Fysik, lärande samtal och genus. En studie av gymnasieelevers gruppdiskussioner i fysik

Physics, learning conversations and gender a study of group discussions in physics in upper secondary school

This thesis investigates how students in upper secondary school solveproblems and discuss physics in small groups. The study examines howgender, knowledge in physics and the image of the subject physics areconstructed in the students conversation and how these processes arerelated to each other. The theoretical framework includes a socioculturalperspective on learning and a gender perspective that views gender asboth process and discourse and focus on how femininity and masculinityare constructed in social relations. 28 students in two classes at thescience program participated in the study. 8 videotaped groupdiscussions and 15 audiotaped interviews where analysed throughthematic analysis and discourse analysis according to different researchquestions.

The results show the complexity of a learning conversation. Thecharacter of the dialogue in the groups, the difficulties the studentencounter when dealing with the tasks, and the social interaction in thegroups, has a deep impact on the possibilities to develop the discussionabout physics phenomena and concepts. The images of the subjectphysics and the images of a student skilled in physic that are constructedin the interviews are reconstructed in the students discussions and intheir acting in the groups. But there are also inconsistencies and counterdiscourses. The possibilities for learning are related to the construction ofgender and to equality issues within the groups. Traditional genderedpositions are to a large extent reconstructed in the students interaction.Boys are for instance positioned as more competent in physics than girls.