For many years, I have tried to understand why students end up in difficulties in mathematics. As a future teacher, it is extremely important to have knowledge of the various factors that leads to difficulties in mathematics. As a teacher it is obvious to meet the students who find mathematics a difficult subject, and, therefore it is necessary to have a broader knowledge of how to respond and support these students. According to Ahlberg, number of students with mathematics difficulties is increasing every year, therefore, it is important to help students and organize a supporting school environment that promotes and encourages learning (Ahlberg 2001, p. 104-105).

A change has occurred in terms of recruitment to teacher education. From having been an educationof high status and reputation, a reduced application rate has led to lower admission requirementsand thus that students with much lower educational qualifications entering, which in turn means thatthe education status and reputation have been reduced significantly. Mathematics, on the other hand,has always been a topic of high status and reputation. Although there are few students who chooseto study to be a mathematics teacher. By conducting a survey of students on teacher educationtoday, both with mathematics and other approaches, I wanted to get answers to my questions aboutwhat influences students' choice of education: who are the students studying to be teachers inmathematics? Do they distinguish themselves from the student teachers who studies to be teachersin other subject specializations? Pierre Bourdieu's sociological ideas about cultural capitaltransmitted from parent to child constitute the theoretical framework of the study.Early in the study, I noticed that there is a difference between students studying to be a teacher inpreschool, primary or middle school and them studying to be a teacher in secondary and highschool, especially in terms of the mathematics student teachers.

AbstractSchool is taking on a great responsibility in mediating knowledge of mathematics as technology is assuming greater importance in our everyday life. The aim of this study is to examine how the teachers in year F and 1 view their teaching of mathematics from an individually adapted perspective. I have based my research on different factual study books within the education for younger children?s learning of mathematics, and have from an individually adapted perspective made a comparison between theory and practice. The empirical data has been obtained through interviews with six teachers, three pre-school teachers and three teachers, working with pupils in year F and 1.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this essay is first to get a general idea about a group of working teachers thoughts of mathematics and the teaching in mathematics. I also would like to find out what they think affect pupils relationship to the subject. The surveys main purpose is to compare teachers in grade 4-6 and teachers in grade 7-9 view of what you as a teacher can do to further the learning in mathematics. I have done eight interviews. Four of them are with teachers in grade 4-6 and the other four interviews are with teachers in grade 7-9.Concerning the result of my examination it is difficult to come to a general conclusion.

Background: Mathematics is a subject that many students perceive as difficult. In recent years, results in mathematics declined, while many students have difficulties in the subject of Swedish. However, there is not much research on the relationship between difficulties in mathematics and language weaknesses.Purpose: The purpose of this work is to find out what role the advocate competence of learning opportunities for the students to understand mathematics. A further aim of this work is to find out how mathematics is verbalized and individualized in preschool and find out how teachers in those classes describes how they work to verbalize and individualize mathematics.Method: The purpose is answered by observations in preschool and interviews of the teachers working in the observed classes. The empirical data are discussed and analyzed with theories related to children's learning and literature of mathematics and language.Result: The results show that mathematics is extensively verbalized in preschool classes.

AbstractThe purpose with this paper is to describe focus in the school subject swedish through a historic perspective. The purpose is also to intestigate how a group of pupils in the last grade in upper (senior) level of compulsory school and teachers with the subject swedish thinks about the subject, what is the most meaningful to pupils in the last grade in upper level of compulsory school.The history of the Swedish school system from the 15 th century till today and the entrance of Swedich as a subject in school has been studied by literature and curriculum. With help from Mr Lars-Göran Malmgrens analysis of different swedish subjects the curriculums analyses to see which subject who appear.Pupils from the last grade in upper level of compulsory school and their teachers in the the subject swedish have answered questions in two different questionnaires regarding what is most meaningful with the subject. The result are to be present in this paper as diagram and also in ordinary text.The conclusion is that the subject swedish has changed from functionalism to formalism and then turned to a more literary education and finally towards functionalism again. The results from the questionnaire papers show that the pupils put most value in learning different skills while the teachers see the importance of both skills and developing the personality..

There has been a lot of debate in media about mathematics teaching in grade school in Sweden. Many students experience that mathematics in grade school is abstract, which leads to decreased interest of mathematics in early years. An international study indicates that Swedish students in class 4 do not fulfill the mean for mathematics according to EU/OECD countries. The study also shows that Sweden practice a textbook driven education, compared to other countries. The aim for this study was to find out how a few pedagogues for class F-6 teach mathematics, and why they have chosen to educate the way they do.

The Third International Assessment of Educational Progress (TIMMS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) during the last decades regarding the results of mathematics teaching shows that China have a better performance than Sweden?s.Swedish teacher-guidelines focus on developing student?s individual interest and confidence for mathematics. In the Chinese teaching-guidelines for Mathematics Curriculum Standards, Ordninary Senior Secondary, the focus is given on: Elevate their mathematics literacy necessary for future citizenship and Development of citizen´s qualities (s.3).Teachers are the primary factors that impact teaching and learning of mathematics. Two teachers from Sweden and two from China were interviewed and their methods were compared in my study. The aim of my study was to understand mathematics teaching in China and Sweden.

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.

Practice of mathematical proof increase the understanding of mathematics anddevelop creativity skills, problem solving, communication, logical thinking andreasoning which are all important tools not only within the subject of mathematicsbut also important tools for the society in which we are living. The aim of this projectwas to investigate whether it is accurate that proof and proving has a subordinate rolein mathematic education in the upper secondary school in Sweden. This was done byconstructing of a digital survey that was sent to approximately 100 practicingmathematics teachers in a normal size city located in the middle of Sweden. Theresults of the survey show that the teachers consider themselves comfortable withtheir own skills in teaching proof. Paradoxically, the results also show that there is alack of teaching of proof and proving in the upper secondary school, although the newcurriculum puts more focus on proof and proving..

This exam essay will look at dyslexia, dyscalculia and the connections that may exist between these two phenomena. My purpose, from the beginning, was to investigate if there might be any connections between dyslexia and dyscalculia, or if the consequences that appear as a result of dyslexia, might lead to problems and difficulties in mathematics.   I found it very hard to find literature that deal with dyscalculia, both as a subject of its own and together with dyslexia. Therefore, I was more or less forced to focus on difficulties in mathematics as a result from dyslexia.   From what I have found, dyslexia and dyscalculia cannot be connected, at least not without more research on the subject. Two consequences; an impaired short-term memory and also an impaired spatial ability are both common, both for persons with dyslexia and for persons with dyscalculia. Other than these, there are no connections, apart from the difficulties in mathematics that are directly, or indirectly, caused by dyslexia..

The purpose of this essay was to understand why the pupils of upper secondary school are unable to pass the Mathematics A level. As method, I chose interviews, since the personal and various experiences of the informants are very important for the validity of this essay.This study has shown that the students lack motivation and consider Matematics boring. They haven?t been able to fathom the connection between the subject and how it van be used in everyday life. If the pupils? are to pass their Mathematics A level, they need time, further recourses and teachers who are apt and attentive pedagogues.Additionally, the teachers need more knowledge when it comes to methodology and didactic styles..

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.

In each classroom there is a teacher with good intentions wanting what´s best for their pupils. But grades and tests in mathematics from 2009 in Sweden shows there is a crack between the subject being taught and the learning child. The purpose with this research is to find an understanding from a teaching and learning perspective of which teaching method is more suitable for teaching and learning mathematics by doing a comparison between two methods. The main question is:What are the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional and the laboratory method of teaching, supported by the two keywords teaching method and learning?This C-paper is based on a qualitative research aiming to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior.

The purpose of the present study is to describe adult second language learners? experiences of mathematics learning from a past and contemporary perspective. What experiences in mathematics do they bring? What does it mean to learn Mathematics through their new language?The study is based on life-world narratives from five second language students with another native language than Swedish. Today they all study at a Swedish folk high school, at upper secondary level and they have previously studied at this level in Mathematics. The result shows that the meeting with the Swedish school and folk high school context is confusing.