During the last several decades, mathematics reform has emphasized the goal of ensuring that students develop both conceptual and procedural understanding in mathematics. The current mathematics reform, Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers [NGA Center & CCSSO], 2010), promotes this goal, with procedural knowledge building upon a strong conceptual base. This study uses content analysis to investigate the extent and ways in which Houghton Mifflin Harcourts Go Math! K-8 (HMH, 2016) supports teachers in building procedural fluency from conceptual understanding when teaching equivalence of fractions.Krippendorfs (1980) framework for content analysis guided this study. I identified a priori codes, and allowed for emergent codes, that characterize quality mathematical instruction. Careful analysis of the teacher editions of the textbook series revealed that, if the teacher instructions are to be followed with fidelity, students are not given opportunities to create and share their own strategies for solving tasks designed to help them learn equivalence of fractions. Neither are they given opportunities to make connections among strategies. All connections are introduced by the teacher. Although the teacher editions promote transitions from visual models to algorithms, they provide inconsistent use of problem-solving practice tasks and equal-sharing problems, two methods that are strongly supported by the research literature for developing procedural fluency from conceptual understanding in equivalence of fractions. Finally, the teacher materials include multiple instances in which the same or similar language and terms are used for mathematical and pedagogical practices found in mainstream research and professional literature, yet the practices were to be implemented in ways contrary to mainstream interpretations.Overall, Go Math! K-8 (HMH, 2016) provided little support to teachers in helping students build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding. A teacher-driven, rather than student-driven, approach to instruction was emphasized, thus minimizing opportunities for students to engage in the kinds of tasks and discourse recommended in the literature. The ways in which mathematical language and terms were implemented contrary to mainstream research interpretations can easily cause confusion among educators. The dearth of authentic problem-solving practice was inconsistent with quality mathematics instruction that supports students conceptual and procedural understanding.

Swedish students in grades 4 and 8 have maintained a consistent performance in natural science based on the TIMSS assessments conducted in 2019 and 2015. However, results from the Swedish School Inspectorate suggest a low level of interest among students in the subject of natural science. Students have expressed difficulty in understanding natural science subjects due to teachers frequently discussing abstract phenomena that are challenging to observe or visualize clearly. Despite memorizing information to meet subject objectives, pupils often lack a deeper comprehension of these scientific phenomena, resulting in a diminished interest in the subject. This litterary overwiev aims to address the question: What factors and methods are conducive to enhancing middle school pupils' conceptual understanding in natural science subjects? Eight diverse studies focused on students' conceptual understanding, or lack thereof, in natural science were analyzed. The outcomes highlighted three themes with a positive impact on pupils' conceptual understanding: the nature of the subject matter, teacher-related factors, and aspects of instructional content such as teaching methods. This study identifies methods and pedagogical choices that educators can utilize to improve pupils' conceptual understanding in a three step solution. Further discussion explores potential discrepancies between the new Swedish curriculum and such instructional approaches, questioning the coexistence of pupils' interest and knowledge in elementary science education.

Several studies have shown that many students have misconceptions and everyday concepts about evolution that prevent them from learning the theory of evolution. Previous research has also shown that biology teachers are not always aware of students’ difficulties or design education that challenges students’ conceptual understanding of evolution.  The purpose of this study is to develop knowledge about biology teachers’ evolution teaching, by describing which possible misunderstandings teachers identify that their students have and which teaching methods they use to identify and address these misunderstandings. The study also provides several examples of teaching strategies that could be used as a resource for teachers in their evolution teaching. Eight semi-structured interviews with Swedish biology teachers were conducted, where the majority teach at the upper secondary level.  The result shows that some biology teachers are aware of common misunderstandings in the theory of evolution, while others are not. A common misconception which most of the teachers raise is that their students express that individual organisms can adapt to the environment based on need. Evolutions is thus wrongly regarded as a need-driven process. Most biology teachers in the study do not use comprehensive methods, such as multiple-choice tests or assignments, to map students’ pre-understanding and potential misconceptions about evolution. An important conclusion from this study is that teachers need to design a student-orientated evolution education that takes a starting point from students’ misunderstandings, support students to develop their conceptual understanding and challenges prevailing misconceptions. A second important conclusion is that students together need to have the opportunity to discuss and compare everyday concepts with scientific explanatory models. / Åtskilliga studier har påvisat att flertalet elever har missuppfattningar och vardagsföreställningar inom evolution som motverkar deras inlärning av evolutionsteorin. Tidigare forskning har också kartlagt att biologilärare inte alltid är medvetna om elevers svårigheter eller utformar en evolutionsundervisning som utmanar elevers begreppsförståelse.  Denna studies syfte är utveckla kunskap kring biologilärares evolutionsundervisning, genom att beskriva vilka eventuella missförstånd som lärare urskiljer att deras elever har samt vilka undervisningsmetoder de använder sig av för att identifiera och adressera dessa missförstånd. Studien ger även flera exempel på undervisningsstrategier som skulle kunna utgöra en resurs för lärare i deras evolutionsundervisning. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med biologilärare genomfördes, där majoriteten undervisar på gymnasienivå.   Resultatet visar att en del biologilärare är medvetna om vanligt förekommande missförstånd i evolutionsteorin, medan andra inte är det. En vanlig missuppfattning som flertalet lärare lyfter är att deras elever ger uttryck för att enskilda individer kan anpassa sig till miljön för att det finns ett behov. Evolution betraktas därmed felaktigt som en behovsdriven process. Flertalet biologilärarna i studien använder sig inte heller av omfattande metoder, till exempel flervalstest eller inlämningsuppgifter, för att kartlägga elevers förförståelse och eventuella missuppfattningar inom evolution. En viktig slutsats från studien är att lärare behöver utforma en elevcentrerad evolutionsundervisning som tar sin utgångspunkt i elevers missförstånd, stödjer eleverna att utveckla deras begreppsförståelse samt utmanar rådande missuppfattningar. En andra viktig slutsats är att elever behöver få möjlighet att tillsammans diskutera och jämföra vardagliga med vetenskapliga förklaringsmodeller.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka, ur ett lärarperspektiv, vilka metoder som lärare tillämpar för främjandet av begreppsförståelse och stödjandet för elever med språklig sårbarhet i NO. För att uppfylla detta syfte formulerades två forskningsfrågor; Vilka arbetsmetoder lärare använder för att främja begreppsförståelse och hur lärare anpassar sin undervisning för att stödja elever med språklig sårbarhet. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för studien grundade sig på det sociokulturella perspektivet och synen på differentierat lärande. Studien genomfördes med kvantitativa och kvalitativa ansatser genom en enkätundersökning och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet indikerade att lärarna som medverkade i undersökningen använde varierande arbetsmetoder för att främja begreppsförståelse. Dessa metoder involverar praktiska aktiviteter, utomhusdidaktik, fältstudier och experiment samt diskussioner, vilka grundar sig på socialt samspel. Dessutom indikerar studien att lärare anpassar undervisningen för elever med språklig sårbarhet genom att skapa balans mellan utmaning och stöd i form av nivåanpassade uppgifter och samarbete med specialpedagoger. / The purpose of this study is to examine, from a teacher's perspective, the methods teachers employ to promote conceptual understanding and provide support for pupils with linguistic vulnerability in natural sciences. To fulfill this purpose, two research questions were formulated; What teaching methods teachers use to promote conceptual understanding, and how teachers adapt their instruction to support pupils with linguistic vulnerability. The theoretical framework for the study was based on the sociocultural perspective and the view of differentiated learning. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative approaches through a survey and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the teachers that have participated in the study use various teaching methods to promote conceptual understanding. These methods involve hands-on activities, outdoor teaching, field studies, and experiments, as well as discussions based on social interaction. Furthermore, the result indicates that teachers adapt instruction for pupils with linguistic vulnerability by creating a balance between challenge and support through leveled tasks and collaboration with special educators.

The aim of this study is to analyze how four teachers work with verbal scaffolding during text talk to develop pupils' conceptual understanding in fourth grade. There are five forms of verbal scaffolding that the study focuses on. This study answers the following questions: What specific strategies does the teacher use to develop conceptual understanding? How does the teacher apply verbal scaffolding during text talk?   The questions are answered by two qualitative methods, classroom observations and interviews with the four participant teachers. The two methods interact with a shared focus directed on answering the study’s questions. The purpose of the observations was to have a focus on how the teachers used verbal scaffolding during text talk to develop pupils’ conceptual understanding. However, during the interviews, the teachers had the opportunity to express their own perception of their teaching. The study's theoretical framework is based on the concept scaffolding. To make the analysis more concrete, scaffolding has been categorized into five forms of verbal scaffolding. The result showed that all the teachers apply the different categorized verbal scaffolding during the text-talks, although with varying approaches. Furthermore, teachers advocate for different strategies to enhance pupils’ conceptual understanding.

The aim of this study was firstly to evaluate the impact of two interactive-engagement models of instruction, namely Whole Class Discussions (WCD) and Computer Simulations (CS) on first year physics student-teachers’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics, and on their epistemological beliefs about physics. The force concept inventory was used to evaluate the impact on conceptual understanding while the Epistemological Beliefs About Physical Science questionnaire was used to evaluate the impact on their epistemological beliefs. The findings suggest that interactive engagement models had a positive impact on students’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics, and on their epistemological beliefs about physics. The study also contributed WCD and CS activities that can be used or adapted with an aim of enhancing conceptual understanding in physics. The study did not show any direct relationship between students’ conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics and their epistemological beliefs about physics. Key words: Interactive-engagement, Whole Class Discussion, Computer Simulations, epistemological beliefs about physics. / Physics / M.Sc. (Physics Education)

The thesis focuses on how students learn history in the classroom, more precisely on their possibilities and difficulties in developing competence in the school subject of history. There is a particular emphasis on how they explain and understand historical processes and concepts within the subject of history. Participants are students of different grades, 8–19 years old. The purpose of the study is to explore how students learn history in concrete learning situations and my focus is on the types of knowledge students understand, learn, develop and use in comparison with what they are expected to learn.  This is done based on three fundamental and well-established principles of learning. To examine what kinds of knowledge students need I use three main types of knowledge: declarative content knowledge (facts and concepts), procedural knowledge (knowledge about how to do things) and self-regulatory knowledge (knowledge about how to regulate our memory, thought and learning). I also use concepts and insights from systemic functional linguistics (SFL) in order to explain why the students use language and communicate the way they do. The thesis shows that history is challenging for young students. Young students have difficulties with complex and abstract concepts in history as they treat concepts as facts. Older, more competent, students use concepts on a more abstract level and use different kinds of linguistic resources when formulating explanations of higher complexity, more similar to the way explanations in the domain of history are commonly written. The youngest students and some of the older students lacked factual knowledge, concept knowledge, domain specific self-regulatory knowledge and linguistic resources. Declarative content knowledge and facts are more important and more difficult for young students to understand, develop, organize and learn than previous scholars have shown empirically. Students’ abilities to understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework and to organize and structure facts with the help of concepts at different level of abstraction (conceptual understanding) are crucial. Students also need linguistic resources, both lexical knowledge and knowledge of text structures. Language is crucial both in the process of acquiring knowledge and in the process of communication. In the learning process, teaching is crucial, since individual students’ potential to develop competence depend on the potential of the teacher to discover and engage their preconceptions and arrange for learning in a way that give students the kind of knowledge they need.

The dissertation, with a collected papers approach, focused on evaluating the implementation of MI curriculum in high school Biology I classes in south Florida. The dissertation included the development and validation of the Biology Identity and Persistence Survey (BIPS), the connection of instructors’ teaching practices with students’ biology identities, evolution identities, and career aspirations, and the connection of instructors’ teaching practice with students’ conceptual understanding in evolution. In the first part of the dissertation study, the BIPS was validated through expert review and student cognitive interviews for its face and content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis addressed the construct validity of the final version of the BIPS, after removing four problematic items. The Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability analysis indicated that the BIPS was a reliable instrument in terms of its internal reliability and stability. In the second part of the dissertation study, the comparison between the MI and non-MI classes indicated that there was no detectable significant difference between the MI classes and non-MI classes in students’ development of biology identities and evolution identities, and shifts in career aspirations. Using the analysis of the MI and non-MI instructors’ teaching practices, it was suggested that the use of intentional lack of inquiry closure, seeding, small-group collaboration, whole-class discussion, and Socratic questioning might contribute to students’ biology/evolution identity development. In the third part of the dissertation study, the Evolution Concept Inventory was demonstrated as an invalid and unreliable research instrument. Qualitative analysis of instructors’ teaching practices suggested that interactions between MI instructional materials and MI pedagogical techniques, including student-centered teaching, small-group collaboration, student-student interaction, whole-class discussion, and Socratic questioning, might contribute to students’ gain of conceptual understanding in evolution. On the basis of the research findings, this dissertation provided suggestions for high school biology MI instructors and high school biology MI workshops.

Empirisk forskning har visat att det finns tydliga kopplingar mellan intresse, attityder ochstudieframgångar. Enkätundersökningen som föreligger denna rapport ämnade att mäta hur intressetför fysik och attityder till fysik och fysikundervisningen skiljer sig åt mellan de olika årskurserna pågymnasiet. För att kunna mäta attityderna har enkätverktyget Maryland Physics Expectations(MPEX) Survey använts. Enkäten har besvarats av 605 respondenter från teknik- ochnaturvetenskapsprogrammet på två gymnasiumskolor i Mellansverige. Intresset för fysik är lågt påde undersökta skolorna och det tenderar att bli lägre med åren. Överlag är det fler ofördelaktiga svarhos de olika attitydsdimensionerna i årskurs 3 än i årskurs 1. Koncept är den dimension som har flestofördelaktiga svar både i tvåan och i trean. För att öka den konceptuella förståelsen hosgymnasiestudenterna bör konceptuell förståelse få en större del av undervisningen. Att examinerakonceptuell förståelse på hemläxor och prov är även det att föredra. / Empirical research has shown that there are clear links between the interests, attitudes, and studentsuccess. The aim of the survey, which is the foundation of this report, was to measure how theinterest in physics and attitudes towards physics and physics education differs between the differentyears in upper secondary school. Maryland Physics Expectations (MPEX) Survey has been used tomeasure the attitudes. The questionnaire was answered by 605 respondents from technology andnatural science program from two upper secondary schools in central Sweden. Interest in physics islow on the investigated schools and it tends to become lower through the ages. Overall, there aremore unfavorable responses of the different attitude dimensions in third grade than in first grade. Concept is the dimension that has the most unfavorable response in both the second and third grade.In order to increase the conceptual understanding of upper secondary school students, shouldconceptual understanding be offered a greater part of the teaching. Examining conceptualunderstanding in homework assignments and tests are also preferable.

This exploratory case study was undertaken to obtain a greater understanding of the difficulties that physics students face when solving image-object projections in optics problems. This was carried out by studying the students’ reasoning when facing new kinds of problem settings using the refraction of light and the position of the virtual image and the real object as the frame for the research. The results show that there is more than one reasoning possibility that is feasible for students to use when dealing with the same problem. The results also illustrate how several different ways of reasoning may be simultaneously needed to solve a refraction problem. The different kinds of reasoning have been referred to as reasoning categories in this study. The analysis illustrates how the categories complement each other, and the use of many reasoning categories is shown to be fruitful. However, the vast majority of the participants made contradicting answer selections when solving similar problems by using contradicting reasoning approaches. This lack of consistency in the participants’ reasoning could indicate that they have a fragmentary understanding of optics in general. Both the capability to link reasoning approaches together, as well as the affordances that different modes of representations offer, are needed for the construction of a better conceptual understanding. Only mastering a few ways of reasoning and a few modes of representation could lead to fragmented knowledge, which, in turn leads to making problem solving really challenging. One purpose of this study was to find out if reasoning categories and modes of representations are essentially linked. If so, then the reasoning categories would be determined by the representation of the problem. The analysis shows that there is a connection, but that there are also other factors at play.