Nordic Journal of STEM Education

Formative feedback through digital MCQs: Students´ perceived learning in a bachelor-level physiology course

M. A. Sundset — 2024-10-29

Feedback is defined as a process in which students can benefit from information about their own performance to improve the quality of their work and learning strategies. This case study examines how students in a bachelor-level physiology course experienced their learning when receiving formative feedback through digital multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in the web-based learning platform Canvas. The poorly attended colloquia in the course were replaced by a compulsory assignment comprising eight modules of MCQs. The MCQs could be repeated multiple times by the students providing ample low threshold, low risk opportunities to test knowledge and understanding and to receive feedback on whether they had achieved the learning objectives of the course (“feedback loops”). A student survey at the end of the course underlined the potential of using MCQs for automated feedback and learning. Thematic analysis of semi-structured one-on-one interviews with eight random students from the course identified two main themes related to student learning: the importance of the MCQs format and how student characteristics can affect MCQ-aided learning. Challenges were related to the formulations of the MCQs, and the feedback received, and to procrastination of the students’ work with the MCQs reducing the learning outcome of the work. We discuss the potential of further developing and integrating online formative feedback loops through MCQs as a systematic approach to enhance learning and emphasize the importance of student and teacher feedback literacy when working with assessments tasks such as MCQs.

A roadmap for developing higher permafrost education in Norden

H. H. Christiansen — 2024-10-29

We perform a first permafrost higher education curriculum survey in Norden. Permafrost is part of the education within both bio- and geosciences and engineering, and the variation in educational activities reflect this. Five permafrost-specific geoscience and engineering permafrost courses exist, whereas there are 23 bachelor and 25 master courses with a permafrost content ranging from 1% to 50 %. The is large potential and clear needs for closer permafrost teaching collaboration. This could focus on permafrost course development, teaching methods, sharing practical experiences including fieldwork and further developing the educational offer. Such collaboration could establish: 1) An online, joint Nordic specific course on permafrost, sharing the special permafrost competences existing across the universities using digital teaching tools, 2) Nordic collaboration on developing joint, both general but also specific, PhD courses on permafrost, 3) Lifelong education in permafrost, and 4) Internships a part of active permafrost education to better meet the future employers and society’s needs. The Nordic region might also gain largely from establishing an overview-providing interdisciplinary joint Nordic course aiming to characterize the region and its diversity broadly including both natural and social sciences, and naturally covering different topics including permafrost and seasonally frozen ground. The mapping done for this paper will function as a first overall roadmap catalogue providing an overview of all offered courses on permafrost. The overall outcome of our survey shows large potential for increased and deeper inter-university collaboration for further developing joint permafrost higher education both in the form of courses and other educational activities between institutions across Norden, and potentially with ambitions for joint permafrost degrees between several institutions. Based on the presented results and the mapped different future plans for permafrost education across Norden, we discuss the implications of our results, specifically concerning the potential for increased collaboration in Nordic permafrost education. These focus on permafrost course development, teaching methods, sharing practical experiences including fieldwork and further developing the educational offer. In more detail increased collaboration could establish: 1) An online, joint Nordic-specific course on permafrost, sharing the special permafrost competences existing across the universities using digital teaching tools, 2) Nordic collaboration on developing joint PhD courses on permafrost, 3) Lifelong education in permafrost, and 4) Internships as part of active permafrost education to better meet the needs of future employers and society. The Nordic region might also gain largely from establishing an interdisciplinary joint Nordic course, aiming to characterize the region and its diversity broadly and including both natural and social sciences, and naturally covering different topics including permafrost and seasonally frozen ground.

The Perceived Value of Proving in Learning Engineering Mathematics and its Dependence on Motivation and Study Habits

T. Tossavainen — 2024-10-29

This study reports on engineering students (N=369) from two Swedish universities and focuses on their perceived value of proving in learning engineering mathematics and some factors that may explain the observed variation in the perceived value. Our findings show that there is no significant difference in the perceived value between female and male students. In general, proving is not highly valued, and students are not confident in their skills in proving, except for proving by mathematical induction. However, students’ motivation in mathematics correlates with the perceived value and certain study habits are more regular among those students who appreciate proving as a suitable method for learning mathematics. Examples of such study habits include actively communicating with mathematics course teachers and reading the course textbook both before and after lectures.

Ingeniørstudenters opplevelse av gruppeavtale: Er det lurt å skrive en avtale?

I. G. Aakre — 2024-10-29

Samarbeidsferdigheter er viktig i arbeidslivet, og gruppearbeid er en utbredt læringsaktivitet i høyere utdanning. Ulike forventninger blant gruppe-medlemmene kan skape problemer for gruppearbeidet, og en gruppeavtale kan være et verktøy for å oppnå en felles forståelse i gruppa og unngå konflikter. Evalueringsskjema (n= 498) viser at ingeniørstudenter har positive erfaringer med å skrive en gruppeavtale i Ingeniørfaglig innføringsemne første semester, men studentene bruker gruppeavtalen i ulik grad. I studentintervjuer (n= 3) blir gruppeavtalen sin rolle for å unngå eller løse eventuelle konflikter dratt frem, og det kommer frem at gruppene utarbeider avtalen på ulike måter. Evalueringsskjemaet viser at et betydelig flertall av studentene sier seg enig i påstandene «Det var lurt å skrive en avtale» og «Jeg vil ta initiativ til å lage en slik avtale i fremtiden». Studentene som oppgir å ha brukt gruppeavtalen aktivt er mer positive til både gruppeavtalen, i hvilken grad medstudentene bidro i gruppearbeidet, og prosjektet for øvrig.

Informal Inferential Reasoning on Simple Linear Regression Encouraging Critical Thinking

M. Bråtalien — 2024-10-29

Informal inferential reasoning (IIR), described as making evidence-based generalizations about a population based on samples, is considered important for the development of argumentation-, inference-, critical thinking - and aggregate thinking abilities. This article aims to explore how undergraduate students’ IIR can develop in an inquiry problem-solving session on simple linear regression, through individual think-aloud protocols with follow-up conversations with five students. Our findings suggest that enabling and supporting the students to grapple with their own hypotheses is important for their development of IIR encouraging critical thinking. From initial hypotheses with limited argumentation and little regard to the probabilistic nature of statistical inferences, the students’ reasoning evolved in terms of making probabilistic generalizations from data when they were given time and concurrent probing to elaborate on, and question, their own arguments and inferences. We also suggest that in addition to emphasize the signal in the noise, giving attention to the noise around the signal can be fruitful for their IIR.

How to make virtual field guides, and use them to bridge field- and classroom teaching

P. B. Eidesen — 2024-10-29

At the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), fieldwork is an important part of all courses, but the transition from theory in the classroom to the arctic reality is a challenge. Other common challenges with course-related fieldwork are insufficient preparation, no possibilities to revisit a location to repeat difficult issues or resolve misunderstandings, and lack of suitable assessment methods of field-related learning outcomes. To narrow the gap between theory and practice and improve the alignment between field-related learning outcomes, activities, and assessment, we created a set of virtual field guides (VFG) from different locations in Svalbard based on 360-Degrees photographs collected during summer 2019. The VFGs were intended for use in combination with fieldwork in terrestrial biology courses the following years. Due to COVID-19, all courses were cancelled in 2020, and UNIS had reduced activity in 2021. The VFGs were therefore tested and evaluated by former students that had visited the locations the VFGs represented, but had not used VFGs as an integrated tool to prepare their field course. Evaluation data were collected through an anonymous survey. Eight of 16 students responded. We also collected experiences from arranging a post-fieldwork learning activity (16 students) that required knowledge of “reading landscapes,” a typical field skill. The current feedback indicates that VFGs provide students with a more realistic picture of what awaits them in the field, and aid preparing, planning, and recapitulation activities of fieldwork, but cannot substitute for fieldwork. However, VFGs can be used to practice and assess certain field-related skills. The learning potential in fieldwork is huge, but rarely fully utilized. We provide a “how to” guide for making VFGs, and argue that these rather simple digital tools improve field learning and better utilization of investments in field activities.

Automatisk rettet eksamen i generell kjemi

M. T. P. Beerepoot — 2024-10-29

En god avsluttende eksamen vurderer i hvilken grad intendert læringsutbytte har blitt oppnådd på en objektiv, reproduserbar og helst autentisk måte. Det er imidlertid lite tilfredsstillende hvis en faglærer bruker mye tid på vurdering av læring framfor vurdering for læring underveis i semesteret. Derfor kan det være attraktivt å utforske muligheter med en digital automatisk rettet eksamen, spesielt i emner med mange studenter. I dette bidraget beskriver vi hvorfor og hvordan vi har lagt om en eksamen i et emne i generell kjemi fra en sekstimers bruk-og-kast-eksamen på papir til en tretimers gjenbrukbar automatisk rettet digital eksamen. Vi drøfter også fordeler og ulemper med å bruke en slik eksamen som skoleeksamen eller hjemmeeksamen, systematisk kvalitetssikring av eksamensoppgavene, spørsmål knyttet til sensorens rolle i sensur av en automatisk rettet eksamen, graden av autentisitet for en slik eksamensform og avslutningsvis også overførbarhet til andre fag. Selv om en automatisk rettet eksamen ikke vil være den beste løsningen i alle fag og på alle nivåer, så mener vi at den kan være verdt å vurdere som eksamensform i grunnleggende realfaglige emner med mange studenter.

Science students’ understanding of the nature of science in higher education: A Norwegian case study

P. Schaldach — 2024-10-29

Views of the Nature of Science (NOS) among science students in higher education is investigated in a Norwegian university. The research utilizes the Views of the Nature of Science questionnaire version D+ (VNOS-D+), conducting a comprehensive analysis of NOS perspectives among 41 participants in STEM courses during the autumn semester of 2023. An overall decent understanding of NOS was found among all participating science students, regardless of gender, country of origin or study program. The mean values of the results for each aspect of NOS fluctuate between 1.39 and 2.68 on a scale from 0 (inadequate), 1 (naïve), 2 (transitional), to 3 (adequate) and are distributed rather homogeneously (x̄ = 2.02), although the aspect of law and theory stands out for its prevalence of naïve responses (x̄ = 1.39). No significant improvement in NOS understanding was observed with increased academic tenure in this study. The study shows promising usefulness of the VNOS-D+ questionnaire in higher education, as a valuable tool for gaining standardized insights into NOS perspectives. This research contributes to the discourse on science education by examining science students’ understandings of NOS in higher education in a previously rarely examined location.

Differences in Swedish and Norwegian pre-service teachers’ explanations of solutions of linear equations

Niclas Larson — 2024-10-29

Solving linear equations is a cornerstone in the learning of algebra. There are two main strategies for solving a linear equation, ‘swap sides swap signs’ (SSSS) and ‘do the same to both sides’ (DSBS). While SSSS can often be more efficient for solving equations, DSBS has been shown to better promote the learning of algebra. Thus, the preference of SSSS or DSBS might depend on the purpose of solving equations. Since both approaches are common, mathematics teachers, and thus also pre-service teachers (PSTs), must be familiar with both SSSS and DSBS. This study draws on data from 161 Swedish and 146 Norwegian PSTs. They were given a correct but short and unannotated solution to the linear equation x + 5 = 4x − 1. The PSTs were invited to explain the provided solution for a fictive friend. Of the Norwegian PSTs, 2/3 explained the additive steps in the solution by SSSS, while only 1/3 of the Swedish PSTs applied SSSS. Consequently, DSBS was more frequent among the Swedish PSTs regarding the additive steps. However, in the final, multiplicative step, 3/4 of the Norwegian PSTs invoked DSBS. On the contrary, among the Swedish PSTs, the proportion applying DSBS for the multiplicative step decreased, and it was common to provide an incomplete explanation of the final operation. We also analysed how mathematics textbooks for secondary school presented how to solve linear equations. In Sweden, all textbooks utilised DSBS through the whole solution for all years in secondary school. This also applied for Norwegian textbooks for the first two years of lower secondary school. However, in last year of lower secondary school, they changed their approach and promoted an SSSS strategy in additive steps, while DSBS was still suggested for multiplicative steps. This might explain the differences between the two countries regarding the PSTs’ preferences of solution strategies. We suggest that these results can be useful for teacher education, since increased awareness of PSTs’ pre-knowledge is beneficial to support their development of teaching linear equations.

On the relationship between students’ overall satisfaction with higher education STEM courses, and university teachers’ didactical practice. An empirical analysis

E. Abrahamsen — 2024-10-29

In this article, we discuss the relationship between students' overall satisfaction with higher education STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and the teachers' didactical practice. We analyzed student feedback from 4,683 digital course evaluations which spanned the period from fall 2020 to fall 2021 at the Faculty of Science and Technology (TN-faculty), University of Stavanger (UiS). Additionally, we collected 1854 open-ended written responses in spring and fall 2022, and conducted two focus group interviews in spring 2023 with eight students from the same population. We raise the research questions: What is the connection between students´ overall satisfaction with STEM courses, found in an institutional student evaluation procedure at UiS, and the university teachers’ didactical practice? And what can we learn from students´ evaluations and feedback that is relevant to how we perceive and strive for teaching and educational quality enhancement in higher education? Our analysis shows that there are strong correlations between students´ overall satisfaction, the evaluation questions, and how they understand what being prepared for teaching means.