Phenomenography: from critical aspects to knowledge claim

In this description of phenomenography, we take a functional view of the theoretical underpinnings that have traditionally been used to support its trustworthiness as a qualitative research approach. The chapter has two objectives, first to serve as an introduction for those considering embarking on research with a phenomenographic framing, and second to enable the recognition of the quality and scope of the knowledge claim inherent in phenomenographic outcomes

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

Criminal Law: Customer’s Permanent Exclusion From Retail Store Due to Prior Shoplifting Arrests Held Enforceable Under Criminal Trespass Statute

In interpretive research, trustworthiness has developed to become an important alternative for measuring the value of research and its effects, as well as leading the way of providing for rigour in the research process. The article develops the argument that trustworthiness plays an important role in not only effecting change in a research project’s original setting, but also that trustworthy research contributes toward building a body of knowledge that can play an important role in societal change. An essential aspect in the development of this trustworthiness is its relationship to context. To deal with the multiplicity of meanings of context, we distinguish between contexts at different levels of the research project: the domains of the researcher, the collective, and the individual participant. Furthermore, we argue that depending on the primary purpose associated with the collective learning potential, critical potential, or performative potential of phenomenographic research, developing trustworthiness may take different forms and is related to aspects of pedagogical legitimacy, social legitimacy, and epistemological legitimacy. Trustworthiness in phenomenographic research is further analysed by distinguishing between the internal horizon – the constitution of trustworthiness as it takes place within the research project – and the external horizon, which points to the impact of the phenomenographic project in the world mediated by trustworthiness

Technological literacy reconsidered: a model for enactment

The final publication is available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10798-009-9108-6.This paper presents a model to describe technological literacy as enacted by individuals in the course of shaping their lives and the world around them. The model has two interrelated facets – the potential for and enactment of technological literacy – where enactment and potential mutually constitute each other. This potential is made up of knowledge of a particular situation, personal engagement with a situation, and social engagement in the world. Enactment requires a particular set of competencies in action, which together helps shape the situation: recognizing needs; articulating problems; contributing towards the technological process; and analysing consequences. The implications of this model for technological literacy in the context of the individual and society, and the role of technology education in developing technological literacy, are discussed

Phenomenographic perspectives on the learning experience and process in higher education physics

The focus of phenomenographic research has been the experience of learning (Marton & Säljö, 1976a; Marton & Säljö, 1976b; Säljö, 1979; Marton et al., 1984/1997; Booth, 1997; Marton & Booth, 1997; Pang, 2003). Drawing on our recent research into the process of learning in higher education physics contexts, we present a discussion of the experience and process of learning, and perspectives from which it can be analysed and understood that emerge from the phenomenographic tradition. First we will relate our empirical work, then elaborate on it as an example of a study of learning. Then we will enter into a reflection on phenomenography as a research approach for the 21st century, in the delimited field of researching learning and teaching practices in higher education, and make an argument that phenomenography has a role to play in the transformative processes demanded by a changing society.Presented at the Higher Education Close-Up conference (HECU4), Cape Town, June 200

Enhancing formal learning in informal learning settings – Considerations for teachers and guides

An encounter with a phenomenon in a science center exhibit can provoke many questions and discussions among the visitors. Interaction with a guide can enhance the experience and help the visitors develop a deeper understanding and see more connections to other phenomena. The outcome of the discussions depend on the visitors, but also on the guide's strategy. This paper builds on empirical material in more formal learning situations, but with relevance for interactions e.g. in a science center. We first consider formal learning outcomes based on informal learning experiences in an amusement park. We then consider tutor preparation and tutor choices, with respect to entering in the dialogue, engaging with the students and finally, ending the teaching interaction. We find that an alliance between formal and informal learning situations can be mutually beneficial.Fourth Nordic Network of Researchers in Science Communication Symposium (NNORSC-4): The Necessity of Increased Cooperation Between the Researchers and Science Centres, Flensburg, Germany, June 200