The Squares Family is a game developed as a learning aid in mathematics. With its graphical representation of the decimal system, the four basic arithmetic operations and positive and negative numbers together with a learning agent as pedagogical approach, the game?s primary purpose is to motivate students in their learning of mathematics. Although the game is strictly based on mathematical rules it attempts to encourage students to play and work with math without experiencing it as mathematics as this is initially not obvious. The game being internationally tested on normal performing students, this project introduced the game to six Swedish students who experience low motivation for and/or difficulties in mathematics.

Sweden is a multicultural country and because of this the Swedish school-system should be adapted so that all pupils can develop their linguistic skills so that they can participate andunderstand the education. By using scientific work from other researchers and my own experiences from a general point of view, I noticed that pupils with foreign origin perform less good in mathematics than pupils with Swedish origin, in the Swedish education system.The purpose of this research is to find out if communication and interplay between the pupils makes it easier for them to understand mathematics and its? concepts. My research involves acertain school class were all pupils have another etnicity then the Swedish one. My aim was to find out if the pupils reached the knowledge-goals for mathematics in the third grade.

Ella Mathematics is a web portal that will completely replace the printed math text book in the Swedish elementary school. When the math education is moved in to the digital world the flexibility and adaptability will increase.In 2011 the Swedish government revised the Swedish school system, which contained a whole new curriculum for the elementary school math education. This has been the foundation for the development of Ella Mathematics and the design of the three different users; student, teacher and parent. The development has been done with Dynamic Product Development methods from the project start in September 2011 until the final exam in May 2012.Ella Mathematics has been developed with the pupil?s math knowledge in focus.

Syftet var att studera matematikundervisningens utveckling genom att beskriva styrdokumentens, läroplanernas och kursplanernas påverkan på undervisningen. Bakgrunden till detta examensarbete är det faktum att många elever uppfattar skolmatematiken som komplicerad och ointressant och att de inte når de uppsatta målen. Metoden som användes var en litteraturgenomgång där matematikundervisningens utveckling studerades. Genom att även utföra en kvalitativ intervjuundersökning kunde fem yrkeserfarna pedagoger beskriva hur de uppfattar denna utveckling och hur det visar sig i deras matematikundervisning. Studien visar att i takt med att samhället utvecklas och förändras utvecklas också styrdokumenten.

Teaching in pre-school usually takes its starting-point in children?s reality and curiosity. Apart from that it has also been important to take contains of a special subject under consideration, for example development of language and communication or mathematics development. The purpose of this study was to investigate how natural science as a special subject in pre-school education is expressed by five trainee teachers when they teach children at the age of 2-7. Generally the study focuses on the students? teaching actions as well as their line of argument about their teaching and the choices they have to make.

My aim with the experience-based essay is that I want to explore the implications of mathematics on children's development. I also want to examine my approach in relation to the various mathematical tasks. Why do we think that mathematics is important for pre-school children? What does the research say about how the teacher is thinking about mathematics? Can the teacher combine playing and learning and create meaningful moments and activities related to mathematics? I also want to explore our policies and the objectives that the teacher should relate to. What is required of me as a teacher in order to meet those goals?My essay is about mine and my boss?s view of the mathematical tasks that I usually perform in the preschool.

This essay focuses on the pictures in mathematics books for elementary school. The purpose was to see if images in mathematics books for elementary school show traditional gender roles.The aim of the essay has been broken down into following research questions:Vilka färger förknippar de olika matematikböckerna till pojkar/män respektive flickor/kvinnor?How many times were girls/women and boys/men illustrated in the mathematics books?What behavior is associated with masculinity and femininity?Which colours are associated with boys/men and girls/women in the mathematics books?I used a semiotic image analysis method to study the pictures presented in the mathematics books. The theories in this essay were used to see how society makes girls become girls and boys become boys and in what ways the genders are portrayed in relation to each other. In addition, the theories include the question of whether a specific colour is given to a specific gender? The analysis evidently confirmed that the images in the mathematics books demonstrated traditional gender roles.

The aim of this study is to examine how the way of teaching in technical subjects are in Uganda and to link those results to Swedish circumstances. A comparison is being done both of the teaching and what methods are used. Since I was living with my family in Uganda I could easily examine the system of school here. During four days I was at a school named Aga Khan School here in Kampala. I could there participate in teaching, talk to teachers, observe and participate during lessons.

This report is a qualitative study on children aged three to five years who are in the Swedish preschool. The purpose of the study is to investigate how five experienced preschool teachers view the way children between three and five years acquire basic mathematical concepts, basic numeracy and geometry. The aim is also to find out whether teachers feel that the size of the group of children affects their learning.The study contains information about what preschool teachers think about the way children learn mathematics and how the size of the group of children affects this learning. From the results it can be seen that children learn Mathematics, both in everyday situations and when playing. Moreover, the group size does not seem to affect the mathematical learning of the child.

This study was designed to describe and understand how children perceive and explain mathematical situations. During our work based training we have met several students who have been insecure in the subject of mathematics and therefore come to think that it's difficult and boring. The questions we have asked ourselves are why and how this insecurity occurs. In preschools around the country teachers actively worked to create opportunities for children to meet and discover mathematics. The question is whether the teachers are aware of how children perceive mathematics and how children think in mathematical situations. We chose to conduct a qualitative study using different methods of data collecting in order to approach the children's world.

There have been debates on the big differences in mathematics knowledge concerning pupils in Sweden and Finland. Especially, one common issue in the discussions of education is the Pisa test results, which take up in the media. In the Pisa research the Finnish pupils get through well year after year. Because of the discussions about the distinct school systems in Sweden and Finland, I found it interesting to investigate the divergence of the curriculums in these two countries. The main research questions asked were, what are the main differences and similarities in the Swedish and Finnish curriculums in primary school? Such as, is the assignment of primary school similar in Sweden and Finland?In my study I analyzed and compared by means of the curriculum especially mathe-matics teaching in primary schools in grade three in Sweden and in grade two Fin-land.

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.

Syftet med denna undersökning var att ta reda på vad lärare i grundskolan anser om utom¬husmatematik, varför och när de själva arbetar med det. Arbetet innehåller utomhusmatemati¬kens yttre ramar. Jag har valt att intervjua sex lärare som arbetar med utomhusmatematik eller som tycker att det verkar vara ett intressant arbets¬sätt. Alla lärare arbetar i grundskolan och representerar två olika skolor. Två av lärarna arbe¬tar med utomhusmatematik en gång i veckan.

The following essay aims to determine what textbooks and teaching media educators in the county of Västerbotten use when teaching the relation between religion and science. Based on educational science theory and through analyzes of factual texts, the teaching materials was examined to determine how much focus they put on the thematic of religion and science. The result shows how the different teaching materials affect this thematic differently. The main conclusion is therefore that students in Sweden could, depending on the teaching materials used in their education, be taught by different standards to reach the same requirements..

The aim of the study is to examine factors influencing students? feelings of pleasure or pain associated with school mathematics. Own experience of students? frustration about mathematics and concern about students not reaching desired goals is the driving force in this study. It contributes with knowledge from the students' perspective.