In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn m... more In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn more about plants and photosynthesis. The research study was conducted to reveal the students' scientific reasoning during their work. The eleven different tasks helped students investigate plant anatomy, plant physiology, and the gases involved in photosynthesis and respiration. The study was carried out in three ordinary classrooms. The collected data consisted of audio-taped discussions, students' notebooks, and field notes. Students' discussions and written work, during the different plant tasks, were analysed to see how the students' learning and understanding processes developed. The analysis is descriptive and uses categories from a modified general typology of student's epistemological reasoning. The study shows students' level of interest in doing the tasks, their struggle with new words and concepts, and how they develop their knowledge about plant physiology. The study confirms that students, in this age group, develop understanding and show an interest in complicated processes in natural science, e.g. photosynthesis.
Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding... more Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration. However, international evaluations like TIMSS and PISA present students’ understanding without any connection to the teaching and classroom contexts. My research interest is to determine to what extent ecology teaching develops students’ understanding of photosynthesis and respiration and how students demonstrate their understanding in written tests and in a guided interview. Ten weeks of 69 students’ ordinary ecology lessons were observed, their test scores were collected and 23 interviews were conducted. Both oral and written answers confirm substantial learning of photosynthesis and respiration, but the test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. A few students with high scores in the tests had problems making comprehensive explanations during interviews, while several students who managed to connect concepts together during the interviews scored poorly in the written tests. Thus, the interviews showed the importance of giving students the opportunity to explain concepts in order to assess their understanding.
The nature of research in biological education. Old and new perspectives on theoretical and methodological issues., 2009
New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs in... more New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs interesting. Inquiry-based teaching is suggested to increase the interest in science. This study has an ethnographic approach. Three classes of 8th grade students (70 in total) were observed during two weeks of work with an inquiry-based space shuttle task. The classroom atmosphere and teaching situations were rendered by means of thick descriptions' (Geertz, 1973). Students' reasoning was categorised and analysed. In all, 23 student interviews were conducted and audiotaped. The findings showed that complex problems in teaching and learning situations appeared during inquiry-based work in a classroom environment. The working atmosphere varied from noisy to calm. Students' curiosity, level of achievement and interest differed, and we found three levels of reasoning during the first 40 minutes. A learning process about complexity in ecosystems was started, but little improvement in concept knowledge was achieved. The task activated students' knowledge and enticed them into ecological thinking and reasoning. The teachers undertook classroom management and did not have time to listen and support. The students, but not the teachers, were satisfied with the results of the task. The potential of the task for ecology teaching and student learning is discussed.
Teachers’ own voices have been partially missing in science education research on upper primary s... more Teachers’ own voices have been partially missing in science education research on upper primary school (age 10-12). In order to examine views and experiences of teaching science, we interviewed 14 upper primary teachers. They described science teaching as fun, mainly due to the inherent practical work. The same practical work was also identified by the teachers as the main cause of stress and was therefore conducted less frequently than desired. The data enabled construction of seven teacher roles, closely connected to both their described teaching practices and views on science education. Teachers’ accounts of their science teaching speak of a varied practice with emphasis on practical work and facts, and less articulated descriptions of work to develop students’ abilities to examine and communicate science. The results provide insights into the interactions between teacher views and teaching practices which could prove valuable for improving upper primary science education.
According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and re... more 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 ...
In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn m... more In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn more about plants and photosynthesis. The research study was conducted to reveal the students’ scientific reasoning during their work. The eleven different tasks helped students investigate plant anatomy, plant physiology, and the gases involved in photosynthesis and respiration. The study was carried out in three ordinary classrooms. The collected data consisted of audio-taped discussions, students’ notebooks, and field notes. Students’ discussions and written work, during the different plant tasks, were analysed to see how the students’ learning and understanding processes developed. The analysis is descriptive and uses categories from a modified general typology of student’s epistemological reasoning. The study shows students’ level of interest in doing the tasks, their struggle with new words and concepts, and how they develop their knowledge about plant physiology. The study confirms...
New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs in... more New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs interesting. Inquiry-based teaching is suggested to increase the interest in science. This study has a ...
Issues and Challenges in Science Education Research, 2012
Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding... more Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration. However, international evaluations like TIMSS and PISA present students’ understanding without any connection to the teaching and classroom contexts. My research interest is to determine to what extent ecology teaching develops students’ understanding of photosynthesis and respiration and how students demonstrate their understanding in written tests and in a guided interview. Ten weeks of 69 students’ ordinary ecology lessons were observed, their test scores were collected and 23 interviews were conducted. Both oral and written answers confirm substantial learning of photosynthesis and respiration, but the test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. A few students with high scores in the tests had problems making comprehensive explanations during interviews, while several students who managed to connect concepts together during the interviews scored poorly in the written tests. Thus, the interviews showed the importance of giving students the opportunity to explain concepts in order to assess their understanding.
According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and re... more 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.
In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn m... more In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn more about plants and photosynthesis. The research study was conducted to reveal the students' scientific reasoning during their work. The eleven different tasks helped students investigate plant anatomy, plant physiology, and the gases involved in photosynthesis and respiration. The study was carried out in three ordinary classrooms. The collected data consisted of audio-taped discussions, students' notebooks, and field notes. Students' discussions and written work, during the different plant tasks, were analysed to see how the students' learning and understanding processes developed. The analysis is descriptive and uses categories from a modified general typology of student's epistemological reasoning. The study shows students' level of interest in doing the tasks, their struggle with new words and concepts, and how they develop their knowledge about plant physiology. The study confirms that students, in this age group, develop understanding and show an interest in complicated processes in natural science, e.g. photosynthesis.
Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding... more Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration. However, international evaluations like TIMSS and PISA present students’ understanding without any connection to the teaching and classroom contexts. My research interest is to determine to what extent ecology teaching develops students’ understanding of photosynthesis and respiration and how students demonstrate their understanding in written tests and in a guided interview. Ten weeks of 69 students’ ordinary ecology lessons were observed, their test scores were collected and 23 interviews were conducted. Both oral and written answers confirm substantial learning of photosynthesis and respiration, but the test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. A few students with high scores in the tests had problems making comprehensive explanations during interviews, while several students who managed to connect concepts together during the interviews scored poorly in the written tests. Thus, the interviews showed the importance of giving students the opportunity to explain concepts in order to assess their understanding.
The nature of research in biological education. Old and new perspectives on theoretical and methodological issues., 2009
New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs in... more New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs interesting. Inquiry-based teaching is suggested to increase the interest in science. This study has an ethnographic approach. Three classes of 8th grade students (70 in total) were observed during two weeks of work with an inquiry-based space shuttle task. The classroom atmosphere and teaching situations were rendered by means of thick descriptions' (Geertz, 1973). Students' reasoning was categorised and analysed. In all, 23 student interviews were conducted and audiotaped. The findings showed that complex problems in teaching and learning situations appeared during inquiry-based work in a classroom environment. The working atmosphere varied from noisy to calm. Students' curiosity, level of achievement and interest differed, and we found three levels of reasoning during the first 40 minutes. A learning process about complexity in ecosystems was started, but little improvement in concept knowledge was achieved. The task activated students' knowledge and enticed them into ecological thinking and reasoning. The teachers undertook classroom management and did not have time to listen and support. The students, but not the teachers, were satisfied with the results of the task. The potential of the task for ecology teaching and student learning is discussed.
Teachers’ own voices have been partially missing in science education research on upper primary s... more Teachers’ own voices have been partially missing in science education research on upper primary school (age 10-12). In order to examine views and experiences of teaching science, we interviewed 14 upper primary teachers. They described science teaching as fun, mainly due to the inherent practical work. The same practical work was also identified by the teachers as the main cause of stress and was therefore conducted less frequently than desired. The data enabled construction of seven teacher roles, closely connected to both their described teaching practices and views on science education. Teachers’ accounts of their science teaching speak of a varied practice with emphasis on practical work and facts, and less articulated descriptions of work to develop students’ abilities to examine and communicate science. The results provide insights into the interactions between teacher views and teaching practices which could prove valuable for improving upper primary science education.
According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and re... more 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 ...
In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn m... more In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn more about plants and photosynthesis. The research study was conducted to reveal the students’ scientific reasoning during their work. The eleven different tasks helped students investigate plant anatomy, plant physiology, and the gases involved in photosynthesis and respiration. The study was carried out in three ordinary classrooms. The collected data consisted of audio-taped discussions, students’ notebooks, and field notes. Students’ discussions and written work, during the different plant tasks, were analysed to see how the students’ learning and understanding processes developed. The analysis is descriptive and uses categories from a modified general typology of student’s epistemological reasoning. The study shows students’ level of interest in doing the tasks, their struggle with new words and concepts, and how they develop their knowledge about plant physiology. The study confirms...
New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs in... more New ways of teaching ecology are needed since teenagers do not find concepts such as food webs interesting. Inquiry-based teaching is suggested to increase the interest in science. This study has a ...
Issues and Challenges in Science Education Research, 2012
Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding... more Earlier studies show that students at almost all school levels have difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration. However, international evaluations like TIMSS and PISA present students’ understanding without any connection to the teaching and classroom contexts. My research interest is to determine to what extent ecology teaching develops students’ understanding of photosynthesis and respiration and how students demonstrate their understanding in written tests and in a guided interview. Ten weeks of 69 students’ ordinary ecology lessons were observed, their test scores were collected and 23 interviews were conducted. Both oral and written answers confirm substantial learning of photosynthesis and respiration, but the test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. A few students with high scores in the tests had problems making comprehensive explanations during interviews, while several students who managed to connect concepts together during the interviews scored poorly in the written tests. Thus, the interviews showed the importance of giving students the opportunity to explain concepts in order to assess their understanding.
According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and re... more 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.
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