My main research interest is learning through visual representations in the social sciences. In my research I investigate the relationship between how a subject content is visually illustrated and how students understand the content visualised. I am also interested in the relationship between the design of a visual representation and what teaching-learning practices are established in the classroom and thereby what learning is made possible.

During 2020-2023 I led a three-year research project focusing on how students understand different visual models used in social science teaching and how teaching could be designed in order to facilitate for students to develop their visual literacy in social science.

From the autumn of 2024, I am also leading a three-year research project funded by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research, focusing on how teaching based on visual models of sustainability can be designed to support students' learning of complex relationships in sustainability issues. The project focuses on social studies and natural sciences.

From the autumn of 2024, I am also involved in driving a three-year research project with a focus on religious studies and psychology education. In this project, we explore the opportunities and challenges that arise when teaching addresses topics perceived as "life-relevant" by students, and how the interaction between the student and a life-relevant/existentially relevant subject matter can be handled wisely in education. This project is also funded by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research.

Another research interest is the ability to analyse in social science. I have been involved in and led several studies focusing on this particular ability.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Samhällsfrågor bortom punkterna: Elevers resonerande utifrån punktdiagram i samhällskunskap

  2024. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.). Acta Didactica Norden 18 (2)

  Article

  Samhällsfrågor utmärks av samband som ofta är svåra för elever att få grepp om. I samhällskunskapsundervisningen används ofta visuella modeller, såsom grafer, för att hjälpa elever med detta. Läsning av grafer är dock inte intuitiv, utan ett kunnande som elever behöver utveckla. En utmaning är att grafen kan öppna upp för kvalificerade resonemang om olika samhällsfrågor, samtidigt som den riskerar att skymma samhällsfrågornas dynamiska karaktär. Syftet med artikeln är att utveckla förståelse för vad som behöver synliggöras i samhällskunskapsundervisningen för att skapa förutsättningar för elever att utifrån grafer (mer specifikt punktdiagram) föra kvalificerade resonemang om relationen mellan olika faktorer kopplade till en samhällsfråga. I ett större perspektiv diskuteras också relationen mellan visuell litteracitet och undervisning och lärande i samhällskunskap. Empirin består av 72 inspelade och transkriberade gruppdiskussioner där elever i åldrarna 12-17, utifrån två punktdiagram, diskuterar relationen mellan BNP per capita och utsläppsnivå av koldioxid per capita i olika länder, respektive födelsetal per kvinna och flickors utbildningsnivå i olika länder. Empirin analyserades fenomenografiskt för att identifiera kvalitativt skilda sätt att erfara samhällsvetenskapliga punktdiagram samt vilka aspekter som tycks vara kritiska för elever att urskilja för att utveckla mer kvalificerade erfaranden. Fem erfaranden identifierades och fyra kritiska aspekter: att identifiera punktdiagrammets övergripande mönster, dess avvikelser, bakomliggande faktorer till mönstret, samt grafens och därmed den illustrerade samhällsfrågans dynamiska karaktär. En diskussion förs om vikten av att i undervisningen ge elever förutsättningar att diskutera “bortom” grafen och därmed utveckla förmågan att föra kvalificerade resonemang om relationen mellan olika faktorer kopplade till en samhällsfråga.

  Read more about Samhällsfrågor bortom punkterna

• Att utmana bilden av systemet - elever läser visualiseringar av samhällssystem

  2024. Malin Tväråna (et al.). Nordidactica 14 (1), 112-138

  Article

  Visuella modeller används i samhällskunskap för att beskriva centrala samhällssystem och strukturer som hör till ämnets kanon. Samtidigt saknas kunskap om elevers förmåga att läsa och använda dessa representationer. I studien undersöktes hur elever på mellanstadiet, högstadiet och gymnasiet förstod två olika flödesscheman över det samhällsekonomiska kretsloppet och det demokratiska systemet. 22 transkriberade gruppsamtal analyserades med hjälp av fenomenografi och variationsteori. Kritiska aspekter som identifierades rör urskiljandet av flödesschemat som en helhet snarare än många delar, att se relationerna mellan modellens enheter som ömsesidiga, att förstå att det representerade systemet är konstruerat och inte naturgivet samt att urskilja att det representerade systemet står i relation till externa faktorer. Resultaten utgör didaktiska utgångspunkter för undervisning som utvecklar elevers förmåga att läsa och använda modeller i diskussioner om komplexa samhällssystem.

  Read more about Att utmana bilden av systemet - elever läser visualiseringar av samhällssystem

• Teaching Civic Visual Literacy: Four Guiding Principles

  2024. Jan Holmén (et al.). Diagrams in Civic Education, 87-129

  Chapter

  This chapter explores how to effectively teach civic visual literacy in Social Science Education (SSE) in Sweden. Visual literacy is defined as the ability to interpret and create visual representations, which is crucial for understanding complex social issues. Over four years, involving 18 classes and more than 450 students, the research identified four guiding principles for using visual representations, such as scatterplots and flowcharts, to enhance critical reasoning about social issues and systems. These principles include discerning necessary aspects of the models used, recognizing model-specific and model-generic reading skills, reasoning beyond the model, and employing three design principles—a holistic approach, zooming out, and reconstruction. This study emphasizes that visual representations must be unpacked in teaching to avoid oversimplification and to encourage deeper understanding. The research also highlights the importance of teachers’ roles in facilitating students’ critical engagement with visual representations, ensuring that these are seen not as static depictions but as tools for dynamic analysis and problem-solving. By implementing these principles, the study aims to foster students' civic agency and critical thinking, ultimately contributing to more informed and active citizenship.

  Read more about Teaching Civic Visual Literacy

• Utmaningar och angreppssätt i processen att skriva sammanläggningsavhandling inom samhällsvetenskap och humaniora: [Challenges and approaches in the process of writing an article-based thesis in social sciences and humanities]

  2023. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Kristian Niemi. Högre Utbildning 13 (3), 46-62

  Article

  Allt fler avhandlingar inom humaniora och samhällsvetenskap skrivs som sammanläggningsavhandlingar, en textgenre som är hämtad från det naturvetenskapliga fältet. När en genremodell förflyttas från ett fält till ett annat kan det uppstå nya utmaningar, något som sällan diskuteras explicit. Artikeln riktar sig till handledare och doktorander och tar upp några av de utmaningar som kan uppstå när sammanläggningsavhandling som modell används inom samhällsvetenskaperna och humaniora. Tre angreppssätt presenteras som möjliga verktyg vid handledning och skrivande för att möta dessa utmaningar: helhetsbild, koherens och förankring. Genom dem kan processen bli smidigare och slutprodukten bättre. 

  Read more about Utmaningar och angreppssätt i processen att skriva sammanläggningsavhandling inom samhällsvetenskap och humaniora

• Civic reasoning about power issues: The criticality of agency, arena and relativity

  2023. Malin Tväråna, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog. Journal of Social Science Education 22 (1)

  Article

  Purpose: The study examines students' conceptions of power and important aspects of teaching for developing the ability to analyse power relations in social science.

  Methodology: Phenomenography is used in the analysis of 155 student essays, to identify different ways of analysing societal power issues.

  Findings: When conducting a qualified analysis of a societal power issue, it is crucial that students discern that power is tied to an agent, that power is exercised through agency in specific contextual power arenas, and that they understand how power is relative to the power of other agents in the same arena.

  Research limitations: The study focuses on Swedish upper secondary students. Comparisons with other groups of learners are welcomed.

  Practical implications: The critical aspects identified should be used as a basis for teaching designs. Findings imply that the meaning of power as a concept should be highlighted in social science teacher education. 

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• Agens och existens i ämnesundervisningen: medborgarbildning i religionskunskap, psykologi och samhällskunskap

  2022. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Thérèse Halvarson Britton, Maria Olson. Nordidactica (4), 1-26

  Article

  The purpose of the article is twofold. Firstly, the ambition is to argue on a theoretical basis, with exemplification in three school subjects in Sweden - religious education, psychology and social studies, for a widening of the understanding of the citizenship education assignment of schools and subject teaching and the point in doing so. Secondly, the ambition is to show what this can mean specifically in relation to the subject teaching of these three school subjects in Swedish primary school and in upper secondary school. The starting point in the argumentation is taken from Hannah Arendt's thoughts on education, man and existence (2004, 1958/2013). The argument leads to the notion that the citizen-forming task of subject teaching not only needs to include agency dimensions - students' 'doing', their opportunities for action and readiness for action in society and in the world - but also existential dimensions - students' 'being in society and the world', their opportunities to grow as unique people in the meeting with subject teaching. As agency dimensions seem to be more elaborated in current subject didactic research than existential dimensions, the ambition in the article is to elaborate in an in-depth manner how existential dimensions can be depicted and the importance of them

  Read more about Agens och existens i ämnesundervisningen

• Grasping the concept of value: Exploring students’ economic and financial literacy in citizenship education

  2022. Mattias Björklund (et al.). Journal of Social Science Education 21 (4)

  Article

  Purpose: To explore student’s understandings of financial literacy and economics issues with an aim to inform future teaching designs.

  Design/methodology/approach: Phenomenography and variation theory has been used to analyze students’ understanding of a concept found in both financial and economic contexts, namely value.

  Findings: Students need to discern that value is attributed, related to scarcity and to other values in order to elaborate their understanding. Thus, teaching also needs to address these issues.

  Research implications: A social science framing of financial literacy and economics can facilitate a teaching that aims for the development of students’ critical thinking and future ability to make informed choices

  Read more about Grasping the concept of value

• Varför fortsätter flykten över Medelhavet?

  2021. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.). Forskning om undervisning och lärande 9 (2), 5-29

  Article

  Denna artikel bygger på en studie som undersöker vad det innebär att analysera en samhällsfråga i samhällskunskap, en viktig del av kritiskt tänkande, och vad elever behöver erfara i undervisningen för att utveckla en mer kvalificerad analysförmåga. Elever från samtliga stadier i grundskolan ombads att, före och efter en lektion som fokuserade på flyktingsituationen kring Medelhavet, skriftligt besvara en fråga om orsaker till denna flykt. En fenomenografisk analys av de 233 elevsvar som genererades visade att det sätt som eleverna erfor flyktingsituationen på var tydligt kopplat till kvalitén på deras analyser. I analysen av elevsvaren identifierades tre aspekter som tycks vara kritiska för elever att urskilja för att de ska kunna kvalificera sina kausalanalyser av en samhällsfråga. Dessa aspekter berör en samhällsfrågas dynamik, komplexiteten i kausalitet och vikten av att ta olika dimensioner i beaktande (som samhälleliga respektive individuella dimensioner eller historiska respektive framtida dimensioner). Dessa aspekter visade sig var viktiga för elever i alla årskurser som ingick i studien. Artikeln diskuterar även implikationer för undervisning. 

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• The affordance of visual tools

  2021. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog. Journal of Social Sciences Education 20 (1), 65-90

  Article

  Purpose: This paper results from an intervention study focusing on the relationship between visual representation used in teaching about pricing in economics and teaching-learning practices established in the classroom, with a focus on the affordance offered through the representations used.

  Method: Lessons were conducted with four upper secondary classes: two had lessons based on graphs and two on a causal loop diagram. Transcriptions of the lesson, including small group discussions, were analysed using a practice theory perspective, identifying actions and goals driving them. Results arising from the two representations were compared.

  Findings: Different actions were mediated through the different representations. A causal loop diagram afforded more qualified actions, and more epistemic teaching-learning practices, than graphs.

  Research limitations/implications: This study should be replicated with different subject contents /visual representations.

  Practical implications: Choice of visual tools used in teaching will affect the practice established and thus the knowledge made available for students to experience.

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• Using visual representations to enhance students’ understanding of causal relationships in price

  Ann-Sofie Jägerskog. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

  Article

  This study investigates how different visual representations of price facilitate learning in upper secondary social science education. Three lessons on pricing were given to four classes (n = 94 students). Two classes had lessons based on graphs and the other two classes used a causal loop diagram. Students’ written pre- and post-test answers were analysed phenomenographically and results arising from the two visual representations were compared. The results suggested that the causal loop diagram facilitated a more complex way of understanding the causal relationships in pricing than the graph. The traditional way of introducing price, through the use of supply/demand graphs, is thereby problematised. This study extends current knowledge by identifying a synergy between phenomenography and research on visual representations and has specific implications for teaching and learning.

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• Students’ understanding of causation in pricing

  2019. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Peter Davies, Cecilia Lundholm. Journal of Social Science Education 18 (3), 89-107

  Article

  The aim of this study is to extend previous research on conceptions of price by highlighting variation in students’ understanding of causality. It also aims to offer a new way of using ’dimensions of variation’ in phenomenographic research to analyse the structure of conceptions of complex phenomena. The study uses data from 96 upper secondary students who were asked to provide written answers to two problems before and after a short programme of teaching. This yielded a total of 349 open responses which were analysed phenomenographically. The study revealed four qualitatively distinct ways of understanding causation in pricing. It also revealed new insights in how different dimensions of variation in conceptions of pricing are related to each other. The study suggests that the form of a problem posed to students will affect the dimensions of variation in conceptions that are exposed. Conclusions drawn are relevant for research and teaching.

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• Multimedia learning trumps retrieval practice in psychology teaching

  2019. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 60 (3), 222-230

  Article

  It is well established that studying with (vs. without) visual illustrations as well as taking tests (vs. restudying) is beneficial for learning, but on which strategy should one put the efforts, or should they be combined for best learning? Eighty-eight upper secondary school students were given a brief lecture presented verbally (6 classes) or with the aid of a visual illustration (visuoverbal, 6 classes). The information was processed again by taking a memory test or by restudying. Recall and transfer tests were conducted after some few minutes and again after one week. The visuoverbal lecture resulted in better learning than verbal presentation only. A significant study strategy by retention interval interaction was found. However, this interaction was not qualified by a testing effect. Hence, taking tests (retrieval practice) did not lead to better learning than restudying. It was concluded that it is worthwhile to use visual illustrations in teaching. However, the present study did not reveal any synergistic effects from the combination of visuoverbal presentation and retrieval practice.

  Read more about Multimedia learning trumps retrieval practice in psychology teaching

• Diagrams in Civic Education: Visuospatial Models of Society in Textbooks and Teaching

  2024. Janne Holmén (et al.).

  Book

   This book presents the findings of three studies on the use of diagrams in civic education. The first study presents an international comparison of textbook diagrams promoting national unity in diversity, with examples from ten countries. The second focuses on the depiction of migration in diagrammatic form in German textbooks, The final study was conducted in collaboration with teachers in Swedish social science classrooms, and focuses on teaching comprehension of flow charts and scatterplots. The book will be of interest to scholars of educational media, didactics, the history of education and citizenship education.

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• Undervisningsutmaningar: som en guldgruva för lärardriven didaktisk skolutveckling, F-6

  2024. Inger Eriksson, Sebastian Björnhammer, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Book

  Vad är svårt att få våra elever att lära sig? Varför? Hur kan vår undervisning utvecklas för att möta behoven? Med vardagliga undervisningsutmaningar som grund för det kollegiala utvecklingsarbetet finns stor potential att stärka den gemensamma kunskapsbasen i ett meningsfullt systematiskt kvalitetsarbete. Författarna erbjuder här tankesätt, konkreta redskap och en stegvis arbetsgång för att systematiskt ringa in och ta sig an de ämnesdidaktiska undervisningsutmaningar som uppstår i klassrummen. I boken lyfts vikten av att lärare tillsammans identifierar de ämnesdidaktiska utmaningarna och utifrån dessa finner vägar att vässa undervisningen. Det handlar om att ta avstamp i befintlig kunskap och erfarenhet i ett utvecklingsarbete som både kan dra nytta av och utgöra utgångspunkt för ny ämnesdidaktisk forskning. Den här boken vänder sig till praktiserande eller studerande lärare och rektorer i F-6 som vill bidra med ett granskande förhållningssätt till den egna praktiken. Den kan med fördel köpas in av en hel skola för att främja det gemensamma lärandet i en skolutveckling som gör skillnad. 

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• Slutrapport – Utprövning av ett kartläggningsredskap för identifiering av undervisningsutmaningar

  2022. Inger Eriksson, Sebastian Björnhammer, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Report

  Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS) och Stockholms universitet har sedan 2017 samverkat inom den nationella försöksverksamheten – ULF-avtal. Den nationella försöksverksamheten (som är planerad att permanentas från och med 2025) syftar till att utveckla modeller för hur praktiknära forskning kan bedrivas i samverkan mellan skolhuvudmän och lärosäten. En av principerna med ULF-avtalet är att forskningsfrågorna ska ta sin utgångspunkt i skolans problem och utmaningar (https://www.ulfavtal.se/ Om ULF-avtal). Huvudmännen inom STLS konstaterade att de kvantitativa data – som meritvärden, betyg och brukarundersökningar – som vanligtvis utgör underlag för analyser och resultatdialoger endast ger indikationer om problem på en aggregerad nivå. Av olika anledningar är det mindre vanligt att mer klassrumsnära data diskuteras och analyseras. Det innebär att innehållet i undervisningen och dess behandling i relation till elevernas lärande sällan är i fokus i samband med skolans systematiska kvalitetsarbete. Även om denna typ av arbete görs i årskurs- och ämneslärargrupper tenderar eventuella erfarenheter och problematiska områden att osynliggöras när resultaten rapporteras i huvudmannaorganisationen. Samordningsgruppen för ULF/STLS tillsatte under våren 2020 en arbetsgrupp som bestod av representanter för huvudmännen inom STLS (Per Anderhag, Stockholms stad, Bo Karlsson, Botkyrka kommun & Jonatan Lannemar, Nacka kommun) och en av STLS dåvarande vetenskapliga ledare (Inger Eriksson) samt en representant för Stockholms universitet (Pär Larsson). Uppdraget var att “genomföra ett mindre utredningsarbete i relation till ovanstående problemområde. Syftet var att skapa underlag för att pröva möjligheterna att grunda forskningsprojekt inom STLS i erfarenheter och tillgängliga från huvudmannens systematiska kvalitetsarbete. 

  Föreliggande rapport innefattar förutom de två handböcker (bilaga 1 & 2) som utgör pilotprojektets konkreta 3 resultat en beskrivning av arbetet. Vi har valt att kalla kartläggningsredskapet: Systematisk Kartläggning av Undervisningsutmaningar (SKU). 

  Frågorna som pilotprojektet skulle söka svar på var bland annat: Hur behöver en modell för undervisningsnära ämnesvis kartläggning vara utformad för att ge tillräckligt, men inte för detaljerad, information om vad som utgör problem och utmaningar i undervisningen? Hur kan identifierade problem omvandlas till forskningsbara och (i relation till forskningsfronten) relevanta frågor som äger giltighet bortom den lokala kontexten? I vilken utsträckning förefaller problem identifierade i en skola eller förskola äga giltighet även för andra skolor/förskolor och därmed indikera ett mera generellt kunskapsbehov? 

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• Sex bärande principer för god forskningssamverkan

  2021. Malin Tväråna, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Mattias Björklund.

  Report

  Read more about Sex bärande principer för god forskningssamverkan

• Ämnesdidaktiskt forsknings- och utvecklingsarbete

  2021. Maria Andrée (et al.). Ämneslärarens arbete, 449-490

  Chapter

  Read more about Ämnesdidaktiskt forsknings- och utvecklingsarbete

• Making Possible by Making Visible

  2020. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.).

  Thesis (Doc)

  This thesis focuses upon the relationship between teaching and learning of dynamic phenomena and processes in social science and the use of visual representations in social science teaching. Teaching in social science uses many visual representations, such as models, flowcharts and diagrams, in order to help students to grasp phenomena, structures and processes in society. However, it is a challenge to use a visual simplification of a complex reality without reducing its complexity, and we often do not know what understanding is facilitated or even hindered through the use of different visual representations. We thus need to identify the relationship between how the content is visually illustrated and composed (compositional structure) and how students understand the content visualised. We also need to improve our understanding of the relationship between visual representations used in teaching and the teaching-learning practices established in the classroom. This thesis aims to contribute to these areas, with a focus on visual representations of pricing in economics, as an example of a complex and dynamic process in social science.

  Paper I uses phenomenography and variation theory to investigate students’ conceptions of causal relationships in pricing. Causality was identified as a central dimension of variation in understanding pricing. Different conceptions of causality in pricing were identified in upper secondary students’ written answers and critical aspects of causal relationships in pricing were identified. Paper II compares the outcome of using two different visual representations of pricing. This paper draws attention to the ways in which these representations helped students to discern the critical aspects identified in Paper I. A causal loop diagram was considerably more effective than supply/demand graphs in helping students to discern the critical aspects of causal relationships in pricing. A conclusion drawn is that the compositional structure of a visual representation used in teaching plays a vital role for how students understood the content visualised and which aspects of the phenomenon are more easily discerned, and which are not. Paper III uses a practice theory perspective to deepen the understanding of the results from Paper II. Results from Paper III suggest that the causal loop diagram, to a greater extent than the graph, contributed to the establishing of an epistemic practice, a practice where knowledge was developed and transformed. This was for instance seen in the causal loop diagram affording discussions concerning the causal relationships and encouraging further questions and reflections. A conclusion drawn is that a visual representation as an action-mediating tool plays a central role in forming the teaching-learning practices established in the classroom.

  The results from the three papers are also discussed in relation to two challenges: (i) how simplified visualisations of complex processes and structures may facilitate students developing a qualified understanding of such processes and structures and (ii) how disciplinary developed visual representations, when used in social science teaching, may be used with a different goal than when used in the discipline, where they were developed. The contributions of this thesis are both empirical, theoretical and practical and several practical implications for teaching and learning in social science were identified.

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• Pictures and a Thousand Words

  2015. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Fredrik Jönsson, Staffan Selander.

  Thesis (Lic)

  For teachers and students to be able to make informed decisions about how to best improve learning, it is important to compare learning strategies that are known to be effective. Both multimedia learning, based on the notion that individuals learn better from words and pictures presented together than from words alone, and retrieval practice, based on the idea that retrieving knowledge from the memory is an active process that has a beneficial impact on learning, have been found robust learning strategies in earlier research. However, the two strategies remain to be investigated in combination. The combination of the two seemingly robust strategies was investigated in Study I and results showed a modest effect of retrieval practice in terms of decreased forgetting and a strong effect of multimedia learning. Retrieval practice did not improve memory performance beyond the beneficial effect of using a visual illustration. Study II investigated the beneficial effects of the use of visual illustrations in more detail in terms of preferred learning style (visual, verbal or mixed), a notion that has reached wide popular ac- ceptance within the educational field. Support was not found for the learning styles hypothesis. Rather, results showed that the positive effects of learning with the aid of a visual illustration holds independently of preferred learning style, which renders strong support for multimedia learning in terms of its generalizability. Most interestingly, students with mixed or visual learning styles performed generally better on the learning test than students with a verbal learning style, which may imply that it is worthwhile to help students develop a preference for visual or multimodal aspects of information pro- cessing in order to further improve learning. The findings presented in this thesis provide new knowledge regarding the combination of learning strate- gies and contribute with important insights into the relation between learning style and the use of visual illustrations in psychology teaching. The findings also pose challenges for students and teachers, as well as people designing learning materials, concerning how to approach the use of visual illustrations and retrieval practice in teaching and learning. 

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• Makt - relation eller tillstånd?

  2018. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.).

  Article

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• Practical strategies for addressing social sciences and humanities compilation thesis challenges

  2024. Kristian Niemi, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Conference

  Dissertations in the social sciences and humanities (HS) have increasingly adopted the compilation thesis model, originally prevalent in the natural sciences (NS). This transition has introduced unique challenges that demand attention from both doctoral students and supervisors. This article aims to shed light on these challenges and proposes three key approaches — holistic view, coherence, and anchoring — to help address them effectively.

  The rising popularity of compilation theses in HS signifies a shift from traditional monographs (Paltridge, 2002; Krumsvik, 2022). While the NS model has proven successful, it is essential to recognize that HS fields possess distinct traditions, expectations, and demands (Nerland, 2012; Becher & Trowler, 2001). This article seeks to fill a gap in the existing literature by exploring the genre-specific conditions for writing compilation theses in HS and delving into doctoral supervision within this context.

  We propose three approaches. First, maintaining a holistic perspective throughout the thesiswriting process is vital, ensuring a connection between the individual articles and the overarching narrative of the kappa (Krumsvik, 2022). Second, prioritizing coherence involves emphasizing logical consistency, integrating the articles and the kappa, aligning research questions, and maintaining methodological continuity (Lauvås & Handal, 2005). Finally, it is crucial to consider the thesis’s different theoretical and methodological anchors as a whole (Becher & Trowler, 2001).

  In conclusion, the compilation thesis model in HS presents challenges distinct from those encountered in NS. Doctoral students and supervisors can navigate these challenges by considering the approaches above. The article suggests approaches to be considered at certain stages of working with the dissertation, and topics for supervision to discuss during these. This will, we believe, facilitate the successful completion of compilation theses.

  References

  Becher, T. & Trowler, P. R. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines (Second, revised edition). Open University Press

  Krumsvik, R. J. (2022). Academic writing in scientific journals versus doctoral theses. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 17(2), 78–94. https://doi.org/10.18261/njdl.17.2.1

  Lauvås, P. & Handal, G. (2005). Optimal use of feedback in research supervision with master and doctoral students. Nordisk Pedagogik, 25, 177–189.

  Nerland, M. (2012). Professions as knowledge cultures. In K. Jensen, L. C. Lahn & M. Nerland (Eds.), Professional learning in the knowledge society (pp. 27–48). SensePublishers.

  Paltridge, B. (2002). Thesis and dissertation writing: an examination of published advice and actual practice. English for Specific Purposes, 21(2), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0889-4906(00)00025-9

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• Visual literacy in Civics.: Teaching impact, system thinking and agency in civic reasoning with diagrams and models

  2024. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Malin Tväråna.

  Conference

  Learning in civics education involves developing an understanding of the complexity and the changeability in many different societal issues and phenomena. One common way of helping students to develop this understanding is to use visual models in teaching, such as flowcharts and different kinds of diagrams. However, teacher experience as well as earlier research indicate that students often find it difficult to understand and interpret such models (Cohn et al. 2001; Ruiz Estrada 2012; Wheat 2007). As much as they have the potential to help students grasp complexity and changeability in societal issues, visual models also risk hindering such development, as models for instance tend to simplify complex relations and phenomena (Davies & Mangan 2013; Wheat 2007). 

  In this article we elaborate on the development of visual literacy in civics education - what seems to be critical for students to discern in order to be able to read different kinds of visual models and how teaching based on such models can be designed in order for students to deepen their understanding of the issues, relations and phenomena illustrated in the models. We do this based on a research project involving 300 students from primary and lower secondary school as well as upper secondary school. 

  The project focused on two kinds of models (two flowcharts and two plot diagrams) often used in social studies teaching: a flowchart illustrating the democracy system in Sweden, a flowchart of the socio-economic cycle, a plot diagram illustrating the relationship between different countries’ GDP and level of CO2 emissions and a plot diagram illustrating the relationship between birth rate per woman in different countries and the amount of years girls in these countries attend to school. The results allow for a comparison between the aspects critical to discern in order to understand different kinds of models in relation to different contents. Conclusions include the importance of focusing internal structure, external context and civic agency in each model.

  At the NOKSA conference we would like to participate in a paper-response session where a draft to a paper is being discussed.

  Read more about Visual literacy in Civics.

• Visualising complexity and changeability - critical aspects of teaching visual models in economics

  2023. Malin Tväråna (et al.). EARLI 2023, 104-104

  Conference

  The aim of this presentation is to discuss how models used in social studies teaching can help students grasp the complexity and changeability in economic issues and systems in the context of social science education (SSE). Models are often used in SSE teaching to help students grasp complexity and changeability. However, students often find models difficult to understand and there is a risk that seemingly fixed models do not offer an understanding of the changeability in societal issues. The project investigates students’ conceptions of two different models that are commonly used in SSE (one flowchart and one plot diagram) and what aspects that need to be discerned in order for students to reason in a qualified way about the content illustrated. Results from a phenomenographic analysis of 21 group discussions (with students from both compulsory and upper secondary school) show that the critical aspects identified in part can be understood as model and content specific, but in part as model generic. By comparing the critical aspects for the two different models, it is evident that in order to read both models, aspects pertaining to structure, casual expansion, and human agency are important.

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• Visualising complexity and changeability in econmics: Challenges and possibilities when using visual representations in social studies teaching

  2023. Malin Tväråna (et al.).

  Conference

  Abstract

  The aim of this presentation is to discuss how models used in social studies teaching can help students grasp the complexity and changeability in economic issues and systems in the context of social science education (SSE). Models are often used in SSE teaching to help students grasp complexity and changeability. However, students often find models difficult to understand and there is a risk that seemingly fixed models do not offer an understanding of the changeability in societal issues. The project investigates students’ conceptions of two different models that are commonly used in SSE (one flowchart and one plot diagram) and what aspects need to be discerned in order for students to reason in a qualified way about the content illustrated. Results from a phenomenographic analysis of 21 group discussions (with students from both compulsory and upper secondary school) show that the critical aspects identified in part can be understood as model and content specific, but in part as model generic. By comparing the critical aspects for the two different models, it is evident that in order to read both models, aspects pertaining to structure, casual expansion, and human agency are important.

  Extended summary

  In teaching social studies, helping students to understand social issues and systems related to economics is central. Many of those socio-economics issues and systems are characterised by complex relations and changeability and are thus not always easy for students to grasp. Examples of such systems and issues are the “socio-economic cycle” of economic relations between households, companies, state and finance institutions, as well as the issue of how and why a country’s GDP is related to its emissions of carbon dioxide. One common way of helping students to grasp the complex relations and the changeability involved in such socioeconomic systems and issues, is to use visual models. However, even though there seems to be a great potential in using visual models when helping students to grasp economic relations in social science, teacher experience as well as earlier research also indicate that there are several challenges involved when such models are used. One such challenge seems to be that dynamic and complex systems and processes are simplified and therefore easily misunderstood when presented as a statically drawn visual representation (Cohn et al., 2001; Davies & Mangan, 2013; Wheat 2007a). A key challenge here seems to be that a two-dimensional graphical representation cannot simultaneously visualise interaction of several variables within the same graphical space and this limits the complexity that can be visualised (Ruiz Estrada, 2012; Reingewertz, 2013). Another challenge is the risk of the model discouraging a deeper thinking about the inner workings of the model and the phenomena behind it (Colander, 1995). Identifying challenges with visual representations used in economics teaching is important. However, this research needs to be complemented with research identifying what teaching needs to focus upon in order for those visual models to function as a support in qualifying students’ reasoning and understanding of the issue or system illustrated. This study aims at doing just that. 

  The presentation is based on a project aiming at identifying students’ understanding of two kinds of models (flowcharts and plot diagrams) frequently used in social studies teaching. The project also aims at identifying  what students need to discern in order to develop the ability to reason in a qualified way about the content represented by a model, and thus what needs to be focused upon in teaching when those models are used. The material analysed for this presentation consists of 21 recorded and transcribed small group discussions from students in year 6 and 8 in compulsory school and year 1 in upper secondary school. In the material, the students discuss a question that concerns either a flowchart of the socio-economic cycle or a plot diagram illustrating the relationship between different countries’ GDP and level of CO2 emissions. The transcribed material was analysed using phenomenographic methods, and critical aspects were identified for the two different models investigated (Marton, 2015). Critical aspects could be described as aspects of a powerful conception of a phenomenon, that are necessary for learners to discern in order to experience the phenomenon in this powerful way. In this project, the aim was thus to describe how powerful conceptions of the two models investigated distinguished themselves from less powerful conceptions of the same models.

  Results show that in order for students to qualify their reasoning about the socio-economic system with the help of the socio-economic cycle model, it is crucial that they discern the changeability and complexity in the relations illustrated in the flowchart. More specifically, what is needed to be discerned by the students in relation to the socio-economic cycle, and thus what needs to be focused upon in teaching when using this model, is i) the wholeness of the model, ii) the reciprocity of in the relationships visualised and iii) the openness of the model and thus also of the system itself. Aspects of changeability and complexity were central also in relation to students’ understanding of the plot diagram illustrating the relation between different countries’ GDP and level of CO2 emissions. Aspects that were identified as important for students to discern in order to qualify their reasoning about the economic/societal issue at hand were i) the general pattern between the two factors in the diagram, ii) the existence of outliers (thus understanding that the pattern is general, not consistent, iii) the fact that the pattern can be explained by other societal and economic factors, and iv) the fact that the pattern could be changed by changed human behaviour.

  By comparing the critical aspects for the two different models, it is evident that in order to read both models, aspects pertaining to structure, casual expansion, and human agency are important. 

  In sum, the results suggest that in order for visual models to be helpful in teaching about economic issues and systems, it is vital that students understand visual representations such as plot charts and flow charts, as representations of dynamic socio-economic issues or systems, that are possible to change. 

  References

  Cohn, E., Cohn, S., Balch, D. C., & Bradley, J., Jr. (2001). Do graphs promote learning in principles of economics? The Journal of Economic Education, 32(4), 299–310.

  Colander, D. (1995). The stories we tell: A reconsideration of AS/AD analysis. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(3), 169–188.

  Davies, P., & Mangan, J. (2013). Conceptions of graphs and the progression of students’ understanding. Korean Journal of Economics Education, 4, 189-210. 

  Reingewertz, Y. (2013). Teaching macroeconomics through flowcharts. International Review of Economics Education, 14, 86–93. 

  Ruiz Estrada, M. A. (2012). Is it possible to apply multidimensional graphical methods in the teaching and learning of economics?. Contemporary Economics, 7(4), 123-138.

  Marton, F. (2015). Necessary conditions of learning. Routledge.

  Wheat, I. D. (2007a). The feedback method of teaching macroeconomics: is it effective?. System Dynamics Review, 23(4), 391-413.

   

   

   

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• Teaching that enables discernment of impact, systems thinking and agency in social science visual literacy

  2023. Malin Tväråna (et al.).

  Conference

  Abstract

  Civic education includes the ability to understand and deal with complex social issues and systems that are often difficult for students to grasp (Hess, 2009), and commonly represented in visual models which often seem hard for students to understand (Roberts & Brugar, 2017). This presentation describes findings from the final phase of a three-year practise-based project where implications of and teaching principles for developing students’ visual literacies in social studies were explored. Previous results have shown that in order to understand and read models, students in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school need to discern aspects of impact, systems thinking and agency. 

  The results discussed in the presentation consist of teaching principles, based on phenomenography and variation theory, that seem to facilitate students’ discernment of those aspects. The principles were identified through analysis of pre- and post-tests, transcribed group discussions and filmed lessons from 17 teaching interventions with 300 students of different ages. Tentative results indicate that it is possible and relevant to introduce social science models such as plot diagrams and flowcharts as early as in primary school, but that there is a need for teaching that facilitates a more complex understanding of these models well up into upper secondary school. 

  The design principles identified seem to support students’ discernment of critical aspects of the models and thus more complex reasoning of the societal issues and systems illustrated. Nevertheless, results indicate that it is pivotal that also students who have discerned all of the aspects identified as critical for understanding a model, also encounter teaching that creates a need for, or motive of, multidimensional causal analysis of the social issue and critical judgement of social systems. Also, contextual/content specific knowledge emerges as a key dimension for high quality reasoning about social issues and systems using visual models. 

  References 

  Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the Classroom: The Democratic Power of Discussion. Routledge. 

  Roberts, K. L., & Brugar, K. A. (2017). The View from here: emergence of graphical literacy. Reading Psychology, 38, 733–777. doi:10.1080/02702711.2017.1336661 

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• Representing or affording? Visual representations in economics teaching as an agent in the classroom

  2023. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog. EARLI 2023, 104-104

  Conference

  In economics teaching, supply/demand graphs are frequently used as a visual tool to help students understand the complex relationships involved in pricing. Previous studies have investigated students’ understanding of graphs, identifying several challenges related to learning economics through graphs. What has not been investigated further is how visual representations used in teaching economics affect the teaching practice established in the classroom and thus what learning is afforded. This empirical study aims at doing just that. In a series of three lessons, four upper secondary classes were introduced to economics and pricing. Two classes had lessons based on traditional supply/demand graphs and two on a causal loop diagram. The introductory lecture as well as small group discussions were transcribed and analysed to identify teachers’ and students’ communicative actions during this lesson and goals driving them. Based on this analysis, conclusions were drawn concerning the relationship between teaching practices established and what visual representation was used in teaching. Results suggest that the teaching practices established in causal loop diagram-based classrooms could be characterised as epistemic practices, where discussing and learning about pricing was the main object. In contrast, teaching practices established in graph-based classrooms were characterized by a focus on the visual representation as such and the logics behind it, rather than discussing the inner workings of the causal relationships involved in pricing. The study has educational and theoretical significance in terms of practical implications for teaching and discussions concerning what is afforded through different visual representations of the same subject content. 

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• Visuella modeller i samhällskunskap : Hur gör man?

  2023. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.).

  Conference

  I samhällskunskapsundervisningen illustreras ofta samhällsfrågor och samhällssystem genom visuella modeller, vilka kan vara svåra för eleverna att förstå (Roberts & Brugar, 2017). Presentationen beskriver resultat från ett treårigt undervisningsutvecklande projekt som undersöker relationen mellan elevers samhällsanalytiska resonemang och användandet av visuella modeller i samhällskunskapsundervisningen. Elever i såväl mellanstadiet, högstadiet och gymnasiet ingår istudien.

  I studiens första fas undersöktes, med hjälp av fenomenografi och variationsteori, vad elever behöver få möjlighet att urskilja för att kunna föra kvalificerade samhällsanalytiska resonemang med hjälp av några olika visuella modeller. (Jägerskog m.fl., kommande). De kritiska aspekter som identifierades i denna första fas låg till grund för utformandet av de undervisningsinterventioner som genomfördes i studiens andra fas, vilken står i fokus för denna presentation. De resultat som diskuteras i presentationen består av undervisningsprinciper som verkar underlätta elevernas urskiljande av de aspekter som i fas 1 identifierades som kritiska. Designprinciperna identifierades genom analys av transkriberade gruppdiskussioner och filmade lektioner från 17 undervisningsinterventioner med 300 elever i olika åldrar. Den analytiska fråga som ställdes till materialet var: Vilka undervisningshandlingar tycks göra det möjligt för eleverna att urskilja aspekter som är kritiska för att läsa plotdiagram som dynamiska sociala frågor som kan förändras, respektiveatt läsa flödesdiagram som föränderliga och öppna samhällssystem?

  Resultaten visar att visuella modeller kan öppna upp för ett kvalificerat samhällsanalytiskt resonemang hos elever i såväl de lägre skolåren, som i de högre. För att detta ska ske krävs dock en undervisning som på ett genomtänkt sätt drar nytta av de möjligheter som visuella modeller av samhällsfrågor och samhällssystem för med sig, men som också hanterar de utmaningar som de medför. I presentationen diskuteras och exemplifieras tre designprinciper som verkar stödja elevernas komplexa resonemang om de samhällsfrågor och system som illustreras i modellerna. Dessa designprinciper utgörs av simultanitet, utzoomning och kontrastering. I presentationen diskuteras vad dessa designprinciper får för konsekvenser för undervisningen, men också vad de kan få för konsekvenser för teoridiskussioner om samhällsanalytiskt tänkande och visuell litteracitet.

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• Visualising the complex and the changing: Identifying critical aspects of social science models

  2022. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.). Earli SIG9 2022: Phenomenography and variation theory in practice

  Conference

  Extended summary

  We live in a world that is rapidly changing and what we believe to be true today may very well be overturned tomorrow. Many of the issues raised in social studies education are characterized by changeability and complexity, such as conflicts, sustainable development, issues of justice, as well as political, social and economic processes. One common way of helping students to grasp the complex relations and the changeability involved in social studies related issues is to use models. Examples of models often used in social studies teaching are models illustrating sustainable development or political processes, as well as illustrations of the socio-economic cycle and diagrams visualizing relations between different factors in society. However, teacher experience as well as earlier research indicate that students often find it difficult to understand and interpret models (see for instance Roberts & Brugar, 2017; Jägerskog, 2020; Sundler, Dudas & Anderhag, 2017). In addition, there is a risk that these seemingly fixed models do not offer an understanding of the changeability in societal issues. 

  The aim of this presentation is to discuss how phenomenography and variation theory (with a focus on critical aspects) can increase our understanding of how models used in social studies teaching can help students understand the complexity and changeability in societal issues. The aim is also to discuss the possible transferability of critical aspects between different kinds models used in social studies teaching. 

  The presentation is based on a project aiming at identifying students’ understanding of two kinds of models (flowcharts and plot diagrams) often used in social studies teaching, and what students need to discern in order to develop the ability reason in a qualified way about the content illustrated. The material analysed consists of 46 recorded and transcribed small group discussions where students in year 6 and 8 in compulsory school and year 1 in upper secondary school discuss a question that concerns either a flowchart illustrating the democracy system in Sweden, a flowchart of the socio-economic cycle, a plot diagram illustrating the relationship between different countries’ GDP and level of CO2 emissions, or a plot diagram illustrating the relationship between birthrate per woman in different countries and the amount of years girls in these countries attend to school. The transcribed material was analysed using phenomenographic methods and critical aspects were identified for the four different models investigated (Marton, 2015). 

  Results show that the critical aspects identified in part can be understood as model and content specific, but in part as model generic. This means that although two flowcharts (or two plot diagrams) illustrate different content, the aspects identified as necessary for students to discern in order to reason about the content illustrated in a qualified way, are very similar. Although similarities are especially clear between models of the same kind (i.e between two different plot diagrams or two different flowcharts), similarities can also be found between the different kinds of models (i.e between flowcharts and diagrams).This raises questions concerning the transferability of critical aspects between different kinds of models and if aspects that reoccur in relation to different models, such as aspects of changeability and complexity, could be understood as especially characteristic for social studies models.

   

  References

  Jägerskog, A., (2020). Making possible by making visible. Learning through visual representations in social science. (Doktorsavhandling). Stockholms universitet.

  Marton, F. (2015). Necessary conditions of learning. Routledge.

  Roberts, K. L., & Brugar, K. A. (2017). The view from here: Emergence of graphical literacy. Reading Psychology, 38(8), 733-777.

  Sundler, M., Dudas, C. & Anderhag, P. (2017). Från missförstånd till klarhet: hur kan undervisningen organiseras för att stötta elevers förståelse för växthuseffekten? Forskning om undervisning och lärande, 5(2), 6-29.

   

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• Att göra det stora och föränderliga gripbart: Modeller som möjlighet och utmaning i samhällskunskapsundervisningen

  2022. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.).

  Conference

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• Helhet, kontext och agens: Kritiska aspekter för visuell litteracitet i samhällskunskapsundervisning

  2022. Malin Tväråna (et al.).

  Conference

  Abstract

  Många viktiga samhällsfrågor om försörjning, kulturmöten, klimatutmaningar och ekonomiska, sociala och politiska processer utmärks av komplexa samband. Dessa samband är dessutom ofta föränderliga och det vi tror oss veta idag kan mycket väl vara omkullkastat imorgon. Det faktum att de samband och relationer som lyfts inom ramen för samhällskunskapen ofta är både komplexa och föränderliga innebär ämnesdidaktiska utmaningar. I skolans samhällskunskapsundervisning används ofta modeller för att illustrera och förtydliga sådana samband, exempelvis modeller som illustrerar samhällsekonomiska system eller hållbar utveckling, liksom modeller av politiska processer och diagram som återspeglar relationer mellan olika faktorer i samhället. Såväl lärares erfarenheter som tidigare forskning (tex Roberts & Brugar, 2017; Jägerskog, 2020; Sundler, Dudas & Anderhag, 2017) visar dock att elever ofta har svårt att tolka och förstå modeller. Dessutom finns en risk att dessa till synes fasta modeller inte erbjuder en förståelse av samhällsfrågornas föränderliga karaktär. 

  Vi presenterar delresultat från ett projekt som syftar till att utveckla kunskap om elevers förståelse av två typer av modeller (flödesscheman och plotdiagram) som ofta används i samhällskunskapsundervisning, och om vad elever behöver urskilja för att utveckla förmågan att med hjälp av modellerna föra kvalificerade resonemang om det ämnesinnehåll som modellerna illustrerar.

  Det undersökta materialet består av 46 transkriberade smågruppssamtal där elever från årskurs 6, 8 respektive år 1 på gymnasiet diskuterar en uppgift som berör antingen ett flödesscheman över det parlamentariska systemet, ett flödesschema över det samhällsekonomiska systemet, ett plot-diagram som beskriver relationen mellan olika länders BNP-nivå och nivå av CO2-utsläpp, eller ett plotdiagram som beskriver relationen mellan antalet barn kvinnor föder under sitt liv i olika länder och utbildningsnivå hos flickor i dessa länder. Det transkriberade materialet analyserades med hjälp av fenomenografi (Marton 2015), vilket resulterade i identifieringen av ett antal kritiska aspekter, dvs aspekter som behöver synliggöras i undervisningen för att eleverna ska kunna föra kvalificerade resonemang kopplade till dessa modeller och ämnesinnehåll. 

  Resultatet visade att i relation till undersökta flödesscheman är de visualiserade relationernas komplexitet och förändring centralt för elever att urskilja för att kunna föra kvalificerade resonemang. De kritiska aspekterna som identifierades rör urskiljandet av flödesschemat som en helhet snarare än många delar, att se relationerna mellan modellens enheter som ömsesidiga, att förstå att det representerade systemet är konstruerat snarare än naturgivet, samt att urskilja att det representerade systemet står i relation till externa faktorer. Även i relation till de undersökta plot-diagrammen visade sig aspekter av komplexitet och föränderlighet vara centrala. Utöver att urskilja att det finns ett övergripande mönster mellan de två faktorerna i diagrammet och att det kan finnas avvikelser från detta mönster, behöver elever även urskilja att mönstret kan förklaras av andra samhällsfaktorer och att båda faktorerna i diagrammet påverkar och påverkas av andra faktorer i ett större samhällssystem som kan förändras.

  Resultaten är relevanta för samhällskunskapslärare på flera olika skolstadier och den kunskap som utvecklas genom projektet kan i förlängningen användas av lärare för att planera, genomföra och utvärdera sin undervisning.

   

  Referenser:

  Jägerskog, A., (2020). Making possible by making visible. Learning through visual representations in social science. (Doktorsavhandling). Stockholms universitet.

  Marton, F. (2015). Necessary conditions of learning. Routledge.

  Roberts, K. L., & Brugar, K. A. (2017). The view from here: Emergence of graphical literacy. Reading Psychology, 38(8), 733-777.

  Sundler, M., Dudas, C. & Anderhag, P. (2017). Från missförstånd till klarhet: hur kan undervisningen organiseras för att stötta elevers förståelse för växthuseffekten? Forskning om undervisning och lärande, 5(2), 6-29.

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• Analysing ‘meta-phenomena’ - a way of extending phenomenography/variation theory?

  2021. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Peter Davies.

  Conference

  The aim of this presentation is to highlight the potential of multi-dimensional analysis, where different outcome spaces of the same phenomenon are understood in relation to each other. Building on earlier studies investigating students’ conceptions of price, this study offers a new way of understanding the development of more complex conceptions of pricing by investigating how dimensions of variation in conceptions of pricing are related to each other. The study uses data from 94 upper secondary students who were asked to provide written answers to two problems before and after a short programme of teaching. This yielded a total of 328 open responses which were analysed phenomenographically. The analysis identified causality as an important dimension of variation in understanding pricing. The analysis also revealed new insights into how different dimensions of variation in conceptions of pricing are related to each other: less developed conceptions of how supply is related to price and unidirectional conceptions of causation were associated with treating pricing as a single producer decision rather than the outcome of interacting market forces. These findings prompt a discussion on the meaning and use of the term ’dimension of variation’, as well as how multi-dimensional analysis could contribute to building on a rich phenomenography history in moving forward.

   

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• Progression of critical thinking in social science education

  2021. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Malin Tväråna.

  Conference

  Critical thinking is a central aspect of analysing societal issues of various kinds, which is at the forefront of social science education in both primary and secondary education. This presentation will focus on progression in this ability. The most well-known theories developed to describe progression of knowledge in educational settings are general (Dolin, 2013). Subject specific models for knowledge progression are less developed, not least in social science. Teachers of social science subjects tend to use a simplified version of Bloom’s taxonomy (1956), but also an image of students moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar, when describing knowledge progression in their subject (Christensen et.al., 2006). However, using Bloom’s taxonomy often leads to a separation of the ability to reason critically from understanding of facts (Case, 2005), while empirical studies indicate that this contradicts how students develop critical thinking in social science (Case, 2013; Nygren et.al., 2018; Tväråna, 2019). Based on four studies concerning students’ critical thinking in relation to societal issues, we would in this presentation like to discuss aspects of progression. We compare the results from studies of critical thinking in relation to issues of distributive and retributive justice (Tväråna, 2019), power (Tväråna et al., in progress), economic value (Björklund et. al., in progress) and global political issues (Jägerskog et.al., in progress). Three of the studies include several different age groups (from the earlier years of elementary school to upper secondary students), which enables an analysis of aspects of progression both in terms of the meaning of a more or less qualified critical social science thinking and in relation to different age groups. The results offer a contribution to practice as well as theory in terms of implications for teaching and a potential deepening of the understanding of progression in social science education.

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• Agens och existens i ämnesundervisningen 

  2021. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Therese Halvarsson britton, Maria Olson.

  Conference

  I denna paperpresentation, baserad på en artikel, är syftet att på teoretisk grund, med nedslag i tre skolämnen, dels argumentera för en vidgad förståelse av skolans och ämnesundervisningens medborgarbildande uppgift, dels visa vad denna kan betyda för ämnesundervisningen. Med inspirerad utgångspunkt i Hannah Arendt (2004, 2013) a) argumenterar vi för vikten av att denna uppgift innefattar både agens- och existensdimensioner, och b) konkretiserar vad de två dimensionerna kan innefatta i skolämnena religionskunskap, psykologi och samhällskunskap (på högstadiet och gymnasiet). Den vidgade förståelsen av ämnesundervisningens medborgarbildande uppgift innebär en inkludering av existensdimensioner på ett sätt som för med sig både möjligheter och utmaningar. Dessa behöver uppmärksammas och hanteras på ämnesspecifika vis. Ett förslag på hur detta kan göras lyfts fram, där utgångspunkt tas i Eamonn Callans (2016) begreppspar ‘dignity safe’ och ‘intellectually unsafe’ space. Avslutningsvis lyfts möjliga implikationer för utformandet av en ämnesundervisning som innefattar en vidgad medborgarbildande uppgift. Sammantaget är ambitionen att bidra till ämnesdidaktisk forskning och ämnesundervisningsutveckling med utgångspunkt i frågan om ämnesundervisningens medborgarbildande uppdrag.

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• Att möjliggöra genom att synliggöra

  2020. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Conference

  Bakgrund

  I många ämnen, inte minst i de samhällsorienterande, används ofta olika typer av visuella representationer, så som modeller, flödesscheman och diagram, i undervisningen för att hjälpa elever att utveckla en förståelse för komplexa fenomen, processer och relationer. Tidigare forskning visar att en modells utformning kan spela stor roll för hur elever förstår det ämnesinnehåll som illustreras och därmed vilket lärande som görs möjligt (se exempelvis Jägerskog, 2020; Wheat, 2007). Detta eftersom modellens utformning påverkar vad som kommer i förgrunden respektive bakgrunden och därmed vilka aspekter av det visualiserade ämnesinnehållet som elever ges möjlighet att urskilja (Danielsson & Selander, 2014; Kress, 2010). Det har också föreslagits, utifrån ett praktikteoretiskt perspektiv, att olika modeller av ett ämnesinnehåll har potential att mediera, eller öppna upp för, olika typer av handlingar i klassrummet (Wertsch, 1998). Denna aspekt är viktig att ta fasta på när man undersöker relationen mellan visuella representationer och lärande, eftersom de undervisningspraktiker som elever inbjuds att delta i är relaterade till vilket lärande som görs möjligt (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Eriksson & Lindberg, 2016).

   

  Syfte och frågeställningar

  Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilken roll en visuell modells utformning spelar för vilka undervisningspraktiker som etableras i klassrummet och därmed vilket lärande av ämnesinnehållet som görs möjligt. Det exempel som användes i studien var visuella representationer av prisbildning i samhällskunskapsundervisning. Den specifika frågeställningen som undersöktes var vilka kommunikativa handlingar, i termer av elevers och lärares frågor, kommentarer, beskrivningar och sätt att prata om ämnesinnehållet, som två olika visuella prisbildningsmodeller möjliggör och därmed vilka undervisningspraktiker som etableras i klassrummet när dessa modeller används i samhällskunskapsundervisningen.

   

  Metod

  I en lektionsserie bestående av tre samhällskunskapslektioner introducerades fyra gymnasieklasser till ämnesområdet prisbildning. I två av klasserna baserades undervisningen på en traditionell utbud/efterfrågan-graf och i två av klasserna baserades undervisningen på ett loop-diagram. Transkriptioner av lektionerna, liksom av de smågruppsdiskussioner som utgjorde en del av undervisningen, analyserades för att identifiera lärares och elevers kommunikativa handlingar, de motiv som tycktes driva dessa handlingar, och därmed de undervisningspraktiker som etablerades i klassrummet.

  Resultat

  Resultaten visar att det finns en relation mellan den visuella modell som användes i undervisningen och de undervisningspraktiker som etablerades i klassrummet, dvs vilka kommunikativa handlingar som de olika modellerna medierar och öppnar för. Loop-diagrammet bidrog i större utsträckning än utbud/efterfrågan-grafen till etablerandet av en epistemisk praktik, dvs en praktik där kunskap utvecklas och transformeras. Exempelvis skapade loop-diagrammet potential för meningsskapande diskussioner om kausala relationer och uppmuntrade till fördjupande frågor och reflektioner kring ämnesinnehållet. I de klassrum där utbud/efterfrågan-grafen användes hamnade fokus i stor utsträckning på att förstå modellen i sig, snarare än att diskutera relationerna i prisbildning. En slutsats som dras är att visuella modeller är handlings-medierande verktyg som spelar stor roll för formandet av de undervisningspraktiker som etableras i klassrummet och därmed vilket lärande som gör möjligt. Att välja visuella representationer och modeller för undervisning blir därmed en central uppgift i det didaktiska arbetet.

   

  Referenser

  Danielsson, K., & Selander, S. (2014). Se texten! Multimodala texter i ämnesdidaktiskt arbete. Malmö: Gleerups Utbildning AB.

  Eriksson, I., & Lindberg, V. (2016). Enriching ‘learning activity’ with ‘epistemic practices’ – enhancing students’ epistemic agency and authority. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 16(1).

  Jägerskog, A. (2020). Using visual representations to enhance students’ understanding of causal relationships in price. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. Manuscript accepted for publication.

  Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality. A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London: Routledge.

  Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

  Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University press.

  Wheat, I. D. (2007). The feedback method. A system dynamics approach to teaching macroeconomics (Doctoral thesis). University at Bergen, Bergen. 

   

   

   

   

  Read more about Att möjliggöra genom att synliggöra

• Hinder och möjligheter för ökad genomströmning i lärarutbildningskurser - resultat från workshops med lärarutbildare på HSD

  2020. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Viveca Lindberg.

  Conference

  Tidigare rapporter (t.ex. UKÄ, 2017) har visat att genomströmningen på lärarutbildningarna är problematisk, något som även gäller Stockholms universitet. Syftet med detta projekt, som är finansierat med rektors medel för kvalitetsutveckling av utbildning, är att undersöka hur genomströmningen kan öka på HSD med bibehållen hög kvalitet. Detta är en central fråga för lärarutbildningen i stort och för den egna institutionen. I projektet har vi 

  • Analyserat statistiska uppgifter om genomströmningen inom institutionens (HSD) kurser i lärarutbildningarna
  • Genomfört och analyserat en kartläggningsuppgift bland lärarutbildare på HSD
  • Distribuerat en enkät till de drygt 218 studenter som identifierades som avhopp under perioden 2013–2019 
  • Påbörjat en kartläggning av vilka examinationsformer som används på institutionen
  • Granskat nationella rapporter och ett urval av internationell forskning om avbrott i lärarutbildning specifikt och högre utbildning generellt 

  Syftet med postern är att rapportera analysen av kartläggningsuppgiften bland HSD:s lärarutbildare. Denna genomfördes i två steg. I steg 1 identifierades “nycklar till god genomströmning”, d.v.s. vilka faktorer som ansågs möjliggörande respektive hindrande. I steg 2 relaterades detta bl.a. till olika examinationsformer. Fyra teman av framgångsfaktorer för god genomströmning identifierades i steg 1: 

  • Examinationsrelaterade faktorer 
  • Didaktiska strategier 
  • Interna (HSD) ramvillkor 
  • Externa (bortom HSD) ramvillkor 

  Dessa konstruerades till två modeller som sammantaget synliggör hur de olika faktorerna samspelar (se Figur 1 och 2 nedan). I steg 2 kompletterades analysen med en femte faktor som nyanserade resultatet ytterligare, nämligen formerandet av en begynnande läraridentitet. Resultatet från kartläggningen bekräftar och nyanserar resultaten i tidigare studier som visar att hindren för genomströmning i högre utbildning kan ligga på såväl program- som strukturnivå (Alon & Gelbgiser, 2011; Darmody & Smyth, 2008). 

  Resultatet från denna delstudie kommer att jämföras med enkätsvaren, samt sättas i relation till de examinationsformer som används på institutionen, och användas för att föreslå hur HSD:s didaktiska strategier, där examinationsformer utgör en del, kan vidareutvecklas.

  Read more about Hinder och möjligheter för ökad genomströmning i lärarutbildningskurser - resultat från workshops med lärarutbildare på HSD

• Visual representations in light of critical aspects

  2019. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Conference

  In this paper, teaching and learning through visual representations is discussed in light of phenomenography and critical aspects. Results and conclusions are based on a study investigating how different visual representations of price facilitate learning of causal relationships in price in upper secondary social science education. Two main conclusions are argued for in the paper. First, the compositional structure of a visual representation matters for what critical aspects of the phenomenon visualised are given primacy and thus what understanding of the content is made possible for the students to develop. Second, phenomenography and critical aspects can well be used in order to analyse and create visual representations used in teaching, in order to create good conditions for learning. Results are of high relevance for teachers as well as teacher educators, as it highlights possibilities, but also challenges, with choosing and using visual representations in teaching and learning and as it highlights how phenomenography and critical aspects can function as useful tools when teaching with visual representations.

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• The meaning of knowing how to analyse complex societal issues in Social Studies

  2019. Max Strandberg (et al.).

  Conference

  Read more about The meaning of knowing how to analyse complex societal issues in Social Studies

• The migration crisis as a multidimensional movement – qualitative differences in the ability to analyse complex societal issues

  2019. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.).

  Conference

  The aim of this presentation is to present a proposal of what it means to be able to analyse societal issues in social studies education. This ability is considered central in both compulsory and upper secondary Social Studies education, and it has been suggested as one of several ways of thinking, that may be significant for Social Studies as a subject (Sandahl 2015). However, we still do not know much about what analysing in the Social Sciences means in general and for students in different age groups (Barton & Avery, 2016). Identifying this is crucial in order to design teaching that effectively enables students in different age groups to develop this ability. The study addresses the question of what it means to be able to analyse societal issues, with a focus on the 2015 migration situation, and was carried out as a learning study with iteratively conducted research lessons with students in year 1, 6 and 8 in compulsory school and year 2 in upper secondary school. The data, consisting of written student responses to open-ended questions (pre- and post-tests), as well as recorded group discussions, were analysed using phenomenographic methods (Marton, 2014) in order to identify qualitatively different ways of analysing the societal issue in focus. Results suggest that the most qualified way of analysing the migration situation was characterised by (i) seeing the migration situation as a dynamic process, where (ii) a consequence can also be a cause and where (iii) different dimensions are related.

  Read more about The migration crisis as a multidimensional movement – qualitative differences in the ability to analyse complex societal issues

• Qualitative differences in the ability to analyse societal issues – the example of the Mediterranean refugee crisis

  2019. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog (et al.). Book of Abstracts, 400-401

  Conference

  The aim of this presentation is to present a proposal of what it means to be able to analyse societal issues in social studies education. This ability is considered central in both compulsory and upper secondary Social Studies education, and it has been suggested as one of several ways of thinking, that may be significant for Social Studies as a subject (Sandahl 2015). However, we still do not know much about what analysing in the Social Sciences means in general and for students in different age groups (Barton & Avery, 2016). Identifying this is crucial in order to design teaching that effectively enables students in different age groups to develop this ability. The study addresses the question of what it means to be able to analyse societal issues, with a focus on the 2015 migration situation, and was carried out as a learning study with iteratively conducted research lessons with students in year 1, 6 and 8 in compulsory school and year 2 in upper secondary school. The data, consisting of written student responses to open-ended questions (pre- and post-tests), as well as recorded group discussions, were analysed using phenomenographic methods (Marton, 2014) in order to identify qualitatively different ways of analysing the societal issue in focus. Results suggest that the most qualified way of analysing the migration situation was characterised by (i) seeing the migration situation as a dynamic process, where (ii) a consequence can also be a cause and where (iii) different dimensions are related.

  Read more about Qualitative differences in the ability to analyse societal issues – the example of the Mediterranean refugee crisis

• Runda klossar i fyrkantiga hål? Om kvalitetskriterier i praktiknära forskning.

  2018. Ann-Sofie Jägerskog.

  Conference

  Kvalitetskriterier inom forskning har traditionellt sett en stark influens från kvantitativ forskning, där hypoteser testas och data analyseras statistiskt. Begrepp som reliabilitet och validitet definieras ofta på sätt som är relevanta för statistiska analyser, men inte nödvändigtvis applicerbara inom andra forskningsansatser. Exempelvis är det inom den praktiknära forskningen ofta varken möjligt eller eftersträvansvärt att isolera, mäta och manipulera separata variabler i samma studie. Det är snarare så att utvecklingsforskning till sin natur ofta har att hantera många interrelaterade element samtidigt. Att definiera, identifiera och reflektera kring kvalitetskriterier är inte oproblematiskt, men nödvändig, något som gäller all forskning. Att det i många forskningsansatser, så som praktiknära forskning, ofta inte är relevant med statistiska beräkningar av reliabilitet och validitet får inte leda till att en diskussion om kvalitetskriterier i forskningen försummas. Utmaningen ligger i att hitta relevanta och användbara sätt att diskutera kvalitetskriterier även inom dessa forskningsansatser, vilket tycks kräva en delvis ny och breddad förståelse av begrepp som validitet och reliabilitet. Att hitta nya former för att diskutera kvalitetskriterier som är relevanta för praktiknära forskning handlar om att undvika fällan att försöka få ner runda klossar i fyrkantiga hål. Frågan är hur vi skapar hål som passar för nya klossar. Här finns ett stort arbete att göra inom den praktiknära forskningen.

  Read more about Runda klossar i fyrkantiga hål? Om kvalitetskriterier i praktiknära forskning.

Show all publications by Ann-Sofie Jägerskog at Stockholm University