mandag den 19. december 2022

Generalizations 21# Grosskinsky, D. K., Jørgensen, K., & Hammer úr Skúoy, K. (2019)

 At the current stage this project is about finding statistical generalizations in qualitative, danish educational research. That is to check my assumption that there is a tendency to make statistical generalizations on the basis of observations which cannot support such generalizations.

I will be posting excerpts from all those studies which to me seem problematic. This post is part of that and this is a link to the first post in the line.

Grosskinsky, D. K., Jørgensen, K., & Hammer úr Skúoy, K. (2019)

Reference:

"Grosskinsky, D. K., Jørgensen, K., & Hammer úr Skúoy, K. (2019). A flowchart as a tool to support student learning in a laboratory exercise. Dansk Universitetspædagogisk Tidsskrift, 14(26), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.7146/dut.v14i26.104402 "

 

Abstract:

Practical laboratory exercises are an essential part of university education in natural sciences. The multitude of positive aspects of this active and lively teaching approach is, however, accompanied by some challenges, which have to be observed by the teacher(s) of practical exercises. In this project, a strategy was designed, employed and evaluated to support teaching and student learning in laboratory exercises spread over several days by implementing a flowchart as a central component. Initial co-construction of the flowchart with the students gives ownership of the exercise to the students and forms a common basis for communication and interaction as well as a point of reference throughout the exercise. This approach supported student learning as evidenced by increased understanding of the content and the ability to connect individual parts of the exercise. In addition, it allows the teacher to easily track student progress.

 

Testable hypothesis?:

No: "The  implementation  of  a  flowchart  for  a  practical  laboratory  exercise  in  plant  science  at  BSc  level is presented here. " s24

 

Method/materials:

"The  presented  teaching  approach  was  implemented  in  the  laboratory  exercise  “Tracking  Gene  Expression,”  which  was  part  of  the  course  Plant  Genomics  in  2017.  This  course  is  embedded  in  the  BSc  programs  in  Biology-B iotechnology  and  Natural  Resources  at  the  Department  of  Plant  and  Environmental  Sciences  at  the  University  of  Copenhagen.  Eleven  students  in  their  2nd  or  3rd  year  of  BSc  studies  participated." s24


"In  addition  to  student  feedback,  the  effect  of  implementing  a  co-constructed  flowchart  as  a  central  element  of  the  exercise  was  evaluated  by  the  teacher  based  on  experiences  from  previous  teaching  of  similar  exercises.  Important  aspects  of  this  evaluation  comprise  the  estimation of student understanding of the content based on the final discussion of obtained results  and  case  studies,  the  quality  of  final  reports  submitted  by  the  students,  and  the  teacher’s  role  and  perspective  on  the  exercise  compared  to  similar  exercises  not  using  this  tool." s29

 

Statistical generalizations:

1) "However,  it  is  important  that  a  teacher  defines  the  purpose  of  the  flowchart  for  a  specific teaching unit and subsequently, how an appropriate flowchart has to look and how it has  to  be  implemented  according  to  a  suitable  plan,  taking  the  teaching  situation  into  consideration.  This  means  that  a  specific  flowchart  could  simply  be  provided  as  a  guide  or  could be created either through co-construction (like here) or by the students on their own, followed  by  feedback  on  their  drafts.  Certainly,  the  latter  options  have  the  advantage  that  students  have  to  deal  with  the  content  of  teaching  and  develop  a  feeling  of  ownership  by  contributing to the flowchart construction. With these considerations, flowcharts seem to be good tools for guiding students through exercises and content with a complex structure." s34

 

Comments:

I have flagged this study for generalizations of type 5 (see typology).


The quote contains suggestions for future use, implying that the results of the study are statistically generalizable, such that they may support the claim that the suggestions are generally valuable.

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