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This study investigated students’ meaning-making of polymeric concepts during modelling and discuss students’ creation of visible representations in chemistry. The analysis combines a phenomenographic and social semiotic approach and leads to the finding and description of 21 different meaning-making processes. We refer to meaning-making as the outcome of translative communication through representations, discerned by students, where the collective meaning of created representations that build on each other constitutes the meaning as a whole. The study took place in three Swedish upper secondary chemistry classes. Data were collected from eight groups of 3–4 students (n = 30). Video, audio recordings and photos taken during modelling were analysed to investigate students’ meaning-making during the modelling process. The results show translative changes between and within semiotic resources, indicating meaning for students’ learning of polymeric concepts. Additionally, the representations produced during modelling were essential resources connecting the submicro and macro levels by creating a ‘bridge’ between levels. The results show that the modelling activities practised by all groups were multimodal. The study acknowledges that teachers can use the social semiotic lens as a tool to evaluate students’ modelling in addition to the importance of translative processes during modelling.

This study investigated how modeling in chemistry affect second language learners’ descriptions of polymeric concepts. The aim was to investigate how chemistry discussions mediated by representations, contribute to second language students’ development in the language of chemistry. The study took place in three multilingual upper secondary classes. Participating students were (n = 16) second language learners and (n = 14) first language learners. There were in total eight different first languages represented. Data comprised polymeric concept descriptions, audio recordings, and photos taken during modeling. The concept descriptions were analyzed by an inductive content analysis which was then used for a deductive analysis of the modeling-activity. The results show that 65% of second language learners concept descriptions showed an increased clarity, and 45% showed increased use of chemical concepts after the modeling-activity. This study highlights how students in a multilingual context develop their language of chemistry by discussing chemistry scaffolded by representations. The results show that second language learners in a multilingual context benefited from the modeling-activity. As such, the study acknowledges that modeling contexts can be used in teacher education, both in-service and pre-service, to highlight the importance of the role of representations when teaching in the multilingual context.

This study aims to determine what pre-service teachers know about the path of water through the body, and how they intend to explain this knowledge to five-year-old preschool children. This study aims to see the opportunities young children in preschool can obtain from an explanation of the nature of science related to an everyday life activity. A questionnaire was distributed to 42 pre-service teachers participating in the study. They study part time at the university (75% studying and 25% working), and most of the students are or have been working in preschools. All the students have passed the mandatory science courses. Data were collected through a questionnaire where the students explained their knowledge using drawings, and explaining pedagogic standpoints in open-ended questions. The results concluded that four pre-service teachers could sufficiently explain the workings of three organ systems. However, only one of the four intended to mention the three systems necessary for providing a coherent explanation of the body to a five-year-old child. Even the pre-service teachers who could describe more than one system did not intend to explain what they knew to the children. A typical response from the students was that they would seek facts together with the child.

In the wake of a Swedish negative trend in international school measurements (for example PISA; OECD, 2013) during a ten-year period (2006-2015), many Swedish municipalities felt the urge to make substantial changes to improve the outcomes of student success. Consequently, several development projects throughout the country were implemented. One such initiative was “From Great to Excellent” (here further referred to as FGTE); a three-year long collaboration project carried out between four Swedish municipalities and a small Swedish university. The main purpose with FGTE was to reduce the gap between the student’s potential (what they could achieve) and their actual school achievement. This overall purpose referred to all forms of schooling (pre-school, primary school, (upper) secondary school and adult education), which face the similar kind of challenge in students’ ability to reach their optimal capacity and goal fulfillment in learning, hence the project participants came from three school levels: pre-school, primary school and (upper) secondary school and adult education. Furthermore, the project's organization consisted of a steering group (with people in leading positions from the participating municipalities), an operational process group (with school representatives from the participating municipalities), and a research group (consisting of three researchers from a small Swedish university). In order to enable progression and create conditions for change, the project participants consisted of different kinds of functions within the schools, such as school leaders, policymakers, and practitioners, so not just teachers. Research points to the beneficial aspects of school-to-school collaboration in school improvement (Ainscow et al., 2006; Sammons et al., 2007; Cox-Petersen, 2011; Muijs et al., 2011; Muijs, 2015; Hargreaves & O’Connor, 2017). For example, according to Hargreaves and O’Connor, (2017) there is evidence that collaborative relationships benefit

The study at hand was conducted within a regional collaboration project named “From Great to Excellent” (FGTE), carried out between four Swedish municipalities and a small Swedish university. The FGTE project, highly influenced by a prior Canadian project of the same name, was a school development project grounded in an analytical approach involving all school levels. The basic idea in FGTE was that organisations learn from each other and make each other better, and where research is added, quality follows. Initially, each municipality had their own development focus and between them, they agreed on a number of priority professional research areas. Within the project, the participants were divided into groups where some served as so called “hosts” and some served as so called “critical friends”. During the FGTE project, the critical friends and the hosts worked together to solve different development projects at different school levels. Simultaneously, the participants were undertaking a course in analytical competence arranged by the university with the purpose of enhancing joint competence. The questions addressed here are closely connected to the notion of risk in partnerships in education. Firstly, there were four different municipalities operating on three school levels, each with individual research and/or development focus for their respective school level. Secondly, the participants from the municipalities undertook a university course in analytical competence. Critical questions to express were: What distinguishes the partnerships in the FGTE project between the four municipalities regarding their individual development projects? What type of risks present themselves in the FGTE project, in regard to the four municipalities as well as to the small university? In this chapter, we will critically examine how these development projects unfold in the groups within the duration of the FGTE project. Results show that difficulties arise when professionals from dif

Previous research has shown an increased student interest and enhanced learning when the school sciencecontent is related to other familiar contexts. This is particularly evident in intervention studies, whichaim to integrate the school science content with students’ everyday life. In this article, we analyse howteachers, in authentic situations, relate science content presented in lesson introductions to other contextssuch as everyday life or other school subjects. The data consists of observations of lesson introductionsin grade nine, from six different schools, in all eight hours of video recordings. The results point tothat teachers adopt a variety of ways in order to integrate the science content to other contexts, such asrelating to students’ everyday life, to different language perspectives or to other school subjects and therebyinitiate hybrid contexts. However, the results indicate that the teachers in this study initiate hybridcontexts to a low extent and seemingly ad hoc, in the moment. It is likely to believe that if students are tobenefit from contextualization as a means for enhancing interest and learning, learning activities need torelate science content to other relevant contexts in a more comprehensive way.

Research topic/aim: The focus of this study is how professional research questions work as information between different levels across the school organization. The different questions aim to develop the children and students’ knowledge through the teachers and headmaster’s capacity building in a collaboration project. These questions are processed in a hierarchy from the regional overarching question, the municipalities’ to interpret the overarching question to a professional research questions and finally the schools create concrete professional research questions. At the school level are the final question processed and researched. Theoretical framework: The project is based on how to steer an organist through professional research question. Leadership is important and a challenge in a changing process in an organization (eg. Kotter, 1995). Moreover, a good communication between the participants are important if it shall be a development in the organization (eg. Harris & Jones 2015; Leithwood et al. 2017). The empirical data in this study are analyzed thought two theoretical frameworks in the border between the socio-cultural and the socio- constructivism. Within the socio-cultural field, since much of the focus is around participant in the school collaboration (Hornscheidt & Landqvist 2014, Vygotsky, 1978). However, the percipients must construct their understanding through interactions with the outside world (Ausubel, 1968; Leach & Scott, 2003; Piaget, 1964), when they interpret the question from the regional and municipality level. Methodology/research design: Empirical data was the focus of the meeting with the region and municipality. The participants’ final reports and final posters were collected at school level. Some of the data from meetings where schools collaborated with their critical friends were recorded and transcribed. All the questions on the tree (regional, municipal, school) different level were analyzed, and the issues in quest, Session VI - NW24

Elever i både svensk skola och internationellt har svårt att beskriva vad som händer med vattnet från det att en person dricker vatten tills dess att personen urinerar ut vätskan. Problematiken att beskrivningen av själva förloppet som även på en enkel makronivå kräver att personen kan förstå kopplingen mellan flera olika organsystem (minst matspjälkning-, cirkulations- och utsöndringssystemet). I ett flertal studier har det även påvisats att det finns flera olika ickevetenskapliga förklaringsmodeller som elever men även vuxna använder sig av då de skall förklara vad som händer med vattnet i kroppen. Andra studier visar att det är övergångarna mellan organsystemen som gör att förståelsen blir problematisk inte minst för att förklaringen kräver en kunskap i det icke synliga, dvs mikronivåer. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka förkunskaper som studenterna på grundlärarprogrammen har om vattnets väg genom kroppen då de börjar läsa kurserna i naturvetenskap och vad de har för intentioner, dvs. vad de anser eller tror är viktigt kunskap, då de i ett senare läge skall undervisa. Empirin till denna studie är insamlad i en grupp av lärarstudenter inriktning åk f-3 och en annan grupp med inriktning åk 4-6. Informationen är insamlad via en enkät som består av en ritad figur där studenterna ritar och beskriver vad de tror händer i kroppen från det att de dricker vatten tills det att vätskan urineras ut. Därutöver finns det även på samma enkät ett antal kunskapsfrågor med flervalsalternativ samt några öppna frågor som knyter an till deras blivande profession som lärare. Analys och sammanställning av enkäten pågår i skrivande stund och kommer att redovisas på konferensen.

In 2017, a regional cooperation project was initiated with four municipalities and Halmstad University, called From Great to Excellence (FGTE), that aimed at reducing the gap between children/pupils capacity and performance. The project is planned to run for five years, and participants are persons active in schools and preschools at different levels within the school practice. Within the FGTE project, the participants perform different development projects in cooperation across the municipal boundaries, where they act as critical friends for each other in order to drive each project forward. Parallel with these activities, follow-up research on the project is conducted that focuses on different parts of the collaborative process. In this study we have concentrated on the participants' work with their respective research processes. The overall aim is to investigate the way in which research questions- and the ability to answer these - are developed by the participants through collaborative projects across municipal boundaries. The question we ask is "How does a (research-) question change through a collaborative process?" School development projects are carried out both at national and international level (e. g. Sales, Moliner & Amat, 2017; Adolfsson & Håkansson, 2015). In this study, the focus is both on regional cooperation and more specifically on the research questions of the participating groups. Theoretical framework The theoretical framework in this study is situated within the socio-cultural field, since much of the focus is around the collaboration between the participants. Conversation is an arena for developing knowledge and by supporting and challenging each other's pronounced thoughts, prerequisites for development of knowledge are given (Vygotsky, 1978). Methodological design The empirical material for the present study consists partly of the work material from a workshop where the participants' research questions were processed, partly by the

Research indicates, that despite increased access and improved technical arte­facts, few teachers have integrated ICT in the curriculum in a way that leads to significant changes in classroom practice. This paper reports on a project where 19 preservice teachers were provided with a reflective tool (T-CoRe) in order to systematically encourage reflection on why and how to use digital technologies in their science teaching. The project aimed to capture and understand aspects of preservice teachers TPACK while planning for teaching particular science topic. The results indicate that working with the T-CoRe has the potential of helping preservice teachers conceptualise their TPACK and make explicit the different dimensions of, and links between, knowledge of content, teaching, and learning about a topic through the use of digital technologies.

Research topic/aim In 2017, a regional cooperation project was initiated with four municipalities and Halmstad University, called From Great to Excellence (FGTE). The project is planned to run for five years, and participants are persons active in schools and preschools at different levels within the school practice. Within the FGTE project, the participants perform different development projects in cooperation across the municipal boundaries, where they act as critical friends for each other in order to drive each project forward (see e.g. Sales, Moliner, & Amat, 2017). In this study we have focus on the utilization of knowledge acquired in groups in participants own school context. The question we ask is “How is transfer of knowledge from group work to own practice perceived by participants participating in a course about research methodology? Theoretical framework The theoretical framework in this study is situated within the socio-cultural field, since much of the focus is around the collaboration between the participants. Conversation is an arena for developing knowledge and by supporting and challenging each other's pronounced thoughts, prerequisites for development of knowledge are given (Vygotsky, 1978). Methodological design The empirical material for the present study consists of a questionnaire disseminated to the participants after they had completed the course. A total number of 57 questionnaires were collected which counts for about 65-70 percent of the total number of participants. The questionnaires were analyzed with SPSS factor analysis to detect underlying variables. Expected conclusions/findings Preliminary results show that, while expecting quite the opposite, by using factor analysis, a strong negative relation between, on one hand, the variable “the usage of research methodology has developed in the group”, and on the other hand, the variables “I have increased my ability to use new analytical concepts in my practise and “I have increas

Previous research studies have pointed to the benefits of involving students’ everyday life experiences for enhanced learning and positive attitudes towards school science. This study explores in what ways teachers relate other contexts to the school science context as a means to facilitate the negotiation of the presented scientific content. This means that we explore how teachers introduce other societal contexts (e.g. references to media or a narrative) and by that create hybrid contexts when introducing their science lessons. In all, 490 minutes of lesson introduction in Swedish grade nine classes were analyzed. The results reveal that the number of situations where the teachers created hybrid contexts was low, only 67 situations. However, if categorizing the situations these could be referred into five main categories, media, narratives, everyday-life experiences, linguistic references and other school subjects. The most common way to use hybrid contexts was to refer to every-day life. Only two references to actual topics in media were found indicating that the lesson introductions are far from considering the relation between science, news reporting and current novelties. However, the most striking results from this study are the absence of other contexts and hybrid contexts when introducing the science content., Poster Session II: number P7.2.2.2

A large challenge in most western schools is to enhance and stimulate students’ engagement and motivation to learn science. The lack of interest is evident in several large-scale studies where students express negative attitudes towards learning science. However, Hässler and Hoffman (2000) show that the issue of interest is more complex, as the students in their study expressed negative attitudes towards school science but appeared positive towards science in a popular and practical context. Furthermore, Cerinin et al (2003) concluded an increased interest for science education among students when teaching also includes societal references and connections to students’ everyday lives. This means that teachers need to take into consideration also other contexts than the school science context and by that create hybrid contexts as a resource for science learning. The question is to what extent and in what ways science teachers in lower secondary school manage to involve other contexts when introducing science lessons. In this study we are therefore interested in exploring in what ways teachers employ and relate other contexts to the school science context in order to facilitate the negotiation of the science content. This means that we explore how teachers introduce other societal contexts such as for example references to media or a narrative when introducing their science lessons and by that create hybrid contexts. The notion of hybrid contexts is inspired by Kambrelis and Wehunt (2012) who describe hybrid discourses as teachers’ use of words and expressions that may belong to different discourses depending on the framing. This study instead aims to identify situations where teachers use not only words and expressions outside the science discourse but also introduce other contexts than school science and by that create hybrid contexts. © 2016 by Research Centre on Child Studies (CIEC)

Grade 9 students’ ideas of the pathway of food, water and painkiller were investigated. We found differences in pattern especially among the students with nonscientific explanations models. Concerning water: In the Swedish study does students described a tube transporting water from the mouth directly to the kidneys (~25% of the students). But in South African students who describe that water from the mouth passes through the lungs further to the stomach (~50% of the students)

This paper is based on an interest in increasing the understanding of trends regarding Swedish students ́ knowledge in science by exploring the relation between results of large-scale studies (PISA and TIMSS) and how science teaching and learning are constituted in different school environments. Previous large scale studies point to an explicit downward trend in Swedish students ́ performances in science over the last decade. Our analyses indicate that a reinforced knowledge segregation of Swedish schools and declining results among low- and mid-ranged performers explains a main part of the trend. In this paper we analyze how this trend could be related to and visible in different activities in a science classroom perspective in Sweden today. This means to analyze the use of language and science classroom discourse, in theoretical and practical parts of the classroom activities. In addition, it involves exploring different school areas which have either a large proportions of high achievers or low performers or areas that experienced a substantial improvement or decline during this period. The purpose is to analyze the empirical material which comprises examples of teaching and learning sequences, in a selection of these different schools areas. Our expectations are to increase the understanding of how national trends from large-scale studies are constituted and become explicit, distinguish success and decline factors and identify suggestions of practical action programs for science teaching.

Many studies within educational research seek to investigate students’ dialogues for studying learning situations. One difficulty is however to approach students’ discussions in action. In this paper we discuss the possibilities of using spy glasses in order to capture both students’ talk and their actions in the science classroom. This methodological approach makes it possible to come close to all students’ actions when working in small groups or doing laboratory work. This means that the spy glasses register their discussions with each other but also what they are doing with the laboratory equipment, what they write or what they focus on in a written text. This methodological approach provides a very rich data material and many hours of recordings for one single lesson. In order to approach the comprehensive data material we suggest clear analytic foci and iterated analytic phases. The preliminary results show that spy glasses can be an important analytic tool for capturing student dialogues and studying learning situations in the classroom.

The study investigates science teachers’ use of analogies in lesson introductions for 9th grade students and focuses on the level of abstraction and the extent of using analogies. Furthermore we compare the teachers’ lesson introductions and use of analogies from the perspective of high and low performing schools. Our preliminary results point to richer use of analogies in high performing schools. There seem also to be differences in what kind of analogies that are used., Ej belagd 20151110

Analyses of students’ ideas about the organ system in the human body and how these relate to their thoughts about living a healthy life are presented. The study concerns 9th grade students (15/16 years) in Sweden. The empirical data consists of drawings and answers to written questions, both open and multiple-choice, and interviews with students and teachers. Comparing explanations of a well known scenario (eating a sandwich) to other that are less often discussed (taking a painkiller and drinking water) we report that it is difficult for the students to transfer knowledge of pathways in the digestive system shown in explanations of the sandwich-scenario to the other scenarios. Most difficulties are shown for explanations of the drinking of water, since these explanations require connection of three different organ systems . More than half of the interviewed students believed that there is nutritious substance in water, but most of them were unable to specify what it would be. The students with the most developed understanding of the painkiller pathway were satisfied with taking medical substances to elude pain, and were not interested in other alternatives. © 2012, European Journal of Health and Biology Education

In both Sweden and South Africa, the science curriculum for the secondary level emphasizes learning about the functioning of the human body. Both curricula also emphasize the importance of living a healthy life. In this paper the focus is on how students’ ideas about the human body are constituted in explanations of three different scenarios, and in what way the students are transferring explanations between these scenarios. The study surveyed 161 9th grade students in five different schools in South Africa, and discusses the results in perspective of a previous study involving 88 students in Sweden. In both countries issues about body and health are discussed in several different subjects in school. The same data collection methods were used in both countries: drawings, written questions (open-ended and multiple-choice items), and interviews with selected students. The questions emerge from three scenarios: what happens in the body when you eat an open sandwich, drink water, and swallow a painkiller. We report that it is difficult for the students to horizontally transfer knowledge of the digestive system to other less well-known scenarios. In comparing the use of three systems in the painkiller-scenario to the horizontal transfer between the sandwich- and the painkiller-scenarios we see that the difference is much less pronounced in South African results compared to the Swedish study. There are more similarities than differences between the results of this South Africa study and results obtained in Europe, but there are also differences especially with regard to non-scientific ideas about the human body.

In schools and in society it is argued about the importance of living a healthy life. The discus-sions are often focusing on different kinds of food. In this paper the focus is on students’ knowledge about the human body and how this is related to their thoughts about living a healthy life. 88 students in 9:th grade, in one Swedish school, were involved in the study. The study contains drawings and written questions, both open and multiple- choice, and interviews with students and teachers. We report that it is possible for the pupils to transfer knowledge from one context to another, (sandwich and painkiller) concerning pathways in the digestive system. But it is harder for them to connect different organ systems in their explanations, e.g. water's path through the body. More than half of the interviewed pupils believed that there is nutrition in water, but most of them were unable to specify what this nutrition consists of. It was also found that a few students believed that the body stores nutrition and energy when they skip a meal.

In both Sweden and South Africa, the science curriculum for the secondary level emphasizes learning about the functioning of the human body. Both curricula also emphasize the importance of living a healthy life. In this paper the focus is on how students’ ideas about the human body are constituted in explanations of three different scenarios, and in what way the students are transferring explanations between these scenarios. The study surveyed 161 9th grade students in five different schools in South Africa, and discusses the results in perspective of a previous study involving 88 students in Sweden. In both countries issues about body and health are discussed in several different subjects in school. The same data collection methods were used in both countries: drawings, written questions (open-ended and multiple-choice items), and interviews with selected students. The questions emerge from three scenarios: what happens in the body when you eat an open sandwich, drink water, and swallow a painkiller. We report that it is difficult for the students to horizontally transfer knowledge of the digestive system to other less well-known scenarios. In comparing the use of three systems in the painkiller-scenario to the horizontal transfer between the sandwichand the painkiller-scenarios we see that the difference is much less pronounced in South African results compared to the Swedish study. There are more similarities than differences between the results of this South Africa study and results obtained in Europe, but there are also differences especially with regard to non-scientific ideas about the human body.

Analyses of students’ ideas about the organ system in the human body and how these relate to their thoughts about living a healthy life are presented. The study concerns 9:th grade students (15/16 years) in Sweden. The empirical data consists of drawings and answers to written questions, both open and multiple-choice, and interviews with students and teachers. Comparing explanations of a well known scenario (eating a sandwich) to other that are less often discussed (taking a painkiller and drinking water) we report that it is difficult for the students to transfer knowledge of pathways in the digestive system shown in explanations of the sandwich-scenario to the other scenarios. Most difficulties are shown for explanations of the drinking of water, since these explanations require connection of three different organ systems. More than half of the interviewed students believed that there is nutritious substance in water, but most of them were unable to specify what it would be. The students with the most developed understanding of the painkiller pathway were satisfied with taking medical substances to elude pain, and were not interested in other alternatives.

In both Sweden and South Africa, the science curriculum for the secondary level emphasizes learning about the functioning of the human body. Both curricula also emphasize the importance of living a healthy life. In this paper the focus is on how students’ ideas about the human body are constituted in explanations of three different scenarios, and in what way the students are transferring explanations between these scenarios. The study surveyed 161 9th grade students in five different schools in South Africa, and discusses the results in perspective of a previous study involving 88 students in Sweden. In both countries issues about body and health are discussed in several different subjects in school. The same data collection methods were used in both countries: drawings, written questions (open-ended and multiple-choice items), and interviews with selected students. The questions emerge from three scenarios: what happens in the body when you eat an open sandwich, drink water, and swallow a painkiller. We report that it is difficult for the students to horizontally transfer knowledge of the digestive system to other less well-known scenarios. In comparing the use of three systems in the painkiller-scenario to the horizontal transfer between the sandwichand the painkiller-scenarios we see that the difference is much less pronounced in South African results compared to the Swedish study. There are more similarities than differences between the results of this South Africa study and results obtained in Europe, but there are also differences especially with regard to non-scientific ideas about the human body.

In both Sweden and South Africa, the science curriculum for the secondary level emphasizes learning about the functioning of the human body. Both curricula also emphasize the importance of living a healthy life. In this paper the focus is on how students’ ideas about the human body are constituted in explanations of three different scenarios, and in what way the students are transferring explanations between these scenarios. The study surveyed 161 9th grade students in five different schools in South Africa, and discusses the results in perspective of a previous study involving 88 students in Sweden. In both countries issues about body and health are discussed in several different subjects in school. The same data collection methods were used in both countries: drawings, written questions (open-ended and multiple-choice items), and interviews with selected students. The questions emerge from three scenarios: what happens in the body when you eat an open sandwich, drink water, and swallow a painkiller. We report that it is difficult for the students to horizontally transfer knowledge of the digestive system to other less well-known scenarios. In comparing the use of three systems in the painkiller-scenario to the horizontal transfer between the sandwichand the painkiller-scenarios we see that the difference is much less pronounced in South African results compared to the Swedish study. There are more similarities than differences between the results of this South Africa study and results obtained in Europe, but there are also differences especially with regard to non-scientific ideas about the human body.