Abstract:

This study explores and evaluates how students use stop motion technology to visualize and explain key concepts within the area of sex and cohabitation. The study was conducted with two different cohorts, and includes teacher students taking part in science teacher education year 4-6 at Södertörns University in Sweden. The first data collection was carried out during the biology course in the autumn of 2020 and the second data collection was done during the autumn 2021.

In Sweden, sexual education became compulsory in schools in 1955 while the first guide to sexual education came in 1945 [1]. Today sexuality is addressed in the core content for the biology subject in the Swedish curriculum for year 4-6 (age 10-13) with focus on puberty, reproduction, identity, gender equality, relationships, love and responsibility [2]. The education is understood as important and knowledge in the subject as fundamental to, among other things, helping children and young people to develop respectful social and sexual relationships and to protect their rights throughout their lives [3].

In order to equip teacher students with knowledge about sex and cohabitation, and to meet the demands in the curriculum, we choose to integrate stop-motion technology into the biology course at teacher education. This study is designed taking into account previous research [4] highlighting the design of the learning activity and the importance of expert representation. The study is also based on the result from an earlier study [5] showing us that teacher students see the possibility of using stop-motion in relation to learning abstract things, and that they appreciated the constraints offered by the technology that force them to create representation through the use of colors and shapes.

With the aim to study how subject knowledge is represented in stop-motion, eight films and its content was analysed and compared towards the Swedish school curriculum and the students' own written reflections regarding their experience of learning. The results show us that all the films were in accordance with the task description, questionable and aimed to serve as a basis for in-depth discussions about subject content. The written reflections show us that the working method increased their interest in the subject and that the students were committed and experienced commitment from their fellow students. The students, above all, highlight how the technology enables sensitive subjects to be depersonalized and the value of the discussions during the production phase.

References:
[1] Skolverket (2014). Sex- och samlevnadsundervisning i grundskolans tidigare år. Lenanders Grafiska AB ISBN: 978-91-7559-143-8
[2] Swedish National Agency for Education (2018). Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and school-age educare 2011 Revised 2018 ISBN: 978-913832734-0
[3] UNESCO (2018) International technical guidance on sexuality education. Revised edition. ISBN 978-92-3-100259-5
[4] Farrokhnia, M., Meulenbroeks, R. F., & van Joolingen, W. R. (2020). Student-Generated Stop-Motion Animation in Science Classes: a Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 29(6), 797-812.
[5] Josefsson, P., Didon. A., & Mutvei, A., (2021) Stop-motion technology in primary school teacher education. EDULEARN21: 13th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies

Keywords:

Teacher education, sexual education, education technology.