Analyzing discourse and identity in physics education: Methodological considerations

Johansson, Anders

doi:10.1119/perc.2016.pr.040

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rooted in feminist and critical pedagogies, research employing the concept of science identity has generated crucial insights and understandings of processes influencing participation in science practices (e.g., Adams & Gupta, 2017;Avraamidou, 2020b;Beijaard et al, 2004;Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Gonsalves et al, 2019;Hazari et al, 2013Hazari et al, , 2020Jackson & Seiler, 2013;Moore, 2008;Ong et al, 2018;Rahm & Moore, 2016). Simultaneously, science identity research has diversified in terms of both education environment and level such as out of school (e.g., Archer et al, 2016), primary (e.g., Archer et al, 2013), middle (e.g., Tan et al, 2013), and secondary school education (e.g., Archer et al, 2017;Carlone, 2003;Hazari et al, 2010;Holmegaard et al, 2014) and has furthermore shaped understandings of tertiary science (e.g., Avraamidou, 2020b;Jackson & Seiler, 2013;Johansson, 2018) and science teacher education (e.g., Avraamidou, 2016;Larsson, 2019Larsson, , 2021. Despite generating valuable insights in diverse educational contexts, qualitative work on possible and impossible science identities in higher education biology is rather scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I try to encourage my students to think, read, and talk science” intelligible identities in university teachers' figured worlds of higher education biology

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Higher education biology is often imagined, perceived, and described as having reached gender equality in terms of who gets to participate in disciplinary practices. However, like any other natural science discipline, higher education biology is a world whose landscapes are shaped by (re)productions of historical, cultural, and social norms. We explore these norms through the lens of identity, asking what identities are recognized by university biology teachers at a large Swedish university, analyzing 94 teaching statements written when applying for faculty positions in biology. We argue that in and through teaching statements, university biology teachers negotiate and perform overarching academic and disciplinary norms and discourses with the goal to present themselves as intelligible candidates. As statements of value, they thereby display implicit and explicit identities recognized in worlds of higher education biology. Using a discourse analytical framework, we identified two university teacher identities imagined as intelligible: Research Science Teachers and Facilitating Science Teachers.Research Science Teachers position research and associated masculine-coded competences as anchor points

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I try to encourage my students to think, read, and talk science” intelligible identities in university teachers' figured worlds of higher education biology

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Negotiating Intelligence, Nerdiness, and Status in Physics Master’s studies

Johansson

2018

Res Sci Educ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Motivated by widespread concerns for representation and equity in physics education, this study investigates negotiations of identity positions of master's students in physics. The goal is to explore how sociocultural features of physics can structure the possibilities for becoming a physicist. Interviews with international master's students in physics were analyzed focusing on perceived norms about physics and how students responded to and negotiated these in crafting a position as competent physicists-to-be. The results show how physics master's students from varying backgrounds have to negotiate stereotypes of intelligence and nerdiness, as well as an implicit ranking of physics specializations. The stereotype that physicists are intelligent and nerdy is further complicated in physics studies, as some specializations-the more pure and theoretical-are viewed as more intellectually demanding and are in this way accorded a higher status. Students on these specializations are simultaneously seen as more intelligent and more nerdy, while a perception that students who choose other subjects do this just because they are not good enough to do theoretical physics is perpetuated. These notions become significant in relation to western society's high regard of authentic intelligence and idolization of geniuses, ideas that can serve as powerful ideals in physics. This study gives novel insight about how well-known norms and stereotypes about physics come to matter in physics master's students' negotiations to become recognized as competent physicists.

show abstract

Skepticism and physics: epistemic beliefs of Norwegian physics students compared with other student groups

Kjelsberg

2024

Discov Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this study is to examine how physics students position themselves compared to other student groups on various attitudes and opinions relevant to the tradition of “scientific skepticism”. Previous research has shown physics students identifying and having mindsets in line with the epistemic ideas from this philosophical tradition, promoting disbelief in epistemically unfounded ideas, and skeptical inquiry as a tool for evaluating claims. In this, we employ quantitative constructs testing conspiracy beliefs and supernatural beliefs along with established psychological constructs for social dominance orientation, and the conspiracy mentality questionnaire that have previously been shown to have interconnectedness. After showing several direct comparisons between different student groups, the paper also examines other elements that can influence “scientific skepticism”, like education level, education type, and gender via multivariate regression analysis. The results suggest physics students tend to position themselves to the end of the spectrum on several constructs connected to scientific skepticism, both compared to students from the humanities and social sciences, and students from other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, and the regression analysis finds being a physics student contributes a statistically significant contribution along the tested dimensions. The paper discusses possible reasons for this and what this tells us about physics students and physics education.

show abstract

Analyzing discourse and identity in physics education: Methodological considerations

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

“I try to encourage my students to think, read, and talk science” intelligible identities in university teachers' figured worlds of higher education biology

“I try to encourage my students to think, read, and talk science” intelligible identities in university teachers' figured worlds of higher education biology

Negotiating Intelligence, Nerdiness, and Status in Physics Master’s studies

Skepticism and physics: epistemic beliefs of Norwegian physics students compared with other student groups

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About