published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration, and basic ecological concepts like energy flow in ecosystems. There are successful teaching units accomplished in this area and many of them can be described as inquiry-based teaching. One definition of inquiry-based teaching is that it involves everything from finding problems, investigating them, debating with peers and trying to explain and give solutions. Accordingly students need to be confronted with challenging questions and empirical data to reason about and teachers need to implement student-generated inquiry discussion since students often stay silent and do not express their thoughts during science lessons. This thesis will focus on young peoples’ understanding of the functioning of plants, students’ participation during biology lessons, and how biology teaching is accomplished in primary and secondary school. Two school classroom projects focusing on teaching about plants and ecology are described. Four teachers and their 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes plus two science teachers and their three 8th grade classes collaborated. Photosynthesis and respiration were made concrete by using tasks where plants, plant cells, germs, seeds and the gas exchange were used. The aim was to listen to students’ reasoning in both teaching and interview situations. Learning outcome, as described by students’ reasoning in the classrooms and in individual interviews but also by their test results, is especially focused. Student-student and student-teacher interactions have been analysed with an ethnographic approach in the classroom context. The plant tasks encouraged the students’ in primary school to develop scientific reasoning and the interviews confirmed that the students had learned about photosynthesis. The ecology teaching in secondary school showed a substantial understanding confirmed both by students’ oral and written reasoning. Analyses of test results and understanding as presented in interviews did not always correspond. The interviews showed the importance of letting students try to explain concepts and to correct themselves. Primary students’ reasoning and understanding about photosynthesis were in the interviews almost the same as the secondary students’. The secondary students’ questioning during the lectures showed wonderments and interest for ecology from a broader view than in the content presented by the teachers and the textbooks, but the large classes and disruptive students stole too much time from the teachers’ management in the classroom. Students’ knowledge was underestimated and their interest in ecology faded away. / Tidigare forskning visar att elever har svårigheter att förstå processer som fotosyntes, cellandning och ekologiska samband, såsom energiflöden i ekosystem. Lyckosamma undervisningsprojekt inom det här området kan ofta beskrivas som ”inquiry-based”. Ett sätt att definiera ”inquiry-based” är att det innefattar allt ifrån att hitta problem, undersöka dem, debattera med andra elever och till att försöka förklara och ge lösningar. Utifrån detta visas att elever behöver bli konfronterade med utmanande frågor och empiriska data att resonera utifrån. Lärarna behöver också arbeta med att föra in studentdiskussioner eftersom det visat sig att många elever ofta är tysta och inte uttrycker sina tankar och spekulationer under NO-lektionerna. Den här avhandlingen fokuserar på elevernas förståelse av växternas funktion, elevernas deltagande under biologilektionerna och på hur biologiundervisning genomförs i mellan- och högstadiet. Två skolprojekt med fokus på växter och ekologi beskrivs. Fyra klasslärare och deras klasser i årskurs 4, 5 och 6, plus två NO-lärare och deras tre klasser i årskurs 8 samarbetade. Fotosyntes och cellandning konkretiserades med hjälp av växter, växtceller, groddar, frön och några gas-utbytesreaktioner. Syftet var att lyssna på vad eleverna resonerade om, både i undervisningssituationer och vid intervju. Elevernas förståelse utifrån deras resonerande men också utifrån deras testresultat fokuserades. Elev-elev- och elev-lärarinteraktioner analyserades med hjälp av en etnografisk ansats i klassrums-kontexten. Uppgifterna med konkret växtmaterial uppmuntrade mellanstadieeleverna att utveckla ett naturvetenskapligt resonerande och intervjuerna bekräftade att eleverna hade lärt sig om fotosyntes. Ekologiundervisningen på högstadiet resulterade i en påtaglig förståelse, som bekräftades utifrån elevernas muntliga och skriftliga resonerande. Analysen av förståelse visad i provresultat och vid intervju överensstämde inte alltid. Intervjuerna visade betydelsen av att låta eleverna både få förklara begrepp och att rätta sig själva i sina förklaringar. I intervjusituationen visade det sig att mellanstadieelevernas resonerande och förståelse av fotosyntes gott kunde mäta sig med högstadieelevernas. Elevernas sätt att ställa frågor under lektionsgenomgångarna visade på funderingar och ett intresse för ekologi, som hade en större bredd än det innehåll som lärare och lärobok presenterade, men stora klasser och störande elever stal alldeles för mycket av lärarens tid för att det skulle vara möjligt att genomföra bra undervisning i klassrummet. Elevernas kunskaper underskattades och deras intresse tonade bort.

This research was purposed to discover how students perceived the impact of participation or lack of participation in school music classes on their global school experiences during secondary school. The research stemmed from concern that recent focus on state and federal mandates may have resulted in a return to educational policies that discount consideration of student experience. All choir students (N = 160) at a large university in the southeastern United States comprised the participant population for the initial screening questionnaire, with 135 students returning completed surveys. Questionnaire results informed the purposeful sampling of 16 students in six focus groups. The focus-group responses guided the selection of the six students from the focus groups to participate in one 30-45 minute individual interview. The researcher-designed screening questionnaire was a structured survey with open-ended and closed questions (Creswell, 2012; Markus & Nurius, 1986). The interview instruments had guiding questions based on the phenomenological suggestions of Moustakas (1994). The resulting information is in narrative form. Analysis, beginning with the data generated by the questionnaire, was ongoing throughout the study. Hallam’s (2002) motivational model positing the malleable aspects of the personality such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, possible selves, and the ideal self anchored the final analysis. Students reflected on the overarching question, “Did involvement or lack of involvement in school music affect students’ perceptions of the global school experience and extra-musical success?” The findings support the premise that participation in school music can have a positive affect on students’ comprehensive school experience extending to a sense of community, increased self-confidence and leadership, enhanced learning in non-music classes, and a time of relief from academic stress. At-risk students described the ameliorating effects of music participation on their challenging life situations. An ancillary finding was that many students were advised to discontinue music classes to take advanced academic classes, rather than for remediation. These results of this study may provide a useful tool for advocacy. Future research could investigate whether participation in music classes promotes learning and memory consolidation of academic knowledge by providing divergent learning tasks that stimulate new modes of thinking.

The number of female secondary school students in Mozambique is very low. Different reasons are stated for this, but mainly that the students’ parents believe that education is better suited for boys than girls. Furthermore, the students who do attend education might face a low quality of education, lack of proper hygiene facilities, and run the risk of being sexually abused by teachers at school. This study took place at two schools in Maputo and the aim of this study was to find out how students in Maputo regard their secondary education and what factors they believe can affect their education. The main focus was on the female students, since they are the ones most likely having trouble with attending education. However, some data were collected from male students in order to make a limited comparison. Furthermore, some teachers and officials have also been interviewed and thus given their views on the issues. Most of the students’ future plans were to get into university in order to get a good job with a high salary. However, some wanted to get a job directly after secondary education. Regarding their present education, the use of alcohol and drugs in school, money, and the teachers’ handling of marks were brought up as problems. The students gave examples of how their fellow students drink and do drugs within the school area, but also on how they work with campaigns and meetings in order to prevent and stop it. The issue of money was mostly connected to the possibility and difficulty of entering university. These difficulties were also connected to the low number of places available at each course at the university and the students’ inability to pay the high fees. In the race for entering university, it was important to have good marks. However, the handling of marks was not always done in a professional way by the teachers. The students gave examples of how teachers demand money or sexual favours in exchange for good marks, and they were aware of the consequences of offering such sexual favours and provided many solutions to get rid of the problem. One solution was to avoid dressing ‘sexy’, while others were to start campaigns, meetings or groups where these issues are discussed. The teachers’ view was that Mozambican education faces many difficulties, such as too many students, lack of properly built schools, lack of material and the students’ lack of motivation. The teachers acknowledged that there is a problem of teachers abusing female students sexually, or selling marks to students, and emphasised that teachers have to follow the ethics of their profession. Much information on female education in Mozambique was provided by the ONP, the Ministry of Education and the Board of Education in the City of Maputo, where it was discovered that the number of female students in the city of Maputo is actually equal to the number of male student, despite the disparity in the country. Some of the teachers as well as the officials claimed that the issue of sexual abuse is most common in the countryside. However, the students’ awareness and experiences of the problem imply that it exists in Maputo as well, and that the students have the possibility to do something about it. Furthermore, it is evident through campaigns and work done by organisations and authorities that it is considered a problem which has to be stopped. Moreover, concerning all the issues the students find problematic, most of them show awareness and strength and will to change things for the better. Hence, when working for improving education and especially regarding the issues brought up by the students, it is important to listen to the students’ ideas and let them participate.

This degree project has studied how a changed preparation affected students' outcome of a laboratory exercise. Through use of cognitive load theory and sociocultural theory a guided writing of summary was designed. Students in secondary school were let to prepare for a laboratory exercise through a traditional teacher led introduction or the guided writing of summary. Data was collected as observations, worksheets, tests and evaluations. Results suggest that the guided writing of summary facilitated a construction of cognitive schema supporting students' method. This made them follow instructions and understand purpose of the laboratory exercise before and during the exercise in a better way than students preparing through a teacher led introduction. Furthermore students' perception of aim of the exercise shifted from theoretical work afterwards to theoretical work before and practical work during the exercise. This shows an improved understanding of links between theory and practice. / Detta examensarbete har studerat hur en förändrad förberedelse påverkade elevers utfall av en laborationsövning. Med stöd av kognitiv belastningsteori och sociokulturell teori designades ett väglett skrivande av sammanfattning. Studenter, i motsvarande grundskolans senare år, fick förbereda sig för en laboration genom en traditionell lärarledd introduktion eller det vägledda skrivandet av sammanfattning. Data samlades in i form av observationer, arbetshäften, tester och utvärderingar. Resultatet tyder på att den vägledda skriftliga sammanfattningen underlättade för en konstruktion av kognitivt schema vilket undelättade elevernas metod. Detta gjorde att de följde instruktioner och förstod mening med laborationen före och under denna på ett bättre sätt än elever som förberedde sig med en lärarledd introduktion. Vidare ändrades elevernas uppfattning om målet med laborationen från teoretiskt arbete efter övningen till teoretiskt arbete före och praktiskt arbete under laborationen. Detta visade på en ökad förståelse av kopplingar mellan teori och praktik.