Åke Ingerman

Reflections on trustworthiness in phenomenographic research: Recognising purpose, context and change in the process of research

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.

Making sense of Physics in the first year of study

We address the question ‘How do students make sense of Physics from the point of view of constituting physics knowledge?’. A phenomenographic study is described as a result of which we present six qualitatively different ways in which students experience the first year of Physics. Three of these are considered to be unproductive in terms of making sense of physics, while the other three increasingly support the formation of a well-grounded physics knowledge object. The variation is analysed in terms of the structure of experience, the nature of knowledge and an ethical aspect. Implications for practice are considered.

Physics group work in a phenomenographic perspective – learning dynamics as the experience of variation and relevance

In this paper, we analyse learning dynamics in the context of physics group work of the kind increasingly found in engineering education. We apply a phenomenographic perspective on learning, seeing the notion of variation as the basic mechanism of learning. Empirically, we base our analysis on data from first year engineering students discussing physics problems concerning force and friction while working in small groups of three or four. The discussions were captured on video and audio, and the subsequent analysis primarily relies on detailed transcriptions and the students’ notes. The results illustrate how students relate different parts of the whole learning object (Newtonian mechanics) to one another and create a variation with respect to the parts and/or the whole; how the presence and experience of variation complemented by an experience of relevance may result in identifiable learning; and how tutor interventions may have a favourable impact on the learning dynamics.

Coherent multiple Andreev reflections and current resonances in SNS quantum point contacts

We study coherent multiple Andreev reflections in ballistic superconductor-normal conductor-superconductor junctions with a quantum point contact in the normal region of the junction (superconductor-normal region-quantum point contact-normal region-superconductor) with arbitrary transparency. The presence of superconducting bound states in these junctions gives rise to great enhancement of the subgap current. The effect is most pronounced in low-transparency junctions, D≪1, and in the interval of applied voltage Δ/2<eV<2Δ, where the amplitude of the current structures is proportional to the first power of the junction transparency D. The resonant current structures consist of steps and oscillations of the two-particle current and also of multiparticle resonance peaks. The positions of the two-particle current structures have a pronounced temperature dependence, which scales with Δ(T), while the positions of the multiparticle resonances have a weak temperature dependence, being mostly determined by the junction geometry. Despite the large, resonant two-particle current, the excess current at large voltage is small and proportional to D2.

Phenomenography: from critical aspects to knowledge claim

Abstract 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.

Continuity and Development in the Phenomenography and Variation Theory Tradition

ABSTRACT This special issue includes 5 contributions of contemporary work based in the phenomenography and variation theory research tradition and also actualises theoretical and methodological discussions. This introduction consists of 3 main parts. First is a brief introduction to and framing for the contributions through pointing to some of the main points made and putting them in perspective in the tradition. Second, the use and meanings of 4 key terms in the tradition—phenomenon, object of learning, dimension of variation, and critical aspect—are analysed across the contributions. Third, and finally, possible emergent strands of future research based in phenomenography and variation theory are discussed, and how the contributions relate to and are reflective of such emergent strands.

Towards an inter-language of talking science: exploring students' argumentation in relation to authentic language

In this paper we explore the idea that learning science involves appropriation of the school-science language and how it manifests in the classroom. This is done through an analysis of peer group discussions in Swedish secondary schools; discussions that served both as an arena for learning and as a research tool. In this arena, the students are offered opportunities of communicating, evaluating and arguing knowledge claims. The analysis focuses on the intersection between social languages (colloquial and scientific), and epistemological/conceptual aspects of biological evolution. We explore how words (especially Vygotsky’s meaning and sense of words) and semantic patterns manifest in the students’ talk. Specifications are made step by step in negotiations, and the groups of students talk more and more in line with school-science language. We understand this to rely on the establishment of an arena where technical terms and scientific models may be introduced, negotiated, and made sense of, in particular in relation to personal and everyday experiences. The students use an inter-language where colloquial expressions serve as an asset in sense-making.

Features of an Emerging Practice and Professional Development in a Science Teacher Team Collaboration with a Researcher Team

This study concerns teaching and learning development in science through collaboration between science teachers and researchers. At the core was the ambition to integrate research outcomes of science education—here ‘didactic models’—with teaching practice, aligned with professional development. The phase where the collaboration moves from initial establishment towards a stable practice is investigated. The study aims to identifying features of formation and exploring consequences for the character of contact between research and teaching. Specific questions are “What may be identified as actions and arrangements impacting the quality and continuation of the emerging practice?” and “What and in what ways may support teacher growth?” The analysis draws on practice architectures as a theoretical framework and specifically investigates the initial meetings as a practice-node for a new practice, empirically drawing on documented reflections on science teaching, primarily from meetings and communication. The results take the form of an analytical-narrative account of meetings that focused planning, enactment and reflection on teaching regarding the human body. We identify enabling actions such as collaborative work with concrete material from the classroom and arrangements such as the regular meetings and that the collaborative group had a core of shared competence—in science teaching and learning. Constraining were actions such as introducing research results with weak connection to practical action in the school practice and arrangements such as differences between school and university practice architectures and the general ‘oppression’ of teachers’ classroom practice. The discussion includes reflections on researchers’ roles and on a research and practice base for school development.

Dealing with the Multidimensionality of Sustainability through the Use of Multiple Perspectives--A Theoretical Framework.

The concept of perspectives is important in discussions about the multidimensionality of sustainability problems and the need to consider many different aspects when dealing with them. This paper aims to facilitate discussions among both educators and researchers about didactical approaches to developing students’ abilities to deal with the multidimensionality of sustainability challenges through the use of multiple perspectives. For this purpose, a theoretical framework was developed that describes perspectives in terms of a set of general characteristics, as well as a number of ways in which students can develop and reflect on perspectives. Development of the framework was supported by a qualitative content analysis of transcripts from interviews with undergraduate engineering students in Sweden.

Learning and the variation in focus among physics students when using a computer simulation

This article presents a qualitative analysis of the essential characteristics of university students’ “focus of awareness” whilst engaged with learning physics related to the Bohr model with the aid of a computer simulation. The research is located within the phenomenographic research tradition, with empirical data comprising audio and video recordings of student discussions and interactions, supplemented by interviews. Analysis of this data resulted in descriptions of four qualitatively distinct focuses: Doing the Assignment, Observing the Presentation, Manipulating the Parameters and Exploring the Physics. The focuses are further elucidated in terms of students’ perceptions of learning and the nature of physics. It is concluded that the learning outcomes possible for the students are dependent on the focus that is adopted in the pedagogical situation. Implications for teaching physics using interactivetype simulations can be drawn through epistemological and meta-cognitive considerations of the kind of mindful interventions appropriate to a specific focus.