Syftet med studien är att klargöra hur lärares professionella utveckling stimuleras då de planerar och genomför en Learning Study (LS) kombinerad med verktyget Content Representation (CoRe). Data består av sex erfarna lärares inspelade diskussioner under åtta träffar då de planerar och analyserar en LS bestående av två lektioner i årkurs 6 inom kemi, samt tre CoRe som lärarna skriver. I början av studien talar lärarna mest om undervisning som att fakta ska förmedlas till eleverna. När de sedan planerar första lektionen övergår deras diskussioner till hur de kan stimulera eleverna till diskussion och reflektion. Lärarna planerar både lektion 1 och 2 utifrån ett variationsteoretiskt perspektiv, men lektion 1 genomförs inte i enlighet med vad de planerat. Det är först i lektion 2 som läraren behåller fokus på lärandeobjektet och dess kritiska aspekter. Resultatet av studien visar även att en Learning Study kombinerad med CoRe stimulerar lärares professionella utveckling och ämnesdidaktiska kompetens i form av lärande nätverk enligt Clarkes och Hollingsworths (2002) modell ”interconnected model of professional growth”.

Visual representations are essential for communication and meaning-making in chemistry, and thus the representational practices play a vital role in the teaching and learning of chemistry. One powerful contemporary model of classroom learning, the variation theory of learning, posits that the way an object of learning gets handled is another vital feature for the establishment of successful teaching practices. An important part of what lies behind the constitution of teaching practices is visual representational reasoning that is a function of disciplinary relevant aspects and educationally critical features of the aspects embedded in the intended object of learning. Little is known about teachers reasoning about such visual representational practices. This work addresses this shortfall in thearea of chemical bonding. The data consist of semistructured interviews with 12 chemistry teachers in the Swedish upper secondary school system. The methodology uses a thematic analytic approach to capture and characterize the teachers’ reasoning about their classroom visual representational practices. The results suggest that the teachers’ reasoning tended to be limited. However, the teachers’ pay attention to the meaning-making potential of the approaches for showing representations. The analysis presents these visualization approaches and the discussion makes theoretical links to the variation theory of learning.

The aim of the present study was to explore teachers’ professional development when using the tool Content Representations (CoRe) to plan a learning study in chemistry, which they also implemented and analysed. The work of six experienced science teachers, all teaching at the 6th to 9th year (age 13 to 16 years), was followed at eight group meetings during one year. The teachers’ discussions during the group meetings were audio and/or video recorded. Recordings were transcribed and a thematic analysis was performed. The results show that two main approaches to teaching emerged in the teachers’ discussions, a pragmatic and a reflective approach, respectively. During the investigation period, the focus of the teachers’ discussions changed, from a predominantly pragmatic approach to a predominantly reflective approach. The results indicate that the work with CoRe and learning study stimulated the teachers to express and discuss their knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards teaching, i.e. promoted their professional development.

Genetics and organic chemistry are areas of science that students regard as difficult to learn. Part ofthis difficulty is derived from the disciplines having representations as part of their discourses. In orderto optimally support students’ meaning-making, teachers need to use representations to structure themeaning-making experience in thoughtful ways that consider the variation in students’ prior knowledge.Using a focus group setting, we explored 43 university students’ reasoning on representationsin introductory chemistry and genetics courses. Our analysis of eight focus group discussions revealedhow students can construct somewhat bewildered relations with disciplinary-specific representations.The students stated that they preferred familiar representations, but without asserting themeaning-making affordances of those representations. Also, the students were highly aware of the affordances of certain representations, but nonetheless chose not to use those representations in theirproblem solving. We suggest that an effective representation is one that, to some degree, is familiarto the students, but at the same time is challenging and not too closely related to “the usual one”.The focus group discussions led the students to become more aware of their own and others ways ofinterpreting different representations. Furthermore, feedback from the students’ focus group discussionsenhanced the teachers’ awareness of the students’ prior knowledge and limitations in students’representational literacy. Consequently, we posit that a focus group setting can be used in a universitycontext to promote both student meaning-making and teacher professional development in a fruitfulway.

The two-nucleotide deletion recently detected in the mannose-binding lectin 2 gene in purebred and crossbred domestic pigs was not found among 68 wild boars representing 4 populations from Europe and Asia. This suggests that the deletion is a result of breeding and/or genetic drift/bottle necks.

Genetics and organic chemistry are areas of science that are regarded as difficult. Part of thisdifficulty is derived from them having representations as part of their disciplinary discourses. Inorder to optimally support students’ learning and meaning-making, teachers need to thoughtfullyuse representations to structure the learning experience in ways that open up the variation instudents’ prior knowledge. For our study, university students’ reasoning on representations ingenetics and organic chemistry was investigated using a focus group approach (8 groups, 4-8students/group). This revealed how students can construct somewhat bewildered relations withdisciplinary-specific representations. For instance, they stated that they preferred familiarrepresentations, but without asserting the meaning-making affordances of those representations.Also, the students were highly aware of the affordances in certain representations, but nonethelesschose not to use those representations in their problem solving. The focus group discussions ledthe students to become more aware of their own and others meaning-making. At the same time,feedback from the students’ focus group discussions enhanced the teacher’s awareness of thestudents’ prior knowledge and meaning-making. Consequently, we posit that a design focus groupmethodology can be fruitfully used both to promote teacher development and progression, andstudent learning.

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) G949T in the mannose-binding lectin (MBL) 1 gene has been associated with low MBL-A concentration in serum and detected at different frequencies in various European pig populations. However, the origin of this SNP is not known. Part of the MBL1 gene was sequenced in 12 wild boar/Large White crossbred pigs from the second backcross (BC ₂) generation in a family material originating from two wild boar x Large White intercrosses. Also, MBL-A serum concentration was measured in the entire BC ₂ generation (n = 45). Furthermore, the genotypes of 68 wild boars from Sweden, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Japan were determined in regard to five previously described SNPs in MBL1. The T allele of G949T was present among the BC ₂ animals. MBL-A serum concentration in the BC ₂ animals showed a bimodal distribution, with one-third of the animals at levels between 0.7 and 1.6 μg mL⁻¹ and the remaining pigs at levels around 13 μg mL⁻¹. There was a co-variation between the presence of the T allele and low MBL-A concentration in serum. The genotyping of the wild boars revealed differences between populations. The T allele of G949T was not detected in the Austrian and Japanese samples and is thus unlikely to be an original feature of wild boars. In contrast, it was present at high frequency (0.35) among the Swedish wild boars, probably representing a founder effect. Five MBL1 haplotypes were resolved. Only two of these were present among the Japanese wild boars compared to four in each of the European populations. This difference may reflect differences in selection pressure and population history.