At the Department of Science and Mathematics Education (NMD), we are conducting science education research, a multifaceted discipline that includes subject didactics within science technology and mathematics, the field to which our research is most closely related. Our research projects are often tied to practical approach; in the preschool, compulsory school or teacher training and university education.
The department belongs to the Faculty of Science and Technology. Over the last 10 years, NMD has evolved from a purely educational department into a department where most of the employees also conduct research on the didactics of mathematics and natural sciences.
The department currently employs 10 doctoral students. Most of the doctoral students are from Sweden, but some are from other countries. A few of the doctoral students participate in larger research projects conducted at the department, but it is also common for them to apply to third-cycle studies based on their own ideas.
All researchers and doctoral students at NMD are part of a research group; either the Umeå Mathematics Education Research Centre (UMERC) or Umeå Science Education Research (UmSER), both of which also include researchers from departments other than NMD.
Most of the department's doctoral students are also involved with a national graduate school, where they participate in seminars and third-cycle courses. Examples of such graduate schools are the Graduate School of Educational Science (FU), The Swedish National Graduate School in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education Research (FontD), and the Graduate School of Gender Studies (GFS).
Read more about research at the Department of Science and Mathematics Education
Students who are stuck can get digital guidance – new form of feedback evaluated in dissertation.
Jonas Jäder has in his thesis studied some of the components that are valuable for students' problem solving.
Johan shows that the pupils’ knowledge would improve if larger emphasis was placed on problem solving.
