Marianne Ødegaard

Variation in the amphi-Atlantic plant Vahlodea atropurpurea (Poaceae)

Vahlodea atropurpurea ssp. atropurpurea is a analysis of leaf traits supported the isozyme analyses in perennial grass with an amphi-Atlantic distribution. The lack of variation. The lack of intra- and interpopulational degree of variation in this taxon was studied by biochemi- heterogeneity is discussed. cal genetic methods and by morphometric analyses in pop- ulations from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Genetic screening at seventeen loci revealed monomorphism and Key words. Vahlodea atropurpurea, isozyme analysis, genetic identity among populations. The morphometric genetic monomorphism, morphometry, phytogeography.

Teaching Activities and Language use in Science Classrooms

The aim of this chapter is to discuss video studies and new ways of coding, and how coding categories and levels of analyses perform as analytical tools when analysing teaching and learning in science classrooms. Through in-depth analyses of video data from lower secondary science classrooms, we show how different categories and levels of analyses support diversified interpretations and conclusions. By moving between different categories with different levels of functioning, we show how conclusions arrived on the basis of one level of coding might be scrutinized, and challenged, if you use another level of coding as the basis for making interpretations of the data. Within studies of teaching and learning, we argue that scholars often tend to give preference to some authoritative levels or analytic categories in favour of others (often macro level analysis), without any explicit criteria and rationale for these preferences (Nespor, 2004; 2000). In the following analyses, we will elaborate on conceptual categories and functioning levels as lenses through which we explore and analyze teaching and learning opportunities in science classrooms.

The Role Played by Contextual Challenges in Practising Inquiry-based Science Teaching in Tanzania Secondary Schools

Our study aims to explore the practice of Inquiry-based Science Teaching (IBST) in schools with contextual challenges in Tanzania. The study draws on multiple data sources. Eleven teachers purposively selected were interviewed. Also, out of 11 teachers, seven were observed in their practical sessions. Participants were selected from community secondary schools in Iringa Municipality in Tanzania. We found that IBST is infrequently practised and then mostly at lower levels (conducting activities and drawing conclusions). Our findings indicate that the main contextual challenges for the practice of IBST include the restrictions by the practical examinations and inadequate resources. Findings also suggest opportunities for the practice of IBST in schools with contextual challenges, such as the use of locally available materials for generating students’ investigations and specific questioning techniques referring to local science applications. Thus the design of IBST may need to be adapted to the context of the learner. This may enable the effective practice of the higher levels of IBST even in the presence of contextual challenges.

Talk and Use of Language in the Science Classroom: Characteristic Features

Researchers in science education agree that learning science includes, and is also facilitated by, use of scientific language; learning to talk science (Lemke 1990; Mortimer and Scott 2003; Norris and Phillips 2003; Wellington and Osborne 2001. In addition, scientific language is an important part of the nature of science and should, as such, be included in the teaching of science. These two points about language and learning science ought to be reflected in the language used in science classrooms. In our study of lessons across the three subjects Science, Mathematics and Language Arts (Klette et al. 2008) and in a separate study of science lessons (Odegaard and Arnesen 2010), we found that a large proportion of the science lessons, significantly larger than for the two other subjects, were characterized by teacher-led dialogues. Taking these findings as a point of departure we have analyzed the material from the science lessons we have studied to try to clarify the characteristics of classroom talk and use of language in science lessons.

Instructional Activities and Discourse Features in Science Classrooms: Teachers Talking and Students Listening or … ?

In this chapter we discuss the relation between instructional format and discursive patterns in science classrooms. While we acknowledge a huge body of research both within studies of instruction and discourse features in classrooms, related discussions tend to be fragmented. Despite a massive growth of studies of discourse patterns and dialogues in classrooms (Wells 1985; Edwards and Mercer 1987; Mortimer and Scott 2003; Alexander 2006) we still know, for example, little about the productive interplay between discursive engagements, instructional practices and students’ learning in the different subject areas. Foregrounding interaction analyses (i.e. mundane talk and general linguistic maneuvers) discourse analyses have contributed to expand our understanding of the power of turn taking and competing voices in the classrooms. How these discursive patterns interact with and support learning in different subject domains are, however, still an open question and, more important, how issues of communication patterns are dealt with and made productive within different instructional formats is still not understood. In a recent large scale video study from the US, for example, no relationships were found between discourse features and student learning when examining whether different instructional patterns and discursive formats in mathematics and English Language Arts had an impact on students’ achievement scores (Kane et al. 2011). To maximise their impact, we will argue in this contribution, analyses of classroom dialogues must be brought together with analyses of instructional patterns and linked to specific content areas. For this purpose, in this chapter we bring together studies of discourse features and research on instructional format when analysing offered and experienced learning in science classrooms.

The Implementation of Scientific Literacy as Basic Skills in Norway After the School Reform of 2006

In 2006, Norway implemented a new curriculum, which introduced basic literacy skills in every school subject. In this new curriculum, the basic skills are considered fundamental to learning in every school subject. As a consequence, since 2006, Norwegian teachers and school leaders have been grappling with how to develop and teach writing, reading, and oral communication as an integrated part of disciplinary education. Several initiatives have sought to develop literacy in school science since the introduction of the curriculum. However, teachers and school leaders are generally somewhat hesitant to explicitly address basic skills in the classroom. Some communities of teachers who discuss the purposes and qualities of writing have nonetheless been successfully established in Norway. We will discuss two approaches for the implementation of the curriculum reform. The first is based on first language (L1) literacy research, considering literacy as a general competence, however with a strong emphasis on writing in the disciplines. The second is from the science education community, with its emphasis on scientific literacy. Some of the major projects in Norway have focused on the intersection between the basic literacy skills and the process dimension of science in the main area “The Budding Researcher” in the new curriculum. We conclude that these two approaches each have their own strengths for developing scientific literacy and the basic skills introduced in the curriculum. Together, they offer opportunities for considering basic skills as both generic and discipline-specific, and for developing a metalanguage for discussing and reflecting on the teaching and learning of school science.

Characterizing CLIL teaching: new insights from a lower secondary classroom

As a bilingual teaching method, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is growing in popularity in Europe and research has primarily focused on (language) learning outcomes. Few studies ha...