During recent years, the trend of Swedish students? negative performance and results in mathematics has been discussed. It is agreed that a change in teaching methods is necessary in order to solve this issue. Thus we found it interesting to take a closer look at an alternative way of teaching. The purpose of this study was to find out what teachers and students associate Concrete mathematics with and make a comparison between them.

Research indicates that a more hands-on education in mathematics could improve how students relate to mathematics. Laboratory mathematics is a way of making mathematics more concrete.  How is the purpose of laboratory mathematics perceived? This thesis has its focus on the pupils? perceptions of the purpose of laboratory mathematics, but the intention of the teacher involved is also investigated. The main research questions asked were:What is the teacher's definition of laboratory mathematics?Which is the teacher's purpose in using laboratory education?How do the students perceive the purpose of the laboratory teaching of mathematics?To answer the questions, I conducted a series of qualitative interviews.

The students are usually eager to develop their mathematical learning. However, the Skolverket can see that this eagerness passes in the early years of school. A study shows that a varied mathematical education creates enthusiasm to learn, which can decrease the negative view of mathematics.The purpose of this study is to see how five pedagogues use laboratory mathematics, their approaches to laboratory mathematics as well as to find out their role in the laboratory education. The result of the study is based on interviews with the pedagogues, who are all teachers for students in year F-3. All of the pedagogues work in a laboratory way, but to different extents.The study shows that the pedagogues aim to make the mathematics as concrete and everyday as possible.

The purpose of my study is to contribute knowledge about how class teachers can work with students who are in mathematics difficulties. The question at issues I have is: Which methods can class teachers in grades 1-3 use to help students with mathematics difficulties? and Which obstacles and opportunities are there in this work? To get answers to my questions, I have read relevant literature and interviewed 3 class teachers in central Sweden. Through my interview I learned that education should include and build on concrete materials and methods. I also got to know that time is the biggest obstacle to helping students with mathematics difficulties. Keywords: mathematics difficulties, methods, obstacles, opportunities.

This research is about the experience educationalists have of children encountering mathematics in a preschool. What is the impact of introducing mathematics in preschool? How do educationalists work with mathematics and how do they experience the children?s interest in mathematics?  The aim of this degree project is to examine how educationalists experience children´s interest in mathematics when they encounter mathematics at an early age. The degree project is limited to educationalists and children within a preschool located north of Stockholm.This research seeks answers to the following questions at issue. Does an early encounter with mathematics in preschool lead to increased interest in mathematics among children?  How can educationalists in preschool work in a appropriate way with mathematics to stimulate children to develop within mathematics and to increase their interest? How does educationalists in preschool experience children´s interest in mathematics?Theories by Piaget, Vygotskij and Dewey were used as well as former research in this subject.To answer the aim and the questions at issue in this research, three interviews was conducted with educationalists at the preschool and recorded with a Dictaphone.

This study examines how formal mathematics can be taught in the Swedish secondary school with its new curriculum for mathematics. The study examines what a teaching material in formal mathematics corresponding to the initial content of the course Mathematics 1c could look like, and whether formal mathematics can be taught to high school students.The survey was conducted with second year students from the science programme. The majority of these students studied the course Mathematics D. The students described themselves as not being motivated towards mathematics.The results show that the content of the curriculum can be presented with formal mathematics. This both in terms of requirements for content and students being able to comprehend this content.

By using modern methods of casting concrete, cast in place can get more effective and industrialized. A modern method is self compacting concrete. By using this type of concrete, advantages like improved working environment and rationalized construction can be reached. Because the concrete doesn?t need to be vibrated, the amount of staff on site and the noise can be reduced.

The purpose of my study is to investigate teachers? opinions about learning difficulties in mathematics.I have read relevant literature on this subject. I have conducted interviews with seven class teachers, one special-needs teacher, a psychologist and one special-needs teachers who specifically worked with investigations concerning pupils with difficulties in mathematics.The result of my study shows that learning difficulties in mathematics can/might be prevented if children in pre-school are introduced to mathematics as early as possible. This should be done in a delightful way in their daily activities and while there are playing. I didn?t find any complete method to help children with mathematics difficulties in compulsory school.

AbstractThe purpose of my study is to compare Sten Rydhs wiew of learning disabilities in mathematics and his education with current literature and research. I want to explore whether the education of ?Mattesmedjan?*, influenced by the Suzuki method, can be the solution for the students with maths problems. ?Mattesmedjan? is a privately-owned school of maths.

This is an empirical study of how the mathematical talk of adult learners constructs/reconstructs different mathematical discourses. The study is to be regarded as an attempt to develop a discursive approach within the field of mathematics education and to complicate the status of mathematics in education and in society in general. My theoretical underpinnings consist of three possible mathematical discourses ? coercive, regulative and emancipative mathematics. From a discursive psychology perspective, I let these discourses function as analytical interpretive repertoires in relation to the adult learners? rhetorical use of mathematics and their claiming of mathematical subject-positions, named the coerced, the self-regulating and the responsible mathematician.

This study examines how formal mathematics can be taught in the Swedishsecondary school with its new curriculum for mathematics. The study examineswhat a teaching material in formal mathematics corresponding to the initialcontent of the course Mathematics 1c could look like, and whether formalmathematics can be taught to high school students.The survey was conducted with second year students from the science programme.The majority of these students studied the course Mathematics D.The students described themselves as not being motivated towards mathematics.The results show that the content of the curriculum can be presented withformal mathematics. This both in terms of requirements for content and studentsbeing able to comprehend this content. The curriculum also requires thatthis type of mathematics is introduced in the course Mathematics 1c.The results also show that students are open towards and want more formalmathematics in their ordinary education. They initially felt it was strangebecause they had never encountered this type of mathematics before, but somestudents found the formal mathematics to be easier than the mathematicsordinarily presented in class.The study finds no reason to postpone the meeting with the formal mathematicsto university level.

In each classroom there is a teacher with good intentions wanting what´s best for their pupils. But grades and tests in mathematics from 2009 in Sweden shows there is a crack between the subject being taught and the learning child. The purpose with this research is to find an understanding from a teaching and learning perspective of which teaching method is more suitable for teaching and learning mathematics by doing a comparison between two methods. The main question is:What are the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional and the laboratory method of teaching, supported by the two keywords teaching method and learning?This C-paper is based on a qualitative research aiming to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how the history of mathematics can be used in teaching and whether pupils? attitudes to mathematics can be affected by this. In order to do this a school project about the history of mathematics is planned, implemented and analysed.The following questions are addressed:? Why use the history of mathematics in teaching?? How can the history of mathematics be used in teaching?? Can a historical perspective in teaching affect pupils? views on mathematics?The school curriculum emphasizes the importance of history in teaching. Literature, scientific articles and government inquiries call attention to the positive effects of including a historical perspective in teaching.The school project, which underlies this thesis, is put to practice by 25 pupils in a mathematics science profile class.

The purpose behind this work was to investigate whether I could from a practical approach to create desire for mathematics among students in primary schools. I wanted also to find out how students feel about their current mathematics teaching. By introducing an equation game, and interviewing students to find out their perception of their mathematics teaching, I was able to answer my questions. What I came to was that through a practical and laboratory work, I could create an enjoyable educational opportunity in mathematics. Then during the interviews I also learned that students had not a pre-determined negative attitude towards mathematics.

The aim is to find out how teachers apply the knowledge they get from mathematics pilots in preschool and from mathematics developer in the municipality, as well as how they work further towards the children with mathematics.The study is based on qualitative interviews with two teachers, one mathematic pilot and one mathematic developer. I used the semi-structured interview questions.The results show that teachers believe that mathematics pilots will inspire the teachers in their work with mathematics in preschool. One of the teachers who were interviewed said:?Mathematics pilots should be those that have the strongest glasses and coming up with new ideas and they push the rest of the teachers in their work with mathematics in relation to children in preschool?.The teachers use the correct terms for mathematical concepts with the children. They also stressed how important it is to point out to the kids that it is mathematics that they are doing.The conclusion of the study is that the teachers agree that it is their approach towards the children that is important and how they can lead the children?s interest of mathematics forward.