Disputation: Odd Petter Sand

Odd Petter Sand will defend his thesis Integrating Computing with Mathematics and Science Education: Case Studies of Student Understanding and Teaching design for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor.

portrait of the candidate

The PhD defence and trial lecture are partially digital and streamed using Zoom.  The chair of the defence will moderate the disputation. 

Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience to ask ex auditorio questions either written or oral.

Trial lecture

Title: "The role of metacognition in computing education research and how metacognitive skills play a role when students learn computing concepts."

 

Main research findings

Computing (such as programming) has revolutionised the way mathematicians and scientists work, and has also changed the way we teach mathematics and science. However, relatively little is known about how the changes to teaching impact students' understanding.

To learn more, we designed teaching experiments and interviewed first-year university students. In these interviews, we found rich examples of the ways in which students use mathematics and computing together, including what helps and hinders them in making sense of what they do.

One of our main findings is that we saw certain patterns in students’ use of mathematics and computing that may support their understanding. Additionally, we present three tutorials that we designed for this purpose, and share what we learned in the process.

 

Hovedfunn

Beregninger på datamaskin (for eksempel programmering) har revolusjonert hvordan vi underviser og jobber med vitenskap. Imidlertid vet vi ennå lite om hvordan forandringene innen undervisning påvirker studenters forståelse.

For å undersøke dette, designet vi læringseksperimenter hvor vi intervjuet grupper av førsteårs realfagsstudenter. I disse interjuene fant vi mange rike eksempler på hvordan studentene knytter matematikk og beregninger sammen, og hva som hjelper og hindrer dem i å skape mening i det de gjør.

Et av hovedresultatene er at vi så bestemte mønstre i studentenes bruk av matematikk og beregninger som har potensiale til å hjelpe dem å utvikle forståelse. I tillegg presenterer vi tre undervisningsopplegg som vi utviklet, og deler erfaringene våre fra dette utviklingsarbeidet.

 

Candidate contact information

Phone number: +47 410 470 84

Adjudication Committee

  • Professor Aman Yadav, Michigan State University
  • Associate Professor Megan Wawro, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • Professor Geir Kjetil Sandve, University of Oslo

Supervisors

  • Associate Professor Marcos D. Caballero, Michigan State University, USA
  • Associate Professor Elise Lockwood, Oregon State University, USA
  • Professor Knut Martin Mørken, University of Oslo, Norway
  • Dr. Christine Lindstrøm, UNSW Sydney, Australia
  • Professor Anders Malthe-Sørenssen, University of Oslo, Norway

Chair of defence

  • Professor Alexander Lincoln Read, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway

 

Contact information to Department: Line Trosterud Resvold

 

Published Sep. 24, 2021 5:11 PM - Last modified Oct. 11, 2021 9:18 AM