Från observation till teori. En intervjustudie om biologins karaktär och arbetsmetoder.

Abstract

The nature of biology and the nature of practical methods in biology are a part of the core content of the biology syllabus in the Swedish upper secondary school. The nature of biology describes the subject's epistemology such as the knowledge and how it is arranged in theories, laws and models. The nature of practical methods consists of empirical methods applied by biologists to investigate the world. Previous studies indicates that teachers are experiencing difficulties understanding both these concepts as well as implementing them into their teaching. The study's purpose was, thus, to examine how Swedish upper secondary biology teachers explain the content of these concepts, how the content is implemented in teaching and which aspects that affect the implementation. The method used was a qualitative interview where the selection of respondents was made through a combination of convenience and criteria samples. The analysis was made using an inductive thematic analysis resulting in the following themes: the content of the nature of biology, the content of the nature of practical methods in biology, biology and other natural science subjects, elements in teaching, internal factors and external factors. The results indicate the nature of biology and practical methods were challenging to varying degrees while diverse teaching elements were used. Some of the affecting aspects of teaching these elements were the teacher's understanding, students’ interest and the schools’ presumptions. Conclusions were drawn, whereas teachers need more support to gain knowledge and inspiration on implementing both concepts. As the findings of additional studies note, a possible solution is to implement this part of the core content of biology into teaching programs for teachers. To enhance accessibility and understanding, the Swedish National Agency for Education could make a comment and definition about these concepts in the commentary material for the biology syllabus.