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This manuscript reflects on the affordances and limitations of methodological approaches commonly adopted by science education researchers examining learner identities. Our aims are to unpack the relative strengths and weaknesses of such approaches and note their respective prevalence. In so doing, we identify and critique studies which we consider exemplify the different approaches and, in turn, note the direction of fruitful developments and the nature of key challenges. From our review of the field, we suggest that three discrete methodological approaches can be identified: macro-studies within a psychological tradition; macro-studies within a sociological tradition; and micro-studies within an interpretive tradition. Our review comprised a critical analysis of papers included in the Web of Science databases published between 1998 and 2018. A total of 198 papers examining aspects of learner identity relating to science were identified. Of these, the majority (146) were categorised as micro-studies within an interpretive tradition. We discuss the implications of methodological choices for the advancement of understanding and further note ambiguities in the field particularly in relation to the ways in which learner identity research is conceived. We also raise questions for the field relating to the ways in which findings may be scaled, and how the field might develop to allow stronger theoretical and conceptual coherence.

The purpose of this manuscript is to explore how students perceive that online practices have enabled their participation in university physics programmes. In order to conceptualise how students bridge their science participation across physical and online spaces, we make use of the learning ecology perspective. This perspective is complemented with the notion of science capital, analysing how students have been able to strengthen different aspects of science capital through online participation. Data has been generated through semi-structured interviews guided by a timeline, constructed in collaboration between the interviewer and the interviewee. Twenty-one students enrolled in higher education physics have been interviewed, with a focus on their trajectories into higher education physics. The findings focus on four students who in various ways all have struggled to access science learning resources and found ways to utilise online spaces as a complement to their physical learning ecologies. In the manuscript, we show how online practices have contributed to the students' learning ecologies, e.g. in terms of building networks and functioning as learning support, and how resources acquired through online science practices have both use and exchange value in the wider science community. Online science participation is thus both curiosity driven and founded in instrumental reasons (using online tutoring to pass school science). Furthermore, we argue that online spaces have the potential to offer opportunities for participation and network building for students who do not have access to science activities and science people in their everyday surroundings.

Underrepresentation of women in physics is a prominent issue in the western countries. Since physics teachers are in a unique position to affect new generations of students, it has been suggested that they are an important part of the solution. In this paper, we explore how trainee physics teachers create spaces for themselves as learners of physics while negotiating their positioning as women and trainee teachers. The empirical data consist of interviews with 17 trainee physics students, and the analysis focuses predominantly on the identity negotiations of three woman students. We find that the women simultaneously submit to and master a "physics nerd" discourse that connects physics with nerdiness, masculinity, and intelligence, which enables them to successfully create subject positions incorporating physics student, teacher-student, femininity, and constructive study practice. This is of particular importance to trainee physics teachers, who will be responsible for creating inclusive and productive physics learning environments for their students.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination.] This article details methodologies employed to enable sharing and coconstructing the stories of three women's lives in physics. The first case explores the usefulness of timeline interviewing, where participants narrate episodes that are coconstructed with the researcher as meaningful over time. We illustrate this method in the case of a mature student in Sweden from a working-class background who shared moments that added up to a life outside of physics and then a sharp turn into physics later in life. The second case explores life-history interviewing using a narrative-inquiry approach and deep relationship building which enabled the coconstruction of stories of experiences over time. These moments are coconstructed with the researcher and analyzed using an intersectionality lens to yield a story depicting the transnational experiences of a woman of color moving across various European contexts into the North American physics context. The final case is of a first-generation Canadian woman of color who shared her navigations of in and out of school physics via a method known as the "Rivers of Life." Using this method, the participant narrates their experiences with physics as a river, using metaphorical tools like rafts, rocks, rapids, tributaries to discuss various moments described as twists and turns over time that together amount to a life in physics. We discuss the value of different approaches to coconstructing narratives with participants and, in particular, the need for this kind of research in physics contexts.

For young women, inbound identity trajectories into physics are generally regarded as exceptional. In this study, we investigated the experiences that young women have which may support their sustained interest and achievement in physics, and their ongoing inbound trajectories into post-secondary physics education. To understand these experiences, we look to the role of informal physics learning (IPL) environments as spaces which can offer resources that support women's trajectories into physics. In this paper, we highlight the important role of what we call "university-adjacent" IPL experiences--internships, summer schools, and associations that connect secondary students with the research lives of physicists. Focusing on case studies of six women enrolled in post-secondary physics programs across Sweden, we identify the various forms of resources made available through IPL environments, and how these create possibilities for young women to engage in forms of identity work that contribute to the construction of new possible selves in physics. Findings suggest that young women can access important relational and ideational resources through university-adjacent IPL programs. Relational resources included (a) supportive social networks, (b) enduring relationships, and (c) relatability. Importantly, our research finds that IPL opportunities that emphasize relationship building can create immersive experiences which go beyond representation and rather emphasize opportunities to develop "practice-linked identities." Ideational resources emerged as (a) sources of information which possibilized physics for participants, and (b) types of information that provided possibilities to learn about the life of a physicist. Finally, while we claim that IPL experiences provide important possibilities for young women to immerse themselves in the practices of physics, we also discuss that these kinds of experiences remain inaccessible to most students, and thus reproduce a certain elitism in the field.

This article explores how female university students' abilities to present themselves as 'authentic' engineers are imbricated with discursive constructions of gender and gender equality. The empirical data comes from interviews and video diaries collected with three female engineering students. The analysis demonstrates the power of the Swedish gender equality discourse to inform the students' talk as they negotiate their gendered identities to become intelligible as engineering students and engineers. We suggest that gender equality is used as a resource in the repertoires, but we also demonstrate that this discourse becomes a dilemma in that it limits possibilities for gender performances to go beyond old patterns. Despite this, the article still shows three unique ways of negotiating gender and other social categories in different situations connected to university learning and participation in internships.

This paper concerns the re/production of norms about physics teaching and learning in a Swedish university quantum mechanics classroom. The university teachers in the analysed classroom can be characterised as implementing reform-based physics teaching, inspired by physics education research they aim to realise a classroom with a high degree of active student participation. The students are all majoring in physics, a minority on route to becoming high school physics teachers. The main focus of the paper is the teaching choices made by the university teachers and the student identity positions made possible by these choices, but potential consequences for physics teacher education are also discussed.

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates once again the vulnerability and significance of cities in war. In this article, and with inspiration from Ian Hacking’s historical ontology, I draw on a varied source material to argue that there is today something new and qualitatively distinct in how the U.S. military approaches war and combat in urban environments. By investigating the historical-conceptual trajectory of “the urban” in U.S. military practice from the mid-eighteenth century until today, the article argues that a gradual shift has occurred in terms of how the armed forces have begun to think of and act on the urban as a distinct object that can be made “known” and managed in and through a specialized knowledge. A “military urban” has come into being, conditioned by a particular epistemic and implying a new way for urban spaces to exist in war. The article’s findings have implications for our understanding of what the urban is for militaries and, relatedly, for grasping the role of epistemics and knowledge practices in conditioning military actions in and on urban spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with chronic illnesses and those infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 often face stigma, shame, and psychological distress related to their conditions. Higher psychological flexibility and self‐compassion are often associated with less stigma and shame. Examining and comparing these experiences between people with chronic illness and people who have recovered from SARS‐CoV‐2 can provide valuable insights into the shared and unique challenges they encounter. This study aimed to compare these two groups, and used structural equation modelling to investigate the links between stigma, shame, and psychological distress, with a focus on the mediating roles of psychological flexibility and self‐compassion in these associations. The study included 270 Portuguese participants (chronic illness: n = 104; SARS‐CoV‐2: n = 166), with an average age of 36.73 years and 86.6% of the sample being women. Results showed that the chronic illness subgroup reported higher levels of illness stigma, anxiety, and depression, compared to the SARS‐CoV‐2 subgroup. Findings from the mediation analysis, revealed that the model fit exceptionally well, accounting for 48% of the variance in anxiety and 45% in depression symptoms across the entire sample. Most parameters were consistent between the two subgroups, except for the association between self‐compassion and depression symptoms, which was only statistically significant in the chronic illness subgroup. In this group, both psychological flexibility and self‐compassion mediated the association between stigma and shame with symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the SARS‐CoV‐2 subgroup, these processes mediated the association with anxiety, whereas psychological flexibility only mediated depression symptoms. The findings from this study provide directions for future research on the possible development or refinement of personalized psychological interventions targeting emotional distress in adults with chronic illnesses and viral disease recovery cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physics- and computer-related disciplines are strongly male dominated in Western higher education. Feminist research has demonstrated how this can be understood as reflecting a strong privileging of mind and rationality (over body/nature/emotions) in these disciplines, which harmonises with broader notions of masculinity as transcendental and disembodied. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, being recognised as legitimate in these fields is also tightly connected to embodiment. Drawing on post-structural gender theory, we explore how notions of corporeality, style and aesthetics are articulated within computer engineering and physics settings at two higher education institutions, one in Canada, one in Sweden. Using empirical data from two case studies, we demonstrate that these disciplines are usually understood as 'gender neutral' by students but that interest and competence in these fields are simultaneously understood as embodied through neglect for style and corporeal aesthetics, in ways that contribute to the masculinisation of these fields.

This article reports the results of an empirical study exploring the discourses of physics teacher educators. We ask how the expressed understandings of a physics teacher education programme in the talk of teacher educators potentially support the identity construction of new teachers. Nine teacher educators from different sections of a physics teacher programme in Sweden were interviewed. The concept of discourse models was used to operationalise how the discourses of the teacher education programme potentially enable the performance of different physics teacher identities. The analysis resulted in the construction of four discourse models that could be seen to be both enabling and limiting the kinds of identity performances trainee physics teachers can enact. Knowledge of the models thus potentially empowers trainee physics teachers to understand the different goals of their educational programme and from there make informed choices about their own particular approach to becoming a professional physics teacher. We also suggest that for teacher educators, knowledge of the discourse models could facilitate making conscious, informed decisions about their own teaching practice.

The content that is privileged in teaching has consequences for what the students are given the opportunity to learn and can thus be regarded as an aspect of power. We analyse power aspects in the teaching of physics by identifying actions that guide or direct other people's actions, and then analyse similarities and differences in different classrooms in terms of how governance is staged and what potential consequences this can have. The analyses are made on data from classroom activities, documented through video recordings and field notes, in three lower secondary schools in Y8 and Y9, respectively. At first glance, teachers from all three schools adhere to a traditional interpretation of a physics curriculum. But a more in-depth analysis shows that the students in the different classrooms are given quite dissimilar opportunities to participate in teaching and create relationships with the content. What appears to be a desirable way of acting offers different conditions for meaning-making. In an increasingly individualised society where people are expected to be active, reflective and make choices for their own personal good, the students in these three classrooms are offered very different conditions to practice and learn to take part in knowledge-making, connect physics content to their everyday life and exercise informed citizenship.

This study examines preservice preschool teachers' university science education experience. The empirical data are from a research and intervention project conducted on teacher education programs at two Swedish universities. We analyzed one of the assignments completed by 111 students within a science course as well as their conversations about the assignment at a number of seminars. We combined culture contrast and thematic analysis to examine the data. The results showed a tension between the preschool culture and the university science culture. We described this tension between the boundary lines of the two cultures as a chafing borderland. These cultures do not merge, and the defined boundaries cause chafing with each other. We discuss ways of diminishing this chafing of borderlands, potential border crossings such as caring and children as boundary objects and equalizing power imbalances.

Background: Physics is often seen as a discipline with difficult content, and one that is difficult to identify with. Socialisation processes at the upper secondary school level are of particular interest as these may be linked to the subsequent low and uneven participation in university physics. Focusing on how norms are construed in physics classrooms in upper secondary school is therefore relevant. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify discursive patterns in teacher-student interactions in physics classrooms. Design and methods: Three different physics lessons with one class of students taught by three different teachers in upper secondary school were video-recorded. Positioning theory was used to analyse classroom interaction with a specific focus on how physics was positioned. Results: We identified seven different storylines. Four of them ('reaching a solution to textbook problems', 'discussing physics concepts in order to gain better understanding', 'doing empirical enquiry' and 'preparing for the upcoming exam') represent what teaching physics in an upper secondary school classroom can be. The last three storylines ('mastering physics', 'appreciating physics' and 'having a feeling for physics') all concern how students are supposed to relate to physics and, thus, become 'insiders' in the discipline. Conclusions: The identification and analysis of storylines raises awareness of the choices teachers make in physics education and their potential consequences for students. For example, in the storyline of mastering physics a good physics student is associated with 'smartness', which might make the classroom a less secure place in general. Variation and diversity in the storylines construed in teaching can potentially contribute to a more inclusive physics education.

This article explores gendered processes in preschool science through Barad's agential realism [2007. "Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics of the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning." London: Duke Universal Press], and as such, the study makes both theoretical and empirical contributions in how it combines perspectives from emergent science [Siraj-Blatchford, J. 2001. Emergent Science and Technology in the Early Years." Paper presented at the XXIII World Congress of OMEP. Santiago, Chile, August 3], new materialism, and gender theory. Empirically, the study makes use of data constructed during a field study in a Swedish preschool with five-year-old children. The focus of the field study was the children's play and explorations together with the preschool environment, during activities not specifically guided by teachers. The analysis highlights how the children's identities and scientific explorations are made possible as well as constrained together with the preschool's material-discursive environment. As such, the study demonstrates how teachers cannot rely on any environment, activity, choice or subject content to be (gender) neutral.

Aims This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBI) in cardiology services. Methods and results This was a qualitative study. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 clinical cardiology staff (doctors, nurses, and assistant nurses) of varying experience levels and from various clinical settings (high-dependency unit, ward, and outpatient clinic), in three regions of Sweden. Reflexive thematic analysis was used, with deductive coding applying the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation (COM-B) theoretical framework. A total of 41 barriers and facilitators were identified, including 12 related to capability, 9 to opportunity, and 20 to motivation. Four themes were developed: (i) uncharted territory, where clinicians expressed a need to address alcohol use but lacked knowledge and a roadmap for implementing SBI; (ii) cardiology as a cardiovascular specialty, where tasks were prioritized according to established roles; (iii) alcohol stigma, where alcohol was reported to be a sensitive topic that staff avoid discussing with patients; and (iv) window of opportunity, where staff expressed potential for implementing SBI in routine cardiology care. Conclusion Findings suggest that opportunities exist for early identification and follow-up of hazardous alcohol use within routine cardiology care. Several barriers, including low knowledge, stigma, a lack of ownership, and a greater focus on other risk factors, must be addressed prior to the implementation of SBI in cardiology. To meet current clinical guidelines, there is a need to increase awareness and to improve pathways to addiction care. In addition, there may be a need for clinicians dedicated to alcohol interventions within cardiology services. Registration OSF (osf.io/hx3ts). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research in engineering education has pointed to the need for new engineers to develop a broader skill-set with an emphasis on "softer" social skills. However, there remains strong tensions in the identity work that engineers must engage in to balance the technical demands of the discipline with the new emphasis on heterogeneous skills (Faulkner, Social Studies of Science 37:331-356, 2007). This study explores how three unconventional students experience these tensions in the final year of their construction engineering program, and as they move in and out of workplace field experiences. Results: Using a figured worlds framework (Holland et al., Identity and agency in cultural worlds, 1998), we explore the dominant subject positions for students in construction engineering classroom and workplaces in a 3-year Swedish engineering program. Results: Using demonstrate that dominant subject positions for construction engineers can trouble students' identity work as they move across classroom and workplace settings. Conclusions: This study expands our knowledge of the complexity of students' identity work across classroom and workplace settings. The emergence of classroom and workplace masculinities that shape the dominant subject positions available to students are shown to trouble the identity work that students engage in as they move across these learning spaces. We examine students' identity strategies that contribute to their persistence through the field. Finally, we discuss implications for teaching and research in light of students' movements across these educational contexts.

It is widely argued that engineering education needs to change in order to attract new groups of students and provide students with knowledge appropriate for the future society. In this paper we, therefore, investigate and analyse Swedish universities' websites, focusing on what characteristics are brought to the fore as important for tomorrow's engineers. The data consist of text and pictures/photos from nine different Engineering Mechanics programme websites. Using a critical discourse analysis approach, we identify three societal discourses concerning 'technological progression', 'sustainability', and 'neoliberal ideals', evident in the websites. These discourses make certain engineering identities possible, that we have labelled: traditional, contemporary, responsible, and self-made engineer. Our analysis shows that universities' efforts to diversify students' participation in engineering education simultaneously reveal stereotypical norms concerning gender and age. We also argue that strong neoliberal notions about the self-made engineer can derail awareness of a gendered, classed, and racialized society.

We report how 47 pre-service teachers during their preschool placement in Sweden identify events related to gender and emerging science. We analysed their reflections on the situations with Gee's Discourse analysis. Two dominant discourse models were identified: the Discourse Construare, where pre-service teachers assumed that children have potential interests in a variety of subjects, and the Discourse Essentia, where children were regarded to have a stable core identity. In the latter discourse, the pre-service teachers' task would be to encourage the children to "be who they are." The analysis found a connection between pre-service teachers' views of the child and whether gender stereotypes were reproduced or counteracted. The Discourse Essentia is in conflict with the goal in the Swedish national curriculum that "all" children should learn science. We discuss how the different discourses affect whether children are stimulated or inhibited in their emerging science activities and interests. Based on the results from an analysis of answers reflecting the Discourse Construare, we have designed a model illustrating a process for gender-aware teaching.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and illustrate an analytical framework for exploring how relations between knowledge and power are constituted in science and technology classrooms. In addition, the empirical purpose of this paper is to explore how disciplinary knowledge and knowledge-making are constituted in teacher-student interactions. In our analysis we focus on how instances of teacher-student interaction can be understood as simultaneously contributing to meaning-making and producing power relations. The analytical framework we have developed makes use of practical epistemological analysis in combination with a Foucauldian conceptualisation of power, assuming that privileging of educational content needs to be understood as integral to the execution of power in the classroom. The empirical data consists of video-recorded teaching episodes, taken from a teaching sequence of three 1-h lessons in one Swedish technology classroom with sixteen 13-14 years old students. In the analysis we have identified how different epistemological moves contribute to the normalisation and exclusion of knowledge as well as ways of knowledge-making. Further, by looking at how the teacher communicates what counts as (ir)relevant knowledge or (ir)relevant ways of acquiring knowledge we are able to describe what kind of technology student is made desirable in the analysed classroom.

The aim of the article is to investigate, in the light of the emphasis laid on scaling by UNESCO (UNESCO, 2014a), how subjectification of those involved in educational innovations both enables and constricts scaling understood as a learning process. This is carried out through a case study of the Alforja Educativa, an educational project in Ecuador on antibiotic resistance (ABR). The ABR has been described as a sustainability challenge comparable to climate change. The way in which subjectification enables and constricts scaling as a learning process is analysed by drawing on educational scaling research and the article illustrates how the subject positions of those involved in scaling emerge as scaling subjects in transactional relationships, both with the sites where the educational project is to be scaled, and in relation to that, which will be scaled.