In this study, we provide insights about secondary school students’ conversation about products’ life cycles in relation to three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and ecological sustainable development but also what traces of view that appear in these conversations. Production and consumption are part of complex technological systems that affect nature and life on earth, and knowledge about these systems are required to achieve sustainable development. In technology education, students can have the opportunity to talk about products and their life cycles. Hence, this study aims to explore what emerges in students’ conversations about products’ life cycles in relation to sustainable development. Data collection was conducted in Sweden through seven semi-structured interviews, with in total 21 students participating in groups. All student responses have been analysed using thematic analysis to explore dimensions and views of sustainability. Results show that the students discuss with regard to all three dimensions of sustainable development. However, the phases of a product’s life cycle occur to varying extent within the different sustainability dimensions. Additionally, the students also connect dimensions with both harmonious and contrasting perspectives but also talk about the dimensions isolated. When participating students discuss, traces of mainly anthropocentric and technocentric view emerge. This has implications for technology education, where for example deliberative conversations can be used for engaging students in sustainable development.

 In literature, teaching for an authentic learning experience is seen as rewarding and interesting, promoting better understanding of for example sustainable development and fostering students’ independence. Some upper secondary schools emphasise authentic teaching and learning on their websites, showcasing how students engage in authentic tasks. We are interested in examining how authentic teaching is implemented in practice and what enables it. Therefore, we investigate a specific practice where authentic teaching occurs, and we follow students and teachers. We want to understand what may be required to implement authentic teaching. The research questions were: What characterises authentic teaching and learning when students on the technology program work on their design projects and individual pieces of work? How is authentic teaching and learning facilitated? Students in Year 3 of the technology program engaged in a project where they studied residential apartments’ resource use and climate impact using sensors. They visited the energy research team, learned about the technology and data collection, and completed own upper secondary school projects related to sensor technology, programming, and data analysis. These were meant to be characterised by authenticity according to the school’s procedures. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and analysis of video material, sound recordings, and field notes. The analysis revealed that the teaching exhibited characteristics of authentic learning, facilitated by early exposure, teacher empowerment, and strong support from management and resources. The results thus show both the characteristics of how the teaching is organized and how teachers handle students’ learning, as well as the organizational factors at the specific school that enable it.

This paper presents an overview of a large scale research project involving teachers and students across eight European countries and involving eleven partner organizations. The project was focused on helping equip students with key transversal skills and competencies. We used integrated STEM as a site to ground the development of these interdisciplinary ways of thinking, being and doing and digital tools as ways to help teachers deepen and enhance their formative assessment practice. We present here an outline of research conducted to develop a framework for conceptualising integrated STEM skills and their assessment via digital tools. This framework identified a number of core competencies and ways to both design and assess for these skills using digital tools. We also give an account of subsequent professional development with teachers and the piloting of developed teaching methods in schools. The next phase was the conduct of evaluations of our work according to a research methodology which aimed to identify best practices for scalable teaching. Some emergent findings and lessons learned along the way from two countries, Ireland and Sweden, are presented as examples here as we complete the analysis stage of the project. This paper aims to contribute to the conversations around interdisciplinary and integrated STEM skills, how they can be digitally assessed and to give an account of the workings of the associated large scale research project.

Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATS STEM) is an innovative policy experimentationproject, which aims to enhance digital assessment of students’ transversal skills in STEM. ThisErasmus+ project is situated in primary and secondary schools across eight European countries,involving 12 partners on different levels of educational system.Teachers and researchers havecollaboratively developed and piloted several integrated STEM learning activities all focusing onUNsustainable development goals. Embedding formative digital assessment of STEM learners’work has been a central component. This paper provides an overview of the project and shares someresults from Sweden and Ireland. We provide examples from practice that help illustrate thecomplexitywith a particular focus on technology education.

This paper explores digital peer assessment in an interdisciplinary project Open Spaces, involving peer feedback with comparative judgement of students’ responses to an authentic real-life problem. Reporting from a case study where comparative judgement facilitated peer feedback undertaken an open-ended design scenario in primary STEM education. Students redesigned an open public space from a UN Agenda2030 perspective, including both theoretical and practical work. Primary students worked in groups of three or four and then they individually peer-assessed each other’s work via Adaptive Comparative Judgement (ACJ). Research design facilitating for several schools to be involved in peer-feedback activities, Hence, allowing students to view and provide feedback to a potentially larger and more varied set of examples, and through that learn from more than traditional face-to-face peer feedback through compiled feedback comments and self-reflection. Comparative judgement may facilitate for students to become owners of their own learning and learning resources to their peers -as both providers and receivers of feedback beyond traditional means. Confirming previous results on comparative judgement as particularly suitable for assessing open ended design scenarios, adding to the conversation on peer assessment. Hence, there is a great potential of embedding comparative judgement in STEM education to support learning, facilitating the double directed feedback process identified here but needs to be investigated further. 

Hybridundervisning, eller blandat synkroniserat lärande (1), bedrivs på KTH av många högskolelärare och på många olika sätt. Under höstterminen 2021 genomförde KTH en pilotstudie med arbetsnamnet ”Hybridpiloterna” och som hade fokus på undervisning i KTH:s nyutrustade hybridsalar. I Hybridpiloterna deltog allmänt intresserade lärare och lärare som genomförde hybridundervisning i de aktuella salarna samt ett stödteam bestående av pedagoger, IT-tekniker, medarbetare från fastighetsavdelningen m fl. Begreppet hybridundervisning i detta sammanhang avser synkron undervisning där läraren i regel, men inte nödvändigtvis, befinner sig i undervisningssalen och genomför sin undervisning därifrån medan studenterna antingen deltar i undervisningen i salen eller via zoomlänk.

Metod och genomförandeFokus för pilotstudien var olika aspekter av undervisningen i hybridsalarna, vilket dels innebar tekniska frågeställningar, dels pedagogiska aspekter av hybridundervisningen med såväl lärares som studenters syn på denna. Här kommer vi att fokusera på de pedagogiska aspekterna av hybridundervisningen och den hybridundervisning som genomfördes i någon av de nyutrustade hybridsalarna. Samtidigt bör det nämnas att allt sedan pandemins intåg har många lärare på KTH genomfört olika former av zoom- och hybridundervisning på eget initiativ. Dessa lärares erfarenheter har inkluderats i pilotstudien i de fall då dessa lärare även har engagerat sig i Hybridpiloterna.

För att fånga upp lärares behov i samband med och synpunkter på undervisningen i hybridsalarna har regelbundna möten arrangerats för avstämning och möjlighet att lämna önskemål och synpunkter på hybridundervisningen. Lärarenkäter har genomförts efter avslutade kurser och några lärare har intervjuats. Enkäter har berört tekniska frågor, pedagogiska frågor av olika slag såsom läraktiviteter, pedagogiska utmaningar och studentdeltagande. Studenternas upplevelse av hybridundervisningen har fångats upp i samband med kursutvärderingar och genom intervjuer. 

Ett större fokus har riktats mot kursen “Ungdomars utveckling och lärande”, som ges för programmet “Civilingenjör och lärare” i åk 2 har undervisningen bedrivits i seminarieform i hybridsal. Studenterna har i denna kurs även fyllt i enkäter, sk. exit tickets efter varje semniarium. Några av studenterna har intervjuats och filmats (2, 3).

ResultatI presentationen kommer vi att ge en inblick i såväl lärares som studenters upplevelse av hybridundervisningen, dess fördelar och dess nackdelar liksom de utmaningar som både lärare och studenter ser när det gäller de pedagogiska aspekterna av hybridundervisningen.