Papers by Birgitte Lund Nielsen
This paper presents a case study of a teacher examining her 4th graders’ conceptual understanding... more This paper presents a case study of a teacher examining her 4th graders’ conceptual understanding of factors causing day and night, seasons, and the phases of the Moon both pre- and post-teaching, as
a part of participating in the continuous professional development (CPD) project QUEST. The study is framed in reference to the extant research in the two fields of CPD and students’ alternative con- ceptions in science. The findings pertain to both the 4th graders’ conceptual understanding and the teacher’s meaning-making when examining the students’ annotated drawings and discussing them with colleagues. The teaching in general seems to be efficient concerning challenging students’ alter- native conceptions; however not in relation to the phases of the Moon. The teacher re-designed her teaching and emphasized the insight gained from looking into a structured analysis. Nonetheless, she questioned whether teachers would find time for such analyses. While there are promising indicati- ons that this teacher will continue using pre- and post-assessment based on the insights gained, the collaborative analysis seemed rather superficial. The spreading to colleagues is discussed referring to this inquiry as supporting individual but probably not collaborative agency.
I artiklen praesenteres QUEST-projektet, et firearigt professionelt udviklingsprojekt for naturfa... more I artiklen praesenteres QUEST-projektet, et firearigt professionelt udviklingsprojekt for naturfagslaererefra 43 skoler og fem kommuner. QUEST er designet med intentionen om at saette viden franaturfagsdidaktisk forskning i spil, men i anerkendelse af lokale muligheder og behov og med basisi samarbejde i lokale fagteams og kommunale netvaerk. Derved opnas balance mellem top-down- ogbottom-up-processer. Projektet folges taet forskningsmaessigt, og empirien anvendes lobende til kvalitetssikringaf aktiviteterne. I artiklen praesenteres struktur, malsaetninger og progression, og dendidaktiske model for kursusaktiviteter eksemplificeres med aktiviteter fra det forste kursusmodul.Udvalgte evalueringsdata fra det forste kursusmodul analyseres med henblik pa fremadrettet diskussionaf baeredygtige forandringsprocesser.In this article, the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) project QUEST is introduced. QUEST (Qualifyingin-service Education of Science Teachers) is a longitudinal project ov...
Framed by the EU-project Hand in Hand focusing on Social, Emotional and Intercultural (SEI) compe... more Framed by the EU-project Hand in Hand focusing on Social, Emotional and Intercultural (SEI) competencies among students and school staff, the paper discusses implementation and professional competencies based on a research review. The following five topics were identified: 1) Intercultural/transcultural competency is not often referred to in the same research as social and emotional learning (SEL), although social-emotional aspects appear to be “at the core”, 2) It is crucial to be aware of the agency among school staff in SEI implementation, 3) Successful implementation is about much more than merely the activities in a specific programme, but rather about the elements in synergy and professional learning over time, 4) A subtle balance between adaptation and fidelity might best be addressed in an adaptive curriculum emphasising active ingredients, 5) This is a field with many intervention studies, but it is urgent to consider if the psychometric measures are sufficiently sensitive ...
A teaching course for PhD-students working as Teaching Assistants (TAs) has been iteratively deve... more A teaching course for PhD-students working as Teaching Assistants (TAs) has been iteratively developed to have two consecutive modules. The TAs emphasise a high degree of outcomes, and demonstrate a developing reflective approach. Role-plays at course-days and a ”teaching-in-practice” assignment have however indicated that the TAs struggle to facilitate students’ exploratory talk in small-class teaching. They tend to focus on ”the correct answer”. A potential third module with collaborative teaching-observations has therefore been tried out.
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Papers by Birgitte Lund Nielsen
a part of participating in the continuous professional development (CPD) project QUEST. The study is framed in reference to the extant research in the two fields of CPD and students’ alternative con- ceptions in science. The findings pertain to both the 4th graders’ conceptual understanding and the teacher’s meaning-making when examining the students’ annotated drawings and discussing them with colleagues. The teaching in general seems to be efficient concerning challenging students’ alter- native conceptions; however not in relation to the phases of the Moon. The teacher re-designed her teaching and emphasized the insight gained from looking into a structured analysis. Nonetheless, she questioned whether teachers would find time for such analyses. While there are promising indicati- ons that this teacher will continue using pre- and post-assessment based on the insights gained, the collaborative analysis seemed rather superficial. The spreading to colleagues is discussed referring to this inquiry as supporting individual but probably not collaborative agency.
a part of participating in the continuous professional development (CPD) project QUEST. The study is framed in reference to the extant research in the two fields of CPD and students’ alternative con- ceptions in science. The findings pertain to both the 4th graders’ conceptual understanding and the teacher’s meaning-making when examining the students’ annotated drawings and discussing them with colleagues. The teaching in general seems to be efficient concerning challenging students’ alter- native conceptions; however not in relation to the phases of the Moon. The teacher re-designed her teaching and emphasized the insight gained from looking into a structured analysis. Nonetheless, she questioned whether teachers would find time for such analyses. While there are promising indicati- ons that this teacher will continue using pre- and post-assessment based on the insights gained, the collaborative analysis seemed rather superficial. The spreading to colleagues is discussed referring to this inquiry as supporting individual but probably not collaborative agency.
A mixed method approach is taken: The empirical research includes a cohort survey of graduating science teachers repeated in their 2nd year in practice, and two case studies, where one examines the meaning-making of teachers from a science team collaboratively inquiring into video and other artifacts from local classrooms, the other the meaning-making of a group of 4th year student teachers involved in collaborative video inquiries. Two of those are followed until their 2nd year in practice. Findings across papers point to an activity-orientation towards science teaching being widespread among the Danish science teachers. They focus on the students, but on their activities and engagement, not their learning.
Furthermore a lack of confidence in having sufficient subject matter knowledge to teach science is widespread. There are significant variations between teachers with various science specializations, but nearly a third of the cohort teachers do not teach science in their 2nd year in practice among other things due to lack of confidence. The case-studies provide examples where science teachers’ develop a growing confidence, and begin to focus on students’ learning by manipulating both science ideas and equipment. The teachers involved in artefact-mediated interactions refer to gaining insight into students’ conceptual understanding by
purposely experimenting in practice and by sharing their experiences. Scrutiny related to concrete incidents shared with peers seems to be a driving force in their awareness of a need to develop own teaching and in relation to agency looking forward, but confidence and agency also seems to be supported by new tools, theoretical lenses and ideas for transcending practices from the external domain.
Finally it is discussed how analysis and representation using an adapted
meaning-making model supported an insight into these complex interplays.