On Aspects of Mathematical Reasoning : Affect and Gender

This thesis explores two aspects of mathematical reasoning: affect and gender. I started by looking at the reasoning of upper secondary students when solving tasks. This work revealed that when not guided by an interviewer, algorithmic reasoning, based on memorising algorithms which may or may not be appropriate for the task, was predominant in the students reasoning. Given this lack of mathematical grounding in students reasoning I looked in a second study at what grounds they had for different strategy choices and conclusions. This qualitative study suggested that beliefs about safety, expectation and motivation were important in the central decisions made during task solving.  But are reasoning and beliefs gendered? The third study explored upper secondary school teachers conceptions about gender and students mathematical reasoning. In this study I found that upper secondary school teachers attributed gender symbols including insecurity, use of standard methods and imitative reasoning to girls and symbols such as multiple strategies especially on the calculator, guessing and chance-taking were assigned to boys. In the fourth and final study I found that students, both male and female, shared their teachers view of rather traditional feminities and masculinities. Remarkably however, this result did not repeat itself when students were asked to reflect on their own behaviour: there were some discrepancies between the traits the students ascribed as gender different and the traits they ascribed to themselves. Taken together the thesis suggests that, contrary to conceptions, girls and boys share many of the same core beliefs about mathematics, but much work is still needed if we should create learning environments that provide better opportunities for students to develop beliefs that guide them towards well-grounded mathematical reasoning. 

Teachers' conceptions about students' mathematical reasoning : Gendered or not?

This study looks at how upper secondary school teachers gender stereotype aspects of students' mathematical reasoning. Girls were attributed gender symbols including insecurity, use of standard methods and imitative reasoning. Boys were assigned the symbols such as multiple strategies especially on the calculator, guessing and chance-taking. 

New graduate nurses' developmental trajectories for capability beliefs concerning core competencies for healthcare professionals : A national cohort study on patient-centered care, teamwork and evidence-based practice.

Background: This study aimed to describe the developmental trajectories of registered nurses' capability beliefs during their first 3 years of practice. The focus was on three core competencies for health professionals-patient-centered care, teamwork, and evidence-based practice. Methods: A national cohort of registered nurses (n = 1,205) was recruited during their nursing education and subsequently surveyed yearly during the first 3 years of working life. The survey included 16 items on capability beliefs divided into three subscales for the assessment of patient-centered care, teamwork, and evidence-based practice, and the data were analyzed with linear latent growth modeling. Results: The nurses' capability beliefs for patient-centered care increased over the three first years of working life, their capability beliefs for evidence-based practice were stable over the 3 years, and their capability beliefs for teamwork showed a downward trend. Linking evidence to action: Through collaboration between nursing education and clinical practice, the transition to work life could be supported and competence development in newly graduated nurses could be enhanced to help them master the core competencies. Future research should focus on determining which factors impact the development of capability beliefs in new nurses and how these factors can be developed by testing interventions.