The Swedish Institute for Educational Research has granted funding to three projects at Karlstad University focusing on practice-oriented education research. The university also has a co-applicant involved in another project. The objective of the projects is improved teaching within the Swedish school system.
The researchers at Karlstad University who have been granted funding all have a particular interest in subject-specific education. The research focus is on what happens in the classroom and the interaction between teachers and pupils in the learning process. The researchers want to know more about how pupils can learn about different subjects in a more effective way, and to find answers, they work closely with both teachers and pupils.
The three research projects that have been granted funding include:
*Developing pupils’ understanding of political responsibility through news coverage in the subject of civics: a study of designing a didactic model
The project aims to create a didactic model to support civics teaching in relation to news and politics. The focus is on news coverage, which is a common activity in civics. News coverage consists of the teacher and the pupils engaging in various news followed by a discussion. The idea is for the didactic model to be a tool for teachers when planning news coverage as an element in their teaching, with the aim of helping pupils understand the political responsibility that may be behind the issues covered in the news.
– This knowledge is important to be able to act as an active citizen in a democratic society, says Martin Jakobsson, senior lecturer in social science didactics. News is an important channel to form an opinion about the political responsibility behind current issues of public interest. What personal responsibility does the individual have, and what responsibility does the public society have, for diverse issues such as gang crime and disruptive behaviour in classrooms? And how should responsibility be divided? Both gang crime and the school environment are examples of issues that frequently appear in the news and are well-suited for pupils to study from the perspective of political responsibility.
Martin Jakobsson is running the research project together with university colleague Roger Olsson, senior lecturer in civics, and in collaboration with teachers in lower secondary school. The project starts at the turn of the year 2024/2025 and is conducted within the Centre for Social Science Didactics (CSD).
*The use of history and progression in pupils' learning
The project is about the use of history, the latest addition to the history subject’s curriculum. The use of history broadens the understanding of history by providing pupils with analytical tools to interpret the world they encounter. Simply put, the use of history is about how historical references are used in public discussions to construct identities and influence opinion, for example, by mobilising or deterring.
– This is highly relevant and we recognise it from the current public debate, says Maria Johansson, adjunct teacher at Karlstad University and upper secondary school lecturer in history as well as a teacher at Globala gymnasiet in Stockholm. The integration of the use of history into the school curriculum has yet to find its proper place and format. History teachers report that it’s challenging to implement, and pupils often achieve only a superficial understanding, struggling to apply what they have learned to new situations. We have previously done an extensive pilot study where we tried working with research-based models around the use of history and we believe it has great potential. We therefore want to investigate how such models can be turned into powerful tools in teaching.
Maria Johansson will run the research project together with university colleague Kenneth Nordgren, professor of social science didactics, as well as teachers in years 4–6 and teachers in lower and upper secondary school to see how an understanding can be built and transferred between these three stages of the school system. The project starts in the spring 2025 and is conducted within the Centre for Social Science Didactics (CSD).
*Värmland (Re)imagined. Place-based literature and history education for a sustainable future
The project aims to develop a didactic model, using regional literature to increase pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the interaction between humans and places in terms of sustainability.
– Schools need to find new ways to approach environmental issues, says Sofia Wijkmark, professor of comparative literature. The humanities have a very important function in these contexts. At the same time, there is a lack of empirically based knowledge about the potential of fiction in teaching about place and sustainable development. We use the literature, places and history of Värmland as examples, and three schools in the region with varying industry structures and narrative traditions are part of the project.
Sofia Wijkmark is running the project together with university colleagues Christina Olin-Scheller, professor of literary studies education and educational work, and Martin Stolare, professor of history as well as upper secondary school teacher in Swedish and history. The project starts in the autumn 2025 and is conducted within Rose (Research on Subject-specific Education), a multidisciplinary research environment specialising in subject didactics.
Co-applicant involved in another research project
Elisabet Mellroth, senior lecturer in mathematics education at Karlstad University, is a co-applicant in another of the research projects that have been granted funding: Mathematical problems for enriched and differentiated teaching. Mid Sweden University is project lead. The project aims to clarify how mathematical problems can be designed to enhance the development of various mathematical abilities in high-achieving pupils.
– Through design research, we researchers will work together with mathematics teachers in lower secondary school in iterative cycles where mathematical tasks are created and tested with pupils, says Elisabet Mellroth. An expected outcome is the identification of specific characteristics of mathematical problems, connected to how this can enhance pupils’ opportunities to develop particular mathematical abilities. Our project adds specific subject didactic principles that contribute to the development and improvement of mathematics teaching, especially for high-achieving students.
The project starts in the second half of 2025.
More information
The Swedish Institute for Educational Research has awarded funding to eight practice-oriented research projects. Three of these belong to subject-specific education research at Karlstad University. The institute received 97 applications this year, and eight of them have now been granted a total of just over SEK 35 million over a three-year period.
What characterises research supported by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research is that it must be based on the challenges and needs that Swedish schools face in connection with teaching. Primarily, the research should provide insights into how teaching can be developed and improved.
Links to Swedish websites:
Finansierade forskningsprojekt 2024.
Skolforskningsinstitutets forskningsfinansiering.
