Abstract Study: Degree project in teacher education, Advanced level, 15hpUniversity of SkövdeTitle: A study on students' self-esteem Students' statements on the encouragement and support in a sixth gradeNumber of pages: 26 pagesAuthor: Marie Agapuu & Ingrid SvenssonTutor: Anna-Stina AhlrikDate: January 2009 Keywords: Self-esteem, encouragement, support  A good self-esteem of students will often coincide with good academic performance, but it has also shown that students do not have low self-esteem due to low academic performance. Students' self-esteem is both a complex topic and concepts. We want this study to draw attention and to discuss teachers' efforts to enhance students' self-esteem in school. Encouragement and support of the school adopted in the study contribute to strengthening students' self-esteem. The study examines whether and how nine pupils in a sixth class is that they get encouragement and support of / from their teachers in school subjects and in learning situations.

The interest in tiny wireless applications raises the demand for an integrated reference oscillator with the same performance as the macroscopic quartz crystal reference oscillators. The main challenge of the thesis is to prove that it is possible to build a MEMS based oscillator that approaches the accuracy level of existing quartz crystal oscillators. The MEMS resonator samples which Philips provides are measured and an equivalent electrical model is designed for them. This model is used in the simulations of the Pierce oscillator and the transresistance amplifier oscillator that are evaluated in this thesis. Finally the Pierce oscillator is implemented in the A BCD2 process and manufactured at Philips Semiconductors in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

This thesis project explores technologies that enable people to experience the world through animals' senses in order to spark interest in and awareness about the marine environment and its inhabitants. The project is carried out as part of a planned ocean themed science center. The purpose is to explore how a greater understanding of the marine environment can be achieved using interactive technologies. The thesis is based on a theoretical framework consisting of academic works on experience, learning in a museum context and sensory perception. Our proposed designs are a series of, primarily, wearable devices that translate sensory experiences and principles from the marine world to humans.

This paper constitutes graduate work at the landscape architecture program at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. The main purpose of this paper is to create a project from an idea to reality. The place for the project is the environment of Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi in the north of Sweden. Icehotel is a unique hotel concept and each winter a hotel, a church and a bar is built at the area of only ice and snow, and each spring it all melts down and returns to the Torne river. During the project a plan for the environment, in ice and snow, will be made and then a part of it will be built in January 2010. The purpose is to improve the outdoor environment with landscape architecture to enhance the experience of Icehotel and create an exciting entrance to the area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and willingness towards climate compensation in air travel. The study discuss if people feel a personal responsibility about the environment. Earlier research shows that tourists are positive towards climate compensation, but in reality very few use this service. The main question is: Which are the reasons for travellers not to use climate compensation? The used methodology is qualitative and based on ten interviews with people who have travelled by air one or several times since January 2007, when the service was first established.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the impact on children's development around playing and how significance the formation of the schoolyards is focusing on how it inspire and calls to play within the children's. The study will also show how the youth workers experience the schoolyards and how they can incorporate the playground in their work to inspire the children's play and activities. The methods used in this study is based on both real conversations and by mail with educated youth workers and observations. The results shows that the schoolyard environment is very important for the children's play and development. The study reveals the importance of having nature like forest nearby and that the environment should be suited for everyone.

Animal welfare is of increasing concern in present society. In commercial pig farming, animal welfare problems are common. One of the causes for these problems is the barren environment in which pigs are housed, which can cause oral manipulation of pen mates. Providing straw might be one solution to this problem. Another solution could be reached through genetic selection.

The out-of-town retail establishments are part of the dramatic structural changes in the retailing of food and groceries. There are however strong indications suggesting these establishments result in negative externalities concerning areas such as pollution and urban environment. The purpose of this study is to describe and, from an economic perspective, analyse the Swedish political regulations and planning policies concerning the out-of-town supermarkets. The analysis establishes that the current regulations regarding out-of-town retailing do not, due to the occurrence of market failures, produce an optimal situation. It might therefore be necessary to change the planning policies in a more restrictive direction.

This bachelor thesis examines the relation between countries? degree of economic freedom and their economic performance. Economic freedom as a concept is defined as the degree of market economy within a nation.The variable of measure that is used is the Frasier institute Economic freedom of the world index (EFI). The paper is built upon the Solow growth model and is extended by incorporation of additional variables; among which of course economic freedom. The study is performed through regression analysis, based on the neoclassical model both on rich countries, poor countries and on all investigated countries.Two investigations are performed: i) the impact from economic freedom on countries level of GDP per capita and ii) the impact from economic freedom on the growth rate in GDP per capita.The finding is that economic freedom can be seen as a relevant determinant of differences in GDP per capita growth rates between nations.

This thesis has aimed to study steering process and institutionalization in the context of educational policy work. This has been conducted by using empirical material from the political decision-making process that preceded the implementation of a new national program on how principals should be educated and certified. By using an aggregated theoretical point of view containing new institutionalism and traditional Swedish curriculum theory, the process was analyzed from different perspectives. The results depict a process that contained several actors who tried to shape the principal education program differently. From the theoretical perspectives, the decision-making process could be understood as an act of both self-interest as well as trust in their own beliefs and cultural values.

The objective of this study is to examine the sustainability of recovering industrial wasteheat from several heat sources in a foundry constructed in a plant belonging to ITT Waterand Wastewater in Emmaboda, Sweden. A triple bottom line perspective will be appliedto achieve this objective. The triple bottom line approach takes into account ecologicaland social performance in addition to financial performance. The technology forrecovering the waste heat is a Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) which is aconstruction consisting of 140 vertical boreholes, 150 meters deep with an internal spaceof four meters.The calculated amount of energy for storage is approximately 3800 MWh annually. Ofthis amount 2500 MWh are expected to be utilized, while storage losses accounts for theremaining part.

Through previous studies during my education, I have experienced that chemical deicing road salt is a known problem, mainly in southern Sweden. Road salt causes damage to the environment and also damage to vehicles and structures such as bridges, etc. Road salt causes vehicles and steel constructions to rust, leading to increased costs for repairs of damage to structures. Road salt also causes damage to the plants and the economy to suffer, when plant material and soil needs to be replaced. In order to get closer to a solution, I put up three questions.

As a result of global competition, companies within the automotive industry are required to improve their production systems to achieve sustainable and competitive production. To attain operational excellence, companies have adopted concepts like lean and World Class Manufacturing (WCM).In order to deliver, companies need to increase the availability and reliability of production equipment. This demands focus on both operational and strategic maintenance, and efficient equipment acquisition and management. The main objective of this thesis is to identify processes and success factors that are necessary for improved maintenance performance. By conducting a case study and by performing a literature review, the following has been studied: 1) how companies within the automotive industry work with maintenance and maintenance strategies, 2) implementation of maintenance strategies, and 3) new acquisition and spare parts management for maintenance. The results show that basic maintenance concepts and related terms are well defined in the literature.

Man spends most part of the day at work and is therefore influenced by it?s ambience. That?s why it?s important that the environment at work is health promoting and can function as a supportive environment. The purpose of this study was to describe job satisfaction among employees and to analyse a possible connection between job satisfaction and employees experiences of SOC.

More efficient energy consumption is essential to secure a sustainable future, not least within the building and real estate sector which answers for approximately 40 % of the EU countries total energy consumption. One part of EU: s work to reduce the energy consumption is the directive on energy performance of buildings which among other things have lead to stricter demands on energy performance in new and renovated buildings.One of the difficulties with making buildings more energy effective is that it often demands big investments and although it results in lower operating costs the extent of these savings and therefore also the repayment time can be difficult to decide beforehand. To make it interesting for property owners and also tenants to invest in energy efficient buildings powerful incentives are needed. Favorable loans to energy efficiency projects are one example of governmental instruments that have been tested in other European countries with good results.Reduced operating costs appear to be the main incentive for property owners to make their buildings more energy efficient. The best result of an energy efficiency project is usually achieved by cooperation between property owners and tenants but in order to make that interesting it is important that both parts can profit from the savings.