The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how physical activity can be used in school to create more favorable conditions for students' learning in mathematics. The study investigated the effect of physical activity in the long term on the students’ concentration, working memory and knowledge of mathematics via recurring short activity of physical activity. The study was conducted with 175 grade 7 students from four different schools. An initial task of seven minutes of pulse-raising exercises was introduced in five of the groups at the beginning of the mathematics lesson. The results show an improvement in the students' concentration and working memory in the intervention group compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between gender or ability, all were similarly affected by the physical activity. Students from different school environments are also affected by the physical activity in the same way.

This paper describes analysis of teaching instances that are part of an in-service preschool teachers programme about chemistry and physics in preschool. The aim is to develop knowledge about the communication established between teacher and children in relation to an object of learning, specifically the role of intersubjective communication in relation to an object of learning. A set of science activities with a specified object of learning was developed in groups of teachers and researchers. A qualitative analysis of the communication in relation to the chosen object of learning was performed. The focus of the analysis was excerpts representing differences in intersubjectivity related to the object of learning and what can be said to characterise the communication between teachers and children in these situations. The results show that intersubjectivity can occur in different ways with different consequences for children’s opportunities to experience the intended object of learning. In connection to this, the importance of teachers having a mutual simultaneity in the communication with children about a specific content is highlighted. The teachers have to create links between the child’s perspective and the object of learning. Intermediary objects of learning are discussed as supporting elements in the conquest of new knowledge.

The overall aim of the present study is to study model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena in preschool, with a specific focus on the verbal communication established between teachers and children (4-5 years old). According to variation theory, learning is always directed at a specific content, called the object of learning. This study aims at highlighting what ‘threatens’ the teacher’s and preschool children’s intersubjectivity during the teaching of chemistry and physics content, and at discussing possible ways to continue the teaching of an object of learning, once sufficient intersubjectivity in a teaching/learning situation has been lost. The result shows the need for the teacher to divide and split a larger object of learning, such as e.g. water purification, into smaller learning steps ‘on the way’ in order to hinder breaks in intersubjectivity that otherwise may arise. We introduce the notion of ‘overarching object of learning’ and ‘intermediary object of learning’, and the intermediary objects of learning identified in this study are categorized as belonging to three different themes: the role of words, the role of theoretical models and science concepts and the role of analogies and abstractions. The teacher’s awareness of intermediary objects of learning as critical aspects for children’s individual learning is crucial for the teaching of everyday science in a preschool setting.

Genom ett flerårigt projekt studeras modellbaserad undervisning och lärande i förskolor av kemiska reaktioner och fysikaliska fenomen relaterat till hållbarhet i samhällsfrågor. Forskare arbetar tillsammans med ledning och personal vid förskolor i ett skolområde. Undervisning och lärandeprocesser med och utan stöd av modern informationsteknik implementeras och analyseras. Projektet syftar till att utveckla en teoretisk ram för analys av olika erfarenheter under kemi- och fysikunder­visning i förskolan med fokus på lärarens förhållningssätt och barns agerande. I samverkan utvecklas nuvarande kunskap om hur ny digital teknik kan användas för att stödja samarbete och lärande om kemiska processer och fysikaliska fenomen relaterade till barns vardag och dagens samhälle. 

This paper reports on model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena related to socio-scientific issues (SSI) in Swedish preschools (ages 1-5 years). A special focus is children's learning related to intended and enacted objects of learning, and the research discusses teaching and learning processes with and without scaffolding by contemporary information technologies. A developed theoretical framework for analysis of different referential meanings experienced during work with chemistry and physics in preschool will be presented at the conference. Results describe in detail how reasoning and questioning during modelbased teaching and collaborative inquiry learning engage children and preschool teachers. The role of tablet computers, in supporting collaborative learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena related to children's everyday life will be discussed.

This paper describes an analysis of teaching instances that are part of an in-service preschool teachers programme. The overall aim of the project is – together with teachers – to study model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena in preschool. Our interest is directed towards the teaching of science in preschool, with particular focus on use of digital tools and the verbal communication and intersubjectivity established, or not established, between teachers and children during learning situations in preschool. Teaching activities were jointly developed by work teams in preschools and researchers. A qualitative analysis of video recordings of enacted teaching activities has been performed. The focus was excerpts representing qualitative differences in intersubjectivity related to the object of learning, and what characterised the communication in these situations – the roles of teacher, children and scaffolding digital technology. The focus of this report will be teaching activities developed  with air resistance as the object of learning. The result indicates the importance of intermediary objects of learning and place them on the science teaching agenda indicating that they can constitute a supporting element in the conquest of new knowledge. Further, children’s understanding of abstractions and physics concepts when designing a digital movie about investigated phenomena is discussed. The three-year professional development (PD) programme is ongoing and analysis of several instances during the first and second years will be discussed at the conference.

This paper describes an analysis of teaching instances that are part of an in-service preschool teachers programme. The overall aim of the project is – together with teachers – to study model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena in preschool. Our interest is directed towards the teaching of science in preschool, with particular focus on use of digital tools and the verbal communication and intersubjectivity established, or not established, between teachers and children during learning situations in preschool. A phenomenographic analysis of the enacted object of learning was performed. The focus is excerpts representing qualitative differences in intersubjectivity related to the object of learning and what characterised the communication in these situations – the roles of teacher and children. From our results we state that mutual simultaneity may be seen as a variation of intersubjectivity. The result also places the intermediary object of learning on the science teaching agenda and shows that it can constitute a supporting element in the conquest of new knowledge. Further, children’s understanding of abstractions and concepts when designing a digital movie about science phenomena are discussed. The three-year professional development (PD) programme is ongoing and analysis of several instances during the first years will be discussed at the conference

This paper reports on model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena related to socio-scientific issues (SSI) in Swedish preschools (1-5 years). A special focus is children's learning related to intended and enacted teaching, and the research contrasts teaching and learning processes with and without scaffolding by tablets. A developed theoretical framework for analysis of different referential meanings experienced during work with chemistry and physics in preschool will be presented. Results describe in detail how reasoning and questioning during teaching engage children and preschool teachers. The role of tablets in collaborative physics learning will be discussed.