Biologisk mångfald i svenska läroböcker för skolår 6-9

Abstract

This article presents a study of how different aspects of biodiversity, related to human activities, are described in six textbooks in Biology for secondary school in Sweden. It discusses the opportunities the books provide for pupils to attain the goals of the syllabus. The textbooks have been analyzed by using a quantitative content analysis with qualitative elements. The analysis has been undertaken in terms of four different aspects of biodiversity: utilitarian aspects, economic aspects, ethical aspects and aesthetic aspects. These are found in the parts of the books dealing with systematics, plants, animals, fungi, microbiology, biotechnology, the cell, ecology, etology, genetics, evolution and environmental care. The results show a variation between the textbooks in how biodiversity is defined, as well as in the proportions of the texts dealing with the issue. It is also found that the books contain faults and questionable formulations with regard to biodiversity. Finally, plausible effects of the pupils´ goal-attainments are discussed in relation to the structure, formulations and contents of the books.

“Let’s Pretend This [Orange] Is You!” Preschool Children Making Meaning of a Multimodal Illustration Offered at a Swedish Science Center

“…Although the guide used a very amusing and seemingly age-appropriate way to illustrate a life jacket, the results indicated an overly ambitious combination of modes used in the illustration as something that seems to have obstructed the meaning-making processes. Adding to this, the allotted time for the visit might have led to the use of entertaining and eye-catching objects and actions in order to quickly make the children interested in the illustration (Ferlin, 2014).…”

“…The design of book pages seems to be a decisive factor in supporting meaning making (or not). This was observed by Ferlin (2014). In a sample of Swedish biology textbooks, the majority of pages had a large amount of sketches and photos, while much less space was assigned to the written text.…”

Grundskoleelevers uppfattningar om begreppet art relaterade till formuleringar i läroböcker i biologi<br>12 to 15 year old pupils' perceptions of the concept species related to formulations in textbooks in Biology

“…Böckerna inleds med ett kapitel där biologiämnet presenteras och flertalet avslutas med ett kapitel om evolution. (Ferlin, 2011) Forskning kring läroböcker i naturvetenskap innefattar ett brett spektrum av studier, från analyser av hur läroböcker används av lärare och elever (Nelson, 2006) och hur förhållandet mellan skriven text och illustrationer förändrats över tid (Bezemer & Kress, 2008), till studier som fokuserar olika delar av innehållet. Lee (2010), som studerade optik, konstaterar att det naturvetenskapliga innehållet i stor utsträckning har varit sig likt de senaste sextio åren.…”

“…Dikmenli, Çardak & Öztaş, 2009;Ferlin, 2011;King, 2010) har visat att det förekommer både felaktigheter och förenklingar i läroböcker i naturvetenskap. Förenklingarna förklarar komplicerade företeelser, men de är inte alltid konsekvent formulerade och kan därmed förstärka vardagsuppfattningar (Ferlin, 2011). Även studier kring enstaka begrepp, exempelvis Gerickes och Hagbergs (2010a; 2010b) om genbegreppet påvisar brister i läroböckers begrepps-och modellanvändning.…”