Physics, learning conversation and gender. : A study of group discussions in physics in upper secondary school.

This thesis investigates how students in upper secondary school solve problems and discuss physics in small groups. The study examines how gender, knowledge in physics and the image of the subject physics are constructed in the students’ conversation and how these processes are related to each other. The theoretical framework includes a sociocultural perspective on learning and a gender perspective that views gender as both process and discourse and focus on how femininity and masculinity are constructed in social relations. 28 students in two classes at the science program participated in the study. 8 videotaped group discussions and 15 audiotaped interviews where analysed through thematic analysis and discourse analysis according to different research questions. The results show the complexity of a learning conversation. The character of the dialogue in the groups, the difficulties the student encounter when dealing with the tasks, and the social interaction in the groups, has a deep impact on the possibilities to develop the discussion about physics phenomena and concepts. The images of the subject physics and the images of a student skilled in physic that are constructed in the interviews are reconstructed in the students’ discussions and in their acting in the groups. But there are also inconsistencies and counter discourses. The possibilities for learning are related to the construction of gender and to equality issues within the groups. Traditional gendered positions are to a large extent reconstructed in the students’ interaction. Boys are for instance positioned as more competent in physics than girls. But traditional gendered positions are also resisted and challenged