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Denna artikel bygger på resultat från ett samverkansprojekt där en högstadielärare och forskare gemensamt genomförde formativa interventioner för att undersöka epistemiska känslor – särskilt förundran – som pedagogiskt verktyg i undervisning om evolutionära processer. Förundran beskrivs ofta som en känsla med stor potential att stärka elevers engagemang och förståelse av naturvetenskap. Trots detta finns det få empiriska studier som har undersökt fenomenet i autentiska klassrumssammanhang. I denna studie analyserades ljud- och videoinspelningar av en lektion som utformats för att främja upplevelser av förundran. Genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys i kombination med multimodal interaktionsanalys identifierades hur elever skapade mening om, och uttryckte känslor i relation till undervisningens innehåll. Resultaten visar att eleverna resonerade mer djupgående kring begreppen konkurrens, variation och anpassning – processer som de även visat känslomässigt engagemang inför. Studien belyser den pedagogiska potentialen i att skapa utrymme för epistemiska känslor i undervisning om komplexa naturvetenskapliga processer.

This study is based on a collaborative project in which a lower secondary science teacher and researchers carried out formative interventions to explore epistemic emotions—particularly wonder—as a pedagogical tool in teaching evolutionary processes. Wonder is frequently highlighted as an emotion with strong potential to enhance students’ engagement in and understanding of science. However, few empirical studies have examined this phenomenon in authentic classroom settings. By using qualitative content analysis combined with multimodal interaction analysis of an audio- and video-recorded lesson designed for wonder, the study identified how students made meaning of and expressed emotions in relation to the subject matter. The results show that students engaged in more in-depth reasoning around the concepts of competition, variation, and adaptation—processes that also evoked emotional engagement. The study highlights the pedagogical potential of intentionally creating space for epistemic emotions in the teaching of complex scientific processes.

Accelerating digitalization actualizes the importance of secondary science education in developing students’ digital abilities, such as retrieving and appraising scientific information online. However, there is little research and policy guidance on the purposes and challenges of teaching digital abilities in science classrooms. This article reports on a mixed-methods study that explored how upper secondary school students in Sweden reasoned about their digital abilities when searching for scientific information online. The results reveal three key themes: the role of scientific terminology in improving search accuracy, as students noted how precise terms yielded more credible results; the need for deliberate search strategies, including using questions or keywords depending on the context; and, the impact of selective exposure, as students became aware of how personalized results could reinforce existing beliefs and limit perspective diversity. Based on these insights, we introduce the concept of ‘digital versatility’ and outline a model, Digital Versatility in Online Searching (DVOS), that integrates essential digital abilities (source literacy, information abilities, and search abilities) with scientific subject knowledge. The DVOS model provides guidance for teachers in instructional planning and offers a basis for future research on digital abilities in science education.

To empower the young generation to bring about sustainability change is imperative. Living in Anthropocene requires new forms of teaching for sustainability in order to achieve such paradigm shift in regard to sustainability. We build on John Dewey’s educational idea ‘democracy as a way of life’, a pragmatic orientation which is in alignment with civic education conceptualized as ‘learning as participation’. The research project makes use of didactic modelling, a cyclical process where empirical results and theoretical knowledge have been processed by preschool teachers, principals, and researchers, in close collaboration. A new action-oriented model for teaching sustainability was developed and contains the following: A purpose continuous with an authentic sustainability problem; Children participating in processes that include creativity, deliberation and critical evaluation. These aspects are all embedded in an approach of preschool didactics. In addition, by incorporating children’s voices all along the course of action, an agency process is formed, and consequently, an expanded action repertoire for sustainability is achieved.

Swedish vocational education and training programmes have become increasingly aligned with labour market demands and employability, with consequent risks of marginalisation of citizenship education and formation. Four subjects that have traditionally played important roles in this, history, religious education, science, and social studies, are now only taught in short courses that are minor elements of the programmes. To obtain insights into the teaching and learning conditions in these key subjects for citizenship formation in Swedish VET programmes, school leaders and teachers were interviewed. The analysis, informed by frame factory theory and Biesta’s conceptualisations of three functions of education, revealed clear differences in the school leaders’ and teachers’ views of the conditions. School leaders articulated problems related to internal frame factors, such as the teachers’ engagement and students’ attitudes to the subjects, while teachers referred to external frame factors, such as the organisation of teaching. However, when talking about the VET students and their learning, both school leaders and teachers expressed notions of the students as in need of qualification and socialisation, thereby focusing on preparation of the students for their future professional and civic roles, with little room for substantial subjectification.

Continuity between pedagogical approaches in prior-to-school and school teaching can be beneficial for an early start of education (OECD, 2017). In this study we use Legitimation Code Theory (Maton, 2020) as an analytical framework to explore science teaching continuity in terms of science-specific knowledge and discourse across three Swedish early years school forms: preschool (ages 1-5), preschool-class (age 6) and primary school, grade 1-3 (ages 7-9). The following research questions are in focus: 1) in what ways do activities and verbal teacher-student interactions, at each educational setting, move between degrees of context-dependent meaning (SG, the level of abstraction) and complexity and condensation of meaning (semantic density, SD) and 2) in what ways do semantic profiles vary, or align within and across Early Childhood educational settings? In our material, based on classroom observations, we identified three different types of semantic profiles: 1) the fragmented flatline, 2) the escalator, and 3) the semantic wave. The preschools demonstrated all three profiles. Preschool-class and primary school science teaching showed profiles of both the escalator and semantic wave. Points of concern in relation to a vision of a continuity in science education across EC school forms will be discussed. 

This white book presents the final recommendations and guidelines from the MULTIPLIERS project, directed at practitioners and policymakers. Its main objective is to support the successful integration of open-schooling practices across diverse geographical, cultural, and economic contexts to ensure accessible, high-quality science education for all. Through this white book, readers will find examples of complex socio-scientific issues tackled in the MULTIPLIERS project, providing valuable insights for anyone interested in initiating similar open-schooling projects. The project advances an operational definition of Open Schooling, aligning with three core objectives: community impact, pedagogical impact, and scientific impact, with a strong emphasis on foundational values.

The primary goal of the project is to expand science learning opportunities by promoting cooperative partnerships and establishing Open Science Communities (OSCs). Specifically, it aims to (1) enhance students’ interest in science, boost self-efficacy in science learning, and raise awareness of science careers by embedding real-life, open-school science learning projects in collaboration with science professionals and media experts into education; and (2) develop analytical and critical thinking skills in students, families, and the broader community to empower problemsolving and innovation.

This white book presents the final recommendations and guidelines from theMULTIPLIERS project, directed at practitionersand policymakers. Its main objective isto support the successful integration of open-schooling practices across diverse geographical, cultural, and economic contextsto ensure accessible, high-quality science education for all.

Through this white book, readers will find examples of complex socio-scientific issue stackled in the MULTIPLIERS project, providingvaluable insights for anyone interested ininitiating similar open-schooling projects.

The project advances an operational definition of Open Schooling, aligning with three core objectives: community impact, pedagogical impact, and scientific impact, with a strong emphasis on foundational values.

The primary goal of the project is to expand science learning opportunities by promoting cooperative partnerships and establishing Open Science Communities (OSCs). Specifically, it aims to (1) enhance students’interest in science, boost self-efficacy in science learning, and raise awareness of science careers by embedding real-life, open-school science learning projects in collaboration with science professionals and media experts intoeducation; and (2) develop analytical andcritical thinking skills in students, families, and the broader community to empower problem-solving and innovation.

Drawing on best practices in Open Schooling and the needs identified in partner countries, the MULTIPLIERS consortium has created a practical framework for implementing project activities through a structured teaching and learning sequence (TLS) comprising three phases:

Phase 1: Identifying and exploring socio-scientific issues(SSIs) relevant to the local community.

Phase 2: Engaging in an Open-School Science learningproject (OSS).

Phase 3: Students acting as multipliers.

For each phase of the TLS, this white book outlines specific recommendations and guidelines.

In addition, the MULTIPLIERS project has developed a sustainability model designed to promote long-term collaboration between schools and external partner organizations. This model supports the ongoing integrationof authentic science education into schools by establishing networks that connect formal education with real-world scientific expertise. The sustainability model rests on five key pillars: Communication, Coordination, Collaboration, Costs, and the Collection of Materials.

The aim of the European H2020 project MULTIPLIERS is to expand science learning opportunities by fostering cooperation between schools and society and involving the students in real-life projects. To achieve this, the project has established novel learning partnerships (“Open Science Communities” = OSCs) where schools, families, research institutions, industry, informal learning providers, policy makers and media collaborate in order to foster the students’ engagement with contemporary challenges. In these learning projects (“Open School Science learning projects = OSS projects), the students work with various stakeholders to explore different perspectives and improve their understanding while gaining first-hand experiences and an insight into research practices and discussions. The students then act as “multipliers” and share their knowledge and experiences by actively involving their families and the wider community, through dedicated multiplying events (e.g., open-school days), or the production of science communication media (e.g., podcasts and video clips). In our presentation, we will focus on three biology education case studies from Germany, Slovenia and Sweden, where OSCs have been established, and students and science experts worked together on different socio-scientific issues. For the evaluation of the OSS projects, we used qualitative data from participant observations and interviews as well as focus group discussions with the participants (i.e., students, teachers, science experts, families, and community members). Our data were used to derive information about successful methodological approaches and learning environments. The data show that the engagement in scientific practices using authentic equipment triggered the students’ interest. High engagement and students’ interest was also observed and reported for the different debate activities. It was found that promoting the students’ autonomy and leadership, while taking on the role of knowledge multipliers, fostered their interest, self-efficacy and knowledge acquisition. Students were particularly positive about out-of-school experiences in authentic settings, opportunities to work independently in groups, and about the support of the experts. In the MULTIPLIERS project, further OSS projects will be conducted and evaluated in order to derive final recommendations and publish guidelines and materials for successful open schooling activities.

In this project, we investigate the pedagogical potential of making room for wonder in science teaching. Focusing on grades 4-6 (ages 10-12), we use formative interventions (Penuel 2014) where researchers and teachers collaboratively engage in iterative cycles of team meetings and classroom implementations to create teaching models for making room for wonder in science teaching. Our research question is: What emanate as important aspects for making room for wonder in school science context? Field notes from observations of the first intervention cycle with a 4th-grade class were analysed through content analysis, guided by theoretical frameworks of teaching for wonder (Trotman, 2014; Wolbert and Schinkel, 2021), and academic emotions (Pekrun, 2014). The results show that achievement emotions, linked to success or frustration during independent explorations prevailed among students’ expressed emotions during science class. Expressions of wonder, an epistemic emotion, were associated with lesson structures that provided sensory experiences and allowed students time to deeply engage with unfamiliar phenomena that for them lacked an immediate explanation. 

Many different emotions are described to influence students’ engagement and learning. In this study we focus on wonder because this emotion is, according to the literature, of particular interest in relation to engagement in the scientific work process. When transforming scholarly science to school science different types of knowledge and metacognitive attributes might be lost in this transposition process. However, no studies have yet focused on describing and comparing the perceptions of wonder in science among stakeholders. We used a Delphi study to examine views on the role of wonder in science practices, and science teaching from a range of important stakeholders of different areas of science and science teaching: scientists, science curriculum developers, and science teacher educators. Our findings show no major differences between the expert groups. All respondents were positive towards including wonder in teaching and their suggestions for content and lesson structures that make room for wonder in science education were very similar.