Students’ narratives and conceptual changes in a cross-curricular inquiry-based study unit in a Finnish upper secondary school

Abstract

Cross-curricularity is being implemented in the upper secondary school curriculum reform in Finland. This study investigates changes in conceptual constructs when studying humans and humanity from the points of view of six school subjects (biology, physics, physical education, philosophy, psychology and arts) in a pilot study unit. We found evidence of changes in conceptual constructs with vast individual differences. Learners with a mastery goal orientation manifested conceptual change, belief revision and threshold concepts the most. “Learning deepened by autonomy” was the dominant narrative in the students’ narrative interviews. Two counternarratives, “struggling with motivation and schedule” and “active communicator with poor effort regulation”, in which learners’ self-regulated learning skills were poorer, were also identified.