K.T. Boersma

• PhD
• Retired at Utrecht University

Systems thinking has become synonymous to developing coherent understanding of complex biological processes and phenomena from the molecular level to the level of ecosystems. The importance of systems and systems models in science education has been widely recognized, as illustrated by its definition as crosscutting concept by the Next Generation S...

The finding that biodiversity is a concept with different context-specific meanings has implications for its conceptual development when students are required to apply it in a diversity of contexts. An approach that may overcome these implications is that students learn to recontextualise one meaning to another. Since no empirical studies were avai...

In many science education practices, students are expected to develop an understanding of scientific knowledge without being allowed a view of the practices and cultures that have developed and use this knowledge. Therefore, students should be allowed to develop scientific concepts in relation to the contexts in which those concepts are used. Since...

Since concepts may have different meanings in different contexts, students have to learn to recontextualise them, i.e. to adapt their meanings to a new context. It is unclear, however, what characteristics a learning and teaching strategy for recontextualising should have. The study aims to develop such a learning and teaching strategy for cellular...

In secondary science education, the learning and teaching of coherent conceptual understanding are often problematic. Context-based education has been proposed as a partial solution to this problem. This study aims to gain insight into the development of conceptual coherence and how context-embedded learning-teaching activities (LT) can promote thi...

Context-based education, in which students deal with biological concepts in a meaningful way, is showing promise in promoting the development of students’ conceptual coherence. However, literature gives little guidance about how this kind of education should be designed. Therefore, our study aims at designing and evaluating the practicability of a...

In current biology and chemistry secondary school practice, coherence between the subjects chemistry and biology is underexposed or even ignored. This is incongruent with the current scientific practice, in which the emphasis is shifting towards inter- and multidisciplinarity. These problems have been addressed by the development of a curriculum un...

For biological researchers, systems thinking is a basic conceptual framework, and many educationalists consider systems thinking as a metacognitive skill that enables students to understand and cope with the new scientific advancements that reach our society. With this in mind, we investigated the implementation of systems thinking in upper seconda...

In secondary education it is problematic for many students to develop coherence between domain-specific concepts. The aim of this research project is to gain insight into the way conceptual coherence can be fostered in education. For this reason we describe a case study in which a context-based biology lesson series on energy transformations in rel...

The development of conceptual coherence within concept-context education In secondary education it is problematic for many students to develop coherence between domain-specific concepts. The aim of this research project is to gain insight into the way conceptual coherence can be fostered in education. For this reason we describe a case study in whi...

The aim of the study is the development of an adequate learning and teaching (LT-) strategy for behavioural biology that increases students’ conceptual development of the subject behaviour. The study is one of a number of design studies conducted in the last decade that contributes to a preliminary design theory for context-based biology education....

Systems thinking in biology education is an up and coming research topic, as yet with contrasting feasibility claims. In biology education systems thinking can be understood as thinking backward and forward between concrete biological objects and processes and systems models representing systems theoretical characteristics. Some studies claim that...

While learning and teaching difficulties in genetics have been abundantly explored and described, there has been less focus on the development and field-testing of strategies to address them. To inform the design of such a strategy a review study, focus group interviews with teachers, a case study of a traditional series of genetics lessons, studen...

This study examined what worldviews are present among Dutch students and teachers and how the students cope with scientific knowledge acquired in the biology classroom. Furthermore, we investigated what learning and teaching strategies teachers adopt when they teach about evolution and worldviews. For this survey, 10 schools for higher general seco...

Perspectives are domain-specific strategies employed by experts in a specific field to formulate and investigate questions. Such strategies may therefore serve as good models for acquiring knowledge. Based on this premise, we developed the perspective of form and function, as used by both biologists and technical designers, into a tool for construc...

Perspectives are domain-specific strategies employed by experts in a specific field to formulate and investigate questions. Such strategies may therefore serve as good models for acquiring knowledge. Based on this premise, we developed the perspective of form and function, as used by both biologists and technical designers, into a tool for construc...

This article reports on educational design research concerning a learning and teaching strategy for cell biology in upper-secondary education, introducing systems modelling as a key competence. The strategy consists of four modelling phases in which students subsequently develop models of free-living cells, a general 2-D model of cells, a 3-D model...

This paper reports about the development of a learning and teaching strategy according to the concept-activity-context approach that contributes to students’ systems thinking and modelling skills, and aims at the development of a dynamic conception of ‘ecosystem’ in upper secondary education. In this approach a context is defined as a social practi...

This paper is a report on educational design research concerning learning and teaching contemporary ecology. To be able to understand ecosystem behaviour as derived from a complex and dynamic view, learning and teaching systems thinking and modelling skills is essential. To accomplish context-based ecology education, a cultural-historical approach...

Although many research studies report students’ Lamarckian misconceptions, only a few studies present learning and teaching strategies that focus on the successful development of the concept of natural selection. The learning and teaching strategy for upper secondary students (aged 15–16) presented in this study conducted in The Netherlands is base...

The integration of science and technology education has been a topic of worldwide debate. However, the focus of the debate has been too much on the degree of integration of subjects at the expense of such important but related issues as the nature of the constituting disciplines, educational levels (state, school, classroom), and the objects of int...

The integration of science and technology education has been a topic of worldwide debate. However, the focus of the debate has been too much on the degree of integration of subjects at the expense of such important but related issues as the nature of the constituting disciplines, educational levels (state, school, classroom), and the objects of int...

Reflection is an important aspect of learning in groups. In collective moments of reflection, learners can share and compare their ideas with others, and by doing so can reach an articulated and personal understanding of a learning task and domain. In the research presented here, e-mail is examined as a means for reflection in the context of group...

This paper reports on a study of email use in elementary school. An analytic model consisting of a contextual, rhetorical and semantic dimension is proposed as a means to measure interactional coherence. In describing this CRS-model special attention is given to the dialogue types distinguished by Burbules (1993) [Dialogue in teaching: Theory and p...

In August 2003 over 400 researchers in the field of science education from all over the world met at the 4th ESERA conference in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands. During the conference 300 papers about actual issues in the field, such as the learning of scientific concepts and skills, scientific literacy, informal science learning, science teacher...

From international comparative studies (TIMSS, PISA) it appears that students in lower secondary education in the Netherlands perform relatively well in mathematics and science compared to their peers from other participating countries. Policy-makers, especially, are eager to bring these positive outcomes into the limelight. However, one may wonder...

Email was embedded in a project in design and technology education in elementary school. During four lessons children worked in groups on building a flying object. These groups communicated through email with groups of children from another school. The analyses of the emails, as viewed from distributed cognition theory, focus on the exchange patter...

In the field of science education, many people experience a gap between theory and practice, or, in more specific words, a gap between subject specific educational research and classroom teaching. Several interesting aspects of this gap are presented in this book. The main topics are : (i) Relation between the research problem and educational pract...

In the field of science education, many people experience a gap between theory and practice, or, in more specific words, a gap between subject specific educational research and classroom teaching. Several interesting aspects of this gap are presented in this book. The main topics are : (i) Relation between the research problem and educational pract...

Explores the significance of concept mapping for education and curriculum development. Discusses two main streams in curriculum paradigms and important processes, and the functions which concept mapping can have in education and curriculum development. Examines why students in educational institutions don't yet make systematic use of concept maps,...

This article reports on educational design research concerning a learning and teaching strategy for cell biology in upper-secondary education introducing systems modelling as a key competence. The strategy consists of four modelling phases in which students subsequently develop models of freeliving cells, a general two-dimensional model of cells, a...

Dit inhoudelijke, conceptuele kader is een eerste stap om voor het primair onderwijs de concept-contextbenadering te vertalen naar onderwijs. De focus van dit document ligt dan ook bij de beschrijving van contexten in concrete aangrijpingspunten (organismen, objecten en verschijnselen) en activiteiten, die gekoppeld kunnen worden aan kernconcepten...

Dames en heren, de conclusie uit het voorafgaande zou moeten zijn dat we, doordat we met het biologiedidactisch onderzoek vooruitgang hebben geboekt, de komende jaren in toenemende mate een bijdrage kunnen leveren aan de verbetering van de kwaliteit van het onderwijsleerproces. Was het maar waar. Helaas moeten we constateren dat het met de continuï...