Member's Zone

Trainees's Zone

Dalarna University (Högskolan Dalarna)
Department of Mathematics, Science and Engineering

Key Personnel

Mr. Tomas Axelson, Director of Programme Domain EXPERIENCES
Mr. Bengt Löfgren, Head of Department of Mathematics, Science and Engineering
Dr. Lars Broman, Prof. of Physics and Programme Leader in Science Communication
Mr. Per Broman, Teacher in Science Communication
Ms. Nana Quistgaard, PhD student (in co-operation with University of Southern Denmark)

Institutional profile

Dalarna University - in Swedish Högskolan Dalarna - was created in 1978 by joining Falun College of Education with programmes in engineering and economics in Borlänge. Its roots are however deep; Falun Mining School was founded in 1823 and Falun Teacher Training College in 1875. Since 1978, HDa has grown from under 1000 students to over 10 000 students in 2003. Its present strongest profiles are still education, engineering and economics, but now also health care, media, and interdisciplinary subjects like solar energy.
Science Communication R&D has existed, but with a rather low profile, since Lars Broman (then Senior Lecturer) participated in the creation of Sweden's first Science Centre The Futures' Museum in Borlänge in the mid-80ies. The subject has been taught at HDa since 1995; first as shorter courses in Science Centre Education, and since 2001 as a one-semester course in Communicating Science. During the academic year 2003/4, a 50-week Masters Programme in Science Communication has started, and the first group of over 20 students begun their studies 1 September 2003. April-June 2004, 13 of them are doing 3 months of combined internship and thesis field work at 10 science centres in five countries.
The Masters programme is one of several programmes in HDa's programme domain Experiences and it belongs to HDa's Department of Mathematics, Science and Engineering. The Science Communication Team is directed by Prof. Lars Broman and includes also Mr. Per Broman as teacher and Ms. Nana Quistgaard as PhD student. Several of HDa's Senior Lecturers participate in the Science Communication programme. Present R&D activities are directed towards studying informal learning in Science Centres, Planetariums and Museums.

Selected Publications

Broman L. (2002), Communicating Science and Extramural Learning, Paper presented at Det 7. nordiske forskersymposiet om undervisning i naturfag i skolen, Kristiansand, Norway, 15-19 June (in Swedish).
Pendrill A-M, Ahlrik A-S, Andersson R., Bagge S., Broman L., Broman P., Dimenäs J., Ferlin M., Lind-Johansson E., Magnusson B., Ott A., Sjöholm E., and Stankiewicz O. (2002), Extramural Learning and the Role of the Teacher, Paper presented at Det 7. nordiske forskersymposiet om undervisning i naturfag i skolen, Kristiansand, Norway, 15-19 June.
Broman L. (2003), Solar Energy Studies and Extramural Learning, Proc. Solar World Congress 2003, Göteborg, Sweden.
12 project reports in Communicating Science, HDa (2001-3). see here.