This case study reports on how students, working collaboratively, interpret and construct a written report of the events described in animated educational software. The analysis is based on video recordings of two upper-secondary-school students while they are endeavouring to construe an animated sequence of the mouldering process. How the students grammatically construct their written account by means of available semiotic resources (i. e., animation and educational text) provided by the software is investigated. The results show that attentionally detected features of the animation take the role of active subjects in the students' description of the animated phenomena. When framing their sentences, the students derive noun phrases from animated active subjects and from the educational text. In the students' efforts to express themselves in their own words, they use verbs that differ from the educational text. These two actions together contribute to giving the students' description of the process a character of a non-scientific explanation. Lacking relevant subject matter knowledge, the students cannot judge whether they have given an adequate account or not. The only way that the students have to appraise their written report is to check if it is grammatically correct. It is concluded that it is essential to consider both cultural and semiotic processes when designing technology-supported educational approaches to the teaching of scientific concepts. © 2010 International Society of the Learning Sciences, Inc.; Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.

In order to facilitate for student teachers to structure their teaching with digital tools and to study their technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), we used a pedagogical tool, titled technological content representation (T-CoRe). The T-CoRe is designed as a tool to enable student teachers to prepare for integration of digital technology in their teaching and to reflect on their use of this technology when teaching a specific subject matter. The T-CoRe asks explicit questions about which digital tools they are going to use, their reasons for using these tools and which opportunities the use of these digital tools can provide to facilitate the students’ understanding of a specific subject content. The aim of this study was to investigate how student teachers’ express their knowledge of use of digital technology in the TPACK framework when reflecting on their video-recorded teaching with use of the T-CoRe. The study included 27 secondary science student teachers following a two-year teacher education programme. The student teachers’ T-CoRes, their video clips and their written reflections were analysed with a qualitative content analysis. Most of the student teachers’ (18), exhibited an integrated knowledge of the technology dependent domains; TK, TPK and TCK, in the TPACK framework. For nine of the student teachers, only their TK and TPK could be observed. The results indicate that the T-CoRe might provide a fruitful framework for supporting student teachers’ in their work on planning and reflecting on their teaching with digital technology and capture their TPACK. Thus, our study proposes a structure for teacher education that might work to improve how student teachers’ are prepared for using digital technology in their teacher preparation program and, ultimately, in their future classrooms.

This study originates from an interest in how students interpret scientific concepts demonstrated with animated instructional technologies. Currently, science education makes use of diverse kinds of instructional methods. For the advancement of instruction, new technologies have continuously been employed. Such new instructional technologies have always been accompanied with expectations that they should reform teaching. The availability of IT in schools and the selection of animated displays for instructional purposes provide new opportunities for education. This thesis accounts for three empirical studies of students’ collaborative work with instructional technologies. For the purpose of studying students’ scientific reasoning, two kinds of animated instructional technologies were designed. The three studies focused on designing and exploring the whole educational intervention and are located in the area of design-based research. They provide detailed analyses of secondary school students’ collaboration on an assignment of giving a joint written account of the instructed concept. Analytically, this is done within a socio-cultural framework that uses interaction analysis inspired by ideas from conversation analysis and ethnomethodology. Study I and Study II report observations from instructional technologies that deal with the flow of materials in the carbon cycle. The two studies were connected, as the outcomes from the first study informed the educational framing of the second study. Study III reports findings from a sub-study of a design experiment where students worked in a virtual laboratory to learn about the solubility of gas in water. The results from the studies show that students’ reasoning was influenced by several aspects, such as the characteristics of the animated display, language use, school cultural norms, the formulation of the assignment and the students’ pre-knowledge. The analyses also evinced that the students’ interpretation of a demonstrated concept often diverted from a canonical scientific one, which warns against assuming that the collaborative meaning-making of animated instructional technologies automatically leads to a creation of the desired scientific concept. These findings emphasise that when designing and applying animated instructional technologies in education, one has to consider a wider context where assignment formulation, teacher guidance, school culture and semiotic processes influence how students approach and frame their assignment.

Digital learning material is associated with grand expectations among educational policy makers. Several attempts to introduce this new technology with the purpose of enhancing learning have been made in recent years. The schooling system has, however, been rather hesitant and not so ready to adopt this kind of teaching aid. The aim of this thesis is to probe into students‘ practical problems of understanding computerised science learning material involving animated sequences and educational text. For the purpose of this investigation an application describing the different events in the carbon cycle was developed. Two studies present analyses of students‘ reasoning and actions when working collaboratively with the task of making a written account of what is illustrated in the learning material. Both studies present examples of identified phenomena that were observed in more extensive empirical materials. The data is represented by video recordings of students‘ interaction with each other and the interface. Results from the studies reveal students‘ propensity for concentrating their attention to prominent characteristics of the animated display and to describe the animated models in correspondence to their resemblance of objects and occurrences in everyday life. In study II it is revealed how students, when constructing a written report of the described events, derive noun phrases from attentionally detected objects in the animation and from the educational text. In their effort to express themselves in colloquial language, when preparing their report, they deliberately select verbs that differ from the educational text. These courses of action together, contribute to give the report on what happens in the process a non-scientific explanation. It is concluded that students, lacking definite access to the relevant subject matter knowledge, consequently, cannot judge whether they have given an approvable account or not. Findings from the studies show that the school context with its explicit stipulations of assignments and implicit request for expressing oneself in your own words frames the learning and creates conditions for how the technology is used and understood. The results indicate that animated models of scientific concepts risk inferring misconceptions if students are left on their own with interpreting information from the learning material. Despite the detected problems of students‘ interpretations of the described phenomena, the results indicate that animated learning material can proffer an exploitable resource in science education. Such a prospect is the ability of animation to engage students in discussions of the subject and to make them recognise otherwise unobservable phenomena.

Laboratory work in science education is essential for students’ conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. Computer-simulated laboratory experiments have been proposed to facilitate traditional laboratory work. A virtual laboratory was designed to enable students to collaboratively discover the concept of gas solubility in water at different physiological conditions. The virtual laboratory was developed through a design experiment involving three successive versions with different guiding structures. Analysis of 12 dyads’ reasoning about gas solubility in water revealed that the problem was not primarily for the students to realise how the volume of gas changed, but rather to understand the concept of solubility of gases. It was also observed how the guiding structures within the three different versions influenced the students’ reasoning about the concept. The analysis indicates that the affordances of virtual laboratories might, to a certain extent, enhance joint discovery of a scientific concept.

Compared to hands-on experiments, virtual laboratory work has the advantage of being both more cost- and time-effective, but also invokes questions about its explorative capacities. The aim of this chapter is to study how students' scientific reasoning was contingent on altered guiding structures within a virtual laboratory experiment. The virtual laboratory was developed through a design experiment involving three successive versions with altered guiding structures. Analysis of 12 dyads' reasoning about gas solubility in water revealed that the problem was not primarily for the students to realize how the volume of gas changed, but rather to understand the concept of solubility of gases. It was also observed how the guiding structures within each version influenced the students' reasoning about the studied phenomenon in certain trajectories.

Laboratory work in science education is considered essential for students’ conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. Virtual laboratory work, compared to hands-on experiments, has the advantage of being both more cost- and time-effective, but it also invokes questions about its explorative capacities. Like all educational tools, digital learning materials involve certain problems, and educational gains from technical innovations cannot be taken for granted. To help students discover the intended scientific concept in simulated learning environments, guiding structures designed to support the learning process are recommended. An online virtual laboratory with the intention to give students the opportunity to discover oxygen and carbon dioxide solubility in water at various environmental conditions was created. In a design experiment, three successive versions of the virtual laboratory was developed; each with an increased degree of guiding structures. The aim of this research was to study how students’ scientific reasoning was contingent on the modified guiding structures within the virtual laboratory experiment. The students had to work in pairs and four student pairs were randomly selected at each test cycle to be video-recorded while conducting their collaborative work in the virtual laboratory. Thus, video recordings of four student dyads represented each version. Analysis of the 12 dyads’ reasoning about gas solubility in water revealed that the problem was not primarily for the students to realise how the volume of gas changed, but rather to understand the concept of solubility of gases in water. It was also observed how the guiding structures within each version influenced the students’ reasoning about the studied phenomenon in certain trajectories. The structure of guidance within the different versions of the virtual laboratory affected students’ scientific reasoning about the studied phenomenon in certain trajectories. So for example, the more guided structures the virtual lab was furnished with, the less the students reasoned about the investigated phenomenon. These results suggest that furnishing a virtual laboratory with an increased amount of guiding structures and aid enables students to produce the right answer on a test, but also risks quenching students’ constructive discussions and their discovery process. Thus, it is incumbent on designers of digital learning resources to decide what kind of scaffolding should be implemented in relation to the learners pre-knowledge, and how much one intends them to discover by themselves. The next development for this area of research is to focus on how results from this design-based study can contribute to improvements in the design of virtual laboratories, which has the potential to complement traditional laboratory work.

A virtual laboratory was designed to enable students to collaboratively discover the concept of gas solubility in water at different physiological conditions. The virtual laboratory was developed through a design experiment involving three successive versions with different guiding structures. Analysis of 13 dyads' reasoning about gas solubility in water revealed that the students' problem was to understand the concept of solubility of gases. It was also observed how the guiding structures within the three different versions influenced the students' reasoning about the concept. © ISLS.

This paper presents an analysis of the scientific reasoning of a dyad of secondary school students about the phenomenon of dissolution of gases in water as they work on this in a simulated laboratory experiment. A web-based virtual laboratory was developed to provide learners with the opportunity to examine the influence of physical factors on gas solubility in water. An evaluation process involving 180 students revealed that the concepts connected to the dissolution of gas in water caused problems for the students even after having experimented with the virtual laboratory. To investigate the nature of learners' reasoning about the visualised events, 13 video-recorded groups of learners were analysed. This study follows the reasoning of one group that displayed a possibly productive way of solving the problem. The results address the students' general difficulty of discovering something that they are conceptually unprepared for within the virtual laboratory. The analysis shows how the students eventually found a way out of their dilemma by making an analogy with other dissolving processes. In effect, the analysis elucidates some of the analytical work that had to be done by the participants when collaboratively negotiating a shared meaning of a scientific concept in concord with a given task and set of instructional materials. Implications for design might be to provide the learning material with explicit hints that enable students to connect to specific phenomena related to the one investigated concept. The findings show the usefulness of video analytic research, informed by CA and ethnomethodology. This analytical framework can support design processes and provide useful information, which might identify hurdles to learning a scientific concept by simulated events and pathways to overcome these hurdles. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Self-reflection based on video analysis of one’s own teaching performance has proven to be a powerful method for developing student teachers´ professional knowledge. The aim of this study was to investigate how a web-based guiding framework involving the use of a pedagogical tool for planning and reflection in conjunction with annotated video recorded lessons, written reflections and a teacher educator’s feedback, might provide a beneficial method for student teachers’ self-reflection. The study included 56 student teachers performing their in-service training in science teaching. The student teachers completed a questionnaire where they had to respond to statements about their experiences of the framework. The results indicate that a guiding framework that includes analysis of video-recorded teaching is essential for a self-reflective process to become effective. Further development of the framework is to enable student teachers to participate in synchronous discussions with peers and teacher educators about their video-recorded lesson.

Digital technologies have afforded new ways of organizing teacher education and enable for extramural activities. By associating captured video episodes with related teaching concerns it might be possible to extend student teachers´ self-reflection and at the same time, allow for accurate supervision feedback without the constraints of time and location.

The aim of this study was to investigate how a guiding framework consisting of a pedagogical tool, annotated video recorded lessons, reflective writing, combined with a tutors’ feedback, might provide an affordable method for student teachers´ self-reflection on their teaching.

The study included 28 student teachers who practiced teaching science subjects in Swedish secondary schools. The participating student teachers set up a CoRe (Content Representation) for a chosen topic and video recorded a lessons. The video recorded lesson then had to be annotated; exposing critical incidents in relation to their CoRe and to be complemented with a written reflection. This was sent to their tutor who provided the student with a feedback that was in its turn to be commented on by the student. At the end of their assignment all participants completed a questionnaire where they had to respond to six questions about their experience of the guiding framework and grade them from one to five. They were also asked to give a written explanation for their choice and in groups, discussed how the framework could be developed. This provided both qualitative and quantitative data, which were analyzed statistically and thematically, respectively.

From the results it was obvious that the student teachers had found the activity to be of great assistance for the development of their self-reflective practice. Comments on this were; the advantages of seeing themselves from a pupil’s perspective and direct their attention on specific learning concerns. The pedagogical tool CoRe was experienced as valuable for structuring and reflecting on their teaching, even if it was not seen as necessary per se for a video stimulated self-reflection. The annotations were perceived as facilitating as it made them examine their video thoroughly and concretize what happened in particular incidents. A written account was likewise seen as beneficial as it obliged them to put into words, and connect the process of planning, doing and reflecting. Some, however, remarked that it would have been valuable to discuss their lesson with e.g. colleagues or a more experienced teacher. Comments from a tutor were seen as valuable as it made them see additional aspects of their teaching and helped them reconsider their own inferences.

It can be concluded that an integrated use of digital and other artefacts for a structured self-reflective process has the potential to develop student teachers’ professional knowledge and augment teacher education in several aspects. Each of the integrated artefacts in the framework filled an important role for a self-reflective practice and can be applied in distance education with the aid of digital technologies.

The guiding framework was by the participants seen as advantageous although there might be other artefacts for video stimulated self-reflection which can be taken in consideration. There are also potentials for development of the framework in e.g. enabling synchronic discussions about the lesson with peers and tutors.

© 2017, IATED

The aim was to investigate how a reflective tool, the T-CoRe, in combination with annotated self-recorded videos and reflective writing, could be used to capture student teachers’ knowledge of digital technology use in their teaching. The authors used both a quantitative and a qualitative method to explore how 87 secondary science student teachers demonstrate their use of digital technologies in their teaching. The student teachers’ video annotations, alongside a written reflection of critical incidents in their teaching, constituted data for the analysis. The analysis identified technology knowledge-dependent components in relation to the TPACK framework. The outcomes suggest that providing student teachers with a reflective tool such as the T-CoRe in combination with annotated self-recorded videos has the potential to make visible aspects of their TPACK. This research proposes a method for teacher education that works to improve the way that student teachers are prepared for using digital technology. © 2023 Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education 

During the last decades, digital technologies have become more common in providing opportunities for reflection and in-depth analysis of classroom practices and have afforded new ways of organizing teacher education. In particular, videotaped lessons have proven to be a valuable tool for capturing teaching episodes, subsequent reflection and development of student teachers’ professional knowledge, here referred to as ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ (PCK). The aim of this project was to investigate how the use of the reflective tool, content representations (CoRes) in combination with video and associated digital tools might be used as a means for capturing student teachers’ professional knowledge of practice. In the study we explore how a group of 24 secondary science student teachers were provided with Content Representations (CoRe) and video annotations to support their reflection-on-actionduring their practicum. Video annotations, alongside a written reflection of critical incidents in the student teachers’ teaching constituted data for analysis. Our findings suggest that the different tools enabled the student teachers to connect captured examples of teaching instances with theoretical issues, and in this way offered the ability to see as well as to analyse their teaching practice. As such, the CoRe, together with the video annotation tool, proved to be successful in scaffolding and structuring student teachers’ reflection-on-action, allowing them to connect their reflections to components of PCK and further to articulate connections between these components. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Building a virtual laboratory for teaching and learning is a highly complex process, incorporating diverse areas such as interaction design, visualisation, and pedagogy. This article focuses on the production and implementation issues that were found in the comparison of two different virtual laboratory projects, and discuss which design considerations can be drawn from these observations. Two web-based virtual laboratories - the Gas Laboratory and the Virtual Colour Laboratory - were developed independently of each other within two different content areas. The laboratories share considerable overlaps in goals and production circumstances. Through a comparison of production and outcome, similar problems related to design, development and implementation were observed. The research uses a mixed method approach combining quantitative pre- and post-tests for assessments, qualitative surveys, and qualitative, ethnographic observations and interviews. By comparing the background material, five design challenges for developing virtual laboratories are identified: 1) how to balance ambitions with available resources; 2) how to balance intended levels of user interaction with exploratory freedom; 3) how to find appropriate levels of realism depending on target group; 4) how to choose between mimicking real world appearance and enhanced features; and 5) how to find the best learning situation for the virtual laboratory. To meet these challenges, the following design considerations are proposed: Guide the design work with a clear understanding of purpose and context; select appropriate technology to ensure efficient design and media usage; select level of realism considering purpose and end users; and provide learning guides before and after the virtual lab session. © 2019, The Author(s).