Anders Kluge

Student sensemaking with science diagrams in a computer-based setting

This paper reports on a study of students’ conceptual sensemaking with science diagrams within a computer-based learning environment aimed at supporting collaborative learning. Through the microanalysis of students’ interactions in a project about energy and heat transfer, we demonstrate how representations become productive social and cognitive resources in the students’ conceptual sensemaking. Taking a socio-cultural approach, the study aims to contribute on two levels. First, by providing insight into the interactional processes in which students encounter a particular type of representation: science diagrams. Second, the study aims to demonstrate that an important aspect of students’ encounters with science representations concerns making sense of how to respond to institutional norms and social practices embedded within the context of schooling. The findings demonstrate how the science diagrams become productive social and individual resources for the students by slowing down the students’ conceptual sensemaking processes and by opening up a space for the interpretation and negotiation of scientific concepts, as well as of the representations themselves. The study also shows the challenges involved when students move from oral to written accounts in their inquiries.

SIMULATION AS SCIENCE DISCOVERY: WAYS OF INTERACTIVE MEANING-MAKING

This article addresses how computer-based simulations may support conceptual learning in science education. The study investigates how these interactions unfold, and explores how it may inform design. The article reports on project-based learning in schools where four pairs of students from upper secondary school use a future climate simulator integrated in a web-based learning environment. Our analytical focus is on how the students make use of the simulator to make meaning through the process. The analysis shows a considerable variety in how the students interact with the simulator, and in how they engage in a conceptual level of understanding. The findings indicate that the design was engaging, and three main modes of surprisingly stable uses were identified: utilizing the simulator as a way to get facts, enjoying the aesthetics of interaction as playability, and finally, making use of the simulator as a tool for discovery through cumulative micro-experiments.

Inclusion through design and use of digital learning environments: issues, methods and stories.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) from United Nations refers to the inclusion and quality of education. This implies providing equal access to all levels of education. While a lot of focus has been on inclusion and accessibility through universal design with a focus on disabilities, the aim of this workshop was to explore the role of inclusion for learners of all ages, shifting from a strong disability-oriented focus. We targeted in this workshop discussions around the design and use of Digital Learning Environments (DLE) with equal access and rights to participate. DLE are tools employed in educational institutions (from schools to higher education) for teaching and learning purposes, but also in workplaces, edutainment, and e-commerce. The participants had the chance to present different viewpoints on inclusion in education through issues, methods and stories obtained from design experiences and/or from empirical studies on use of DLE.

Bridging in Mathematics

Playing computer games is an important part of the life of most Norwegian children and teenagers. 94% of children aged 9–16 report playing games during their leisure time. The average time spent (including non-gamers) is 108 minutes a day. Boys play, on average, almost twice as much as girls. One of the conclusions of this computer gaming study from the Norwegian Media Authority is ‘Almost all children have games as a hobby’.