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Maria AndréeProfessor

About me

I am Professor in Science Education at the Department of Teaching and Learning (Institutionen för ämnesdidaktik). I am also one of the scientific leaders of Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies, head of the Graduate School for Teachers in Subject Didactics and project leader of the participation of Stockholm University in the national programme for research collaborations between schools and academia (ULF försöksverksamhet). I am also guest professor in science education at Mid Sweden University 2022-2024.

 

Teaching

During the 2023/2024 academic year I teach a seminar on comparative subject matter didactics in the Research School in Subject Matter Didaktik (ÄdFo, Ämnesdidaktiska forskarskolan). I am also director of the ÄdFo and supervise PhD-students.

Research

My research focuses on cultural perspectives on science education and conditions for students’ participation and learning, particularly in relation to questions of science curriculum, scientific literacy and citizenship. Drawing primarily on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory and socio-cultural theory, I mainly work with ethnographic and design-based research in science classrooms. For an introduction see this video clip.

I am lead editor of the journal Cultural Studies in Science Education (Springer) and have served on the editorial board of Research in Science Education (2017 – 2019). I am affiliated as scientific leader to Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS) which is a platform designed to initiate, support and conduct small-scale classroom-based didactic research on teaching and learning. The research within STLS draw on a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches and aims at contributing to the development of theory relevant to teachers. I am currently guest professor in Science Education at Mid Sweden University.

I supervise doctoral students working with participatory research approaches in science and technology education:

Completed supervision:

Ongoing supervision:

  • Kristin Persson, PhD-student, ecological literacy. Planned defense spring 2023. (Main supervisor). Stockholm University.
  • Kerstin Danckwart-Lillieström (PhD-student), drama in chemistry education. Planned defense spring 2023 (Main supervisor). Stockholm University.
  • Charlotte Dunne (Licentiate student), middle school chemistry education. Planned defense spring 2022. (Assistant supervisor). Mälardalen University.


A selection of recent publications


Affiliations
I am Treasurer of IOSTE (International Organisation for Science and Technology Education) for the period 2018-2020. IOSTE was established to advance the cause of education in science and technology as a vital part of the general education of the peoples of all countries and to provide scholarly exchange and discussion in the field of science and technology education.

Outreach
Debate on teacher professional development in Almedalen, summer 2014. Read an article about it or watch it on SU-play (in Swedish).

Open lecture on imagination, play and science learning, spring 2013, watch the lecture on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClAuRe-LxLM (in Swedish).


Research projects

 

Recruitment to Science Education: Actors, Initiatives, Messages

This is a project conducted in collaboration with Prof. Lena Hansson at Kristanstad University, Sweden.

Background and aim: Young people’s interest in pursuing science and science-intense educations has been expressed for years as a concern often put in relation to societal, economic and democratic development by various stakeholders. To date, empirical studies have had a focus on the individual student’s intentions and choices rather than on the recruitment campaigns as such. The ‘Recruitment to Science Education: Actors, Initiatives, Messages’ project aims to contribute to an understanding of the functioning of recruitment campaigns by scrutinizing what messages are conveyed by different actors to young students on why they should ‘choose’ a STEM-line of study.

In 2017 the project recived funding for a study focussing specifically on the engagement of industrial actors in STEM-education from the Swedish Research Council.

Andrée, M., & Hansson, L. (2022). Teachers’ negotiations of bias in relation to teaching resources offered to schools by industrial actors. Nordic Journal of Studies  in Educational Policy.

Andrée, M. & Hansson, L. (2021). Industry, science education and teacher agency: a discourse analysis of teachers’ evaluations of industry-produced teaching resource. Science Education, 105(2), 353-383.

Andrée, M. & Hansson, L. (2020). Industrial actors and their rationales for engaging in STEM education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52(4), 551-576.

 

Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS)

STLS is a platform for teacher research. I am one of three scientific leaders.Within STLS research is conducted in subject didactics networks. The research in science and technology education focusses research on design of teaching and the relations between teaching and learning in science and technology education. For a detailed description of the work we do, see:

Andrée, M., & Eriksson, I. (2020). A research environment for teacher-driven research–some demands and possibilities. International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies, 9(1), 67-77.

 

Scientific literacy and citizenship in science education

One of the themes in my research concerns aspects of citizenship and scientific literacy in science education. Two dissertations were conducted related to this topic focussing critical examination and assessment of scientific literacy. Ongoing dissertation work is conducted by Kristin Persson on ecological literacy and education for sustainable development.

  • Developing students capability to critically reason when encountering conflicting health information online (in collboration with Ph.D. Jonna Wiblom). Given an increased use of digital devices, Internet has become one of the main sources for information retrieval about topics concerning body and health. In this project we explore what the capability to critically reason might entail in students’ encounter with conflicting health information online. 

  • Assessing scientific literacy as readiness to deal with civic issues concerned with science (in collaboration with Ph.D. Jens Anker-Hansen). This research explores possibilities for assessing scientific literacy in a Vision II-perspective.

The latest publications:

Persson, K., Andrée, M., & Caiman, C. (2022). Down-to-earth ecological literacy through human and nonhuman encounters in fieldwork. The Journal of Environmental Education.

Wiblom, J., Andrée, M., & Rundgren, C.-J. (2021). Self-examination, compassion and narrative imagination in students’ critical examination in science education. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 29. E-publication ahead of print.

Wiblom, J., Andrée, M., & Rundgren, C.-J. (2020). Navigating alarming media messages about nutrition and health: how students engage in critical examination of science in news media. Science & Education, 29, 75–100. 

Anker-Hansen, J. & Andrée, M. (2019). Using and rejecting peer feedback in the science classroom: a study of students’ negotiations on how to use peer feedback when designing experiments. Research in Science & Technological Education, 37(3), 346-365.

Wiblom, J., Rundgren, C.J. & Andrée, M. (2019). Developing students' critical reasoning about online health information: A Capabilities Approach. Research in Science Education, 49, 1759–1782.

Research projects

Science Studies for Critical Examination of Nature of Science in the Media

Understanding and critically examining social issues in the media related to natural science is important for participating in a democratic society. In this project, we are therefore trying to find out what is required to develop the teaching of science, so that it strengthens students' abilities to do so.

Interview media

Publications

A selection of recent publications.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Teachers’ negotiations of bias in relation to teaching resources offered to schools by industrial actors

    2022. Maria Andrée, Lena Hansson. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy

    Article

    This article focuses on the participation of industrial and corporate actors in science and technology education in Sweden. Opening up schools for the participation of industrial actors may be seen as a means of making education more connected to society. However, it may also contribute to the emergence of tensions related to ensuring values of objectivity and neutrality. The aim is to investigate how teachers deal with commercial interest, bias and partiality in collegial evaluations of industry-produced teaching resources. The data consist of focus group interviews with teachers, which were analysed using an ecological perspective on teacher agency. The teachers’ evaluations of the teaching resources focussed: (1) The legitimacy of evaluating teaching resources in terms of bias. (2) The value of a resource in terms of correctness and versatility, (3) Acceptable ways in which commercial interests are communicated (undercurrent messages, logos and advertisement), (4) Bias in light of different educational aims, and (5) Upholding neutrality versus imparting specific values and behaviours. The results are discussed with regard to the teacher agency achieved in evaluations concerning commercial interests, bias and partiality.

    Read more about Teachers’ negotiations of bias in relation to teaching resources offered to schools by industrial actors

  • Att utveckla elevers förmåga att formulera undersökningsbara frågor i naturvetenskap: Mangling av en didaktisk modell

    2021. Sara Planting-Bergloo (et al.). LUMAT 9 (1), 774-803

    Article

    En viktig målsättning för naturvetenskaplig undervisning är att utveckla förmågan att formulera undersökningsbara frågor. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur undervisning som utformats med hjälp av metoden Question Formulation Technique (QFT) kan stödja utveckling av elevers förmåga att formulera naturvetenskapligt undersökningsbara frågor.  QFT är en modell för att utveckla elevers förmåga att formulera och värdera sina egna frågor i allmänhet. I studien prövas QFT i en svensk skolkontext och inom ramen för naturvetenskaplig undervisning. Studien genomfördes som en interventionsstudie i gymnasieskolan och inom ramen för kursen Gymnasiearbete. I kursen ska eleverna genomföra en egen naturvetenskaplig undersökning. QFT användes för att utforma undervisning som del av introduktionen till kursen. Data består av videoinspelningar av elevsamtal från undervisning som har analyserats utifrån ett pragmatiskt ramverk med organiserande syften och praktisk epistemologisk analys. Resultaten visar vilka närliggande syften som etableras i elevernas samtal om undersökningsbara frågor i undervisningen: (A) att producera så många frågor som möjligt, (B) att bedöma vilka frågor som är mest relevanta, (C) att kategorisera frågor, (D) att hitta och specificera ett undersökningsobjekt och (E) att planera för att genomföra en undersökning. Slutsatsen är att QFT kan fungera som stöd för lärares planering av undervisning om naturvetenskapligt undersökningsbara frågor under förutsättning att läraren aktivt stödjer eleverna i att uppmärksamma centrala kvaliteter avseende undersökningsbarhet och genom att binda samman närliggande syften med det övergripande syftet. 

    Read more about Att utveckla elevers förmåga att formulera undersökningsbara frågor i naturvetenskap

  • Self-examination, compassion and narrative imagination in students' critical examination in science education

    2021. Jonna Wiblom, Maria Andrée, Carl-Johan Rundgren. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction 29

    Article

    The interest of this study is in how science education may contribute to cultivating democratic citizenship in a globalised world. The drive for joint global action and a mutual sense of responsibility for achieving a sustainable future need to be balanced with consideration for inequalities, accountability and differences in agency among people around the world. This raises questions of what citizens need to know, do, and feel to respond to the contemporary and future needs of a broader humanity. We explore how Martha Nussbaum's notion of world citizenship (1997) may be used to expand the understanding of critical examination of socioscientific controversies in science education. We analyse how groups of upper secondary science students engage in a critical examination of dairy and oat milk production and consumption from multiple perspectives. The study exemplifies how the critical examination of science may be recognised not only as source critique, but also as a way to: critically examine norms, traditions and personal habits; recognise oneself as bound to others by mutual concern for human and environmental wellbeing; imagine pathways to a sustainable future; and make moral judgements on a cow's right to life.

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  • Ämneslärarens arbete: didaktiska perspektiv

    2021. .

    Book (ed)

    Ämneslärarens arbete didaktiska perspektiv är en grundbok som i första hand riktar sig till blivande ämneslärare, men kan med fördel även läsas av verksamma lärare. Boken behandlar den utbildningsvetenskapliga kärnans alla delar. 

    Read more about Ämneslärarens arbete

  • Ethical Challenges of Symmetry in Participatory Science Education Research – Proposing a Heuristic for Ethical Reflection

    2020. Maria Andrée, Kerstin Danckwardt-Lillieström, Jonna Wiblom. Examining Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research, 123-141

    Chapter

    The advancement of participatory methodologies and educational action research has raised challenges of research ethics that concern the relations between different actors. Different forms of participatory research rest on cooperation between teachers, researchers, and students in different forms of relations. The ways in which these relations are enacted are often related to research objectives, epistemology, the people involved in the study, and the context in which the study is carried out. In this chapter we seek to disentangle some ethical challenges emerging from three different teacher-researcher collaborations in science education research. What values are at stake and what are the potential tensions in attempting to secure different values? This includes the ethical implications of requiring shared responsibility between teachers and researchers in development of educational practices and knowledge generation. We discuss how different forms of teacher-researcher collaboration transform ethics and epistemology and how the ethics and epistemology become intertwined. In addition to standard ethical reflection, an ethics of participatory research in science education has to include considerations of the ontological, epistemological, and methodological values at stake.

    Read more about Ethical Challenges of Symmetry in Participatory Science Education Research – Proposing a Heuristic for Ethical Reflection

  • Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research

    2020. Kathrin Otrel-Cass, Maria Andrée, Minjung Ryu. Examining Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research, 1-11

    Chapter

    Applying research ethics reflectively and responsibly is fundamental for conducting research with people. This chapter discusses why it is of relevance to prepare a book that focuses on science education research to clarify or unpack concepts that facilitate our research actions and identify the circumstances that frame the conditions for research in this field. The chapter discusses why it is important to renew this conversation and why to do this in science education research and to adjust and refine research practices. A number of aspects are highlighted: the nature of regulatory frameworks that shape research practices; the need to develop a community responsibility to advance ethical practices further and new methodological frameworks that influence research ethics, such as visual methodologies. The chapter concludes with an overview of the contributions to this book.

    Read more about Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research

  • Examining Ethics in Contemporary Science Education Research: Being Responsive and Responsible

    2020. .

    Book (ed)

    This book poses questions on how to work ethically in research on science education. Applying research ethics reflectively and responsibly is fundamental for conducting research with people. It seeks to renew the conversation on how and why to engage with ethics in science education research and to adjust and refine research practices. It highlights both the need for methodological reflections in science education research and the particular ethical research challenges of science education. 

    Science education research involves the study of people – often young and vulnerable people – and their practices. Researchers working within humanities and social science research commonly follow guidelines and codes of conducts set by country-specific ethics committees. Such guidelines function as minimal requirement for ethical reflection. This book seeks to engage the community of science education researchers in a conversation on ethics in science education moving beyond the mere compliance with governmental regulations toward a collective reflection. It asks the question of whether the existing guidelines provided for researchers are keeping up with contemporary realities of the visual presence of individuals in digital spaces. It also asks questions on how participatory research methodologies alters the relations between researchers and practitioners.

    This book is organized into two parts: Part one is entitled Challenging existing norms and practices. It asks questions such as: What are the conditions of knowledge that shape ethical decision making? Where is this kind of knowledge coming from? How is this knowledge structured, and where are the limitations? How can we justify our beliefs concerning our ethical research actions?  Part two Epistemological considerations for ethical science education research centres norms and practices of conducting science education research in regard to methods, validity and scope.  

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  • Industrial actors and their rationales for engaging in STEM education

    2020. Maria Andrée, Lena Hansson. Journal of Curriculum Studies 52 (4), 551-576

    Article

    In science education, critical discussions on the engagement of industrial actors in STEM education are scarce. In this study, we take the perspective that industrial STEM education initiatives are an arena for governing STEM education. The aim is to contribute to a critical discussion on the involvement of industrial actors in STEM education by scrutinizing how they describe their engagement. More specifically, we look at the discursive repertoires industrial actors put forward as rationales for engaging in STEM education initiatives. The data consist of web materials wherein industrial actors describe and justify their engagements. We identify the following interpretative repertoires used by industrial actors when justifying their engagement in said initiatives: a) Securing competent labour, b) Securing economic growth, c) Improving the public image—marketing, d) Contributing to a bright future, e) Increasing interest in STEM, f) Increasing knowledge in and of STEM and g) Empowering young people. The repertoires are discussed in light of potential tensions between public and private good. The notion of ‘boundary repertoires’ is introduced to discuss repertoires which can be adapted across discursive practices and which afford industrial actors possibilities for speaking to a varied audience—shareholders as well as teachers.

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  • Navigating Alarming Media Messages About Nutrition and Health: How Students Engage in Critical Examination of Science in News Media

    2020. Jonna Wiblom, Maria Andree, Carl-Johan Rundgren. Science & Education 29 (1), 75-100

    Article

    This study focuses the emerging need for young people to critically respond to alarming messages in contemporary media highlighting the potential benefits or harms of certain foods. Besides being technical, advancements in the field of nutrition reported in media are often of tentative and speculative character, primarily selected and constructed on the basis of their news value rather than as representing established knowledge. The study aims to study students' capabilities to navigate and critically respond to controversial media messages about health and nutrition in the context of science education. Our theoretical point of departure is in the concept an examined life in the critical reflection tradition of Socrates and the Stoics. We analyze how groups of upper secondary science class students engage in critical examination of a controversial message about cow's milk encountered through Swedish public service news media on the Internet. The results illuminate that even when controversial findings are produced by a reputed university and communicated through independent media, students are capable of discerning the need to scrutinize such findings and are capable of performing such critical examination drawing on experiences of scientific investigations. Students' openness to question authoritative voices in society and to illuminate the new findings on milk from multiple perspectives reflects how an examined life may be enacted in the context of science education. Inviting students to participate in related activities shows promise for enabling a critical examination of themselves and others in ways deemed important for democratic citizenship.

    Read more about Navigating Alarming Media Messages About Nutrition and Health

  • The drama of chemistry – supporting student explorations of electronegativity and chemical bonding through creative drama in upper secondary school

    2020. Kerstin Danckwardt-Lillieström, Maria Andrée, Margareta Enghag. International Journal of Science Education 42 (11), 1862-1894

    Article

    Getting students to understand the particulate nature of matter is a major challenge for chemistry education. In upper secondary school students commonly struggle to distinguish between intra- and intermolecular bonding and analyse chemical bonding in terms of electronegativity. In this study, we explore how creative drama may be used in chemistry education to facilitate students’ explorations of electronegativity and chemical bonding in Swedish upper secondary chemistry education. The study was conducted as a design-based intervention in three cycles in two schools. The interventions (which lasted for 30–60 minutes) were single-lesson-interventions consisting of drama activities and discussions in whole-class and student groups. A qualitative content analysis produced themes that captured the ways in which the students explored electronegativity and chemical bonding and how creative drama enabled collective student agency. The findings indicate that creative drama enabled the students to link the electronegativity and polarity of molecules to formations of molecular grid structures using their own bodies to represent how molecules were organised in different states of matter. The results also indicate that creative drama in chemistry education may enhance student agency in their explorations of electronegativity and the linking of electronegativity to intramolecular and intermolecular bonding.

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  • Vad kan elever som kan formulera naturvetenskapligt undersökningsbara frågor?

    2020. Sebastian Björnhammer (et al.). Forskning om undervisning och lärande 8 (1), 81-104

    Article

    Denna studie fokuserar på innebörder av att kunna formulera undersökningsbara frågor i naturvetenskap. Studien tar utgångspunkt i naturvetenskapligt undersökande som epistemiskt arbete. Den forskningsfråga som undersöks är: Vilka kvalitativa aspekter av kunnande kommer till uttryck i gymnasieelevers arbete med att formulera naturvetenskapligt undersökningsbara frågor? Studien har genomförts som en designbaserad studie med sex interventioner på gymnasiet där eleverna i den genomförda undervisningen har fått i uppgift att, i olika sammanhang, formulera undersökningsbara frågor. Data innefattar film- och ljudinspelningar och har analyserats med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultaten synliggör tre kvalitativa aspekter av att formulera undersökningsbara frågor: Precisering av det epistemiska objektet, Operationalisering av det epistemiska objektet samt Värdering av frågeställningen i relation till det epistemiska objektet.

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  • A research environment for teacher-driven research - some demands and possibilities

    2019. Maria Andrée, Inger Eriksson. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies 9 (1), 67-77

    Article

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon demands of and possibilities for establishing a space for conducting and supporting high-quality research in schools. In the article the authors reflect upon experiences in establishing a research environment for teachers called Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS). The article focusses some of the tensions that have been emerging in attempting to build an infrastructure for teacher-driven research and discusses the transformative potential of those tensions. Design/methodology/approach The article draws on the authors' experiences in establishing STLS as a research environment for teachers by drawing on a framework of cultural-historical activity theory. The article applies the notions of contradictions and tensions as driving forces for development of activity. Findings The specific tensions that have been negotiated in the establishment of STLS are tensions between developing public knowledge vs local knowledge, tensions in knowledge cultures between oral and text-based ways of sharing knowledge, tensions in research interests and tensions in ownership. These tensions relate to knowledge production as embedded in institutional life and constrained by institutional boundaries in contemporary society. Originality/value Today, there is a growing amount of collaborative research that connects elementary and secondary teachers in research projects with university-based researchers. However, this does not guarantee projects that will address everyday problems of teachers or that teachers will be acknowledged as researchers in the end.

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  • Den praktiknära forskningens bidrag till läraryrkets kunskapsbas: en analys av kunskapsprodukter från kollaborativ didaktisk forskning

    2023. Per Anderhag (et al.). Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige

    Article

    Denna studie fokuserar hur praktiknära forskning kan bidra till att utveckla lärarprofessionens kunskapsbas; genom att undersöka vilka slags kunskapspro-dukter som genereras i didaktisk undervisningsutvecklande forskning där lärare och forskare arbetar tillsammans. Datamaterialet består av vetenskapligt publice-rade artiklar från forskningsmiljön Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS). Genom en innehållsanalys har fyra (i−iv) kategorier av kunskapsprodukter identi-fierats: (i) Beskrivningar av kunnanden, (ii) Undervisningsdesign, (iii) Didaktiska exempeloch (iv) Metodologiska redskap. Beskrivningar av kunnandensynliggör vad som kännetecknar kunnanden inom olika ämnesområden. Undervisningsdesign preciserar relationer mellan undervisningens utformning och elevers lärande. Didaktiska exempel innefattar rika beskrivningar av undervisning och elevers lärande som grund för didaktisk reflektion. Metodologiska redskap fokuserar på att kombinera och pröva metoder för planering och analys av undervisning. Resultatet kan ses som en typologi över vilka olika slags kunskaper som praktiknära forskning kan bidra med.

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  • Ekologisk läraragens: En studie av lärares arbete med att forma kemiundervisningen på mellanstadiet

    2023. Charlotte Dunne, Maria Andrée. Nordisk tidskrift för allmän didaktik

    Article

    Den här studien fokuserar lärares arbete med att forma innehållet i kemiundervisning på mel-lanstadiet och den läraragens som kommer till uttryck i transformation av policyintentioner från styrdokument och andra undervisningsresurser. Studien är baserad på intervjuer med nioläraresom undervisade i kemi på mellanstadiet. Intervjuerna var semi-struktureradeoch analyserades utifrån en ekologisk modell av läraragens. I intervjuerna har begreppen kemiska sammanhang och kemiska samband fungerat som utgångspunkti samtalen och som exempel på kursplanebegrepp som lärare behöver tolka och förhålla sig till. Resultaten visar att lärarna både formulerar egna mål och utgår från mål i styrdokumenten för att forma kemiundervis-ning på mellanstadiet. Olika lärare använderoch har tillgång till olika resurser för arbetet med att transformera policyintentioner. Sammantaget får detta som konsekvens att kemiundervis-ningen ges olika innehåll och utformning av olika lärare. Av vissa lärare lyfts resurser som ”Naturvetenskap och teknik för alla” (NTA) och gamla nationella prov fram som viktiga re-surser som underlättar arbetet och används som referenser i arbetet med att forma undervis-ningens innehåll medan andra lärare betonar betydelsen av en kollegial tolkningsgemenskap. Resultaten synliggör olika agentiska förhållningssätt bland kemilärare på mellanstadiet i trans-formation av policyintentioner i kemiundervisningen.

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  • Inviting the petrochemical industry to the STEM classroom: messages about industry–society–environment in webinars

    2023. Maria Andrée, Lena Hansson. Environmental Education Research

    Article

    This article reports from a study of what messages concerning industry–society–environment are communicated to secondary students when they participate in webinars with representatives from the petrochemical industry. The webinars are conceptualised as part of an arena for governing science education and the messages as companion meanings. Empirically, the study is set in a context of online webinars on the topic of careers in the petrochemical industry. The webinars target students across the European Union (EU). The analysis reveals two main themes of companion meanings concerning what relations between industry–society–environment are communicated: a) the petrochemical industry as safeguarding modern life, and b) the petrochemical industry as essential for the solving of environmental problems. The companion meanings conveyed are not at all neutral but instead a means to influence the attitudes and choices of young people. The themes are discussed in relation to the overall democracy and citizenship aims of education. That the webinars claim to address the topic of careers and that they are part of an initiative sanctioned by a governmental authority (the EU) might contribute to teachers and students lowering their guard in relation to potentially biased messages. 

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  • Didactic Reasoning about Using Chemicals in Teaching Upper Secondary Chemistry

    2023. Jenny Olander (et al.). Journal of Chemical Education 100 (1), 45-52

    Article

    Chemicals are characteristic of chemistry education practices at all educational levels. The aim of this study is to explore teachers‘ didactic rationales when reasoning about the use of chemicals in their teaching practice. Experienced upper secondary chemistry teachers in Sweden were interviewed about their considerations regarding why, when, and how they use (or do not use) chemicals, in particular, hazardous chemicals. A qualitative content analysis was conducted. The results reveal that the teachers’ reasoning about their uses of chemicals is multifaceted and draws on student learning, teacher perspectives, traditions, and practical conditions. The results may be used to support teachers’ didactic analysis when planning practical work in chemistry education, both in preservice teacher education and continuous professional development. 

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  • Down-to-earth ecological literacy through human and nonhuman encounters in fieldwork

    2022. Kristin Persson, Maria Andrée, Cecilia Caiman. The Journal of Environmental Education 53 (2), 99-116

    Article

    This study explores how fieldwork can contribute to the development of ecological literacy and draws on actor-network theory and science studies which imply an understanding of agency as being distributed. The aim is to explore the consequences of the human-nonhuman encounters in fieldwork practice for the growth of ecological literacy. The explorations employ Bruno Latour’s concept of “the terrestrial attractor” and its potential contributions to environmental education. The study is based on a field trip to experience black grouse lekking in Östergötland, Sweden. The empirical material consists of video- and audio-recordings. The results show two dimensions of encounters: (1) ways of initiating encounters, and (2) the human-learner actant configurations involved. The dimensions of encounters afford contributions to ecological literacy. 

    Read more about Down-to-earth ecological literacy through human and nonhuman encounters in fieldwork

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