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Critical thinking is a competence that involves several different skills, one of which is systematicity in lab practice. Recent research has called for physics education that aims for students to be more active and physics labs to focus more on developing lab skills, like systematicity, rather than reinforcing concepts. In this study, we employ social semiotics and the resources framework to study students’ potential systematicity in an inquiry-based lab activity. We add to the growing body of research on critical thinking, lab skills, and active learning by investigating the components of systematicity. We do this by analysing pairs of students with physics backgrounds and experience with the instructional approach of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) as they carry out an inquiry-based lab activity involving adding salt to ice as the central observational experiment. Contrast is made with students that do not have experience with ISLE as they carry out the same activity. The results and subsequent analysis show that the epistemological resources exploratory mindset, procedural self-regulation, and metacognitive reflection are important for students’ engagement during productive activity. These may be some of the components of systematicity. Additionally, it is shown that students coordinate these resources with conceptual resources such as exemplars and that the resources are conveyed through particular semiotic resources. We argue that it is important for students to practice the epistemological resources for them to become systematic (thus promoting critical thinking)., Currently in review.

We have studied what epistemic games students employ to formulate observations, hypotheses and design experiments within an investigative learning environment. The students participated in an activity based on ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) focused on the melting of ice when some table salt is added to it. Two pairs of students were compared: a pair of engineering students and a pair of physics teacher students. Finally, two types of epistemic games were identified that made the physics teacher students more successful in their engagement with the activity than the engineering students.

We have studied what epistemic games students employ to formulate observations, hypotheses and design experiments within an investigative learning environment. The students participated in an activity based on ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) focused on the melting of ice when some table salt is added to it. Two pairs of students were compared: a pair of engineering students and a pair of physics teacher students. Finally, two types of epistemic games were identified that made the physics teacher students more successful in their engagement with the activity than the engineering students.

We have studied what epistemic games students employ to formulate observations, hypotheses and design experiments within an investigative learning environment. The students participated in an activity based on ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) focused on the melting of ice when some table salt is added to it. Two pairs of students were compared: a pair of engineering students and a pair of physics teacher students. Finally, two types of epistemic games were identified that made the physics teacher students more successful in their engagement with the activity than the engineering students.

We have studied what epistemic games students employ to formulate observations, hypotheses and design experiments within an investigative learning environment. The students participated in an activity based on ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) focused on the melting of ice when some table salt is added to it. Two pairs of students were compared: a pair of engineering students and a pair of physics teacher students. Finally, two types of epistemic games were identified that made the physics teacher students more successful in their engagement with the activity than the engineering students.

We have studied what epistemic games students employ to formulate observations, hypotheses and design experiments within an investigative learning environment. The students participated in an activity based on ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) focused on the melting of ice when some table salt is added to it. Two pairs of students were compared: a pair of engineering students and a pair of physics teacher students. Finally, two types of epistemic games were identified that made the physics teacher students more successful in their engagement with the activity than the engineering students.

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Lab activities typically involve phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. For example, in thermodynamics transfer of heat and temperature changes are perceived by the sense of touch or indirectly observed by the use of thermometers. New tools can be introduced to increase the opportunities for talking science. In this paper, we explore affordances and semiotic resources related to infrared (IR) cameras, including color imaging, numerical values and the form of the tool itself, as used by undergraduate students and instructors in chemistry, representing a scientific community at two different levels of expertise, in investigation of a thermal phenomenon. The participants come to attend to thermal aspects of what happens when a salt (sodium hydroxide) is exposed to air, with and without the use of IR cameras. Video data were gathered and transcribed multimodally. Results show that the IR cameras afford a focus on the disciplinarily relevant thermal aspects of the phenomenon in both groups of participants, but that the students’ discussion, coordinated by their embodied engagement with the IR cameras, was limited to cumulative talk, where they do not challenge each other, and static use of the technology. This is contrasted with the instructors who shared their knowledge with each other and explored the phenomenon both spatially with the IR cameras, and verbally through exploratory talk. We suggest that this difference in the use of novel technology may be due to differences in experience of lab work and understanding of the studied phenomena, and that a shift between cumulative and exploratory talk may be an indicator of learning., Part of a special issue on multimodality and science education

Transcripts (in Swedish) of teacher students participating in a teaching sequence on phase transition and energy transfer.

Värmerelaterade fenomen och studiet av dem i termodynamik framstår ofta som abstrakta för studenter. Undervisningen bygger typiskt på algebraisk problemlösning och studenter har svårt att se kopplingen till fenomenen. Värmekameror ger dock en möjlighet att se sådana fenomen, som vi tidigare har närmat oss med vårt trubbiga känselsinne, och lämpar sig därigenom väl för undersökande arbetssätt vid laborationer. Mot bakgrund av ett utvecklingsarbete att designa om en inledande universitetskurs i kemi i riktning mot mer studentaktivt lärande och öppnare laborationer utgår vi från följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan kemistudenter använda värmekameror vid öppna laborationer om lösningsentalpi? Studenternas laborationsuppgift var att mäta temperaturändringar då natriumnitrat, respektive natriumhydroxid löses i vatten, en exoterm och en endoterm process, och beräkna salternas lösningsentalpi. Som metod för datainsamling videofilmades studenter då de arbetade parvis med laborationen, och deras laborationsanteckningar fotograferades. Några par valdes ut för att studera samma reaktioner med hjälp av en värmekamera, och tunnare plastkoppar, vilket gör att stora lokala temperaturändringar kan uppstå där salterna reagerar med vattnet. De utvalda studenterna observerade dessutom med värmekameror vad som sker då koksalt strös på en isbit. Prelimära resultat visar att studenterna med värmekameran kunde se en temperaturökning på uppemot 50 °C på utsidan av koppen lokalt där natriumhydroxid reagerar med vatten. De diskuterade detta i termer av en felkälla för sina kalorimetriska beräkningar. De hade hypotesen att lösning av natriumnitrat i en tunn plastkopp skulle leda till en mindre temperaturminskning än då de själva använde en tjockare frigolitkopp, med fokus på lösningens temperatur, mer än på temperaturen på utsidan av koppen. Studenterna förutspådde att isen skulle smälta då den beströddes med koksalt och att temperaturen skulle öka eller vara konstant. De var förvånade över att

Education of thermal science is challenging. Many of its concepts are abstract since there are limited opportunities to gain concrete physical experiences of involved phenomena. We are typically confined to using our rather blunt sense of touch in assessing the hotness or coldness of objects we encounter. With infrared cameras, however, we get the opportunity to engage with thermal phenomena by use of vision. Handheld infrared cameras provide dynamic holistic images of how the temperature of surfaces in our surrounding changes. Our research shows how students at different levels of the educational system can benefit from the use of infrared cameras in seeing thermal phenomena that are otherwise invisible. In conjunction with teaching of a heat-flow model, fourth-graders can see heat conduction through solids in physics education. University physics students can see reflections of the heat radiation from their bodies on a whiteboard. In this way, the technology has novel affordance in the area of science learning. In the present study, we have broadened the scope to university chemistry, and investigated the use of infrared cameras in laboratory exercises in calorimetry, the study heat exchange and temperature changes due to chemical reactions. Students typically obtain a point measure of the temperature with a thermometer before and after mixing substances, as a numerical value or along a vertical scale. Infrared cameras, in contrast, give a visual image of the temperature changes with a finer resolution in space and time, which adds another mode in learning of chemistry.

Värmerelaterade fenomen och studiet av dem i termodynamik framstår ofta som abstrakta för studenter. Undervisningen bygger typiskt på algebraisk problemlösning och studenter har svårt att se kopplingen till fenomenen. Värmekameror ger dock en möjlighet att se sådana fenomen, som vi tidigare har närmat oss med vårt trubbiga känselsinne, och lämpar sig därigenom väl för undersökande arbetssätt vid laborationer. Mot bakgrund av ett utvecklingsarbete att designa om en inledande universitetskurs i kemi i riktning mot mer studentaktivt lärande och öppnare laborationer utgår vi från följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan kemistudenter använda värmekameror vid öppna laborationer om lösningsentalpi? Studenternas laborationsuppgift var att mäta temperaturändringar då natriumnitrat, respektive natriumhydroxid löses i vatten, en exoterm och en endoterm process, och beräkna salternas lösningsentalpi. Som metod för datainsamling videofilmades studenter då de arbetade parvis med laborationen, och deras laborationsanteckningar fotograferades. Några par valdes ut för att studera samma reaktioner med hjälp av en värmekamera, och tunnare plastkoppar, vilket gör att stora lokala temperaturändringar kan uppstå där salterna reagerar med vattnet. De utvalda studenterna observerade dessutom med värmekameror vad som sker då koksalt strös på en isbit. Prelimära resultat visar att studenterna med värmekameran kunde se en temperaturökning på uppemot 50 °C på utsidan av koppen lokalt där natriumhydroxid reagerar med vatten. De diskuterade detta i termer av en felkälla för sina kalorimetriska beräkningar. De hade hypotesen att lösning av natriumnitrat i en tunn plastkopp skulle leda till en mindre temperaturminskning än då de själva använde en tjockare frigolitkopp, med fokus på lösningens temperatur, mer än på temperaturen på utsidan av koppen. Studenterna förutspådde att isen skulle smälta då den beströddes med koksalt och att temperaturen skulle öka eller vara konstant. De var förvånade över att

Värmerelaterade fenomen och studiet av dem i termodynamik framstår ofta som abstrakta för studenter. Undervisningen bygger typiskt på algebraisk problemlösning och studenter har svårt att se kopplingen till fenomenen. Värmekameror ger dock en möjlighet att se sådana fenomen, som vi tidigare har närmat oss med vårt trubbiga känselsinne, och lämpar sig därigenom väl för undersökande arbetssätt vid laborationer. Mot bakgrund av ett utvecklingsarbete att designa om en inledande universitetskurs i kemi i riktning mot mer studentaktivt lärande och öppnare laborationer utgår vi från följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan kemistudenter använda värmekameror vid öppna laborationer om lösningsentalpi? Studenternas laborationsuppgift var att mäta temperaturändringar då natriumnitrat, respektive natriumhydroxid löses i vatten, en exoterm och en endoterm process, och beräkna salternas lösningsentalpi. Som metod för datainsamling videofilmades studenter då de arbetade parvis med laborationen, och deras laborationsanteckningar fotograferades. Några par valdes ut för att studera samma reaktioner med hjälp av en värmekamera, och tunnare plastkoppar, vilket gör att stora lokala temperaturändringar kan uppstå där salterna reagerar med vattnet. De utvalda studenterna observerade dessutom med värmekameror vad som sker då koksalt strös på en isbit. Prelimära resultat visar att studenterna med värmekameran kunde se en temperaturökning på uppemot 50 °C på utsidan av koppen lokalt där natriumhydroxid reagerar med vatten. De diskuterade detta i termer av en felkälla för sina kalorimetriska beräkningar. De hade hypotesen att lösning av natriumnitrat i en tunn plastkopp skulle leda till en mindre temperaturminskning än då de själva använde en tjockare frigolitkopp, med fokus på lösningens temperatur, mer än på temperaturen på utsidan av koppen. Studenterna förutspådde att isen skulle smälta då den beströddes med koksalt och att temperaturen skulle öka eller vara konstant. De var förvånade över att

Värmerelaterade fenomen och studiet av dem i termodynamik framstår ofta som abstrakta för studenter. Undervisningen bygger typiskt på algebraisk problemlösning och studenter har svårt att se kopplingen till fenomenen. Värmekameror ger dock en möjlighet att se sådana fenomen, som vi tidigare har närmat oss med vårt trubbiga känselsinne, och lämpar sig därigenom väl för undersökande arbetssätt vid laborationer. Mot bakgrund av ett utvecklingsarbete att designa om en inledande universitetskurs i kemi i riktning mot mer studentaktivt lärande och öppnare laborationer utgår vi från följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan kemistudenter använda värmekameror vid öppna laborationer om lösningsentalpi? Studenternas laborationsuppgift var att mäta temperaturändringar då natriumnitrat, respektive natriumhydroxid löses i vatten, en exoterm och en endoterm process, och beräkna salternas lösningsentalpi. Som metod för datainsamling videofilmades studenter då de arbetade parvis med laborationen, och deras laborationsanteckningar fotograferades. Några par valdes ut för att studera samma reaktioner med hjälp av en värmekamera, och tunnare plastkoppar, vilket gör att stora lokala temperaturändringar kan uppstå där salterna reagerar med vattnet. De utvalda studenterna observerade dessutom med värmekameror vad som sker då koksalt strös på en isbit. Prelimära resultat visar att studenterna med värmekameran kunde se en temperaturökning på uppemot 50 °C på utsidan av koppen lokalt där natriumhydroxid reagerar med vatten. De diskuterade detta i termer av en felkälla för sina kalorimetriska beräkningar. De hade hypotesen att lösning av natriumnitrat i en tunn plastkopp skulle leda till en mindre temperaturminskning än då de själva använde en tjockare frigolitkopp, med fokus på lösningens temperatur, mer än på temperaturen på utsidan av koppen. Studenterna förutspådde att isen skulle smälta då den beströddes med koksalt och att temperaturen skulle öka eller vara konstant. De var förvånade över att

Värmerelaterade fenomen och studiet av dem i termodynamik framstår ofta som abstrakta för studenter. Undervisningen bygger typiskt på algebraisk problemlösning och studenter har svårt att se kopplingen till fenomenen. Värmekameror ger dock en möjlighet att se sådana fenomen, som vi tidigare har närmat oss med vårt trubbiga känselsinne, och lämpar sig därigenom väl för undersökande arbetssätt vid laborationer. Mot bakgrund av ett utvecklingsarbete att designa om en inledande universitetskurs i kemi i riktning mot mer studentaktivt lärande och öppnare laborationer utgår vi från följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan kemistudenter använda värmekameror vid öppna laborationer om lösningsentalpi? Studenternas laborationsuppgift var att mäta temperaturändringar då natriumnitrat, respektive natriumhydroxid löses i vatten, en exoterm och en endoterm process, och beräkna salternas lösningsentalpi. Som metod för datainsamling videofilmades studenter då de arbetade parvis med laborationen, och deras laborationsanteckningar fotograferades. Några par valdes ut för att studera samma reaktioner med hjälp av en värmekamera, och tunnare plastkoppar, vilket gör att stora lokala temperaturändringar kan uppstå där salterna reagerar med vattnet. De utvalda studenterna observerade dessutom med värmekameror vad som sker då koksalt strös på en isbit. Prelimära resultat visar att studenterna med värmekameran kunde se en temperaturökning på uppemot 50 °C på utsidan av koppen lokalt där natriumhydroxid reagerar med vatten. De diskuterade detta i termer av en felkälla för sina kalorimetriska beräkningar. De hade hypotesen att lösning av natriumnitrat i en tunn plastkopp skulle leda till en mindre temperaturminskning än då de själva använde en tjockare frigolitkopp, med fokus på lösningens temperatur, mer än på temperaturen på utsidan av koppen. Studenterna förutspådde att isen skulle smälta då den beströddes med koksalt och att temperaturen skulle öka eller vara konstant. De var förvånade över att