Based on earlier experiences of mathematics and mathematical learning, both as a student and as a teacher, I became more and more interested in how well the publicly accepted opinions about mathematics as an uninteresting, difficult and ?geeky? subject corresponded to reality. What do Swedish pupils really think about mathematics and is it possible to identify any differences in their attitudes based on the pupils? age?From this point of view the following questions were formulated:·What are pupils? attitudes towards mathematics in grades 3, 6 and 9 and how do they conceive their learning conditions?·Is it possible to detect any differences in the attitudes and preferences depending on the pupils? age?The result of this study compares well with previous studies done in this and overlapping fields and indicates that:·Younger pupils tend to have a better liking of mathematics but with increasing age that interest fades out.·Most pupils, without regard to age, consider mathematics to be one of the most important subjects, despite the fact that many pupils also find mathematics difficult and boring.·For pupils of all ages, the teacher is the most important factor in the learning process. Older students have more specific demands on the teacher for knowledge and pedagogical skills.·A high noise level, talking and disturbances in the classroom are the most bothering elements when it comes to learning mathematics.

The aim of this Master thesis is, from a sociocultural perspective, to investigate the views the teaching librarians at Södertörn University Library (SHB) have on learning, information literacy, and their own pedagogical role, and how their views affect user education and their ideas about the future of user education.The research questions used were: How do the teaching librarians view learning? How is this view reflected in their work with user education? How do the teaching librarians envisage user education in the future, and how do they work to reach that goal?Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teaching librarians at SHB. The interviews were then analysed using qualitative content analysis.The results of the study show that the teaching librarians at SHB share a sociocultural view on learning, and take a communicative oriented approach to user education. They believe that communication and interaction support learning, and in the classroom they stimulate discussions both between librarian and student, and between the students themselves. In the future, they hope for improved collaboration between librarians and academic staff, and that user education will become a natural element of the curriculum..

University of ÖrebroDepartment of social SciencesSociology, Contnuation Course, 61-90hp.Essay 15hp. Spring 2008Title: Who is resbonsible? A soceityscientific discussion about burnout.Author: Emilie FuchsAbstractThe purpose with this essay is to do a critical comparation between two different perspectives, burnout as an individual problem and burnout as a social problem. The first perspective states that the individual itself is responsible for her sickness while the second perspective states that the society and foremost the labour market should work in order to prevent people from beeing burned out. With that purpose in mind I want to enlighten and hopefully bring up the topic for discussion.The essay is based upon the following questions:? How can you sociologically understand the labour market of today?? How can you understand burnout in an individual context?? How can you understand burnout in a social context?By studying and reading four books, I have presented the two different perspectives of burnout.

Movies are a part of everybody?s, including student everyday life. Teachers have to give their students the tools and means to critically examine movies and media as a whole. This study aims to examine how seven teachers in southern Sweden didactically motivate their use of movies; specifically entertainment features in the history subject. The theoretical framework of this study is Knud Illeris theories about the three dimensions of learning.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate and analyse how the concept of lifelong learning is expressed in political documents concerning public libraries and education and how it can be related to earlier concepts of education within the discourse of public libraries. Focus is the official approach to the concept of lifelong learning and public library. The documents examined contain the political aims for education and culture policy on a national and local level. The theories used in the study concern the background and meaning of the concept of lifelong learning, they describe public libraries and their earlier perspectives of education and they also give a picture of practices of governing within the framework of public libraries. The purpose is to see how the speech in the documents is reflected in discourses of society and public library.

The aim of this study was to explore how young students can be taught during their first year of learning English towards the A1 level according to The European Framework of Reference for Languages, and how the students understand their own learning. The study was carried out in two different classes but with the same teacher, who is qualified to teach English to young learners. The result is based on the analysis of a total of twelve observations of English lessons in two classes in school year one and eight group interviews with the students. Recurrent ingredients through all lessons were activities such as listening to teacher talk, watching films or film clips, singing songs and doing rhymes, using drama activities, talking about the meaning of learning English, practicing guessing competence and learning new vocabulary. The teacher consistently talked about and taught different strategies for language learning.

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers 'and students' understanding of why students finish school with incomplete scores and which resources they consider necessary for students to accomplish the goals that are set for the students. Owing to the reuse of pupils and teachers' experiences, this study will highlight significant qualitative aspects of work with students who finish school with incomplete high school grades. Hopefully, will this study be a support and information base in secondary school.The material forming the basis for the report's theoretical assumptions and the basic assumption is based on Lev Vygotsky sociocultural perspective on learning that Olga Dysthe discuss and develop further in his book, Dialog, samspel och lärande.  The present work is based on qualitative research method. I selected this research method because I am interested in getting an understanding of the importance and significance of this research The study applied a qualitative interview format.As a result of the investigation as it has appeared that students difficulties to achieve the goals,depends on several factors, mostly on the student's socio-economic and psychosocial situation they live in. The life situation of the students determines the learning and knowledge process and how they reach their goals.

E-learning är idag ett område på framfart. Fler och fler organisationer väljer att utbildasina anställda med hjälp av elektronisk media. Genom E-learning sparar organisationerpengar och tid i utbildandet av sin personal. En vanlig missuppfattning är att man genomatt överföra ett utbildningsmaterial till elektronisk media har skapat ett användbart Elearningsverktygmen i verkligheten är det betydligt mer invecklat än så. Den härkvalitativa studien syftar till att ta fram riktlinjer för anpassning av utbildningsmaterialtill E-learning.

The purpose of this work is to explore how to work with early reading and writing and find out what really comes first of the two. The work also involves the best known literacy learning methods and deals with methods to work around reading and writing. I have read previous research on the subject and watched a movie from our AV-central on children?s early language development. It includes an interview with two professors of education, Mats Myrberg and Mats Ekholm where they talk about the pros and cons of early learning literacy. My research is based on literary sources and interviews with educators who work with reading and writing in the early years. The results showed that even if a teacher tries to work with early writing skills we still remain in the traditional school, beginning with learning how to read.

The Swedish school law says that students who need special education should have all the support they need to reach the qualification that is set up. The arrangements have to be written down in an Individual education plan (IEP). Before the IEP is set up there has to be an investigation about what kind of support and measures the student needs to reach the qualification that is set up. The aim of this study is to examine student?s participation in school and in the progress with their own IEP.I have accomplished a qualitative study by interviewing eight students during the letter part in the nine-year school.

The focus of this study is to identify important factors affect, how teachers' professional identity and role are shaped and changed during and after teacher training. Study's focus is to identify important factors bearing on how teachers' professional identity and role are shaped and changed during and after a teacher training. Respondents included in study are all teachers in vocational subject in upper secondary school. They also have experience from at practical profession before they began to work as teachers and started the teacher training. Method used in this study is the life stories of narrative nature.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to examine the process of resocialization for individuals who previously lived as criminals from an individual perspective. The research questions for the essay are: How do individuals in the study describe their process of resocialization? In which way does a support organization affect the process of resocialization for the individual? In which ways do the reactions from society affect the process of resocialization for the individual?To answer these research questions a qualitative method was chosen where six narrative interviews was conducted with men who previously lived as criminals but have been resocialized into society. These men are roughly between the ages of 30-60 years and are all members of a support organization for ex criminals.The results show that the process is divided in four stages and that the support organization has facilitated the process of resocialization of the respondents. Reactions from society both facilitates change using the help of different agencies can contribute, while negative reactions from other individuals makes change difficult.

Peer learning är en handledningsmetod, som tydliggör anknytningen mellan teoretisk och praktisk kunskap samtidigt som ett större antal studenter kan erbjudas verksamhetsförlagd utbildning. Därför vore det av intresse att undersöka om det är en tillämpar metod i specialistsjuksköterskeutbildningen mot intensivvård. Syftet med studien var att undersöka peer learning som handledningsmetod inom specialistsjuksköterskeutbildningen mot intensivvård utifrån handledares perspektiv. Studien utfördes genom fokusgruppsintervju med en beskrivande design med induktiv ansats där data analyserades med manifest kvalitativ innehållsanalys. I studien framkom sex kategorier och fyra underkategorier.

Individual identification of pigs could be used in commercial herds for production monitoring, disease monitoring and breeding evaluation. This study investigates the possibility of using microchips designed for dogs and cats to identify individual pigs from birth, through rearing to carcass at the slaughter plant. Two different sizes of microchips, and two different ages of the pigs at injection were tested. Castrates and gilts from ten litters were evenly distributed between chip sizes and injection ages. All pigs were identity marked with both electronic ear tags and injected with microchips.

Titel: Thinking outside the box: Goals and Salary boxes as motivational factorsAuthors: Anna Ceder and  Karin Barwinger PlogareSeat of Learning: Uppsala UniversityPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate if the imposition of salary boxes in Uppsala municipality has had any influence on the organisation?s employees? to improve their work motivation. The reason for the study was to look deeper into employees? motivational factors, this with a focus on salary as motivational factor in structures of salary boxes where it is possible for the employee to work towards goals which affect their salary. The primary purpose of the study was to look into if employees? ability to advance their performance had any connection to the impostion of salary boxes.Methodology: In order to collect as much data as possible for the measurements one of the largest occupational groups in Uppsala municipality was chosen, which represents the group of pre-school teachers.