This paper examines Swedish secondary students’ interest in science and technology from a gender perspectivein a comparative research design using quantitative data collected 2003 and 2020. National datahas been collected from 610 15-year-old students in 2020 as part of a large-scale comparative researchproject, the Relevance of Science Education - Second (ROSES) and compared with data from the Relevanceof Science Education (ROSE) study from 2003. The results empirically update the research field and showa reoccurring interest pattern with minor changes. Content related to space and unexplained phenomenaare still ranked as interesting to learn about. Girls are interested in health issues and the human body,space, dreams and the human soul. Boys favour items about space, inventions and discoveries togetherwith ABC weapons. Minor developments are that interest in learning about diets and exercise as wellas technology has declined. The least interesting things to learn are almost the same as in 2003, with several topics connected to the national science curriculum. The character of students’ interest in S&T isframed and discussed using the theoretical approach of science identity. The stable character with minorchanges is discussed as reoccurring science identities interpreted by the differentiation hypothesis of the“person-object theory of interest”. Gender differences are interpreted as collective identities shown to be‘domain specific’ not ‘subject specific’ and the content level of analysis provide specificity to ‘interest patterns’which has not been well described earlier in the research literature. Research consequences of thisconceptualization and implications for school practice is critically discussed. A research implication fromthis conceptualization is the importance for future studies to investigate varieties of collective identities.

Kunskap är ett svårfångat begrepp, som har sysselsatt mänskligheten i flera tusen år. Även om det är svårt att avgränsa och definiera är det centralt för att beskriva skola och utbildning. I grund- och gymnasieskolans uppdrag ingår exempelvis kunskapskrav, som eleverna kan uppnå på olika nivåer, och ett av lärarens uppdrag handlar om att mäta i vilken utsträckning detta åstadkoms. För att elever ska kunna röra sig mot utbildningens målsättningar behövs miljöer, platser för lärandet, som frambringar ändamålsenliga lärandeprocesser. Det här kapitlet argumenterar i korthet för att detta innebär och kräver lärande i och utanför skolan utifrån förståelse för kunskapsbegreppets hantering i utbildningens uppdrag. Att ta kunskapsbegreppet på allvar handlar om att lärandet i skolan behöver organiseras så att aktiviteter i klassrum får en förbindelse till natur och samhälle i bred mening. Förbindelserna är väsentliga, men hur kan de åstadkommas?

Historically students’ interest in science and technology (S&T) has been researched mostly from a gender and age perspective and on a subject level of analysis. The work presented in this study make use of Swedish quantitative data from a large scale international and comparative research project called “The Relevance of Science Education Second (ROSES) study” to investigate secondary students’ interest in S&T on a content level of analysis. National data were collected by a questionnaire in 2020. By making use of the theoretical development pointed out in the literature the “person-object theory of interest” is used to frame and interpret the results. In this perspective interest is expected to differentiate as interest patterns. Seven such patterns were identified by an explorative factor analysis which points out a direction for future work to investigate students’ interest in S&T with a deepened understanding of how learning S&T is influenced by identity formation. 

The research field of students’ interest in science and technology (S&T) has a belonging to the Nordic countries by for example the international large scale comparative relevance of science education (ROSE) study realized in the beginning of the 21st century. ROSE has been developed to the relevance of science education second (ROSES) study. This paper report ongoing ROSES work in Sweden. National data from secondary students were collected in 2020 by a questionnaire. In this paper results from the “What I want to learn about” category is presented. There is a message in the literature to connect the research field more strongly to identity which is done in this paper by factor analysis with a varimax rotation. Identified factors are related to the concept of collective identities. Seven factors,which explain 50% of the variance in the material, are presented with belonging content items and names. The results are also compared with earlier studies. The result shows for example that environment and sustainability has become more important and technology less. This alteration is pointed out and discussed connected to the theoretical development of collective identities to understand internal and external dimensions of identity which influence students’ willingness to engage in S&T education. 

There is a substantial literature in science education research showing that many students experience a lack of relevance in science education. For this reason, science teachers’ selection ofcontent and the way content is treated when exposed to students for learning purposes is animportant part of the problem. In this connection, research show that science teachers’ valuesstrongly infuence several aspects of teaching and learning science. Therefore, science teachers’values are important to investigate, to be empirically informed and to be able to develop scienceeducation. Accordingly, there is an increased volume of research studies about teachers’ values in science education and their efects. The study presented here is part of a larger nationalexploration of biotechnology education in upper secondary schools in Sweden and contributesby showing variation in teachers’ values and relations with practice. Theoretically, the studyis rooted in a philosophy of science recognizing the potential importance of teachers’ nonepistemic values. Empirically, it is based on surveyed upper secondary school biology teachers’ views of the importance of including value-laden topics in their science teaching. Theirresponses were analyzed by latent profle analysis and non-parametric testing, to assess the variation in their views and explore associations with several explanatory factors. The results showthat the surveyed teachers could be divided into two distinct groups: one favoring inclusion ofvalue-laden topics in their teaching and another (smaller group) opposed to it. The result alsoshows a variation in teachers’ selection of topics to teach and their teaching approach, as theformer group were more inclined than the latter to include value-laden aspects in their teaching which contributes to the research literature. Furthermore, experienced science teachers wereoverrepresented in the group holding more negative views, a result not reported elsewhere inthe research literature. The importance of the results is discussed in relation with the theoreticalframing of non-epistemic values and points out the importance to further investigate underlyingcauses to science teachers’ expressed values and ways that they might vary temporally togetherwith ways that they cluster, as they are shown to be grouped. The result is also discussed in relation with practice in being able to make use of the evidence to develop science education.

The Relevance of Science Education - Second (ROSES) is an international comparative research projectgathering empirical evidence on factors with importance for learning science and technology from astudent point of view. (Jidesjö, Oskarsson, & Westman, 2020; Oskarsson, Westman, & Jidesjö, 2019).ROSES uses a common questionnaire to students containing categories such as S&T content in andoutside school, future job, environmental challenges, social media, and informal S&T experiences.We will present comparisons between students opinion and willingness to engage in Science from awide range of countries. We will further present results from Sweden where a group of studentsbelieves it is important to learn about sustainability and that they can influence what happens. This alsoindicate some agency where students are willing to act as well as willing to sacrifice. Group of studentsin our material shows sign of Science Capital, a feeling of science being for them, (Archer et al 2015).

This paper presents how Swedish secondary student’s science capital is coupled with science identity. The data is part of a large international research study called The Relevance of Science Education Second (ROSES) which aims to explore students’ interest in, and motivation to learn, science and technology. The result identifies five science identities having different correlations with five factors of science capital. The study if framed by the theoretical development of an extended bourdieusian notion of capital together with science identity. 

Science Identity among Swedish secondary students Short Abstract – Paper 5 This paper presents Swedish data from a larger project, Relevance of Science Education – Second (ROSES). It is an international project which aims to explore students’ interest in, and motivation to learn, science and technology. The factor analyses show a group of students that believe it is important to learn about sustainability and that they can influence what happens. This also indicate some agency where students are willing to act as well as willing to sacrifice. Group of students show signs of science capital, a feeling of science being for them (Archer et al., 2010, 2015). The results will be further investigated and connected with theoretical developments. Especially variations between schools have been identified as an aspect of science capital which will be deepened in continued work.

This paper presents an update of student’s interest in learning science and technology. The Swedish empirical evidence has been collected in a large scale explorative international research study called the Relevance of Science Education Second (ROSES). The results show that students are interested in learning about for example space and things that scientists cannot explain. Girls are more interested in the human body, dreams and the human soul while boys favour items about weapons and explosions. Everyday science and technology do not seem to be engaging. Several items students show low interest in are typically part of a secondary school science curriculum. The results are discussed from trends and developments.