In a society where adults set the conditions for children?s play and generate modern and at times technically advanced products, fundamental characteristics like simplicity, opportunities for motor skills training and learning tend to be neglected. Owing to this, the Linköping-based company Time In wants to introduce a new multifunctional product, which differs from other products in shape and function and lives up to the often overlooked, basic characteristics in a toy.With Time In as the assigner, the purpose of this master thesis has been to use simple means to produce a "learning by playing" concept. Since Time In sells toys and products suitable for children in nurseries and preschools, the development of the products has therefore included a study of nursery and preschool environments.The thesis has been carried out within the Product Design subject area at the Department of Management and Engineering at Linköping University. Concept development has been done in three phases: the Preparation phase, the Design phase and the Presentation phase.

AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to increase the knowledge of which strategies students with reading and writing disabilities or dyslexia use to learn in secondary school. The study aims to examine the following questions:Which coping strategies do students with reading and writing disabilities use in their studies?How can remedial teachers support students with reading and writing disabilities in their learning process?The study consists of two interviews with a total of three hours recorded material made with a secondary school teacher who teaches Swedish and English. The teacher has experiences of reading and writing disabilities herself but also from teaching students with dyslexia. The interviews are constructed into a lifestory describing experiences of reading and writing disabilities in school, during teacher training and as a teacher.

Cochleaimplantat (CI) är ett tekniskt hörselhjälpmedel som används av personer med grav hörselnedsättning eller dövhet. Ett CI ger barn med medfödd dövhet möjlighet att höra och utveckla talad kommunikation. CI ersätter inte normal hörsel och det finns stora individuella variationer i språk och talfärdighet hos personer med CI. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera kognitiva och språkliga förmågor hos barn med CI med fokus på läsförmåga. I studien deltog 57 barn i åldrarna 7;3-10;4 år.

Study objectives:Examine ambulance personnel?s perceptions of skills / training and knowledge with regards to the existing mechanical / manual compressions and frequency of training during a work shift. Do ambulance personnel think that mechanical compressions increase survival? Are there concerns that the device could damage the patient?Design: A cross-sectional study, quantitative approach with qualitative elements was conducted.Methods:Questionnaire form, which was answered by 44 ambulance personnel in an ambulance organisation in Sweden. Participants were on a scale of 1-5 to select how they agree with the claims of the study form and also submit their own comments.

Bakgrund:Teknologins utveckling samt den ökade globaliseringen har gjort dagens controller till ett komplext yrke som berör många aspekter. Vi vill behandla ämnet utifrån personer som ska anställa en controller eftersom de är involverade i controller-rollen. Vi undrar hur dessa personer egentligen kan veta vad de söker hos en controller när det råder en så stor osäkerhet kring begreppet.Syfte:Syftet med vår uppsats är att undersöka vilka förväntningar som arbetsgivare har på en controller samt analysera dessa med stöd av tidigare forskning och litteratur. Uppsatsen fokuserar på dels vad controllern skall arbeta med och hur arbetsuppgifterna utvecklas och dels på personlighetsdrag och färdigheter. Vi vill få en ökad förståelse på hur arbetsgivare via sina förväntningar tolkar begreppet controller.Metod:En kvalitativ forskningsmetod med abduktiv ansats.

Elever i musikklasser med ko?rinriktning i grundskolan inga?r i en lokalt situerad musikkultur som a?r formad av traditioner med ro?tter i fo?rra seklets fo?rsta ha?lft. I denna tradition har konventioner om sa?ng med barn utvecklats. Undervisning i musikklasser sker i stora grupper men den enskilda eleven internaliserar kunskapen om att sjunga individuellt.

Children with Reading and Writing Difficulties and Their Language and Cognitive AbilitiesA Comparison with Children with a Cochlear ImplantAbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the cognitive abilities that are important for reading in children with reading disabilities, children with a cochlear implantation and typically developed children. 64 children aged 10-12 years participated in the study. To answer the question at issue we used the following tests: Block Design from WISC III, PPVT III, TOWRE, SL 40 and a few chosen tests out of the SIPS battery. On tests of the lexical access children with reading disabilities performed at the same level as hearing children, while the children with a cochlear implant performed significantly lower. Test of the phonological and complex working memory showed that children with reading disabilities performed significantly higher than children with a cochlear implant, but at the same time lower than typically developed children on the test of phonological working memory.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate upper secondary school librarians conceptions of fiction mediation. By using a phenomenographic method, the different conceptions of the specific phenomena, how the librarians conceptualise their work with mediation of fiction, are made clear. The aim of the method is not to study what fiction mediation is constituted of, but rather how upper secondary school librarians understand it. Qualitative interviews were held with eight upper secondary school librarians about their conceptions of their working tasks, the meaning of fiction for youths, reading promotion, inspiration to purchase of fiction, free voluntary reading and if the importance of fiction has changed over time. The results showed that the upper secondary school librarians conceptualise their working tasks as both changeable and repeatable.

In 2010 mandatory audit was revoked for small and medium sized companies in Sweden. At the same time the authorization for accounting consultants was established with the aim of raising the knowledge and status of the profession. Even though The Swedish Companies Registration Office has discovered more errors in the accounting after the mandatory audit was eliminated, it especially concerns those companies who does not have neither an auditor or an accounting consultant. One of the reasons often mentioned to be audited is the auditors role when it comes to lending decisions. Our empirical studie show that the auditors most important function, being unbiased, is not what is of greatest importance for the credit institutions.Instead it was professional skills, and for small and medium enterprises (SME) it was consulting they requested the most.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how special education is done in relation to what is considered "normal". The aim is to discuss how the normalization discourse appears in a pre-school for all and, by extension, how the need of special education is articulated in relation to the normalization discourse. This study also intends to discuss how the perception of what is normal affects special education in pre-schools. The study draws upon previous research within the special education area through which we make our position. Since there is only a few studies in this chosen field which are based on empirical data, our study indicates the importance of more research in this field.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how twelve middle school teachers use educational tools and what influences their choice of educational tools in Swedish language writing instruction. To answer this purpose, three research questions were formulated: What does writing instruction look like for middle school students according to the teachers in the study? What influences teachers' choice and use of educational tools in writing instruction? What opportunities and challenges do teachers experience in Swedish language writing instruction when using different educational tools? Twelve teachers from variously sized municipalities and with different experiences participated in the study through purposive sampling and convenience sampling. The chosen method is qualitative semi-structured teacher interviews. To analyse the results, this study employs analytical tools from the sociocultural perspective, using concepts such as mediation, appropriation, the zone of proximal development, and scaffolding. The results show that both analogue and digital tools are used in the teachers' writing instruction. The choice of tools should be based on pedagogical considerations, with an emphasis on social interaction and collaboration during the learning process.

The purpose with this essay is to study how children in the fifth grade experience reading in three different reading cultures; library, home and in school. The children?s experiences from reading are compared to expectations from library and school.Data, to this study, is collected through qualitative interviews in two focus groups and analyzed by using an idea analysis. The INSU-model, Information Needs, Seeking and Use, and Aidan Chambers reading circle in combination with a triangle of the three reading cultures are used as a theoretical framework. The analysis shows that children are using reading for different purposes in different reading cultures.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand and examine the problem andreason why second language pupils have difficulties reaching the goals of thecurriculum in ?Swedish as a second language?. The study is based on interviews withtwo second language teachers and Vygotskijs and Antonovskys theories. The interviewswith teachers gave a broader view on why these difficulties exist and whatconsequences might occur. This analysis shows that there can be different reasons as towhy pupils can not reach the goals in their second language that are set for them.

The aim of the study was to examine both 1) how aware teachers in a specific area are about ICT tools in teaching ; and 2) how likely teachers are to use ICT tools to reverse the trend of unmotivated students and low achievement scores . I will look for answers through the following questions:How extensive is the knowledge of the teachers on digital and social media in education? How have teachers in the past year used various social media in their teaching? In what grade does ICT-supported teaching lead to higher motivation, participation and achievement? Is there a difference between the sexes, different stages (1-3, 4-6, 7-9) and number of years in the profession in knowledge of and openness to the use of ICT in education?The method used is a questionnaire in which a number of respondents have answered a number of questions about ICT tools in teaching. Validity of the study can be said to be high when the survey has measured what it intended to measure, however, I need to be careful in draw full account of the result as the response rate is low with only 39%. In summary, the results show that there is low awareness among respondents about the methods and the digital and social tools I lift in the survey.Mainly the respondents use some of the methods and the digital and social tools in preparation for the lesson.

Resource-based learning or problem-oriented learning are teaching methods that are becoming more and more common in schools today. In order to make these teaching methods work there is a demand to make students information literate. This entails that school librarians ought to play a more important role in teaching than before since they are the ones that are the most qualified when it comes to mediating information skills. The aim of this thesis is to find out how nine teachers at six senior high schools apprehend the professional role of the school librarian and how they apprehend the conception of information literacy In order to learn about these conceptions we have chosen to study to what extent collaboration exists in the schools in question and the teachers conceptions of the importance of the school librarian in this context. We have used phenomenography which is both a set of theoretical assumptions and a methodology.