Lärare, programmerade för förändring? En kvalitativ studie över lärares förhållningssätt till styrdokumentens skrivningar gällande programmering

Abstract

During the last three years programming has been a part of the school curricula in Sweden and should be seen as a compulsory element in mathematics education. The following study aims to show how the implementation of programming has transformed the subject of mathematics in school settings, teachers' experiences and to explore the possibilities that programming provides to traditional mathematics. Through interviews with four working math teachers in secondary schools, an insight is given on how education in mathematics is conducted and combined with programming elements. The study is theoretically embedded in Chevallards framework about transposition of knowledge, which can be described as a theory that shows how knowledge is transposed to fit different stages in the educational system. By interviewing teachers, it is possible to answer three questions that relates to different stages in the didactical transposition process. They are 1) How do teachers interpret the national curriculum regarding programming in mathematics? 2) How do teachers conduct education with programming in mathematical problem solving? and 3) What effects can teachers see that programming has on the pupils learning? The second question will be answered by examining educational materials that the teachers have used in their education. The material is analyzed with an instrumental approach to better understand how pupils can develop mathematical knowledge by using a technical object. The qualitative data from the interviews has been analyzed with a thematic method. By doing so the study can conclude that the teachers all perceive the curricula differently and therefore the education in programming may vary and sometimes even be deprioritized, since it is not a skill that pupils are being graded on. Programming can successfully be taught as a mathematical tool, but this demands commitment from teachers who often lack didactical knowledge in programming. This is possibly the reason why the teachers in the study could not see if their pupils developed any new skills by using programming.