Programmering i svensk skolmatematik

Abstract

När programmering skulle inkorporeras i skolans arbete valde Sverige i sin läroplansrevidering 2017 att skriva in det i matematikämnet, med stark koppling till algebra. Samtliga matematiklärare ställdes då inför utmaningen att undervisa i programmering. Vi undersöker här resultatet av 32 lärargruppers gemensamma arbete med att planera och genomföra lektioner i programmering i matematik i grundskolan. För att få insikt i hur lärare tolkar uppdraget och transponerar läroplananes beskrivning av programmering till klassrumspraktiken analyserar vi det matematiska innehållet i dessa lektioner samt vilken syn på relationen mellan matematik och programmering som framträder i lärarnas beskrivning av syfte, lärandemål, aktivitet och reflektion. Vi finner att programmeringsaktiviteter i 1/3 av lektionerna inte kopplas till något traditionellt matematiskt innehåll. I övriga lektioner är det främst aritmetik eller geometri som utgör det matematiska innehållet. Få explicita kopplingar görs till algebra förutom till begreppet variabler, men då är det främst variabler inom programmering som avses. I materialet framträder fyra olika relationer mellan matematik och programmering: 1) enbart programmering; 2) matematik som en kontext för programmering; 3) programmering som ett verktyg för att effektivisera beräkningar; 4) programmering som ett verktyg för att utforska matematik. Resultaten diskuteras i relation till matematikämnets syfte och innehåll i den svenska läroplanen.
 In English
 When incorporating programming in the school curricula, Sweden decided to integrate it with mathematics, and specifically within the core content of algebra. As a result, all mathematics teachers at all levels were faced with the challenge of teaching programming. In this study we analyse documentation from 32 lessons studies where groups pf teachers have planned, conducted, and revised lessons on programming within the school subject mathematics. To gain insight into how the teachers interpret the new task and thus contribute to the transposition of knowledge from the curriculum level to the classroom level, we analyse the mathematical content in these lessons and the relations between mathematics and programming that emerge in the way the teachers describe the aim, the activites and the learning outcomes of the lessons. We find that 1/3 of the lessons do not connect to any traditional mathematics content, and the rest of the lessons mostly focus on arithmetic or geometry. Few explicit connectiions are made to algebra, execpt for the variable concept, but when variables are treated the focus is on variables in the programming sense rather than algebra. Four different relationships between mathematics and programming emerge in the data: 1) programming without connecting to mathematics; 2) mathematics as a context for programming, 3) programming as a tool for efficient calculations; 4) programming as a tool for exploring mathematics. The results are discussed relation to the transposition of knowledge of mathematics as a school subject.

Variables in early algebra: exploring didactic potentials in programming activities

“…Previous research has shown that programming within the context of mathematics in the early grades does not automatically enhance mathematics learning (Benton et al, 2017;Boylan et al, 2018). This was visible also in the lesson study project that provided the data for this paper (Jahnke, 2020;Kilhamn et al, 2021). When analysing the three tasks described here, we concluded that one reason for the lack of mathematical learning opportunities could be that the teachers did not refer to a mathematically oriented logos that justified the choices they made.…”

“…Through interviews it was concluded that teachers struggled to use programming for mathematical learning. Learning to program seemed to be given priority over questions about how programming could be useful in relation to learning mathematics (Kilhamn et al, 2021).…”

“…To report their work and share ideas within the larger group, the teachers created written documentations of their lesson studies. These documents were analysed earlier (Kilhamn et al, 2021), where findings showed that CT skills were foregrounded in most lessons, and that mathematics was often either non-existent (in 1/3 of the lessons) or serving only as a backdrop (in 1/3 of the lessons). Concerning mathematical content, the lessons were dominated by geometry and basic arithmetic.…”

En løsning på hvad? Mål og midler i implementeringen af informatik-relaterede fag i Danmark, Sverige og England

“…However, analyses of these textbooks found that programming is often treated as tangential to mathematics and that there is a primary focus on introducing students to programming procedures rather than programming concepts (Bråting & Kilhamn, 2022). A recent study of mathematics teachers' teaching of these new subjects in the context of their specialisation (Kilhamn et al, 2021) showed that one third of the lessons that include programming did not connect it to mathematical content, and few explicit connections were made to algebra. Moreover, further research by Håkansson Lindqvist and Pettersson (2019) showed that this had made the role of school leaders more complicated.…”

Programming as a mediator of mathematical thinking

“…However, it has turned out that Swedish teachers face challenges in finding suitable ways to teach mathematics with programming. A survey of Kilhamn, Rolandsson, and Bråting (2021) indicates that the incorporation of programming into mathematics education has primarily resulted in teaching programming within a mathematical context. In other words, teaching with programming has not primarily focused on the learning of mathematics but merely on enhancing pupils' programming skills.…”