An overlooked feature in astronomy education is the need for students to learn to extrapolate three-dimensionality and the challenges that this may involve. Discerning critical features in the night sky that are embedded in dimensionality is a long-term learning process. Several articles have addressed the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) simulations in astronomy education, but they have neither addressed what students discern nor the nature of that discernment. A Web-based questionnaire was designed using links to video clips drawn from a simulation video of travel through our galaxy and beyond. The questionnaire was completed by 137 participants from nine countries across a broad span of astronomy education. The descriptions provided by the participants were analyzed using hermeneutics in combination with a constant comparative approach to formulate six categories of discernment in relation to multidimensionality. These results are used to make the case that the ability to extrapolate three-dimensionality calls for the creation of meaningful motion parallax experiences. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 98:412-442, 2014As we turned to get back in the car, Kenge looked over the plains and down to where a herd of about a hundred buffalo were grazing some miles away. He asked me what kind of insects they were, and I told him they were buffalo, twice as big as the forest buffalo known to him. He laughed loudly and told me not to tell such stupid stories, and asked me

No abstract

This paper reports on a project aiming to extend the current understanding of how emerging technologies, i.e. tablets, can be used in preschools to support collaborative learning of real-life science phenomena. The potential of tablets to support collaborative inquiry-based science learning and reflective thinking in preschool is investigated through the analysis of teacher-led activities on science, including children making timelapse photography and Slowmation movies. A qualitative analysis of verbal communication during different learning contexts gives rise to a number of categories that distinguish and identify different themes of the discussion. In this study, groups of children work with phase changes of water. We report enhanced and focused reasoning about this science phenomenon in situations where timelapse movies are used to stimulate recall. Furthermore, we show that children communicate in a more advanced manner about the phenomenon, and they focus more readily on problem solving when active in experimentation or Slowmation producing contexts.

No abstract

This study is addressing both upper secondary students' views of whether it is possible to combine a scientific view of the universe with a religious conviction, and their views of miracles. Students are asked about their own views as well as the views they associate with physics. The study shows that in some cases the students' own views differ from the views they associate with physics. This we consider to be a possible problem for these students. Through looking at how the students explain the views they associate with physics concerning the issues above, we show that these views are for many of the students intertwined with and linked to other views, that in the students' views, are part of the worldview of physics. It is common that the students associate scientism with physics. We question whether these kinds of views are necessary for the building of scientific knowledge. Consequences for the teaching and learning of science are discussed.

No abstract

In this article we report on a group activity, based on previous work [Hansson & Redfors: 2006b, Science & Education (accepted)], in an upper secondary physics class in Sweden. The aim was to engage students in a discussion about which presuppositions that are really necessary for physics. During the activity the students were to decide about the physics' view concerning a number of statements. The overall aims of the study were to gain more knowledge about what kind of presuppositions the students associate with physics, and to identify possible ways to address this with students in class. The study shows that it is common for students to associate 'scientism' with physics. This is only to some extent problematised and questioned during the discussions. Furthermore we can see that presuppositions necessary for physics are not immediately recognized by the students.

The article is addressing how students reason about the origin and development of the universe. Students' own views as well as their descriptions of physical models are analysed. Data consists of written surveys, and interviews of a subset of the students. Most of the students relate to the Big Bang model when describing the origin of the universe. The study however shows that this can mean different things to the students. The article also addresses views of whether or not the universe changes and of the origin of the elements. When comparing students' own views with their views of the physics view this study shows that there are students who have a different view of their own than the view they connect with physics. This shows that students, in the area of cosmology, do not necessarily take the view they connect with physics to be their own. Examples of students who handle the physics view in different ways are discussed. There are students who relate not only to science but also to a religious worldview when describing their own view. This shows that when discussing cosmology in class, also a religious worldview can be relevant for parts of the student group.This study is part of a larger project addressing how upper-secondary students handle different contributions to their worldviews and how they relate these different contributions to one another. From our experience, in teaching physics, we know that many students are very interested when you in class come to discuss questions that have a clear connection to our worldviews. It is necessary to realise that science education is not only a matter of understanding specific science concepts. Lemke (2001) writes: It is not simply about what is right or what is true in the narrow rationalist sense; it is always also about who we are, about who we like, about who treats us with respect, about how we feel about ourselves and others. (p. 301).Brickhouse (2001) argues in the same direction when she says that learning science cannot be viewed only as an acquisition of single concepts and under-