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.

Earlier studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders among animal keepers are more frequent than in other occupations. Most of the farms have expanded and the farmers who used to work alone have suddenly become a work manager with several employers. There are only a few studies made on the work environment in dairy farms. Our study is based on a questionnaire and is a part of a project called large dairy herds. The study is based on data from the persons who milk most of the time. The questions they had to answer were about the work environment, musculoskeletal disorders and the psychosocial environment. The results of the survey are presented in diagrams and figures. It was common that the dairy producer themselves answered the questionnaire.

Detta utveklingsarbete går ut på att genom den syntetiska läsinlärningsmetoden lära eleverna bokstäver med hjälp av den kinestetiska lärstilen.Arbetet utförs i en år 1 genom en försökslektion som innebär att jag som lärare lär ut en för klassen, och för vissa elever, ny bokstav som vi därefter tränar på genom olika moment, både enskilt och i grupp. Det kinestetiska momentet består av att arbeta med play-doh och forma veckans bokstav och sedan bygga ett ord med play-dohn.Arbetet utvärderas med intervju som en metod och analys av bokstavsböcker som en annan.Resultatet visar att alla eleverna lärt sig Z på olika sätt. Några elever har lärt sig genom att forma play-dohn till bokstaven och andra genom att skriva bokstaven. Dessa resultat har eleverna uppgett vid intervjuerna.Min främsta slutsats är att alla elever lär sig läsa och skriva men på olika sätt. Därför gäller det som lärare att gå igenom bokstäverna från grunden och låta barnen arbeta på olika sätt, med alla sinnen och framförallt få se, höra, göra till varje bokstav..

The purpose of this study is to examine how four teachers in preschool describe their view of conflicts between children from gender perspective. The theories associated with the study conclude that sex can be considered as being either biologically or socially engineered. The study consists of empirical material by the means of qualitative research based on interviews. The results of the study show different views on whether children's gender plays a role in a conflict. Furthermore, I have chosen to find out whether gender plays a role in conflict management as well as in the children's play at preschool, this to come to as qualitative conclusions as possible..

Background: The request for the Reggio Emilia practice has expanded enormously the last couple of years within the Swedish preschools. This particular practice describes the environment as a third educator. This third educator is supposed to work as - not only a tool - but also a support to ease children's learning experiences and help develop their mind. Previous research has shown that design of, for instance, furniture has a way of affecting the children's learning process and development.Aims: The purpose of this study is to see how two different teams of preschool educators on two differed Reggio Emilia inspired preschools work and handle the physical indoor environment. Method: We started out by contacting Reggio Emilia inspired preschools.

AbstractThe project "Sound and Play" have been implemented in collaboration with the toy company BRIO in Malmo. The purpose of the project was to examine whether and how BRIO in the future could develop toys around sound for Toddlers.The problem formulations that would be answered after completion of the project was "How could BRIO broaden its product range with the help of audio toys?", "How can you combine toys and sounds in an interesting way for children?", "How do you create a toy with sound that is fun for the child, but not annoying for parents?". Currently BRIO only has two toys with sound in this age group.The expression of the toy was going to be a mix of classic and cool and the overall feeling of the toy was going to be explorative and arouse curiosity in the child. This feeling would be communicated through simplicity and joy.

This project is a contribution in the debate of sustainable city planning. The conceptual ideas in this project can be used on many places and are here applyed on the center of Nacka, outside of Stockholm. The essay is based on an entry in the competition Europan 9, advertised by Europan in collaboration with the municipality of Nacka. The theme of the competition is ?sustainable city and public space?. The discussion of the sustainable city is a very wide subject which needs to be narrowed to suite the context of Nacka.

Boulognerskogen is a park in the central of Skövde that have had a health resort, paths for strolling, outdoor-bath, outdoor-sport areas and events. During the 1970:th there was a lack of interest for the park and very few visited it. By a motion from a resident in Skövde wich proposes that a city playground will be build in Boulognerskogen gave me an opportunity to investigate how the potential of the park can be used to create a funny and nice place to visit for children in company with adults. By a program that contains the main goals and design program for a city playground in Boulognerskogen, I wanted to present a proposal that could meet childrens needs to play and to use the conditions of the place to create places to play in, and where children in company with adults could be together. To reach this, I wanted to try different methods that could lead to a proposal that was well supported by children and adults, and wich was possible to use by the local authority in their further actions. The methods that I used was therefor an important part of the work. I have choosen to define the concept "city playground" as a greater playground situated in the center of the town that are suitable for outings and as a meetingplace, with a varation in playground attractions and promote children and adults to be together, aiming at younger children in the ages of 1-10 years in company with adults, but should also give space to activities of other groups.

The purpose of this Masters thesis has been to study the changes made in shelf arrangement and library environment in a Swedish public library. The aim was to examine the reasoning done by the library staff regarding classification, the Swedish classification system SAB and changes in library environment. The basis of our study were three questions: 1. Why has Västervik public library made changes in the shelf arrangement? 2.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate if gender stereotypes are mediated to children between 0-3 years through books suitable for their age. This thesis concerns books that are available in public libraries. The content will be analysed by using a combination of methods, both content analysis of all the books in our study and a qualitative analysis of a smaller number of these books. With inspiration from both Robert Connell and Yvonne Hirdman and their theories of gender and gender stereotypes, this material was read and we wanted to examine if books for very young children might establish stereotypes. Our analysis showed that many known stereotypes are common in these books.

This master thesis deals with the problem of integrated libraries. The number of integrated public and school libraries has significantly increased over time. These libraries are integrated for different reasons, most often because of economic considerations. The goal of the thesis is to investigate librarians´ understanding and perceptions of the professional role in this type of integrated libraries. I have investigated how librarians see and interpret their own professional role, and what factors influence their perceptions in an integrated library.The three main questions are: How do the librarians explain their professional role in an integrated library? How does their professional role change because of the fact that they work in an integrated environment? What factors, according to the librarians, influence and/or change the professional role mostly? The data has been collected through interviews with eight librarians at integrated libraries.

Dampness in the indoor environment have been a major issue of discussion the last decades since more and more people complain about their indoor environment. In the present situation there are difficulties to find what causes people?s discomfort in a damp environment even though there is a strong connection between dampness and human health.The aim of the thesis was to contribute to the work done today to achieve a better indoor environment in damp buildings. The purpose of the work was to evaluate whether the measures issued for dampness in the indoor environment contributes to the improvement of health and environment for those who are living or working in that space. Through a literature review, interview and survey the following three questions were answered to achieve the aim and purpose:How are people affected by the indoor environment in damp buildings?Which are the measures issued to prevent dampness in the indoor environment?Do these interventions contribute to a better indoor environment?How people are affected by the indoor environment in damp buildings and how these problems are prevented were the foundation for the continued work with the survey.

The purpose of this study was to find out how caregivers experienced their psychosocial work environment at three municipal homes for old people. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) was used in order to study different dimensions of the work environment, and questions about health, sickness presence and sick leave were included. The questionnaire was answered by 86 out of 112 participating caregivers (77%). The results showed that the caregivers experienced high demands at work. The degree of feedback and influence at work was low, but they reported that their work was highly meaningful and that they usually received social support at work.

Jonzon, C & Kvist, C (2009). ?Jag leker inte, jag jobbar. Fast på låtsats.? En studie om barns lek utomhus.

The occupational group who works in the care of older people in Sweden is an exposed group since the work is often defined as a strenuous profession, both physical and psychically, and this puts comparatively many workers on sick leave. To promote good health, as well as prevent bad health is the main purpose of the work environment development. The attitude of the care manager towards work environment development may have a significant impact on the co-workers health. The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitude of care managers towards work environment development and the co-workers work environment and in the same time get knowledge in what issues they have a salutary approach respectively a pathological approach. Empirics were gathered from semi-structured interviews with six care managers from the care of older people administration in municipality of Kalmar.