Sections

The researchers in the section work with research and teaching in the didactics of the natural sciences, including the didactics of biology, computer science, physics, geography, and mathematics. Many of us are also engaged in the role of computer technology in teaching and education – both as a tool and as content. A shared focus is on the content and design of teaching, including didactic design research, as well as the development, transformation, and renewal of the aforementioned subjects.

Head of section: Carl Winsløw

Research in the Section for History and Philosophy of Science is directed at the practices, foundations and applications of the formal, natural, health and social sciences, and their historical development. Scholars from the section share inclinations towards practice-based or practice oriented history, philosophy and/or sociology of science of science; integrated history, philosophy and sociology of science; socially relevant philosophy of science; and history of the 20th and 21st century science. With respect to teaching, scholars from the section teach a wide range of courses introducing science students to the history, philosophy and sociology of their discipline.
The section’s research is organized in a cluster of four closely collaborating research groups: History and philosophy of the formal sciences and economics; History and philosophy of the biological and health sciences; History and philosophy of the physical and chemical sciences; and Structure and Development of 20th and 21st century science.

Head of section: Hanne Andersen

The members of the section for Higher Education Research and Development are mainly, engaged in research, teaching and development at the university level. A primary research focus concerns university science education and research also covers questions of interdisciplinarity.
Members of the section, moreover, engage in research within science education in primary and lower secondary school focusing on assessment, competence development, science capital and nature-connectedness.
The section members teach at the department’s pedagogical courses for university teachers and PhD students, as well as at other courses for students at BSc and MSc level.

Head of section: Lars Ulriksen

At the heart of our research is a commitment to rethinking the potential of science education and communication. We examine the implied and tacit practices, cultures, and structures that shape how science is taught, learned, and shared with the world. Through innovative and critical methodologies, our research opens new perspectives on making science communication, teaching and learning more inclusive, sustainable, embodied, affective, and socially meaningful.
Our work is strengthened through international and interdisciplinary collaboration, and we strive to contribute at the highest levels to pressing challenges in science education and communication. Our researchers come from a wide range of fields (e.g., chemistry, physics, biology, history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and mathematics), and together, we investigate and tackle complex challenges in topics such as sustainability, science communication, inequality in science education, epistemologies and practices in science contexts, and embodied cognition.
We offer courses to empower students to critically analyse the dynamic relationships among science, society, and culture.

Head of section: Henriette Holmegaard