Purpose – Investigations of food-borne outbreaks are complex and require multidisciplinary collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to help food technologists face this challenge and be competent members of a multidisciplinary team, a study module on the investigation of a “real-life” food-borne outbreak was developed. Design/methodology/approach – The module design was based on the principles of inquiry-based learning with the purpose to motivate and activate students with challenging assignments. The didactic impact of the module was evaluated as a qualitative case study with questionnaires, reflection assignments and interviews of students and lecturers. Findings – A teaching module developed by an external professional taking part in the academic environment provides a learning environment well adapted to the curriculum, as well as bringing first-hand realism and enthusiasm into the classroom. The external lecturer’s dedication to the subject was appreciated by the students. A majority of the students believed that the outbreak investigation simulation play gave a better understanding of how food-borne outbreaks are investigated. A majority of the students 68 per cent (2011) and 82 per cent (2012) believed that what they learned in this module would be useful in a future work situation. Research limitations/implications – There are some limitations to the study, the most important one being the small sample size, and as the classes rarely exceeds 30 students, the use of a control group was not logistically feasible. Originality/value – Teaching food technologists to become knowledgeable professionals in this field will constitute a valuable contribution to the multidisciplinary food-borne outbreak investigation team. In turn, this may increase confidence among the general public in the food industry.

Education can serve the purpose of trying to mitigate catastrophes. In a school context, teachers can have a role in enacting an interconnection between critical thinking (CT) as a potentially useful tool and education for sustainable development (ESD), in terms of educating and communicating the importance of sustainability to future generations. This paper uses discourse analysis, drawing on post-structuralism, to explore how Norwegian primary school teachers consider CT (skills, dispositions, and civic participation) in relation to ESD. The study draws on social constructivism and positioning theory (PT) in particular to find patterns in teachers’ own shifting standpoints through individual and collective assertations around ESD. Specifically, in this paper we make efforts to implement the PT to study (i) teachers’ own positioning about sustainability through their communication acts within primary-school contexts, and (ii) the functions of education in relation to ESD in this context. We explored the discussion between three teachers from the same school team during one focus group interview, by tracing the teachers’ uses of I and we (as markers) in relation to Biesta’s three functions of education in the discourse. Our discourse analysis has an exploratory character and is carried out on a limited dataset. PT was used as a framework to categorize the teachers’ statements; treated as content of discourse. The pronoun we is identified in the discourse analysis in three different ways: with the underlying meaning of a humanitarian we, an institutional we, and a classroom we. In the one focus group interview, we also identified teachers’ sense of belonging with the environment and nature, generally regarded to be prevalent in Norwegian society.

Kritisk tenking er beskrevet som en avgjørende kompetanse elever må tilegne seg for å kunne bidra til et bærekraftig samfunn. I denne studien undersøker vi derfor koblingen mellom kritisk tenking (KT) og bærekraftig utvikling (BU) i norsk og svensk læreplan. Bærekraftspørsmål er ofte komplekse og kan ses fra ulike perspektiv. I litteraturen anbefales ofte en fler- eller tverrfaglig undervisningstilnærming til bærekraftspørsmål. Når det gjelder KT hersker det uenighet om KT er en fagspesifikk eller generell kom­petanse, og om de kriteriene det vurderes etter kan variere fra fag til fag. Det er derfor et behov for forskning på tvers av fagdisiplinene for å finne ut av hva det innebærer å tenke kritisk i de ulike fagene i skolen og hvordan dette er koblet til undervisning for bærekraftig utvikling (UBU). I denne studien gjennomføres en dokumentanalyse, basert på et rammeverk for bærekraftkompetanser, av de generelle og fagspesifikke delene av læreplanene. Resultatene viser at både den norske og den svenske overordnede del og fagspesifikke deler av læreplanene kan vise til flere formuleringer knyttet til bærekraft­kompetansene og KT, men et fåtall av bærekraftkompetansene er koblet til kritisk tenking og direkte til BU som innholdselement. Det betyr at dersom læreren i norske og svenske skoler skal undervise helhetlig med en pluralistisk tilnærming til bærekraft­spørsmål, som legger til rette for kritisk tenking, må de gjøre disse koblingene selv.

Using a case-study approach, we aim to understand how teachers interact with both analogue and digital resources in the science classroom for formative assessment (FA) purposes and their justifications for such interactions. The study was conducted in the context of a European Union project on FA in science and mathematics education. The case involved two Norwegian primary school teachers teaching their grades 5 and 7 students a series of science lessons on the topic “how to prevent microorganisms from spreading.” The data set consisted of lesson plans, classroom observations, pre- and post-interviews conducted with teachers, student tasks, post-interviews with students, and student work. We identified eight analogue and digital resources, which were used to employ five FA strategies. The strategies that were most commonly used related to “engineering effective classroom discussions” that elicited evidence of student understanding and “activating students” as autonomous learners and peer instructors. The teachers’ rationales for using the selected resources were mainly connected to their effectiveness, practicality, and relevance. Teacher interactions with the selected resources are described, and educational implications are discussed.

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