When I was fifteen I decided that I wanted to become a blacksmith. At the time of my decision I had been obsessed with fantasy for several years. I came to the conclusion that if I could not live in a fantasy world then at least I would make bits and pieces from it. That became the entry point of my fascination for material and techniques. I started with blacksmithing since it had an aura of magic or mystique in the material and in the making process.

In this thesis I set out to study how the reading of fictional literature is viewed, legitimatized and operationalized in two educational domains: the recently revised steering documents that all Swedish teachers must relate to, as well as a selection of teaching materials designed for education in the Swedish language for upper secondary school. The teaching material I have studied has been recently updated in order to correspond with the new steering documents. I relate my analysis to previous research about the use of fiction in education, and I also combine my analysis of the two educational domains to see whether the underlying intentions of the steering documents have influenced the revision of the teaching material. The outcome indicates that the steering documents? previous focus on culture has diminished although a certain insecurity as to how to use the concept and deal with the issue of whose culture should be taught can be identified.

Andersson, L. Karlsson, B-M. & Leek, M. (2011). Hur använder barn bild- och formskapande material utan instruktioner? Examensarbete i Pedagogik 15 hp.

The purpose of this study is to find out how libraries can be user-friendly to people with dyslexia by focusing on how adult dyslectics experience the library. Data were collected through literature and interviews with adult dyslectic students. Two different types of user studies served as a theoretical framework; one was an individual-related study by professor Wilson and the other was a system-related one from professor Buckland. The findings in this study shows that dyslectic library users often experience difficulties when seeking for materials in the library, due to the libraries organisation of material according to the written language. Through technical aid and a more user-friendly organisation of materials it may be easier to find relevant material for dyslectics.

Detta examensarbete har utförts på uppdrag av Johan Lundberg AB som har haft ett behov av att det tas fram en guide vid åtgärder av vattenledningar. Åtgärder kan innebära nyläggning, utbyte eller renovering av en vattenledning. Syftet med rapporten är att ta reda på om ett visst material eller metod kan användas till vattenledningar, få fram för- och nackdelar med dessa material och metoder, både för installationsfasen och för driftsfasen. Detta görs ur ett långsiktigt tekniskt, ekonomiskt och miljömässigt perspektiv. Rapporten innehåller en faktadel med tänkbara material och schaktfria metoder och sju stycken intervjuer med ledningsägare har genomförts och en sammanställning av dessa intervjuer presenteras i kapitel 5.3.

Detta examensarbete behandlar fenomenet att använda djurkroppar som material. Studiens syfte är att undersöka fenomenet döda djur och djurkroppar i konst, hantverk och design, och lyfta fram på vilket sätt döda djur används och hur användandet kan tolkas och förstås. Teorin belyser relationen djur och människa ur historiskt perspektiv, hur djur framställts inom konsten, samt den etiska aspekten. Metod och material består i en analys utifrån texter och medier, och en kvalitativ intervju med Märta Mattsson, som skapar smycken av främst insekter. Studien visar på att djur har varit symbol för många olika saker som mod, tapperhet, häxkonst och erotik.

The written sources concerning the process of christianization in Sweden has for a long time been limited to two main texts, Rimberts vita of St. Ansgarius and Adam of Bremen´s History of the bishops of Hamburg. This is due to a rigid source criticism in the beginning of the 20th century, which put other material ? in particular the norse sagas ? out of consideration. The last twenty years however, new questions have been raised concerning the christianization, partly because of new archaeological findings, new interpretations of the significance of runic stones and the recent debate about the formation of the Swedish medieval kingdom.

Svenska Aerogel AB has developed the material Quartzene® which is of the typeprecipitated silica and contains calcium - magnesium silicate ((Ca, Mg) SiO3). Thematerial is used for molecular filtration of contaminated air. Qartzene?, which is inpellet form, is porous and has a high internal surface which is a requirement for themolecular filtration. With the use of various impregnations, filtration can affect thedesired outcome.

By examine cremated remains from graves dated to late Iron Age I wanted to find out what sorts of animals were placed in the graves. But also to see if the animal sacrifices had any connection to the Old Norse religion. The osteological material that were analysed were from both cremated humans and animals and had been dated to Viking Age. The material is from burial ground 59 at Laxare, Boge parish on Gotland. In addition to the human remains, the material contains bones from horse, cattle, sheep/goat, pig, dog, cat, bear, birds and fish.

Since 1983 the people of Sri Lanka has endured an ongoing Civil war, however the intencity has varied over the years. The aim of this theses is to examine what influence the asymmetric relationship between the Sri Lankan goverment and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has on the process of negotiating a solution to the civil war. I am also examining whether the asymmetical relationship has changed over time and if these changes have had any effect on the process.To analyze the asymmetries I divide them into material and non-material. I measure the material asymmetries in economic and military resourses, and to measure the non-material I use indicators such as commitment, alternative, controll and legitimacy.The results show that the asymmetrical relations between the parties in Sri Lanka have changed since the 1990s. Factors like 9/11 and the recurrent suicide bombings by the LTTE has had a great influence on the singalese-tamil relationsship.

This essay contains a study of the traces of trauma on the osteological material from St.Andre in Lund, which were fund durning an excavation in the year 2002, as well as a study of the age and sex distribution of this material. The propose of the essay is to discuss the occurrence of the violence in a urban environment..

Syftet är att undersöka hur lärare i årskurs ett till tre tar hänsyn till flerspråkiga barn vid undervisning av begrepp i svenska språket. Detta gällande val av arbetssätt och val av material för flerspråkiga barn. Samt hur lärarnas uppfattningar kring modersmålsläraren och fritidsledare är. Intervjuer har genomförts med tio lärare från två olika skolor. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av lärarna har likadant synsätt på hur lärare bör bemöta samt hur lärare ska arbeta med flerspråkiga barn.

Vårt syfte med detta examensarbete är att skapa ett egentillverkat studiehäfte för elever med svenska som andraspråk. Genom egna erfarenheter och möten med lärare har vi fått veta att det inte finns mycket färdigt material för dessa. Vår tanke är att den ska ge eleven chansen att lära sig om sitt nya land genom att se på skillnader och likheter mellan detta och hemlandet. Då vi framställt häftet ville vi se om läromedlet levde upp till våra förväntningar. Vi skickade ut delar av vårt material till tre lärare för varsin förberedelseklass i Skåne, med elever i olika åldrar. Responsen var mestadels positiv och lärarna upplevde motivation och entusiasm hos eleverna..

In this qualitative study of students? methods of calculating subtractions, I have used interviews, subtraction exercises and analysis of teaching material. The purpose of my study was to explore which methods students in grade three uses when calculating subtractions. I also wanted to highlight which strategies the students use and their comprehension of the concept of subtraction. In the study, I also highlight the different pedagogical ideas on which the teaching material is based on and the students? choice of methods.  The study shows that the students choose to use the methods?deduct? and ?kind of number? independently.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to present a survey of how Swedish libraries provide information services for children. In this thesis ?information? means non-fiction material and ?children? do not include preschool children. The method used is knowledge overview and the material (mostly Master theses in LIS published January 2001-June 2006) is related to user studies of children as information seekers.