The ScienceHumanities research group at Department of Teacher Education, NTNU

The ScienceHumanities research group applies perspectives from the humanities and the social sciences to the study of natural science (including science in school) as a discipline and cultural practice, past and present. We study, among other things, the history of science and science education, the (re)presentation of science in textbooks and how the Nature of Science (NOS) is taught in the classroom, cultures of writing, students’ understanding of science, and practical experiments in science teaching. 

Interview with Annette Lykknes

The International Year of the Periodic Table 2019 (IYPT2019)

In December 2017 the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. UNESCO, scientific societies, educational and research institutions, and other organisations came together for the IYPT. The activities related to the IYPT at NTNU were coordinated by the ScienceHumanities research group, and supported by the Department of Teacher Education, the Faculty of Natural Sciences (and its Departments of Chemistry, Material Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology and Food Science), and the Royal Norwegian Society for Sciences and Letters. Collaborators included The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) and the Science Center in Trondheim (Vitensenteret).

A variety of activities were organised, for example Stjernestøv (“Stardust”), a “chemistry van” which has been equipped with samples of the chemical elements visiting schools in the provinces of Trøndelag; a periodic table app (currently in development); a scientific anthology, two special issues of journals, and articles; a popular science book and lectures for the general public; a web site; and two exhibitions at the Natural Science Library at NTNU, all covered variously by the press. Overall, the activities have aimed to disseminate knowledge on chemistry in general, to make sense of the periodic system and its elements in particular, and to use the history of the periodic system to show that science is a multifaceted, complex and collaborative pursuit, rather than the stand-alone achievement of individual geniuses.

Website for Periodesystemets år ved NTNU

Selected publications:

• Unni Eikeseth and Annette Lykknes. Periodesystemet: Fra alkymi til kjernekjemi (Museumsforlaget, 2019)
• Annette Lykknes and Brigitte Van Tiggelen (eds.). The Periodic System: The (Multiple) Values of an Icon: Introduction. Special issue of Centaurus (2019) [in press]
• Brigitte Van Tiggelen, Annette Lykknes and Luis Moreno-Martinez (eds.). The Periodic System: A History of Shaping and Sharing. Special issue of Substantia (2019)
• Annette Lykknes and Brigitte Van Tiggelen (eds.). Women in their Element: Selected Women’s Contributions to the Periodic System (World Scientific, 2019)
• Brigitte Van Tiggelen and Annette Lykknes. Celebrate the women behind the periodic system. Nature 565 (2019)
• Unni Eikeseth m.fl. Hvordan bygger man en verden? Et hefte om grunnstoffer og periodesystemet
• Articles (in Norwegian) about the periodic system and our activities in the chemistry journal Kjemi
• Articles (in Norwegian) about the periodic system in the teacher’s journal Naturfag

Recent master theses

Silje Marie Eide:

• Argumenterende skriving i kjemi - Elevers opplevelse av å skrive faglig argumenterende tekster, på bakgrunn av et case-basert undervisningsopplegg, Birgitte Fisketjøn (2018)
• «Atomer reagerer for å oppfylle åtteregelen» - En kvalitativ studie om seks naturfagelevers forståelse for atomer, molekyler og åtteregelen, Synne Apold Korsbrekke (2018)