This book explores the ways in which small scale research studies arise from issues of practice, and how they are conceptualised, theorised and implemented using a variety of methodological approaches and frameworks. The narratives written by thirteen doctoral students tell real stories of projects and challenges that researchers face when making the transition from educational practitioner to researcher.Considering case studies from the UK, Sweden and Germany, chapters seek to investigate and inform others about how doctoral students solved individual and typical problems linking practice and research. Each methodological journey highlights and illustrates the iterative and cyclic nature of research, and the normality of the process of going back and forth between data and theory, making changes of direction as research proceeds. The book includes frameworks for combining research, theory and practice, drawing from the methodological decisions and conclusions each contributor made to develop their own practice oriented research.Narratives of Doctoral Studies in Science Education will be key reading for researchers and academics in the fields of educational research, science education, research methods and higher education, as well as masters and doctoral students undertaking their own research projects.
Editorial Introduction: Issues faced by doctoral students on their
research journey Shirley Simon, Ilka Parchmann and Christina Ottander Part 1:
Research-based Design Relocalisations and Renegotiations: Framing a project
about science and gender in preschool Sofie Areljung. Teachers Learning from
Young Children During a Cognitive Acceleration Programme Anne Robertson.
Abilities of Participants at Students Science Competitions Christine Köhler.
Studying Motivation in the Science Classroom Jenny M Hellgren. Exploring
Learning Experiences and Meaning-making in Environmental and Sustainability
Issues Annika Manni. The Lexical and Grammatical Structure of Science
Examination Questions Adrian Day Part 2: Theory Led Design-based Research
What do Students Think About Scientists and Their Professions? Wilfried
Wentorf. How to Develop an Understanding for Chemistry? Investigating
learning progressions for university entrants Julian Rudnik. Do We Really
Know What Science is All About? Researchers and students perceptions of
science Frederike Tirre. Finding and Elaborating Frameworks for Analysing
Context-Based Chemistry Problems Karolina Broman Part 3: Practitioner led
design-based research From What to How: Researching students
meaning-making in sustainability dilemmas Katarina Ottander. Line Graphs in
Mathematics and Science: The use of different learning approaches Elizabeth
Wady. Insights and Lessons from Primary Science Teachers Initial
Professional Learning and Collaborative Practices in Questioning Tan Ying
Chin Concluding
Chapter Conclusions Shirley Simon, Christina Ottander and
Ilka Parchman
Shirley Simon is Professor of Science Education at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK.
Christina Ottander is Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Science Education at the Department of Science and Mathematics Education, Umeå University, Sweden.
Ilka Parchmann is Professor and Head of the Chemistry Education Department at the Leibniz-Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Germany, and Professor of Chemistry Education at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany.
