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Central to evolution is the concept of a common ancestry from which all life has emerged over immense time scales, but learning and teaching temporal aspects of evolution remain challenging. This study investigated students’ interpretation of evolutionary time when engaging with a multi-touch tabletop application called DeepTree, a dynamic visualization of a phylogenetic tree. Specifically, we explored how interactive finger-based zooming (zooming “in” and “out”) influenced students’ interpretation of evolutionary time, and how temporal information and relationships were conceptualized during interaction. Transcript analysis of videotaped interview data from ten secondary school students while they interacted with DeepTree revealed that zooming was interpreted in two ways: as spatially orientated (movement within the tree itself), or as time-orientated (movement in time). Identified misinterpretations included perceiving an implicit coherent timeline along the y-axis of the tree, that the zooming time duration in the virtual tree was linearly correlated to real time, and that more branch nodes correspond to a longer time. Sources for erroneous interpretations may lie in transferring everyday sensory experiences (e.g., physical movements and observing tree growth) to understanding abstract evolution concepts. Apart from estimating the occurrence of dinosaurs, DeepTree was associated with an improvement in interpretation of relative order of evolutionary events. Although highly promising, zooming interaction in DeepTree does not facilitate an intuitive understanding of evolutionary time. However, the opportunity to combine visual and bodily action in emerging technologies such as Deep Tree suggests a high pedagogical potential of further development of zooming features for optimal scientific understanding. The research was also funded by Örebro University and the Open Access funding was provided by Linköping University. EvoVis: Utmana livsvetenskapernas tröskelbegrepp FontD – En nationell forskarskola i naturvetenskapernas och teknikens didaktik för lärarutbildare

Understanding deep evolutionary time is crucial for biology education and for conceptualizing evolutionary history. Although such knowledge might help citizens contemplate their actions in the context of human existence, understanding deep evolutionary time is a demanding cognitive endeavor for students. The enormous magnitudes of evolutionary time are often visually communicated through phylograms and timelines. Given the importance of understanding evolutionary time in various scientific domains at large, there is a need for tools to gauge students’ knowledge about visually communicated deep evolutionary time. In response, we describe the design and validation of an instrument to measure knowledge about the visual representation of deep evolutionary time. Development, expert panel evaluation, and piloting of an initial 14 questions with 139 respondents resulted in a 10-item multiple-choice questionnaire. Subsequent collection and analysis of 212 responses validated the 10-item Deep Evolutionary Time Visual Instrument (DET-Vis). Identification of a single factor suggests a unidimensional construct that represents knowledge about the visual communication of deep evolutionary time. A Cronbach’s alpha of 0.73 yielded an acceptable internal consistency of the instrument. The items of the instrument discriminate well with discrimination coefficients between 0.25 and 0.53. The instrument is of moderate difficulty with difficulty indices ranging from 0.56 to 0.81. The seven-step methodological design and validation procedure of this study yielded a unidimensional, valid, and reliable ten-item deep evolutionary time visual test instrument. The instrument items probe both procedural and declarative aspects of the construct that could warrant future psychometric exploration. Use of DET-Vis in pedagogical practice could help support the teaching of deep evolutionary time at upper secondary and undergraduate levels.

Public understanding of contemporary scientific issues is critical for the future of society. Public spaces, such as science centers, can impact the communication of science by providing active knowledge-building experiences of scientific phenomena. In contributing to this vision, we have previously developed an interactive visualization as part of a public exhibition about nano. We reflect on how the immersive design and features of the exhibit contribute as a tool for science communication in light of the emerging paradigm of exploranation, and offer some forward-looking perspectives about what this notion has to offer the domain. Funding agencies: Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet)Swedish Research Council [2011-5569]; Norrkoping Visualization Center C (NVAB); NanoForm project organization

Modern preschool education is seen as an essential foundation for nurturing children’s digital literacy. Early childhood education environments have witnessed increased emphasis on integrating programming activities in combination with digital tablets. However, little is known about how preschool teachers implement programming as part of pedagogical strategies during practice. In Sweden, although there is a mandate to develop children’s understanding of the digital world, programming is not formally mentioned in the revised preschool curriculum. This study systematically investigates how Swedish preschool teachers implement programming activities in their teaching practice. Data was collected through a national online survey (n = 199). Findings revealed a range of apps and resources used in combination with tablets, where activity integration takes place as unplugged programming, digital programming, or as a combination of the former. Teachers markedly attributed intended learning goals around programming to tenets of computational thinking and “twenty-first century skills”. Moreover, programming was often actively linked to learning in other domains such as science, technology, mathematics, and language, approaches that show traditional Swedish preschool teaching practices being recontextualized in terms of programming. Based on the reported findings that provide insight into the implementation of programming in preschools, a logical future research avenue lies in exploring the documented programming activities from the perspective of the children., "Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made."

Whereas previous studies show that children are able to make meaningabout evolutionary concepts within read-aloud contexts, little is knownabout how semiotic resources and interaction influence children’s meaningmaking about evolution. This study investigates children’s meaning makingabout evolutionary concepts during a modelling activity conducted after aninteractive storybook read-aloud describing the evolution of a foraging traitof a fictitious mammal (the pilose). Forty children (13 groups) were videotapedas they produced a clay pilose model, while explaining how theythought their pilose would appear after inhabiting a ‘future’ environment(mountainous, snowy or forest). A multimodal analysis focused on howchildren demonstrated their meanings of seven evolutionary conceptsdescribed in the book. An eighth concept, ‘adaptation to environment’,was also often discussed. While all eight concepts emerged, the mostfrequent concerned survival and adaptation. The eighth concept appearedto serve as a synthesis of children’s interpretation of the storybook thathighlighted the visible consequences of evolution. The children engagedfive interactional resources, dominated by the interactional resource ofcommunicating the concepts in direct relation to their produced pilosemodels. The findings shed light on how children’s representational andrelational practices impact making meaning about evolution. Artikel som ingår i avhandling Enountering evolution (Frejd, 2019)

Future societal and economic impacts of nanoscience and nanotechnology raise the demand for a nano-literate public as well as a nano-competent workforce. This translates into the urgent need for nano education interventions in schools and informal learning contexts. In seeking to meet this mandate, we have developed and investigated a virtual reality environment that induces immersive presence (feeling as being ‘in’ the virtual world) and exploits bodily movements (e.g. hand gestures to control virtual objects) for students and citizens to learn nano concepts. In this article, we argue that such scientifically-informed immersive and interactive visualizations have a unique potential in communicating nanoscale ideas to students as well as the general public. Funding agencies: Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet) [2011-5569] Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, grant 2011-5569)

Hands-on digital interactivity in science centers provides new communicative opportunities. The Microcosmos multi-touch table allows visitors to interact with 64 image &ldquo, cards&rdquo, of (sub)microscopic biological structures and processes embedded across seven theme categories. This study presents the integration of biological content, interactive features and logging capabilities into the table, and analyses visitors&rsquo, usage and preferences. Data logging recorded 2,070,350 events including activated category, selected card, and various finger-based gestures. Visitors interacted with all cards during 858 sessions (96 s on average). Finger movements covered an average accumulated distance of 4.6 m per session, and about 56% of card interactions involved two fingers. Visitors made 5.53 category switches per session on average, and the virus category was most activated (average 0.96 per session). An overall ranking score related to card attractive power and holding power revealed that six of the most highly used cards depicted viruses and four were colourful instrument output images. The large finger traversal distance and proportion of two-finger card interaction may indicate the intuitiveness of the gestures. Observed trends in visitor engagement with the biological visualizations are considered in terms of construal level theory. Future work will examine how interactions are related to potential learning of biological content.

Inquiry-based approaches to science education are central to recent South African primary and secondary school curricula, but have been found challenging to adopt in disadvantaged township contexts. It is therefore important to find ways of introducing inquiry-based approaches, where pupils are encouraged to investigate phenomena they are interested in and to engage in true dialogue, as opposed to teacher-led triadic dialogue. We typically experience thermal phenomena through the sense of touch, but infrared (IR) cameras provide an additional opportunity to experience heat-related phenomena through the visual sense. Previously, in a Swedish context, we have found that hand-held IR cameras allow for strong pedagogical affordances and inspire pupils to engage in inquiry in the area of thermal science. In the present case study, grade 7 and 8 pupils (13–14 years old) in two South African township schools were introduced to IR cameras during predict-observe-explain (POE) exercises on heat conduction. The results revealed that if pupils had a sufficient conceptual understanding of heat conduction beforehand, they were capable of engaging in true dialogue in relation to the exercises and interpreting the thermal camera visual imagery. However, if pupils did not show such understanding, it was tempting for them and the facilitator to resort to triadic dialogue. "This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/."

Recent studies on the Swedish work force show that about half of all jobs demand a high degree of self-governing. In preparing students for the future, the World Economic Forum suggests that schools should also teach social skills, creativity and critical thinking. According to the Swedish upper secondary curriculum, the subject of technology should allow students to develop entrepreneurial skills, defined as supporting curiosity, confidence, creativity and courage, resulting in the ability to act, in innovation and problem solving. This vision is related to the notion of authentic learning. Reeves, Herrington and Oliver define authenticity through nine key elements, namely, authentic context, authentic task, presence of expert performances, multiple perspectives, collaboration, reflection, articulation, metacognitive support and authentic assessment. The aim of this study is to map these key elements of authentic learning onto the development and design of a five-week innovation project for implementation in a Swedish upper secondary school context. The mapping process involved first synthesising literature in the area of authentic learning in conjunction with studying Swedish technology education curriculum materials. This was followed by describing the characteristics of each key element of authentic learning in terms of proposing activities for implementation as an innovation project (IP). The results of this study show how criteria of nine elements of authentic learning could be used in designing an innovation project (IP) module in an authentically cogent way. Thus the authenticity framework served as a valid theoretical tool to produce the authentic learning module.

The advent of nanoscientific applications in modern life is swiftly in progress. Nanoscale innovation comes with the pressing need to provide citizens and learners with scientific knowledge for judging the societal impact of nanotechnology. In rising to the challenge, this paper reports the developmental phase of a research agenda concerned with building and investigating a virtual environment for communicating nano-ideas. Methods involved elucidating core nano-principles through two purposefully contrasting nano “risk” and “benefit” scenarios for incorporation into an immersive system. The authors implemented the resulting 3D virtual architecture through an exploration of citizens’ and school students’ interaction with the virtual nanoworld. Findings suggest that users’ interactive experiences of conducting the two tasks based on gestural interaction with the system serve as a cognitive gateway for engendering nano-related understanding underpinning perceived hopes and fears and as a stimulating pedagogical basis from which to teach complex science concepts. NanoSim

In the field of biochemistry, the use of external representations such as static diagrams and animations has increased rapidly in recent years. However, their effectiveness as instructional tools can be hindered if students lack the visual literacy and cognitive skills necessary for processing and interpreting such representations. We aimed to identify and assess visualisation skills necessary for effective processing of external representations in biochemistry. We used a modified Bloom’s taxonomy to identify the cognitive skills essential for optimal visual literacy, and designed probes based on those skills to develop a test instrument. Student responses to the probes were scored and processed with the Rasch model. This approach enabled us to rate the degree of difficulty of each visualisation skill on a linear logit scale, and to generate a person–item map to measure biochemistry students’ level of visual literacy. The results showed that the identified visualisation skills could be measured reliably, and the Rasch model was effective both for ranking the skills according to level of difficulty and for estimating a student’s relative level of visual literacy. Significance: Addresses a recurring problem in biochemistry and similar fields. Identifies relevant skills to inform teaching and learning in biochemistry.

Nano education involves tackling the difficult task of conceptualizing imperceptibly small objects and processes. Interactive visualization serves as one potential solution for providing access to the nanoworld through active exploration of nanoscale concepts and principles. This chapter exposes and describes a selection of interactive visualizations in the literature, and reviews research findings related to their educational, perceptual and cognitive influence. In closing, we offer implications of interactive visualization for learning and teaching nano.

Integration of technology, social learning and scientific models offers pedagogical opportunities for science education. A particularly interesting area is thermal science, where students often struggle with abstract concepts, such as heat. In taking on this conceptual obstacle, we explore how hand-held infrared (IR) visualization technology can strengthen students’ understanding of thermal phenomena. Grounded in the Swedish physics curriculum and part of a broader research programme on educational uses of IR cameras, we have developed laboratory exercises around a thermal storyline, in conjunction with the teaching of a heat-flow model. We report a narrative analysis of how a group of five fourth-graders, facilitated by a researcher, predicts, observes and explains (POE) how the temperatures change when they pour hot water into a ceramic coffee mug and a thin plastic cup. Four chronological episodes are described and analysed as group interaction unfolded. Results revealed that the students engaged cognitively and emotionally with the POE task and, in particular, held a sustained focus on making observations and offering explanations for the scenarios. A compelling finding was the group’s spontaneous generation of multiple "what-ifs" in relation to thermal phenomena, such as blowing on the water surface, or submerging a pencil into the hot water. This was followed by immediate interrogation with the IR camera, a learning event we label instant inquiry. The students’ expressions largely reflected adoption of the heat-flow model. In conclusion, IR cameras could serve as an access point for even very young students to develop complex thermal concepts. As per the Springer Copyright agreement, a Postprint of the Accepted Manuscript (PDF) is available via the personal website of the author(s) at the following link:http://webstaff.itn.liu.se/~konsc/Haglund_Jeppsson_Schonborn_2015_Postprint ThermalVis

Infrared cameras can be used in science education. The technology suits open-ended thermodynamics laboratory exercises in higher education. School children engage in instant inquiry of thermal phenomena.

As the application of nanotechnology in everyday life impacts society, it becomes critical for citizens to have a scientific basis upon which to judge their perceived hopes and fears of ‘nano’. Although multiple instruments have been designed for assessing attitudinal and affective aspects of nano, surprisingly little work has focused on developing tools to evaluate the conceptual knowledge dimension of public understanding. This article reports the validation of an instrument designed to measure conceptual knowledge of nanoscience and nanotechnology. A sample of 302 participants responded to a 28-item questionnaire designed around core nano-concepts. Factor analysis revealed a single latent variable representing the construct of nano-knowledge. Cronbach's alpha was 0.91 indicating a high internal consistency of the questionnaire items. The mean test score was 15.3 out of 28 (54.5%) with item difficulty indices ranging from 0.19 to 0.89. Obtained item discrimination values indicate a high discriminatory power of the instrument. Taken together, the psychometric properties of the Nano-Knowledge Instrument (NanoKI) suggest that it is a valid and reliable tool for measuring nano-related knowledge. Preliminary qualitative observations of citizens' incorrect and correct response patterns to the questionnaire indicate potential conceptual challenges surrounding relative size of the nanoscale, random motion of nano-objects, and nanoscale interactions, although these are hypotheses that require future investigation. Application of the NanoKI could support efforts directed to an agenda for evaluating and designing science communication and education initiatives for promoting understanding of nano. NanoSim

Thermal cameras offer real-time visual access to otherwise invisible thermal phenomena, which are conceptually demanding for learners during traditional teaching. We present three studies of students’ conduction of laboratory activities that employ thermal cameras to teach challenging thermal concepts in grades 4, 7 and 10–12. Visualization of heat-related phenomena in combination with predict-observe-explain experiments offers students and teachers a pedagogically powerful means for unveiling abstract yet fundamental physics concepts. As per the IOP Publishing Copyright agreement, a Postprint of the Accepted Manuscript(PDF) is available via the personal website of the author(s) at the following link:http://webstaff.itn.liu.se/~konsc/Haglund_Jeppsson_Hedberg_Schonborn_2015_Postprint ThermalVis

Thermal science is challenging for students due to its largely imperceptible nature. Handheld infrared cameras offer a pedagogical opportunity for students to see otherwise invisible thermal phenomena. In the present study, a class of upper secondary technology students (N = 30) partook in four IR-camera laboratory activities, designed around the predict-observe-explain approach of White and Gunstone. The activities involved central thermal concepts that focused on heat conduction and dissipative processes such as friction and collisions. Students interactions within each activity were videotaped and the analysis focuses on how a purposefully selected group of three students engaged with the exercises. As the basis for an interpretative study, a "thick" narrative description of the students epistemological and conceptual framing of the exercises and how they took advantage of the disciplinary affordance of IR cameras in the thermal domain is provided. Findings include that the students largely shared their conceptual framing of the four activities, but differed among themselves in their epistemological framing, for instance, in how far they found it relevant to digress from the laboratory instructions when inquiring into thermal phenomena. In conclusion, the study unveils the disciplinary affordances of infrared cameras, in the sense of their use in providing access to knowledge about macroscopic thermal science.

Recent educational research has suggested that immersive multisensory virtual environments offer learners unique and exciting knowledge-building opportunities for the construction of scientific knowledge. This paper delivers a case-based study of students’ immersive interaction with electric fields around molecules in a multisensory visuohaptic virtual environment. The virtual architecture presented here also has conceptual connections to the flourishing quest in contemporary literature for the pressing need to communicate nanoscientific ideas to learners. Five upper secondary school students’ prior conceptual understanding of electric fields and their application of this knowledge to molecular contexts, were probed prior to exposure to the virtual model. Subsequently, four students interacted with the visuohaptic model while performing think-aloud tasks. An inductive and heuristic treatment of videotaped verbal and behavioural data revealed distinct interrelationships between students’ interactive strategies implemented when executing tasks in the virtual system and the nature of their conceptual knowledge deployed. The obtained qualitative case study evidence could serve as an empirical basis for informing the rendering and communication of overarching nanoscale ideas. At the time of composing this paper for publication in the current journal, the research findings of this study have been put into motion in informing a broader project goal of developing educational virtual environments for depicting nanophenomena.

This new publication in the Models and Modeling in Science Education series synthesizes a wealth of international research on using multiple representations in biology education and aims for a coherent framework in using them to improve higher-order learning. Addressing a major gap in the literature, the volume proposes a theoretical model for advancing biology educators' notions of how multiple external representations (MERs) such as analogies, metaphors and visualizations can best be harnessed for improving teaching and learning in biology at all pedagogical levels. The content tackles the conceptual and linguistic difficulties of learning biology at each level-macro, micro, sub-micro, and symbolic, illustrating how MERs can be used in teaching across these levels and in various combinations, as well as in differing contexts and topic areas. The strategies outlined will help students' reasoning and problem-solving skills, enhance their ability to construct mental models and internal representations, and, ultimately, will assist in increasing public understanding of biology-related issues, a key goal in today's world of pressing concerns over societal problems about food, environment, energy, and health. The book concludes by highlighting important aspects of research in biological education in the post-genomic, information age.

Swift scientific advances in the area of nanoscience suggest that nanotechnology will play an increasingly important role in our everyday lives. Thus, knowledge of the principles underlying such technologies will inevitably be required to ensure a skilled industrial workforce. In this paper we describe the development of a virtual educational environment that allows for various direct interactive experiences and communication of nanophenomena to pupils and citizens, ranging from desktops to immersive and multi-sensory platforms. At the heart of the architecture is a nanoparticle simulator, which simulates effects such as short-range interaction, flexing of nanotubes and collisions with the solvent. The environment allows the user to interact with the particles to examine their behaviour related to fundamental science concepts.

This study explores tertiary students’ interaction with a haptic virtual model representing the specific binding of two biomolecules, a core concept in molecular life science education. Twenty students assigned to a haptics (experimental) or no-haptics (control) condition performed a “docking” task where users sought the most favourable position between a ligand and protein molecule, while students’ interactions with the model were logged. Improvement in students’ understanding of biomolecular binding was previously measured by comparing written responses to a target conceptual question before and after interaction with the model. A log-profiling tool visualized students’ movement of the ligand molecule during the docking task. Multivariate parallel coordinate analyses explored any relationships in the entire student data set. The haptics group produced a tighter constellation of collected final docked ligand positions in comparison with no-haptics students, coupled to docking profiles that depicted a more fine-tuned ligand traversal. Students in the no-haptics condition employed double the amount of interactive behaviours concerned with switching between different visual chemical representations offered by the model. In the no-haptics group, this visually intense processing was synonymous with erroneously ‘fitting’ the ligand closer distances to the protein surface. Students who showed higher learning gains tended to engage fewer visual representational switches, and were from the haptics group, while students with a higher spatial ability also engaged fewer visual representational switches, irrespective of assigned condition. From an information-processing standpoint, visual and haptic coordination may offload the visual pathway by placing less strain on visual working memory. From an embodied cognition perspective, visual and tactile sensorimotor interactions in the macroworld may provide access to constructing knowledge about submicroscopic phenomena. The results have cognitive and practical implications for the use of multimodal virtual reality technologies in educational contexts. VisMolLS

External representations (ERs), such as diagrams, animations, and dynamic models are vital tools for communicating and constructing knowledge in biochemistry. To build a meaningful understanding of structure, function, and process, it is essential that students become visually literate by mastering key cognitive skills that are essential for interpreting and visualizing ERs. In this article, first we describe a model of seven factors influencing students’ ability to learn from ERs. Second, we use this model and relevant literature to identify eight cognitive skills central to visual literacy in biochemistry. Third, we present simple examples of tasks as a foundation for designing more sophisticated and complex items for assessing and developing students’ visual literacy. We conclude that visual literacy is fundamental to the development of sound conceptual understanding and it is crucial to develop visual skills in parallel with meaningful learning outcomes in all biochemistry curricula. All issues of BAMBED become freely available after a two-year hold