Recontextualising Cellular Respiration : Designing an learning-and-teaching strategy for developing biological concepts as flexible tools

Abstract

This thesis reports on a design-research study on recontextualising biological concepts. The term ‘recontextualising’ is based in socio-cultural activity theory and was proposed by van Oers in 1998 as a change of perspective on the idea of knowledge-transfer. Within this view concepts are tools to be used in activities or contexts. A possible explanation for disappointing results from previous transfer-research is the idea that concepts are used – and described – differently by participants in different contexts. This means that knowledge cannot be easily transferred from one context to another, but needs to be re-evaluated and adapted for each new use in another context. This process of re-evaluation and adjustment of a concept to fit context-specific needs is termed ‘recontextualising’. A learning-and-teaching (LT) strategy was designed for upper general secondary education. The aim of the LT-strategy was to allow students to develop the concept “cellular respiration” in such a way, that they would be able to recontextualise the concept for use in other contexts. The initial (α) design of the LT-strategy was based on design criteria associated with recontextualising biological concepts, and with learning and teaching the concept “cellular respiration”. These criteria were based on available literature and two empirical case studies of context-based lesson modules for upper general secondary education. After the explorative research-phase, an LT-strategy was designed in a cyclic design-research process that incorporated two cycles. In each design-research cycle, the LT-strategy was tested in two different classes for upper general secondary education in different schools. Results from enactment of the LT-strategy in the first design-research cycle prompted a redesign of the LT-strategy, which led to the β-version of the LT-strategy. During the β-cycle, learning effects of the LT-strategy for students were assessed using a combination of classroom-observations and audio-recordings, students’ written answers from LT-activities, pre- and post-test concept-mapping assignments, and a final ‘recontextualising-test’. The recontextualising-test consisted of a number context-based question items set in biological contexts that students had not encountered during the lesson module. An analysis instrument for determining how students used and explicated cellular respiration in their concept-maps and the recontextualising-test was developed. The qualitative analysis of data from enactment of LT-strategy shows that it allows students to develop the concept of cellular respiration in a step-wise way, and compare its use in different contexts. The results from the recontextualising-test show that students’ use and explication of cellular respiration differs between contexts, with differing degrees of success. These differences can be partially explained by students’ available knowledge of cellular respiration by the end of the lesson module. Other promising explanations can be found by comparing the use of the concept in each context. The findings indicate promising, new routes for explaining differences between students’ use of cellular respiration in different contexts. The findings from this study provide a more detailed perspective on the transfer and recontextualising of biological concepts. Additional research is needed for further validation of the proposed explanations.