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From Assenting to Asserting

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09829-6

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University Science and Mathematics Education in Transition Ole Skovsmose • Paola Valero Ole Ravn Christensen Editors University Science and Mathematics Education in Transition Editors Ole Skovsmose Paola Valero Aalborg University Aalborg University Aalborg East Aalborg East Denmark Denmark osk@learning.aau.dk paola@learning.aau.dk Ole Ravn Christensen Aalborg University Aalborg East Denmark orc@learning.aau.dk ISBN: 978-0-387-09828-9 e-ISBN: 978-0-387-09829-6 DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-09829-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931031 © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com Preface Improving the quality of science and mathematics education at universities has been a task to which governments and tertiary education institutions have commit- ted. This was the case in Denmark at the end of the 1990s when the Danish Government, its Ministry of Research, and a network of Universities gathered efforts around the construction and functioning of the Centre for Educational Development in University Science. The centre established collaboration between seven Danish universities around the teaching and learning of science: Aalborg University, Copenhagen University, the Danish University of Education, the Pharmaceutical University, Roskilde University Centre, the Royal Veterinarian and Agricultural University, and the University of Southern Denmark. The centre oper- ated during the period 1998-2001, thanks to the generous funding of 35 millions of Danish Kroner in total. The Centre for Educational Development in University Science embraced a wide range of educational research and development actives through which the practice of university science education was addressed and improved. Areas such as mathematics, physics and chemistry education were central. The centre ran a Ph.D. programme, which enrolled 12 students who addressed a variety of educa- tional issues in the subject areas of relevance for the centre. The centre also organ- ised a series of conferences and seminars aiming at the professional development of teaching staff in the institutions associated. The centre financed a number of teaching development projects run by university staff in their own institutions and classrooms. Many leading scholars from around the world made important contri- butions to the work of the centre. The present book emerged from the wide-ranging network of research and researchers, established through the Centre for Educational Development in University Science. The intention of the book, however, is not to provide any report of the research or developmental activities of the centre, but rather to contribute to the worldwide concern for analysing both challenges and possibilities for university science and mathematics education. Even if the book collects a majority of papers by Danish authors working in Danish contexts, the issues addressed by the different sections and chapters are of a general relevance for tertiary educational environ- ments around the world. Furthermore, the dialogue between the Danish authors and leading international researchers in the field contributes reinforcing the broadness v vi Preface of the book for an international audience, in a changing world were transitions in what is considered to be the core of science and mathematics education in universities are taking place. We want to thank all the people who have contributed to the completion of this volume. Thanks to the Danish Ministry of Research and to Aalborg University for providing the necessary funding for editing the book. Thanks to Patricia Perry for a careful typographical editing of the manuscript, to Anette Larsen for editorial support, and to Anne Kepple for a language revision of several of the chapters. And thanks to Marie Sheldon and Kristina Wiggings and other members of the staff at Springer for their support and guidance during the edition process. Finally, we would like to dedicate this collection to the memory of Leone Burton, a remarkable colleague and friend who during very many years supported our work participating in some of the activities of the Centre for Educational Development in University Science, conducting sessions with research students and staff in Denmark, and being a critical partner in our previous work and in an early stage of production of this collection. We are honoured to publish her paper, prob- ably the last printed record of her proliferous and pathbreaking academic carreer. Aalborg, May 2008 Ole Skovsmose Paola Valero Ole Ravn Christensen Contents Introduction: The Multi-Layered Transitions of Knowledge Production and University Education in Sciencce and Mathematics ............................................................................................ 1 Paola Valero, Ole Ravn Christensen, and Ole Skovsmose Part I Changes in Teaching and Learning 1 From Assenting to Asserting ................................................................... 17 John Mason 2 A Reflective Science Education Practice ................................................ 41 Kathrine Krageskov Eriksen 3 The Development of a New Laboratory Course in Chemistry ............ 63 Rie Troelsen 4 Assessment and Contract-Like Relationships in Undergraduate Mathematics Education ........................................... 85 Niels Grønbæk, Morten Misfeldt, and Carl Winsløw Part II Changes in Academic Cultures 5 Cultural Models of Physics ..................................................................... 109 Cathrine Hasse 6 The Gap Between University and the Workplace ................................. 133 Wolff-Michael Roth 7 The Culture of Mathematics and the Mathematical Culture .............. 157 Leone Burton vii viii Contents 8 Becoming a Teaching Scholar ............................................................... 175 Søren Kruse, Kirsten Nielsen, and Rie Troelsen Part III Changes in Structures and Organisations 9 Conceptions of Universities as Organizations and Change in Science and Mathematics Education ................................. 197 John A Bowden 10 Reforming University Studies ............................................................... 223 Sebastian Horst and Kjeld Bagger Laursen 11 The Role and Means for Tertiary Didactics in a Faculty of Science ........................................................................... 241 Camilla Rump and Carl Winsløw 12 Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning ...................................... 261 Anette Kolmos Part IV Changes in Views of Science and Mathematics 13 From Anomaly to Paralogy ................................................................... 283 Ole Ravn Christensen and Tom Børsen 14 Modernities, Sciences, and Democracy ................................................ 301 Sandra Harding 15 Towards a Critical Professionalism in University Science and Mathematics Education ................................................................. 325 Ole Skovsmose Name Index ..................................................................................................... 347 Subject Index .................................................................................................. 351 Contributing Authors and Editors Leone Burton was Professor of Education (Mathematics and Science) at the University of Birmingham, England . She was a strong advocate for girls/women in mathematics, who wrote widely on gender-based aspects of mathematics education. Burton contributed significantly to developing teaching approaches that promote mathematical thinking. Her book Mathematicians as Enquirers: Learning about Learning Mathematics provides a deep insight in to inquiry processes in mathemat- ical research, on the basis of which it is possible to investigate learning processes in a variety of school contexts in great detail. Burton studied the ways in which society and culture have shaped mathematics, examining similarities and differ- ences in mathematical concepts and topics. Leone Burton passed away in 2007. John A. Bowden is Professor Emeritus at RMIT University and Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University of Technology, in Melbourne, Australia. He has a research and teaching background in chemistry at the University of Melbourne and in educational development at both the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. In 2004 he retired as Professor of Educational Development at RMIT where he had been Director of the Educational Program Improvement Group, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor. The University of Gothenberg awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1998 for his contribution to Swedish university education and Chalmers University, Gothenburg, appointed him William Chalmers Guest Professor, 2001-2003. He has over 150 publications to his name, including The University of Learning: Beyond Quality and Competence and Doing Developmental Phenomenography. His most recent contributions to research have been to integrate knowledge content, generic attributes and workplace compe- tence into a capabilities-driven curriculum design theory and to establish develop- mental phenomenography, a modified qualitative research approach. Ole Ravn Christensen is Associate Professor at the Department of Education, Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. He obtained a M.Sc. degree in mathematics from Aalborg University (1999), and in 2004 he received a Ph.D. degree from the same institution. Ole Ravn Christensen is Leader of the Board of Studies for Education, Learning and Philosophy. His doctoral dissertation explored the ethical demands faced by university studies in sciences and technology. Through his research he has addressed science and mathematic education, acknowledging the ix x Contributing Authors and Editors post-modern condition. In particular he has combined these studies with a specific interpretation of Wittgenstein’s conception of language and knowledge. Kathrine Krageskov Eriksen obtained a M.Sc. degree in biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen (1998), and in 2004 received a Ph.D. degree also from the University of Copenhagen. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the reflective dimen- sion university chemistry education. Eriksen has published within the field of molec- ular biology and on the issues of chemistry, ethics and science education. Her current research interests concern science education, social responsibility, and processes of reflectivity. Eriksen has been involved in the organisation of various groups and con- ferences promoting the integration of philosophical and ethical considerations in university science curricula. She is leader of the educational programme in medical laboratory technology at University College Sealand, in Denmark. Niels Grønbæk is Associate Professor at the Institute of Mathematics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Copenhagen (1977), and in 1980 he received a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the University of California. He has been a visiting scholar at Leeds University, England, Australian National University, Canberra, and University of Newcastle, both Australia. He is member of the steering committee for International Conferences on Banach Algebras and Chairman of Committee on Education of Science Teachers, secondary level, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. Niels Grønbæk has published widely within mathematics. Tom Børsen is Lecturer at the Center for the Philosophy of Nature and Science Studies, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in chemistry in 1997 from the Danish University for Pharmaceutical Sciences, and in 2003 received his Ph.D. in University Science Education also from the Danish University for Pharmaceutical Sciences. The observations that ‘science and technology should be used to improve the human condition’ and that ‘this is not always happening today’ are basic to Tom Børsen’s research and teaching activities. Through a series of publications he is developing the theoretical con- struct of ‘Expert Scientific Bildung’. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for global responsibility and Treasurer and Board member of The Danish National Pugwash group. Sandra Harding is a philosopher working at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. She is the Author and Editor of many books on issues of epistemology, methodology, and philosophy of science from feminist and postcolonial perspectives. These include: Is Science Multicultural? Postcolonialisms, Feminisms, and Epistemologies (1998), Science and Other Cultures: Issues in the Philosophies of Science and Technology (2003), The Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader: Intellectual and Political Controversies (2004), Science and Social Inequality: Feminist and Postcolonial Issues (2006), and Sciences from Below: Feminism, Postcolonialisms, and Modernities (2008). She has consulted to several United Nations organizations, Contributing Authors and Editors xi including UNESCO, UNIFEM, the Pan American Health Organization, and the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development. Cathrine Hasse is Associate Professor at The Danish University of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark. She obtained her M.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Copenhagen (1994), and her Ph.D. in anthropology, also from the University of Copenhagen, in 1999. She also holds a M.A. degree in Communication from The Danish School of Journalism (1984). Cathrine Hasse has been member of evaluation committees at The Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA), and of the boards of The Danish University of Education, and The Association of Gender Research in Denmark. She is a member of the Society for Social Studies of Science, International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory, and Psychological Anthropology – American Anthropological Association. She has been visiting research fellow at the University of California, San Diego, at the University of Helsinki, Finland and at La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Sebastian Horst is consultant at the Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 2003 he has worked with several projects about developing the study programmes and the teaching at the Faculty of Science. He is Author and co-Author of reports investigating results and problems in science edu- cation, both at university and primary and secondary level. Since 2006, he has been Editor of the Danish journal for mathematics and science education: MONA - Matematik- og Naturfagsdidaktik. Lately he functioned as secretary for a task force preparing a national strategy for science, technology, and health education through- out the entire educational system in Denmark. Anette Kolmos is Professor at Department for Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research concentrates on engineering education and problem and project-based learning (PBL). She is holder of the UNESCO Chair in Problem Based Learning in Engineering Education, Aalborg University, Denmark. She has been member of the Advisory Board for the 7th Framework Program, European Commission; Co-Chair for the Danish National Pedagogical Network for Engineering. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education, published by the American Society for Engineering Education and Associate Editor of European Journal of Engineering Education and Vice-President of the European Society of Engineering Education. Søren Kruse is Associate Professor in general didactics (Educational Theory and Curriculum) at the Department of Curriculum Research, School of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark. He is the leader of the Research Program of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and head of the Doctoral Program in Didactics. He has written a thesis on the philosophy and didactics of nature experi- ence. He has carried out studies in health and environmental education, teacher education, scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education, and finally conceptual work concerning the sociology of knowledge in curriculum theory. Today his research concentrates on developing a general theory of learning, xii Contributing Authors and Editors teaching and curriculum as non-causal relation focusing on empirical studies of teacher education and curriculum in higher education. Kjeld Bagger Laursen has been a university teacher and researcher of mathemat- ics since the middle 1960s. He has been Head of the Centre for Science Education at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has been Director of Studies in Mathematics, also at the University of Copenhagen. He became Doctor of Science, University of Copenhagen in 1991 and has been an invited lecturer at several inter- national conferences on Banach Algebras and Operator Theory. He was the President of the Danish Mathematical Society 1990–1994. John Mason is Professor of Mathematics Education at the Open University, England and Senior Research Fellow at Oxford in the Department of Education. Originally a mathematician (Combinatorial Geometry), he was a Co-Founder of the Centre for Mathematics Education at the Open University. He has written hundreds of research papers and a dozen or more books, all aimed at supporting those who find themselves promoting, sustaining, and supporting mathematical thinking in themselves and in others. For more than 45 years, John Mason has been enquiring into what it means to think mathematically, and supporting others in all phases of education who either want to develop their own mathematical thinking, or to support others in doing this. His interests are currently focused on the design of pedagogically effective tasks, and the ways in which the structure of atten- tion of teachers and learners interact to support the appreciation of mathematical reasoning. Morten Misfeldt is Assistant Professor at Learning Lab Denmark, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in mathematics from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (2001), and in 2006 he got his Ph.D. from the Danish University of Education. His research concentrates on how new media changes human capacities in relation to thinking and communication, mathematical creativity, and innovative processes in general. He has developed an interest in game technology that supports social learning processes. Currently he is directing the research unit for Science, Technology and Learning. He is member of the program committee of the 4th European Workshop on MathML and Scientific e-Contents. Kirsten Nielsen is a senior member of the research unit ‘Didactics of Mathematics and Science’ at the Department of Curriculum Studies, the Danish School of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark. She graduated as a Geographer but her research and teaching background is mostly in environmental and health education with a great interest in the didactics of fieldwork. Fore some years she has also worked with the Danish program for ‘Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ (LTHE program) for new staff members in science faculties. Wolff-Michael Roth is Lansdowne Professor of Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria, Canada. After teaching high school science, computer sci- ence, and mathematics for almost twelve years, he first became Professor of quan- titative research methods at Simon Fraser University, Canada before taking his current position in 1997. His research interests concern knowing and learning in Contributing Authors and Editors xiii science and mathematics from early childhood through school, university, and into the workplace. His interdisciplinary research is published widely, including science and mathematics education, curriculum studies, teaching and teacher education, social studies of science, linguistics, and anthropology. Among his most recent publications are Being and Becoming in the Classroom (2002), Toward an Anthropology of Graphing: Semiotic and Activity Theoretic Perspectives (2003), Rethinking Scientific Literacy (2004, with A.C. Barton), Talking Science: Language and Learning in Science (2005), and Generalizing from Educational Research (2009, with K. Ercikan). Camilla Østerberg Rump is associate professor and deputy head of department for teaching at the Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen. She has a background in engineering and theoretical computer science. She has worked with educational development and research in science and technology edu- cation at the tertiary level both at the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen. Her current research interests include 1st year physics teaching from the perspective of inclusion/exclusion into the physics community of practice, university teacher training programmes, learning styles seen in a relational perspective, instrumentation and instrumentalisation processes in relation to ter- tiary science education. Ole Skovsmose has a special interest in critical mathematics education. He has investigated the notions of mathematics in action, students’ foreground, globalisa- tion, ghettoising with particular reference to mathematics education. He is Professor at Department of Education, Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. He has Authored and co-Authored many books including Towards a Philosophy of Critical Mathematics Education (1994); Educação Matemática Crítica: A Questão da Democracia (2001); Dialogue and Learning in Mathematics Education: Intention, Reflection, Critique (together with Helle Alrø, 2002) and Travelling Through Education: Uncertainty, Mathematics, Responsibility (2005). He serves in the Editorial Board of several scientific journals. He has been Co-Director of The Centre for Research of Learning Mathematics, a co-operative project between different universities. Rie Troelsen is Associate Professor in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the Department of Philosophy, Education and the Study of Religions at the University of Southern Denmark. With a M.Sc. degree in chemistry and classical studies and a Ph.D. in chemistry education, she has been doing research and devel- opment in various fields, such as a national strategy plan for science education in Denmark, in-service training of university teachers, young people’s interest in sci- ence and choice of education. Among her present research interests are student attrition in higher education and the professionalization of university teachers. She teaches academic writing and science education to master students, lab work teach- ing to technical staff and course (re-)design to new faculty members. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Danish journal of higher education, Dansk Universitetspædagogisk Tidsskrift, and serves on Editorial Boards of journals of science education in Denmark and the Nordic countries. xiv Contributing Authors and Editors Paola Valero is Associate Professor in Mathematics Education at the Department of Education, Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. She is leader of the ‘Science and Mathematics Education Research Group (SMERG)’ and Director of the Doctoral Program ‘Technology and Science: Education and Philosophy’ at the Faculty of Engineering, Science and Medicine. Her research interests are mathematics, science and engineering education at all levels; in par- ticular innovation and change processes in those fields, curricular development, multiculturalism in science and mathematics education, and science and mathemat- ics teacher education. She is the Editor-in-Chief with Mortne Blomhøj of the jour- nal Nordic Studies in Mathematics Education, and serves on the Editorial Board of scientific journals in Colombia, Denmark, Mexico, Spain and South Africa. She is Co-Editor of the book Researching the Socio-political Dimensions of Mathematics Education: Issues of Power in Theory and Methodology (2004). Carl Winsløw’s area of research is the didactics of mathematics, and much of his research is drawing on methods from linguistics and semiotics. His background includes studies in French, general linguistics and mathematics. His doctoral thesis and his first 12 papers concerned pure mathematics (von Neumann algebras). From about 1996 he turned to the didactics of mathematics, particularly linguistic and semiotic aspects of mathematics education. He has worked on comparative interna- tional studies, studies of ICT-tools in university education, and curriculum theoreti- cal questions. Since 2003, Carl Winsløw holds the first Professorship in didactics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where parts of his work concern devel- opment of the teaching at the Faculty of Science. Some of this developmental work is closely linked to his research.