Browsing by Author "Asp, Lena"

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Digital litteracitet i svensk grundskola Digital litteracitet enligt svenska styrdokument och lärares praktik
(2016-10-05) Asp, Lena; Institutionen för tillämpad informationsteknologi; Department of Applied Information Technology
The purpose of this study has been to look into how the Swedish National Agency for Education define digital literacy and corresponding concepts in the Swedish curriculum for primary and secondary education from 1980 to 2011 and to discover how compulsory school teachers fulfil the mission. This is done by posing the following questions: How is digital literacy defined in Lgr11 and previous curriculums? How is this task defined in the curriculums of the compulsory school? How do teachers working in primary and secondary education fulfil the task of digital literacy? To achieve a comprehensive picture of how digital literacy has been described since the computer made the first appearance in schools, an analysis of curriculums from 1980 until 2011 was carried out. This was done by means of a systematic content analysis concerning how digital literacy was described and a systematic quantitative analysis of how often concepts regarding digital literacy were mentioned. To get an insight into how teachers carried out the task, semi-structured interviews were carried out with six teachers working in compulsory education teaching subject related to digital literacy in the curriculum. Furthermore, an interview with a counsellor for educational affairs was carried out to learn how the Swedish National Agency for Education reflected upon the notion of digital literacy. The result shows that the National Agency for Education has been and continue to be careful and vague when it comes to phrasing the task of digital literacy in the curriculum. In the curriculum from 1980, computer science was introduced and extra lessons were allotted. But this disappeared in the following curriculum from 1994. In 2000 the curriculum emphasized the possibilities with information technology without the task being defined any further. The latest curriculum from 2011 has a less vague assignment regarding digital literacy but the Swedish government has nevertheless given the National Agency for Education a commission to add programming and digital literacy into the curriculum. The commission will be finished by the end of July 2016. Internationally, the concept “digital literacy” is used, this concept has a wider definition compared to the concept “digital competence” chosen by the Swedish National Agency for Education. Moreover, The National Agency for Education has chosen not to use the concept of media literacy in the curriculum. The interviews show that the informants have good knowledge of the task given to them by the curriculum regarding digital literacy but lack of resources as well as appropriate digital equipment and infrastructure stand in the way of the work. The informants call for a more specific curriculum, commentaries and support for assessment from the National Agency for Education to ensure equal education within Sweden. The lack of adequate in-service training regarding digital literacy was mentioned as well as the request of subject-specific in-service training when it comes to digital literacy.
Does teaching quality matter for student learning outcomes?
(2025-05-23) Asp, Lena
High-quality teaching is assumed to provide students with learning opportunities that may mitigate educational inequities and narrow achievement gaps. This thesis aims to examine aspects of student-perceived teaching quality in relation to student learning outcomes. Measuring the multidimensional construct of teaching quality is a conceptual and methodological challenge. Empirical results are inconsistent, while some studies report significant and positive relations between teaching quality and student learning outcomes, others do not. The thesis is a secondary analysis of data from the international large-scale assessment Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, Grade 4. Teaching quality is conceptualised using student-perceived teaching quality in the mathematics classroom. Aggregating students’ perceptions of the teacher’s actions in the classroom provides a valid and reliable measure of teaching quality. The hierarchical structure of TIMSS facilitates investigations at the classroom level. Comprising three empirical studies and an integrative essay, the thesis examines teaching quality from different angles. Study I examines the construct validity of the mixed-worded scale of mathematics confidence in TIMSS. The validated construct serves as a mediator when analysing the relations between teaching quality and mathematics achievement. Study II examines the relationships between student-perceived teaching quality (classroom management and instructional clarity) and mathematics confidence and mathematics achievement at student and classroom levels. Study III widens the scope to include four Nordic countries. The Nordic context is suitable for analysis as these countries share educational values such as the compensatory task of the educational system, the Nordic Model. Findings revealed evidence of method effect from negatively worded items. Teaching quality aspects were significantly related to mathematics confidence and achievement. The relationship between instructional clarity and mathematics confidence was substantial at the student and classroom levels. Classroom management related significantly to mathematics achievement at the student level in the four Nordic countries and also at the classroom level in Denmark and Sweden. Results showed classroom-level composition effects across the Nordic countries.
ON THE COMPARABILITY OF PAPER-BASED AND COMPUTER-BASED ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TESTS A Study of High-Stakes English Reading Assessment
(2018-10-26) Asp, Lena; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande
The Swedish National Test will be digitalised by 2022 according to the government bill “Prop.2017/18:14. This study addressed the transition of high-stakes English reading comprehension tests from paper-based to computer-based test and examined whether a new delivery mode from an assessment and a measurement point of view can be regarded as equivalent to the traditional paper-based test. Theory: The study was based on Classical test theory and Language testing theory. Method: The empirical basis for this quasi-experimental study consisted of data from large-scale pilot studies carried out for future English high-stakes tests for year 9 in Swedish compulsory school. The database included possibilities to address the question of comparability in a quasi-experimental study where data from schools which were administered the test on computers can be compared to schools which were administered the test on paper. A total of 1275 English students in year 9 participated in the study. As the groups participating were not necessarily equal and comparable before this study, variables to control for some of the initial differences were added. An independent T-test indicated that the groups were comparable in terms of grade in English. Results: On test items requiring constructed responses students in the computer-based test group gave on average lengthier responses compared to the paper-based group, but the difference did not result in better performance with higher scores. Regression analyses revealed that the delivery mode had no general effect on the scores. Results indicated however that boys’ scores increased when the test was computer-based, more so on the shorter reading comprehension tasks than the extensive reading comprehension task. Findings in this study are discussed in connection to future research.