This thesis presents a new way of providing library users with reference services, namely chat (text based digital reference service in real time). Our research questions focus on the role of reference service, a comparison of chat reference to other reference forms, and the interest for real-time, digital reference. Our literature review covered the areas of digital reference and reference theory, the results of which showed that an ongoing debate hardly exists among Swedish librarians on the topic of reference work. We interviewed librarians from the three different Swedish chat reference projects existing at the time of our study. Most interviewees were very positive about chat reference.

The aim of this thesis is to ascertain how primary school teachers would like to improve their mathematics teaching. The central questions for this research are:In what ways do teachers want to improve their mathematics teaching?How do the teachers justify their statements?What main features can be distinguished out of the teachers answers?Three interviews and seven surveys have been used to collect information from a total of nine teachers, at one primary school. Teaching pupils from preschool to sixth grade. The results have been analysed, interpreted and discussed using a drama pedagogical perspective, inspired by a holistic approach to learning.

This master thesis is a result of the work carried out for Research Electronics at Siljansnäs. The company develops customized electronical systems. Because of the rapidly increasing interest in colour displays there has been a desire within the company to represent information from sensors and electrical systems in a more advanced way.Due to the mentioned reason above we were given the assignment to solve how a colour display using the STN technique works. The technique is used by small displays, the size of QVGA. Our ambition of this diploma work is to develop a fully functionally test prototype to evaluate the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and the LCD controller.

Reading and analyzing literature has a long tradition of being an essential part of the teaching of English in Sweden. As the offers of entertainment have increased in popular culture with the introduction of computer games, internet and other media, interest in reading novels has decreased. Literature is still a compulsory part of English teaching and the question is how teachers of today use literature and what kind of literary instruction they use.The aim of this study is to explore and discuss the literary instruction discourse in pedagogical texts, lessons, created by and for English teachers of Swedish Upper Secondary Schools. The lessons have been collected from the site lektion.se, where teachers are able to share knowledge and lessons. The study uses an analytical method based on Norman Fairclough´s Critical Discourse Analysis in order to analyze the lessons.

Sammanfattning Utgångspunkten i den här studien har varit lärarens muntliga kommunikation och hur den kommer till uttryck i den konkreta undervisningssituationen med fokus på skolämnet idrott och hälsa. Pedagogisk forskning om lärande och ämnesdidaktisk forskning brister ofta i att hänsyn ej tas till lärarens roll och dennes muntliga kommunikation i undervisningen. Området är relativt outforskat vilket är förvånande då lärarens främsta redskap är hennes tal. Syftet med den här studien var att ge en bättre förståelse för hur lärares muntliga kommunikation kommer till uttryck och om ämnets karaktär är av betydelse. För att ta reda på detta har jag använt mig av en kvalitativ forskningsansats med intervjuer och observationer som undersökningsmetod.

The intention with this study is to investigate how schools are affected by state and municipal documents when they organize the education for children with special needs. The study is based on following questions.How do decisions on state and municipal level of politics affect the decisions that the principals make concerning organization, and do the school leaders think that the decisions are made on the right level of liability?What is the relationship between economic decisions and pedagogical decisions?What decides whether the schools have children with special needs integrated in their ordinary classes, or if they receive segregated remedial courses, and what are the views on an equivalent education?The study is conducted through interviews with principals of three schools, one politician on municipal level and one special education teacher. The interviews are linked to an historic background as well as current studies and discourses. The study shows that there are contradictions between state, municipality and school goals.

Nuclear power production carries potential risks both for the environment and for the work force. Different safety measures are employed and they stem from local rules as well as from regulatory authorities. This work describes the development of a safety promoting tool at Forsmark Power Plant, one of Sweden?s three Nuclear power plants. We describe the development of a computer based system for Pre-Job Briefing and Post-Job Debriefing.

This essay is a study and analysis of the funnel beaker pottery at Gullarve 1:13 in Väte parish. The purpose of the study is to analyse the chronology of the settlement by determine the distribution, stratigraphic context and the ornamentation of the pottery. Another purpose is to discuss the geographical location of the settlement in the landscape.In this essay a short review of the pottery and the funnel beaker culture as well as a description of the pottery from the archaeological excavation from 1984 at Gullarve 1:13 is presented. Since the documentation of the archaeological excavation from 1984 is missing or is very inadequate, no spatial analysis can be carried out. The distribution of the pottery can?t contribute to the result of the essay, though if possible it probably would have provided some interesting results.

This report discusses the development of lessons based on laborations for middle and high school.The purpose of the project was to research the possibility to affect students' attitude towards physicsthrough well-planned stimulating lessons. The lessons were based on the Light and Lasers OutreachKit, a teaching package made by the organisation Laser Classroom, and have been adapted for physicsin middle and high school. The lessons were developed on a pedagogical and didactical ground andwere improved with surveys and peer and self assessment. The lessons were based on laser light and itsproperties. One lesson covered the topic of single-slit diffraction, while the other treated geometricaloptics.

This report discusses the development of lessons based on laborations for middle and high school.The purpose of the project was to research the possibility to affect students' attitude towards physicsthrough well-planned stimulating lessons. The lessons were based on the Light and Lasers OutreachKit, a teaching package made by the organisation Laser Classroom, and have been adapted for physicsin middle and high school. The lessons were developed on a pedagogical and didactical ground andwere improved with surveys and peer and self assessment. The lessons were based on laser light and itsproperties. One lesson covered the topic of single-slit diffraction, while the other treated geometricaloptics.

This study was conducted at a special school for children with autism and developmental disabilities. The study consists of three interviews where pedagogues have different experiences of working with children in need of special support. The aim is to get an idea of how teachers think about working with children autism, but above all to find out what methods and educational tools that are used, and why they are used to best motivate students to a rewarding education. Sense of coherence (SOC) is a central concept and a theoretical basis of the study relating to the student to create comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in life. All of these three are essential for the student to find a predictable environment.From the result shows how schools and teachers use different methods and different tools, but both have a focus to help the student find motivation in the learning process.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss how a Swedish public library approaches their costumers. I will show how a library interacts with their costumers compared to a business, which has a different economic work frame, a building materials supplier. My aim is to pinpoint differences and explore new methods for the library in order to improve their service.The theoretical frame of the thesis is based on Richard Norman's notion the Moment of truth. The moment of truth is the moment when a business has to convince their customer that they offer both the product, proficiency and service that the customer needs. Service encounters at two organizations have been observed and their differences and similarities compared.

Today an increasing number of schools and organizations are investing in so called Learning Management Systems. Researchers disagree on the pedagogical value of these tools. Some mean that Learning Management Systems cement old-fashioned behaviouristic teaching practices; others mean that the systems provide good opportunities in supporting learning in a socio cultural perspective. The aim of this study is to reach better understanding and increased knowledge of how the introduction of a Learning Management System influences the role of the teacher and how the learning is organized. We have conducted two case studies.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate why and how projects with children participating in selecting media at children s sections are made and how the projects effect the collections and the usage of these collections. We have studied literature dealing with how the selection at children s sections traditionally are made, how children participate in society and the question of quality. We have also made a survey to find out whether it is common to do projects like this in Sweden. In addition to this we have studied the discussion of patrons participating in library activities, having found mostly Danish material. Our study deals with five Danish projects, the reports of which we have read, and five Swedish projects, whose responsible librarians and assistants we have interviewed.

In this study my aim has been to discover what connections can be made between the way of creating a library building and the general values concerning the library activities and the library users. What kind of ideology could possibly be reflected in a library room? My study includes two different parts. First of all there is a theoretical section based upon literature relevant for the subject. Here I try to focus on the libraryÕs role in society as a public room.