I PISA 2012 genomfördes för första gången ett digitalt prov i problemlösning, i vilket ca 1250 svenska 15-åringar från 209 skolor deltog. Problemlösning kräver bland annat nyfikenhet, uthållighet och kritiskt tänkande. Att kunna lösa problem är också en av de förmågor som på senare tid alltmer har uppmärksammats som betydelsefulla för framgång i utbildning och arbetsliv. Det digitala problemlösningsprovet genomfördes av 28 OECD-länder och 16 icke OECD-länder.

Denna fördjupningsstudie analyserar data från PISA 2009 och jämför goda digitala och goda traditionella läsare med avseende på bakgrundsfaktorerna kön, socioekonomisk bakgrund och migrationsbakgrund. Studien jämför också elevernas läslust och läsvanor.

I PISA 2006 är naturvetenskapen i fokus. Svenska elever presterar på genomsnittlig OECD-nivå. Svenska elever presterar betydligt bättre inom områden som rör ren begreppsförståelse än inom tillämpningsområden. Även i matematik är resultaten genomsnittliga, medan svenska elever är fortsatt goda läsare.

The ROSE-project tries to trap aspects of the interest in science education through a questionnaire about attitudes to science and technology among 15 year old students. The underlying idea is that the lack of relevance of the science and technology curriculum is one of the greatest barriers for good learning, and for interest in these subjects. There are about 40 countries taking part in ROSE and in Sweden we received data from 29 schools with a total sample of 751 students. Girls, just like the boys, show interest in space and life in other places of the universe. However, girls� most favourable items concerns health, fitness, dreams and occultism. Boys display a keen interest in cosmology, the function of technological advices and what can happen with the human body in different situations. Throughout, girls are more interested than boys and we interpret the result as an effect of the fact that girls are more successful in the read and write school that exists in Sweden today. Many of the items teachers traditionally teach in our science classes, like science fact, are found among items students do not want to learn. Instead students want to learn about things science cannot yet explain and do not have a clear opinion about. With the results from the ROSE project we find clear and distinct proofs that the science curriculum must bee renewed, if we want the rising generation to experience science and technology as being relevant.

TIMSS Advanced är en internationell studie om gymnasieelevers kunskaperi avancerad matematik och fysik. Studien har genomförts tregånger, 1995, 2008 och 2015, och Sverige har deltagit alla tre gångerna.Resultaten från senaste studien visade att svenska gymnasieeleverpresterade bättre i matematik men sämre i fysik jämfört med resultatenfrån 2008. Normalt brukar prestationerna i matematik och fysikföljas åt och det är därför intressant att undersöka tänkbara orsakertill de försämrade fysikresultaten. Resultatet visar för det första på försämraderesultat på uppgifter som tidigarelagts i undervisningen närde nya ämnesplanerna i fysik infördes 2011 och för det andra på försämraderesultat på uppgifter som mäter begreppsbildning i fysik.Detta kan tyda på att eleverna hade glömt områden som behandlades iundervisningen året innan provet gick, men kan också tyda på att elevernaskunskaper var alltför ytliga. Slutsatsen blir att man tydligarebör studera vad som händer när kurser och kursinnehåll förändras.

TIMSS Advanced (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study ) är en internationell studie som undersöker gymnasieelevers kunskaper i avancerad matematik och fysik. TIMSS Advanced har genomförts tre gånger, 1995, 2008 och 2015, och Sverige har deltagit varje gång. I 2015 års studie deltog svenska elever i årskurs 3 på naturvetenskaps-och teknikprogrammet som slutfört eller håller på att slutföra kursen matematik 4 respektive fysik 2. Resultaten visade att Sverige förbättrat sina resultat i matematik medan resultaten i fysik försämrats. Dessa resultat brukar normalt följas åt och denna rapport undersöker möjliga orsaker till de sjunkande fysikresultaten i TIMSS Advanced.

Åtta skolutvecklingsprojekt inom ramen för projektet "Lärande i arbetet" beskrivs och kommenteras. Små och stora skolor i Jämtland har genomfört detta EU-projekt och vi visar på skillnader och förutsättingar i genomförandet

Den obligatoriska fempoängskursen i fysik som ingår i Mitthögskolans ingenjörsutbildningar uppfattas som svår. Vi har undersökt kursen som genomfördes våren 2001 i Härnösand och Sundsvall. Efter två tentamina är knappt hälften av studenterna godkända. Låg studiemotivation, som dessutom minskar under kursens gång, i kombination med begränsade arbetsinsatser tycks förklara en stor del av det dåliga resultatet. Den bristande motivationen kan förklaras av att studenterna inte uppfattar innehållet som nyttigt varken för de vidare studierna eller för sitt kommande yrkesliv.

Vi presenterar en kartläggning av 13-åringars attityder till och erfarenheter av naturvetenskap och teknik. Det visar sig att ungdomarna prioriterar tid för familj och vänner samt ett intressant arbete. I skolan vill de lära sig om dinosaurier, vulkaner, åska och hur djur kommunicerar. Kunskaper som ljus-optik och hur tvättmedel fungerar kommer längst ner på popularitetslistan. Det tyder på att innehållet i NO-undervisningen bör förändras. Eleverna anger jämförelsevis få ämnen de vill lära sig mer om och det visar att skolan måste konkurrera om utrymmet i det moderna informationssamhället Flickorna visar större tilltro till forskning och vetenskap än pojkarna. De är mindre oroliga för att vetenskapen ska påverka vår miljö negativt eller skapa problem för samhället. Pojkarna tycker i högre grad än flickorna att vetenskap är intressant och spännande, men oroar i gengäld för dess skadeverkningar.

Science is the major focus of PISA in 2015. Hence this chapter seeks to explore the positive and negative aspects of the PISA assessments. The chapter begins with a description of the new framework used for the science assessment in 2015. This provides an explanation of the changes and possible improvements from the 2006 framework. There then follow three contributions that explore the major social and political impact that PISA is having on education systems, schools and the learning of science going from the global to the local. Beginning with the global, the first argues that PISA should be seen in a political and cultural context, and as an instrument of power in that PISA has led to a global race in education, and is being used to legitimize neoliberal school reforms that are detrimental to the values usually promoted by educators in many countries. The next two contributions are drawn from an exploration of the effects of PISA in one country – Sweden. Taking a systemic view, the first argues that the PISA results provide a much needed external indicator and measure of the performance of the system in any one country showing how educational attainment has declined significantly in comparison to other countries and, in addition, exposing the increasing divergence between high and low performers. Such data provides a useful contrast to internal measures which may offer a different picture. The final contribution draws on a study that has explored how groups of 15-year-old students from an average comprehensive school interpret the PISA items and construct responses. The findings from this work cast doubt on the validity and comparability of the results between countries. The primary goal of this paper is to explore what PISA offers and to raise questions about its value for researchers and educators.

The ROSE questionnaire asks about what science topics 15-year old students want to learn. By making a factor analysis of results from Sweden, it was possible to derive 18 factors. The factor with strongest connection to student interested in school science is created by topics like explosive chemicals, ABC weapons, electric shocks, atoms and molecules. A minority of the students has these interests and they appreciate school science and tend to choose science for upper secondary level. The factor analysis also shows that the students own interests govern their choice for upper secondary school.

Students´ attitudes to science and technology are measured with a questionnaire in an international research project called ROSE, the Relevance Of Science Education. This is done by asking questions about what 15-year-old students want to learn about, their experiences in and outside school and their opinions about science and technology. In another questionnaire, science teachers in Sweden were asked the same questions. Comparing these data shows that science in school is many times not in line with the young people of today. Trying to understand this situation can help in developing a science agenda in service of the learners.

This article presents Swedish results from ‘the Relevance of Science Education’ (ROSE) study, which is a large world wide comparative research project based at the University of Oslo. The Swedish sample consisted of 751 students, most of whom were 15 years old, from 29 schools and data were collected inspring 2003. Student opinions about science lessons are presented in relation to enrolment intentions for upper secondary school together with what they want to learn about in science and technology.The findings indicate that secondary science instruction seems to address only a minority of the students, those that have chosen science or technology in their further education. At the same time, all students have interest in science and technology and many seem most interested in some important issues in societal development. The results are discussed from the perspective of learners and contribute to the debate about establishing a scientific literacy approach in compulsory education.

Abstract This article presents comparisons concerned with secondary school science teachers’ and their students’

beliefs about science and technology and also what science content secondary science teachers

teach and what their students want to learn. Student data are part of the Relevance of Science Education

(ROSE) study and the teacher data are part of an extensive study carried out only in Sweden. The

results indicate that both secondary science teachers and their students are optimistic about science

and technology as essential parts of societal development. When content from these knowledge fields

is considered for instruction, significant disparities exist between what teachers teach and what their

students want to learn. Additional results concerning the secondary science teachers’ beliefs, ‘out-ofschool

experiences’, ‘Science Technology and Society’ (STS) approaches and ‘inquiry-based instruction’

are pointed out as important for the development of science instruction in secondary schools. The

results are discussed in the contexts of students’ voices and teachers’ beliefs.

The ROSE survey explores which science topics 15-year-old students want to study. By carrying out a factor analysis on results from Sweden it was possible to describe ten interest profiles. The interest profile with the strongest connection to the students’ interest in school science consists of topics such as explosive chemicals, ABC weapons, electric shocks, atoms and molecules. Only a minority of the students has these interests, but it is this minority who appreciates school science and who chooses to study science at upper secondary school. The factor analysis also reveals large differences between genders and furthermore, that the students’ own interests govern their choice of study programme at upper secondary school.

International comparisons of students’ knowledge as TIMSS and PISA have shown that Swedish students' knowledge of science deteriorated during the 2000s, compared to both previous years and to other countries. In grade 4, however, the results improved between 2007 and 2011 and Sweden is one of the countries showing the greatest difference between the results in grade 4 and grade 8, suggesting a weak knowledge development in science between these grades.

This study compares Swedish pupils' results for individual tasks in Science in TIMSS 2011 with an average score of countries in the EU or OECD. The items are classified by whether they are put in a context and if they ask for school specific knowledge or if they could be solved with knowledge from sources outside school. A large proportion of the items in grade 4 is linked to a context and to students' everyday lives, which explains the good results for the younger students.  Few items in grade 8 are of interest for the students or linked to students' daily lives and on these items Swedish students often perform below average for the EU / OECD, which contributes to the less favorable outcome in grade 8. The weak development of knowledge between grades 4 and 8 that is indicated by TIMSS suggests that the formalized science classes in school do not reach the students and it points to the need for a clearer connection to students' interests and experiences.

Students’ interest in science and motivation to learn science are considered important for their future career choices as well as their understanding of the role of science in modern society. ROSES The Relevance Of Science Education - Second is a network of researchers in more than 35 countries which collect data from a common questionnaire about students’ interest, thrust and engagement in relation to Science and Technology. ROSES is open for new findings and new voices about young peoples’ attitudes and engagement in relation to Science and Technology.

The ROSES team are happy to present a fully piloted new ROSES questionnaire and invite researchers from more countries are to cooperate with us in the ROSES network.

The aim of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how changes in the learning environment can influence students’ motivation in school. The research was conducted in a Swedish primary school in which the learning environments for science have been developed during the last year and the teachers have had in-service training regarding science education. Data has been collected in the form of students’ questionnaires, which were answered by the students every month. Data has also been collected by student interviews in focus groups at the end of the year of the development work. Motivation has proven to be closely related to feelings of competence; autonomy and relatedness and students’ questionnaire as well as the semi-structured interviews included questions about feelings in relation to the school, to the new teaching and learning environment and to science and technology in general. Results presented here show that students like to be in School and appreciate science and technology. Younger students like science and technology compare to other subject to a greater degree than older students do. Students also reports that the usually are doing well in Science. Preliminary results from the interviews show that students express feelings of relatedness to their school. Students also expressed experiences of autonomy especially in relation to programming. Conclusions are that the programs seems to have contributed to students feeling of competence, autonomy and sense of belonging in school.