On Young People’s Experience of Systems in Technology

Immersed in a technologically complex world, young people make sense of a multi-faceted set of events in everyday life. This article investigates the variation in how Swedish young people experience technological systems and is based on interviews focusing three systems concerning transport, energy and communication – contextualised in relation to bananas, electricity, and mobile phones. A phenomenographic analysis results in five qualitatively distinct categories, describing different ways of understanding technological systems: Using single components, Using the system output, Influencing the system, Interacting with the system, and Integrating thesystem. The results support that different ways of understanding technological systems implies different ways of understanding the complex nature of technology. The results also point to possible ways of developing teaching for technological citizenship

On Young People’s Experience of Systems in Technology

Immersed in a technologically complex world, young people make sense of a multi-faceted set of events in everyday life. This article investigates the variation in how Swedish young people experience technological systems and is based on interviews focusing three systems concerning transport, energy and communication – contextualised in relation to bananas, electricity, and mobile phones. A phenomenographic analysis results in five qualitatively distinct categories, describing different ways of understanding technological systems: Using single components, Using the system output, Influencing the system, Interacting with the system, and Integrating the system. The results support that different ways of understanding technological systems implies different ways of understanding the complex nature of technology. The results also point to possible ways of developing teaching for technological citizenship

De nationella proven i NO åk 6. Skillnader i resultat mellan olika grupper

In the spring of 2013 national tests in biology, physics and chemistry in grade 6 were implemented for the first time in Sweden. Data collected in connection to the tests are used to analyse student performance at different levels. This paper reports on differences in performance in biology, physics and chemistry between teaching groups, as well as differences in results related to gender and Swedish / Swedish as a second language. Comparisons are also made with results from TIMSS 2011, which tested the same group of students. Analyses were carried out with the aim to discuss equity in science education in Swedish schools. Overall, the results indicate that differences in student performance related to teaching group have increased since 2011 and that differences depending on the linguistic background are considerable. Additionally, girls perform better than boys in all science subjects. All these differences are large enough to be paid attention to on political levels and by principals and teachers. Both overall structural changes and changes in teaching and learning activities in schools are needed to increase equity in science education

Бюллетень новых поступлений за ноябрь 2012 года

Background: There is a need to improve design in educational programmes for the health sciences in general and in pharmacology specifically. The objective of this study was to investigate and problematize pharmacological communication in educational programmes for the health sciences. Methods: An interview study was carried out where final semester students from programmes for the medical, nursing and specialist nursing in primary health care professions were asked to discuss the pharmacological aspects of two written case descriptions of the kind they would meet in their everyday work. The study focused on the communication they envisaged taking place on the concerns the patients were voicing, in terms of two features: how communication would take place and what would be the content of the communication. A phenomenographic research approach was used. Results: The results are presented as outcome spaces, sets of categories that describe the variation of ways in which the students voiced their understanding of communication in the two case descriptions and showed the qualitatively distinct ways in which the features of communication were experienced. Conclusions: The results offer a base of understanding the students perspectives on communication that they will take with them into their professional lives. We indicate that there is room for strengthening communication skills in the field of pharmacology, integrating them into programmes of education, by more widely implementing a problem-based, a case-oriented or role-playing pedagogy where final year students work across specialisations and there is a deliberate effort to evoke and assess advanced conceptions and skills.Funding Agencies|Department of Pedagogical; County Council Ostergotland [LIO-198671]; Mellon Foundation at the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa</p

Towards a Student Systems Thinking Inventory: Defining ‘Qualities of Knowledge’ about Technological Systems

Assessment of students’ technological knowledge is a challenge for teachers. This stems not only from the inherent complexity of technological knowledge but also from the short history of technology education and its assessment practices. Furthermore, technological systems as a curriculum component is complex, under-developed and under-researched. The aim of this study is to investigate ‘qualities of knowledge’ about technological systems, by constructing and evaluating with students in secondary education a test instrument about water supply and sewerage. The test instrument was distributed to 32 students in a Swedish grade eight class (14-15 year olds), and data analysis was carried out using a qualitative, hermeneutic method. The findings show that the students’ qualities of knowledge regarding the overall structure of the systems was quite advanced, but the systems or the societal context were not elaborated upon with any detail. The purpose of the system could be connected to humans and society, but students did not offer a definition of the overall purpose. The flows that the students described were only of matter (water, wastewater) but not energy or information. The system boundary was also elusive, except for waste coming out of the sewer system and other environmental consequences. Thus, the test instrument “worked” in the sense that it was possible to gauge students’ qualities of knowledge, especially regarding system structure, but the validity might need to be improved with respect to some system aspects

Några uppgifter som belyser elevers uppfattningar om vad som är teknik

Discussions about technological literacy have resulted in statements about the technological literate citizen who should recognize technology as something that permeates modern society and should be able to differentiate between nature (shaped by evolution) and technology (shaped by humans). Earlier studies show that pupils express rather limited views of technology, often as modern tools (computers) and isolated from human needs. In the light of these results we wondered if Swedish pupils differentiate between technology and nature, what they view as examples of technology and if they recognize technology as an old enterprise. Our study involved 150-200 pupils in school year 7-9 who answered three questions individually in writing. The results indicate that the pupils in our group differentiate between technology and nature but many of them express limited views of what technology is. Common everyday products are regarded as technology by a minority. Furthermore several pupils seemed to regard technology as a recent activity, for example a stone axe was agreed to be technology by less than half the group and about 1/5 of the group agreed that ’technology is something rather new that only has existed a few hundred years’. Some possible implications of these results are discussed