Fyra uppdrag om människokroppen för grundskolans senare år
Recent studies show that the knowledge in and understanding of science, technology andmathematics of Swedish junior high school and high school students is decreasing. As a resultof this the Swedish government has initialized several studies, research and reforms. One ofthe theories for teaching that today is seen as effective is the socio-cultural perspective and itsdescendants, including scientific inquiry. Using the pedagogy of the socio-cultural perspectivefour assignments regarding the human body was constructed for junior high school studentsattending summer research school in the summer of 2008, hosted by AstraZeneca. Theassignments follow a structure (goal of assignment, preparations, experiment and follow-up)inspired by the concept of NTA ? Naturvetenskap och Teknik för Alla (Science andTechnology for everyone). The assignments can be found (in Swedish) as an appendix to thispaper. The assignments were evaluated and assessed through the observations made by theteacher and two questionnaires separated by six months. Results showed that three of the fourassignments had fulfilled the aim of making the students interested and engaged in scientificquestions. The forth had only partially achieved this, mostly due to a silent, built-in structureexpecting to generate certain knowledge in the students. This contradicts the socio-culturalperspective where new knowledge should be derived from what students already know.Seeing as the socio-cultural perspective was effective when using the other three assignmentsthis study shows that assignments constructed with a socio-cultural perspective are usefulwhen teaching science in junior high school.Nyckelord