The purpose of this study was to examine the use of manipulative materials in mathematics education with the main focus on grades 4 to 6. With the use of a phenomenological approach all the aspects of this phenomenon was examined. Qualitative interviews, participant observations and comparative content analysis of textbooks has been conducted to investigate the use of manipulative materials in mathematics education. The results indicates that the teachers that were interviewed possesses good knowledge of this teaching method. However these teachers struggled to find time to put this method into practice and there was not enough teachers to attend these classes.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine the ideological currents that have influenced the swedish school system since the 1990's. The background of my interest is the lively debate in schools and media about the new School reform 2011. My hypothesis is that education in 2011 largely will be influenced by neoliberal and neoconservative values. The method I`ve used is discourse and ideology critique, which examines the relationship between rhetoric and power. These concepts are useful to explain the ideological change in different policy documents and in curricula, for example Lpf 94 and School 2001. The theoretical framework is based primarily on the neoliberal and the neoconservative agenda, which are two distinct political rationalities in the contemporary postmodern world.

The main purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine the existence of criteria and to what extent high school students use these criteria when they are collecting information for a school assignment. I also compare students attending different high school programmes with each other and compare students on different levels of education.I have done a quantitative study with 284 students in which the students have filled out questionnaires.The result shows that the most common way to evaluate information is to compare sources with each other. Students also look at how the information is written, and they want the information to be detailed and easily available. More seldom used criteria include consideration of the authority of the writer, determination of how up to date the information is, and gauging the perspective of the information.The result also shows that students attending a high school programme that prepares them for higher education are better at evaluating information than students attending a high school programme of vocational preparation. Students at a higher level of education are also better at evaluating information than students at a lower level of education. .

Today we see a growing need and interest in working towards sustainable development. To be able to contribute to a sustainable development as individuals/business we need to emphasize the importance of education and contextualisation that learning occurs in a sense that is relevant to the learner.This is the background to this study, which in turn is the basis for an education that focuses on how to environmentally secure your purchases, an opportunity for us to set environmental standards purchasing products and services. The process for purchase is considered by many to be a key factor in businesses work towards sustainable development. Key people in this process and target audience for this education is environmental, purchasing and procurement managers.The purpose of this study is to design an education calledMiljösäkrade inköp from the target audiences? knowledge, interests and attitudes, together with literature.

Denna studie är gjord med syfte att ta reda på vilken nytta lärare, för elever i de yngre åldrarna, anser att elever i årskurs 1-2 har av sin individuella utvecklingsplan (IUP). Min erfarenhet är att elever i årskurs 1-2 har svårt att förstå sin IUP och det har varit utgångspunkten för min studie. Studien lyfter fram lärares åsikter och erfarenheter gällande elevers delaktighet i skapandet av sin IUP, elevers förmåga att ta ansvar för sin IUP samt vad IUP:n bidrar till gällande elevernas kunskapsutveckling. Resultatet tyder på att den största nyttan med IUP för elever i årskurs 1-2 är samtalet och möjligen kan samtalet vara ett verktyg för elevens lärande och förståelse av den egna lärprocessen. För att ta reda på lärarnas åsikter användes kvalitativa intervjuer och den teoretiska bas som använts i studien är Strandbergs (2006) tolkning av Lev Vygotskjis teori. .

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether and how nine teachers of special education for older students, primarily at Upper secondary school, consider the smartphone an appropriate pedagogical means of assistance to improve participation and to support students with special education needs within and outside the school environment. Theory: The theoretical framework for the study is the sociocultural perspective on learning. The sociocultural perspective is related to the relational perspective and sociocultural learning theory involves learning and participation in school. It views the human being as socially active within a certain historical and cultural context which actively influences the way we act, how we learn and develop through interaction with others in the social, everyday practice. The latter is of vital importance here.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the tendencies among pupils concerning their attitudes towards History and some of the stated goals in the present and in the proposed course plan of History, since there is, probably, a change coming in 2011. The study is built on questionnaires answered by one hundred pupils at a Swedish upper-secondary-school. The results point to the fact that most of these pupils like history, but still they do not wish to make it an obligatory subject, which is a government proposal at the moment. Furthermore, the answers about sources, democracy, the use of History and the consciousness about History, have a clear tendency; there have been too little education about these areas during the pupils former nine years in school, still the pupils think that these are important areas to work with. Moreover, this study shows a disheartening picture when it comes to pupils knowledge of their cultural heritage. Only half of the pupils know which century Gustav Vasa lived in and just a third know what year universal suffrage was introduced in Sweden, two facts that ought to be set in most Swedes? mind..

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the lower secondary school teaching in religion leads to a positive understanding and openness, concerning different religions and cultures. We want to study how pupils in grade eight and nine in two lower secondary schools in a multicultural community comprehend different religions. Since we choose a pupils perspective we decided to do a questionnaire to get a wide ground. As a complement we interviewed twelve pupils and also did observations during their religion classes. During our study we focused on three different themes.

This is a thesis in Personal- och Arbetslivsprogrammet at Dalarna University with thepurpose of evaluating an education initiative in Borlänge kommun. The educationCoaching Leadership is an initiative for the managers in the organization to exercisegood leadership and the education also serves as an incentive for managers. Eightbusiness managers and one from the HR staff have completed the training. Out of thetotal 9 participants in the training, six of them took part in this evaluation. Based on thethesis aim and questions we wanted to explore participants' attitudes to the education,and what skills and abilities they have acquired on the basis of educational goals andcontent.

There is a general conception among those who are involved in the school-sector that there is a relation between resources and results. Better qualified teachers, smaller classes and schools with more finacial funding are regarded as better learning and development conditions for pupils (Gustafsson 2008). In spite of these widespread understanding, educational and economic research studies at the beginning of the 20th century had reached the verdict that resources have no bearing on educational results (Gustafsson 2008). The Swedish board of education (Skolverket) have published several reports, studies and surveys regarding the relation between resources and student outcomes.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the message of six publications from the Swedish board of education around the relationship between resources and student outcomes on the basis of the decentralization of the Swedish school in the 1990´s. The central question at issue is whether the Swedish board of education has been consistent in their message about the relationship between resources and results in the six publications between 1994-2009? I have also attempted to answer the resulting questions of my conclusion.This study is based on a qualitative text analysis.

The study aims to describe how art teachers conduct their teaching towards the new curriculum requirements, hence, to the must-haves of society towards the art education. As a future art teacher, I have an interest in finding out how the art teachers tackles the new requirements despite substance plight. The study has revealed that resources for the art education, both financial and time varies from school to school. Which says something about a very unfair situation for the teachers..

Recreation leaders on youth recreation centres is a professional category, mostly mentioned in the public conversation when it comes to taxes and youth problems. But what do they really do, what outlook do they have to their task, and finally, how are their daily lives like at work? The stories of twelve people represent the basis of this essay which itself consists of two separate studies. Six professional recreation leaders speak about their view of their own work, based on background, mission, education, ethics and position. The recreation leaders´stories reflect a worksituation with meetings of great significance andimportant standpoints.

School ground development is becoming increasingly popular in Sweden today and local community settings are also seen as an important resource for education. The debate today raises the question about the whole city?s pedagogic potential. Outdoor education is a pedagogy that comprises outdoor learning with focus on the sensual experiences. Connection to the classroom education is an important part of the pedagogy and so is the place for the tuition.But how should the place for the tuition, i.e.

This Masters thesis investigates user education at academic libraries. The increased demand on students to keep themselves updated in the information society of today urges libraries to develop their user education, concerning both content and teaching strategies. The aim of this study is to examine user education at academic libraries, and the approach of librarians in their teaching. The research questions address how librarians implement the user education and what they focus on. We also want to explore what differences and similarities there are between the user educations, and if anything could be further developed within them.

The aim of this investigation work " What was it called...Equality...? is to study a clinics current gender equailty plan from a gender approach and by a field survey see if, and in that case, how it can be improved. A connection between existing gender norms and gender power strukctures is applied in the results of this survey in order to illustrate their significance from an individual as well as a structural perspektive.The survey has been carried through by a field survey as well as a discourse analysis as method. Yvonne Hirdmans gender power system is on of the main theoretical points of departure.The results that I have achieved in this essay is that gender can be looked at in different ways within the labour market where women have the main responsibility over the family and are considered more nursing then men. Men on the other hand are thinking of their carriers and have higher salary requirements.