 35: Autocensura i historiografia en temps dels Àustries.
Finnish Students’ Engagement in Science Lessons
Authors: Linnansaari Janna , Viljaranta Jaana , Lavonen Jari , Schneider Barbara , Salmela-Aro Katariina
Published: October 2017

The decreasing number of students who are engaged in science learning has been recognised as a problem. The pre-conditions of engagement and actual engagement were examined using a novel research method to obtain detailed information on Finnish students’ engagement in different situations and to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon. The study’s participants consisted of 68 students (31 girls, 37 boys) from 9th grade and 67 students (46 girls, 21 boys) from 1st grade in upper secondary school. The research aimed to answer the following question: How does Finnish students’ engagement occur in exact and life science lessons? Participants received smartphones equipped with a smartphone application that included an experience sampling method questionnaire. The smartphones were programmed to emit a signal during every science lesson and otherwise randomly during the day (from 8 am to 8 pm). The results reveal that situation and grade had significant effects on students’ pre-conditions of engagement and actual engagement. Our results also show that girls had the highest interest in life science lessons and boys in exact science lessons.
Enriching primary student teachers’ conceptions about science teaching: Towards dialogic inquirybased teaching
Authors: Lehesvuori Sami , Ratinen Ilkka , Kulhomäki Otto , Lappi Jousia , Viiri Jouni
Published: October 2017

Inquiry-based teaching has been at the heart of science education since it was first outlined in national standards over a decade ago. The general idea behind the inquiry guidelines is that pupils would adopt ways of conducting science, in addition to conceptually learning, thus attaining also the epistemological dimension of science. Although curricula are based on these ideas of inquiry, all too often authentic inquiry is hindered by overly authoritative approaches and teacher directions. To avoid this, the communicational ways in which teachers can encourage pupil reasoning during different phases of inquiry should be explicitly addressed. This paper addresses this gap by introducing a dialogic inquiry-based approach to science education. This approach combines the principles of inquiry and dialogic teaching. Based on this framework we investigated a number of primary student teachers’ (n=28) conceptualisations of science teaching and evaluated to what extent dialogic inquiry-based teaching informed these conceptualisations. Analysis revealed that dialogicality was not present in student teacher pre-conceptions, their pre-conceptions rather focused on traditional practices related to science teaching. The learning trajectories created for six cases, however, indicate an increased awareness of inquiry-based teaching including the dialogic aspect over the duration of the course.
Den elektriska kretsen – En explorativ studie av svenska elevers uppfattningar angående den elektriska kretsen
Authors: Rengman Helen , Johansson Helen , Jeppsson Fredrik
Published: October 2017

This study has developed as a part of an ongoing co-operation between Taiwan, Finland and Sweden with the purpose of examining and comparing the conceptions of students of different ages concerning electric circuits. The purpose of this explorative study is to find out what conceptions Swedish students of different ages have concerning the electric circuit. The study has been accomplished by means of semi-structured interviews. Altogether nine students in the age of eleven, fifteen, seventeen and eighteen have been interviewed. The interviews have been analyzed partly from Kärrqvist’s (1985) models that students have shown regarding electric circuits. The result inter alia demonstrates that three models are to be found among the respondents corresponding to Kärrqvist’s (1985) ideas. In addition, we discovered a new model, which does not correspond to Kärrqvist’s (1985) models or any other known model in the literature. The new model has been named “kopplingsberoende modell” (connection-dependent model). Furthermore we revealed that all the respondents had the idea of a closed circuit where they often used the word wire to describe end explain the electric circuit.
Lärares uppfattningar av undervisning och naturvetenskap som innehåll i förskolans verksamhet
Authors: Gustavsson Laila , Thulin Susanne
Published: October 2017

The aim of the research project is to analyze and describe how pre-school teachers during an in-service training period develop theoretical knowledge about focusing the content when planning for teaching science in pre-school. The variation theory is used for analysis as well as for the planning for teaching in pre-school. The theory can be described in terms of learning object, critical aspects, discernment, simultaneity and differences. 30 pre-school teachers from nine different municipalities participated in the project. The empirical material consists of a questionnaire as the preschool teachers answered in the beginning and in the end of the training period and of group reports. The results can be discussed as a number of critical aspects in relation to teachers'learning as: ways of understand the concept of variation, to discern the object of learning and to discern o shared space of learning.
Important Biological Issues for Elementary Pupils – A Study of Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Conceptions
Authors: Yli-Panula Eija , Jeronen Eila , Seiko-Ahlströn Heidi , Ruotsalainen Elsa
Published: October 2017

This study aimed to investigate what kind of conceptions pre-service teachers have concerning the issues they find important in teaching and management of biology in order to be able to provide adequate learning to Finnish elementary school pupils. A questionnaire survey was conducted over three years in a Finnish university. Answers were subjected to content-based analysis. As background information, the pre-service teachers’ self-evaluation estimations of their biological content knowledge and management were measured.The important issues mentioned by pre-service teachers were mainly knowledge and skills, also experiences, attitudes, teaching, and some other matters concerning the Finnish National Core Curricula were mentioned. The conceptions of pre-service teachers were discussed in connection with subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The implications for science educators were also presented.
Teaching Photosynthesis in a Compulsory School Context. Students’ Reasoning, Understanding and Interactions.
Authors: Näs Helena
Published: October 2017

According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration, and basic ecological concepts like energy flow in ecosystems. There are successful teaching units accomplished in this area and many of them can be described as inquiry-based teaching. One definition of inquiry-based teaching is that it involves everything from finding problems, investigating them, debating with peers and trying to explain and give solutions. Accordingly students need to be confronted with challenging questions and empirical data to reason about and teachers need to implement student-generated inquiry discussion since students often stay silent and do not express their thoughts during science lessons. This thesis will focus on young peoples’ understanding of the functioning of plants, students’ participation during biology lessons, and how biology teaching is accomplished in primary and secondary school.Two school classroom projects focusing on teaching about plants and ecology are described. Four teachers and their 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes plus two science teachers and their three 8th grade classes collaborated. Photosynthesis and respiration were made concrete by using tasks where plants, plant cells, germs, seeds and the gas exchange were used. The aim was to listen to students’ reasoning in both teaching and interview situations. Learning outcome, as described by students’ reasoning in the classrooms and in individual interviews but also by their test results, is especially focused. Student-student and student-teacher interactions have been analysed with an ethnographic approach in the classroom context.The plant tasks encouraged the students’ in primary school to develop scientific reasoning and the interviews confirmed that the students had learned about photosynthesis. The ecology teaching in secondary school showed a substantial understanding confirmed both by students’ oral and written reasoning. Analyses of test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. The interviews showed the importance of letting students try to explain concepts and to correct themselves. Primary students’ reasoning and understanding about photosynthesis were in the interviews almost the same as the secondary students’. The secondary students’ questioning during the lectures showed wonderments and interest for ecology from a broader view than in the content presented by the teachers and the textbooks, but the large classes and disruptive students stole too much time from the teachers’ management in the classroom. Students’ knowledge was underestimated and their interest in ecology faded away.
Hva skjer i naturfagklasserommet? – resultater fra en videobasert klasseromsstudie; PISA+
Authors: Ødegaard Marianne , Arnesen Nina
Published: October 2017

The aim of the PISA+ project is to pursue problematic findings in the international PISA survey. Through in-depth studies of classroom processes we wish to gain insight in how to understand and interpret the Norwegian results. The PISA+ project is a qualitative video study using observations and interviews. It includes six ninth grade classes followed for three weeks each in math, Norwegian and science. This paper focuses on the science lessons, and seeks to scrutinize which learning activities thestudents are offered, how the students can influence the lessons and to which extent they can learn science through own experience and talking science. We conclude that science teachers are quite open to student initiatives, and that the dominating learning activity is going through new subject matter in dialogue with the students. However, we saw very little inquiry science where students used practical experiments as a basis to actively talk science.
Villkor för implementering av Naturvetenskap och Teknik för Alla, NTA
Authors: Alm Fredrik , Samuelsson Joakim
Published: October 2017

The last decade there have been efforts made to develop teaching in Science and Technology in the compulsory schools in Sweden. One example is the introduction of the school-development program Science and Technology for All (NTA). The main intentions of the program are to stimulate students’ and teachers’ curiosity and interest in science.The aim of this study is to describe and analyze teachers’ experience of how different factors affect their use of NTA. To answer our research question we have interviewed teachers, who work with or have worked with the program, and analyzed the results within a conceptual framework based on determinants, intentions and actions.The result shows, for instance, that the NTA corresponding with teachers intentions of teaching and view of what content students should learn in science is crucial as to whether they will continue to use the material in their teaching or not.
Science for life – a conceptual framework for construction and analysis of socio-scientific cases
Authors: Ekborg Margareta , Ideland Malin , Malmberg Claes
Published: October 2017

The aim of this paper is to describe a conceptual framework to be used as a tool for analyzing work with socio-scientific issues (SSI) and for constructing SSI cases in secondary school. The framework consists of six components describing the more detailed characteristics of SSI. The components were chosen to reflect what we know from research about what might have an impact on students’ learning and interest in science. Six socio-scientific cases were then constructed and these are discussed in the article. The cases are relevant in that they both display the characteristics of SSI and meet the requirements of the Swedish national curriculum. The components and the cases are described in a table. This work is the first step in an evidence-based research project aiming at investigating if, how and why students and teachers in secondary school develop knowledge and interests when working with SSI.
Verkliga vardagssammanhang i årskurs 4 eller kontextlös kunskap i årskurs 8? Everyday life context in grade 4 or knowledge without context in grade 8
Authors: Oskarsson Magnus , Eliasson Nina , Karlsson Karl Göran
Published: October 2017

AbstractInternational comparisons of students’ knowledge as TIMSS and PISA have shown that Swedish students' knowledge of science deteriorated during the 2000s, compared to both previous years and to other countries. In grade 4, however, the results improved between 2007 and 2011 and Sweden is one of the countries showing the greatest difference between the results in grade 4 and grade 8, suggesting a weak knowledge development in science between these grades.This study compares Swedish pupils' results for individual tasks in Science in TIMSS 2011 with an average score of countries in the EU or OECD. The items are classified by whether they are put in a context and if they ask for school specific knowledge or if they could be solved with knowledge from sources outside school. A large proportion of the items in grade 4 is linked to a context and to students' everyday lives, which explains the good results for the younger students.  Few items in grade 8 are of interest for the students or linked to students' daily lives and on these items Swedish students often perform below average for the EU / OECD, which contributes to the less favorable outcome in grade 8. The weak development of knowledge between grades 4 and 8 that is indicated by TIMSS suggests that the formalized science classes in school do not reach the students and it points to the need for a clearer connection to students' interests and experiences.
Åtte naturfaglæreres forståelse av og erfaringer med utforskende arbeidsmåter og Forskerspiren ni år etter innføring av den norske nasjonale læreplanen Kunnskapsløftet (LK-06).
Authors: Haugan Kåre , Korssjøen Sigrid Gutvik , Skarpnes Kjerstin
Published: October 2017

Improved learning by implementation of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been well documented. Eight Norwegian secondary school teachers associated the term IBSE with problem solving, good student dialogues, experiments and practical work. They rarely implemented “full” IBSE in their teaching practices even though this is well anchored in the Norwegian national curriculum. The teachers had experienced that IBSE led to an increased interest, motivation and curiosity for science learning, and explicit scaffolding and guidance were regarded as important to obtain good learning processes. Limiting factors for implementation of IBSE were time available, organization of teaching hours, class room facilities and the number of students in the class. IBSE activities were in particular valued as important to stimulate science-based discussions in the classroom. In order to promote and increase the implementation of IBSE in secondary school science teaching, two strategies might be good to pursue: increased time resources to teach science in the Norwegian school and introduction of IBSE-focused teacher training programs.
Learning about cloning: developing student knowledge and interest through an interactive, context-based approach
Authors: Lyngved Ragnhild
Published: October 2017

Addressing controversial issues in the science classroom demands that students understand the societal aspects of scientific research. A context-based digital teaching unit, “Cloning plants”, was designed in order to introduce cloning. The present study analyses students’ learning outcomes and the development of their interest in biology from using the unit. The study was conducted among Norwegian biology students aged 17-18. A pretest and posttest design with individual questionnaires and group interviews was chosen. The study shows that use of the unit resulted in a more nuanced understanding of cloning and an increased interest in cloning. About 80% of the students reported that the realistic context had a positive impact on learning about cloning and 60% reported that they had learned more about scientific research and societal aspects of research on cloning. Students also reported that the context enhanced their interest in cloning.
What factors make science test items especially difficult for students from minority groups?
Authors: Turmo Are , Elstad Eyvind
Published: October 2017

Substantial gaps in science performance between majority and minority students are often found instandardized tests used in primary school. But at the item level, the gaps may vary significantly. Theaims of this study are: (1) to identify features of the test items in science (grade 5 and grade 8 students) that can potentially explain group differences; and (2) to analyze what factors make test itemsespecially difficult for minority students. Explanatory variables such as reading load, item difficulty,item writing load, and use of the multiple-choice format are found to be major factors. The analysis reveals no empirical relationships between performance gap and either item subject domain, item test location, or the number of illustrations used in the item. Subtle issues regarding the design ofitems may influence the size of the performance gap at item level over and above the main explanatory variables. The gap can be reduced significantly by choosing “minority friendly” items.
An Argument for Reversing the Bases of Science Education - A Phenomenological Alternative to Cognitionism
Authors: Dahlin Bo , Østergaard Edvin , Hugo Aksel
Published: October 2017

This paper is a phenomenological critique of some of the basic notions informing much of the researchin and practice of science education (SE) today. It is suggested that the philosophical grounds of S Eare in need of three “reversals of primacy”: the ontological primacy of the perceptual lifeworld must replace that of abstract scientific models; the epistemological primacy of attentive practice must replace that of conceptual cognition; and the pedagogical primacy of cultivating competencies must replace that of imparting ready-made knowledge. Four arguments for a phenomenological approach to SE are presented and some consequences for the training of science teachers are discussed; some of which are already being implemented at the science teacher education of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
Science for all or science for some: What Swedish students want to learn about in secondary science and technology and their opinions on science lessons
Authors: Jidesjö Anders , Oscarsson Magnus , Karlsson Karl-Göran , Strömdahl Helge
Published: October 2017

This article presents Swedish results from ‘the Relevance of Science Education’ (ROSE) study, which is a large world wide comparative research project based at the University of Oslo. The Swedish sample consisted of 751 students, most of whom were 15 years old, from 29 schools and data were collected inspring 2003. Student opinions about science lessons are presented in relation to enrolment intentions for upper secondary school together with what they want to learn about in science and technology.The findings indicate that secondary science instruction seems to address only a minority of the students, those that have chosen science or technology in their further education. At the same time, all students have interest in science and technology and many seem most interested in some important issues in societal development. The results are discussed from the perspective of learners and contribute to the debate about establishing a scientific literacy approach in compulsory education.
Different stories of group work: Exploring problem solving in engineering education
Authors: Berge Maria , Danielsson Anna T. , Ingerman Åke
Published: October 2017

This article aims to further the understanding of group work in higher education, primarily in science.This is done through an empirical investigation of problem solving in small groups. Position theory isused as an analytic tool for describing the complex and dynamic processes of group work, focusing simultaneously on the physics content and the student community and how they constitute each other. We analysed four video-recorded sessions with students from two Master’s programs, Engineering Physics and Bioengineering, respectively. The students addressed two introductory mechanics problems.The analysis resulted in a characterisation in terms of seven ‘storylines’ of two different kinds. These are argued to reflect different aspects of engineering student communities, where one kind of storylines captures ways of approaching the problems and the other kind exemplifies boundary work involved in the constitution of communities.
Teachers’ intentions with outdoor teaching in school forests: Skills and knowledge teachers want students to develop
Authors: Wilhelmsson Birgitta , Lidestav Gun , Ottander Christina
Published: October 2017

There is an interest among Swedish teachers to locate teaching outdoors. This study focuses on four teachers in grades 4-6, to explore their intentions and objectives with regular teaching outdoors. Datasources consist of semi-structured interviews, descriptions on successful activities, and reflections on metaphors. The use of intentional analysis and Bloom’s revised taxonomy on teachers’ objectives show that the teachers stress the out-of-school learning that draws on the actual world and concrete material. Yet their objectives with these authentic experiences are diverse. Two teachers have mainly cognitive objectives with a holistic view of knowledge where outdoor and indoor interact. To become knowledgeable, each individual student needs teaching in this proper context. The other two teachers primarily have affective objectives, in a dichotomy between learning theoretical knowledge indoors, and learning practical, concrete knowledge outdoors. They consider the outdoor arena as crucial for students with learning difficulties.
Vargfrågan - Gymnasieelevers argumentation kring ett sociovetenskapligt dilemma. "The Wolf Issue - Upper Secondary Students’ Argumentation about a Socio-Scientific Issue."
Authors: Eriksson Martin , Rundgren Carl-Johan
Published: October 2017

The focus of this study is the attitudes towards wolves in Sweden among upper secondary students. This socio-scientific issue (SSI) involves many aspects, such as ethical, political and biological aspects, and provides a context to study students’ informal argumentation. The different arguments used by the students were analyzed using the framework of the SEE-SEP-model. A questionnaire probing attitudes to the existence of wolves in the neighbourhood was distributed to 352 upper secondary students. 18 students were interviewed in focused group-interviews (in pairs). The results showed that 55% of the students showed a negative attitude towards the existence of wolves in the neighbourhood. The analysis of the different aspects of arguments used by the students in the interviews showed that arguments based on value were more dominant (60%) than arguments based on knowledge(30%), and arguments based on personal experiences (10%).
Harmoni eller konflikt? – en fallstudie av meningsinnehållet i utbildning för hållbar utveckling. "Harmony or conflict? – A case study of the conceptual meaning of education for sustainable development"
Authors: Öhman Marie , Öhman Johan
Published: October 2017

Conflict or harmony between economic, ecologic and social sustainability are two opposing perspectives that have appeared in the current debate about sustainable development. The aim of this studyis to investigate how the relations between these sustainability aspects are established in a concrete school practice. The present study is a case study and investigates two classes of Swedish upper secondary students presenting a three-weeks thematic assignment concerning sustainable urban planning.The empirical material consists of field notes, audio-recordings, video-recordings and students’texts. In order to analyse the students’ meanings about sustainable development a method inspired from pragmatic discourse analysis is used. The findings show how the students in their language usage constitute a harmony perspective on sustainable development. The results and implications for teaching and learning are finally discussed.
Recognizing the needs – Student teachers´ learning to teach from teaching
Authors: Nilsson Pernilla
Published: October 2017

This paper is based on an exploration of the ways in which primary science student teachers recognize and learn about issues that shape their own professional learning. The paper discusses different perspectives of “knowledgebase needed for teaching” and Shulman’s concept of pedagogical content knowledge, and explores how elements of knowledge are to be recognized and further developed within primary teacher education. Primary science student teacher participants (n = 25) were stimulated to use portfolios as a tool to reflect upon situations within their six weeks teaching practice in pre- and primary schools in order to facilitate recognizing their knowledge needs. The results give an insight into what situations within the teaching practice that student teachers consider as important for their own learning to teach primary maths and science.
Kemiinnehåll i undervisningen för nybörjare. En studie av hur ämnesinnehållet får konkurrera med målet att få eleverna intresserade av naturvetenskap
Authors: Berg Astrid , Löfgren Ragnhild , Eriksson Inger
Published: October 2017

This study describes the dilemma of making science interesting on the one hand, and to introduce students into a scientific teaching practise on the other in a laboratory based teaching practise. The study was conducted in a grade four class in Swedish compulsory school by video- and tape-recorded classroom observations. The recordings and copies of students’ writing and drawing were analysed by using a two-fold strategy. Firstly, the constituted content was analysed by focusing the classroom communication, the tools used and the teacher’s guiding. Secondly, the various laboratory experiments where analysed in order to identify the potential chemistry content. The result indicates that the constituted chemistry content is reduced and sometimes wrong in relation to the potential content. This can be explained by a teaching tradition that focuses on the importance of making science interesting and fun. However, striving for this may create a learning-situation where students do not learn how to use tools to make relevant hypotheses and observations. What can be regarded as irrelevant hypotheses and observations is not questioned. Further, right or wrong results in the scientific practise are not dealt with neither in the self-produced texts nor in the classroom discussions. One main conclusion is that students enjoy the lessons but the introduction into the scientific practise is not facilitated.
Konstruktivisme i naturvitenskapen: kunnskapssyn og didaktikk
Authors: Quale Andreas
Published: October 2017

Artikkelen har vært trykket i boka Naturfagdidaktikk – perspektiver, forskning, utvikling (Red.: D. Jorde & B. Bungum, ISBN 82-05-31477-2), utgitt på Gyldendal Akademisk. Kapitlet gjengis i NorDiNa etter avtale med forlaget og forfatteren.
Partikelmodell som utgångspunkt för elevers förklaringar av avdunstning
Authors: Lindner Ann-Charlotte , Redfors Andreas
Published: October 2017

This paper presents results from a longitudinell study of students in compulsary school in Sweden. The project started in 1997 when the students were about six years old, and finished in 2006 when they left compulsary school. The aim of the study is to follow individual students’ development of conceptions about evaporation during their years in school. Teaching episodes focused on water, and it´s changes of state connected to everyday phenomena have been taught. Early in the study a simplified particle model was introduced in order to see if this would help the students in their explanations. The students were interviewed before and after the teaching interventions and the explanations were analysed in order to find a comprehensive description of each student. Here we describe the use of the early introduced particle concept and how it effects the students’ explanations of evaporation and their uses of explanatory models.
How student teachers’ understanding of the greenhouse effect develops during a teacher education programme
Authors: Ekborg Margareta , Areskoug Mats
Published: October 2017

This paper reports on a longitudinal study on how student teachers’ understanding of the greenhouse effect developed through a teacher education programme in mathematics and science for pupils aged 7-13. All student teachers, who were accepted to the programme one year, were followed trough 2.5 years of the programme. The student teachers took science courses in which they were taught about the greenhouse effect.Data was collected by questionnaires three times. The results show that a majority of the student teachers developed an adequate understanding of the greenhouse effect during the teaching programme. Several of the students developed further in the second science course. However a rather big group of students with poor understanding did not develop any further in the second science course and no one demonstrated full understanding. Different ways of collecting data and categorising responses affected how the students’ understanding was interpreted.
Design-Based Research in Science Education: One Step Towards Methodology
Authors: Juuti Kalle , Lavonen Jari
Published: October 2017

Recently, there has been critiques towards science education research, as the potential of this research has not been actualised in science teaching and learning praxis. The paper describes an analysis of a design-based research approach (DBR) that has been suggested as a solution for the discontinuation between science education research and praxis. We propose that a pragmatic frame helps to clarify well the design-based research endeavour. We abstracted three aspects from the analysis that constitute design-based research: (a) a design process is essentially iterative starting from the recognition of the change of the environment of praxis, (b) it generates a widely usable artefact, (c) and it provides educational knowledge for more intelligible praxis. In the knowledge acquisition process, the pragmatic viewpoint emphasises the role of a teacher’s reﬂected actions as well as the researches’ involvement in the authentic teaching and learning settings.
Argumentation in science lessons: Focusing on the teacher’s role
Authors: Mork Sonja M.
Published: October 2017

This paper reports data from a case study of role-play debates on the controversial issue of wolves in Norway. The participants are 23 students at the age of 14-15 and their teacher. Transcripts from therole-play debates are the data sources. The focus of the paper is the teacher role regarding managementand teacher interventions in activities involving argumentation. A typology of teacher interventions and reasons for these is developed, that might serve as a useful tool for student teachers andteachers not experienced in managing debates and discussions.
Skriving i naturfag: mellom tekst og natur
Authors: Knain Erik
Published: October 2017

Writing will be a basic skill in the new curriculum now being developed in Norway. This implies that writing should be learned by students in every school subject, including science. It should be welcomed, as writing is a key activity in both professional and school science. However, there are some key issues that need to be addressed: the relationship between process and product, between tacit and explicit knowledge and between nature and text. Thus writing introduced as a basic skill reintroduces key issues and dilemmas in science education while at the same time holds promise for a functional conception of ‘scientific literacy’.
Animals in the landscape drawings of Finnish and Russian young people – in the landscape they want to conserve
Authors: Eloranta Varpu , Yli-Panula Eija
Published: October 2017

This research was carried out in connection with “The Finnish-Russian Country School Project”. The aim is to compare Finnish and Russian pupils’ values in their drawings of the landscape (n=946) they want to conserve, and to pay attention to the animals they draw. The pupils were 7–15 years old. The landscapes were classified by the variables (country, age, sex), and analysed according to landscape type. The most prevailing landscape was nature (82%). The existence of animals was few in species; but there were more animals in the Russian drawings. The most frequently drawn groups were the“wave birds” and mammals. The Russians often presented the forest animals whereas the Finns drew the domestic species. With increasing age, the frequency of the animals decreased clearly in the Russian landscapes. A similar age distribution was not seen in the Finnish drawings. In conclusion, the animals were well placed in their ecological environment, indicating children’s good understanding of the natural habitat they were drawing.
Gruppdiskussioner runt kontextrika problem i fysik – Hur ska problemen utformas?
Authors: Benckert Sylvia , Petterson Sune , Aasa Sverker , Johansson Ove , Norman Robert
Published: October 2017

In this paper we look at the use of group discussions around context-rich problems in physics. We wanted to investigate what context is interesting and what other circumstances do influence students’ interest in solving context-rich problems during group discussions. Students in two upper secondary schools had the opportunity to choose among 4-5 problems at three physics lectures. They motivated their choice in a questionnaire and some of the students were interviewed after the problem solving sessions. The students appreciated problems which were reality-based and related to their own experiences. How the question was formulated was also important. Besides the formulation of the problem there are also a lot of other circumstances that are important for a good problem solving session. Students must have enough time and the degree of difficulty of the problems is of great importance. Successful students in well functioning groups want challenging problems while other students emphasise the importance of being able to solve the problem and therefore choose easier and in their own opinion less interesting problems.
In-service teacher education course module design focusing on usability of ICT applications in science education
Authors: Lavonen Jari , Krzwacki Heidi , Koistinen Laura , Welzel-Breuer Manuela , Erb Roger
Published: October 2017

Teachers face challenges in adopting ICT applications for science teaching and learning. An in-service teacher education course module addressing the needs of science teachers particularly was developed through a design-based research (DBR) project. The course module is designed to improve the readiness of teachers in choosing ICT applications for science education and taking the technical and pedagogical usability of the application into account. An international survey showed that clarifyingthe needs and constraints of using ICT applications in science education as well as introducing and discussing both technical and pedagogical usability with the teachers was important. Moreover, a theoretical analysis of the usability of ICT applications offers various views on meaningful learning and motivational aspects of science teaching and learning. In this paper, we report what we learned from the experience of designing the course module, which is described and discussed in terms of theoutcomes of both the theoretical and empirical problem analysis.
‘What do you know about fat?’ Drawing on Diverse Funds of Knowledge in Inquiry Based Science Education
Authors: Andree Maria , Lager-Nyquist Lotta
Published: October 2017

Connecting students’ worlds, knowledge and experiences with school science has been a central issue in science education research. Here, we conceptualize processes of drawing on students’ personal experiences and knowledge in terms of ‘funds of knowledge’. We scrutinize two sixth grade classroom practices where the inquiry curriculum reform effort, Naturvetenskap och teknik för alla (NTA), is used. This curriculum material explicitly incorporates ideas of ‘learning science from experience’. Our aim is to contribute to a discussion on what conditions of inquiry based science education (IBSE) practices may open up opportunities for science to become personally relevant to students. The research question investigated is: What do students do when they draw on funds of knowledge that are related to students’ memberships and experiences out-of-school in IBSE pratices? We then use Cultural-Historical Activity Theory framework to analyze how students’ actions of drawing on different funds of knowledge gain meaning in relation to different cultural-historical motives. Our findings indicate that students, when positioning themselves as part of different communities in relation to different goals and overall motives, make use of quite different funds of knowledge. Finally, we discuss possibilities for expanding and acknowledging students’ funds of knowledge when working with investigations in the science classroom.