AbstractThe overall purpose of this thesis was to investigate to what extent new research findings, in neuroscience and learning, may be useful in a school improvement context. In a qualitative interview study combined with questionnaire, we have investigated the approach to school improvement that exists in a municipality. Informants have been head teachers in preschool and primary school, special education teachers in a student health team and a development manager. The outcome of the study showed that all of the study participants, all of which have a formal mandated to work for school improvement occurs. It also shows that informants, according to their professional position, express different goals when relating to school improvement.

This essay deals with the various difficulties that can arise in conversations and meetings with parents and colleagues in the preschool world. The essay is based on two self-perceived stories that culminate in dilemmas that are difficult to assess, where our own actions come into question.The purpose of this essay is to gain a greater understanding and awareness of why we become insecure when our communication with others fails. Our research questions assist us in gaining an understanding that our own and others' behavior in meetings and conversations can be influenced by past experience, ourvalues and our emotions. This means, for example, that we must be aware that our values - ideal images, functions as both our guide and trip wires. We must also bear in mind that our ability to manage our own emotional reactions is  significant when it comes to facing our own and others' feelings.

The background to this thesis is the impact of information technology on libraries and librarywork. If information technology causes changes in the tasks and work of libraries, thenlibrary organisations should also change. It is important to engage and inform the staff if suchchanges are to succeed. This thesis investigates the notions about library tasks and librarywork among eight "middle-managers" at Linkopings universitetsbibliotek.The investigation is based on interviews and then analysed with Soft Systems Methodology(SSM). By identifying the "Weltanschauung" of the staff, the thesis tries to create logicallydesirable and culturally feasible models of systems relevant to the situation at Linkopingsuniversitetsbibliotek.

Syftet med aktionsforskningsstudien är att lyfta fram förskoleklasslärares egna åsikter om förskoleklassverksamheten. Det är ett relativt outforskat område, förskoleklassreformen genomfördes 1996. Denna studie ska bidra med mer kunskaper med hjälp av förskoleklasslärares egna berättelser om förskoleklassverksamheten utifrån pedagogernas perspektiv. De fyra deltagande förskoleklasslärarna var ett strategiskt val, de fyra förskoleklasslärarna som deltog i aktionen erbjöds även att delta i studien. I denna kvalitativa studie utgår empirin från de gemensamma samtalen i aktionen. Förskoleklasslärarnas berättelser kondenserades och det skapades två fiktiva pedagoger Aina, som fick symbolisera samarbete, flexibilitet och framförhållning och Berit, som fick symbolisera konservatism, individualism och nuorientering.

This thesis investigates if a system for small scale electricity production located in anurban environment can be profitable. The work has been divided up into two parts,one extensive literature study and one case study. The purpose of the literature studywas to investigate the area, resulting in a choice of which technology to be studied indepth in a case study.In the case study a system containing small scale wind turbines and photovoltaicsmounted on Gränby Centrums roof was examined. From data containing wind power,wind direction and total irradiation, possible production from a system weresimulated. Three products of each technology were examined in the simulations.From the simulated production an economic analysis was carried out, this toinvestigate if a system is profitable.

The purpose of this paper is to find out how visually impaired people get information on Internet. Visually impaired people has got the right to be able to use the Internet like everyone else. We are also going to revise which aids visually impaired people use today, and how they work in practise. What problems can you run into when you use these aids? We are also going to revise how the webpages design affect the use of the Internet for the visually impaired people.

The  construction  industry  is  a  costly  business  such  in  respect  of  capital  for  most construction defects which then require rework, tear down and rebuild again. This study is  meaningful  awareness  of  tools  that  can  reduce  this  best  through  communication  and information sharing between the parties.  The  construction  industry  is  known  as  temporary  projects  organizations,  where  the construction  project  consists  of  several  actors  who  have  to  communicate  and  share information  between  them  to  avoid  mistakes  later  in  the  build  time.  These  actors  are bounded together thus for the duration of the project, then broken when the project has reached its end. The challenge here is for these actors to apply a tool that can help and simplify communications, information sharing, and perhaps the most important aspect is to  create  a  routine  for  the  association  and  the  shattering  of  these  actors.  To  implement such  behavior  using  a  tool  such  as  BIM  in  the  industry  whose  size  perhaps  is indescribable may be a very hard task.  BIM (Building Information Model) could be seen as the solution to this problem because it  acts  as  a  portal  where  the  actors  involved  must  sign  in  and  communicate,  share information, and eventually create a behavior, a routine for this association and division of  the  actors  following  the  end  of  the  project.  The  technology  could  help  the  involved from  the  beginning  of  the  project,  already  in  the  model  stage,  break  down  and  prevent any construction barriers when the building has been placed in the works.

There has been a sharp increase in high-technology surveillance. Surveillance is almost alwaysproposed as a complete response on a wide variety of safety issues. At the same time, there has beenan increase in criminal activity online. There is therefore a considerable interest in using Internetfiltering to regulate the behavior of individuals on the Internet. In recent years, many countries havechosen to restrict content on the Internet, where child-abusive material is the content that moststates currently block access to.

The development of applications for mobile devices has exploded in recent times. This has also led to the introduction of several new mobile operating systems. To streamline application development for multiple platforms, techniques have been developed to be able to reuse the same application regardless of the operating system. If the same application can be used on multiple platforms it will save both a lot of time and money. Today there are three types of techniques to develop an application; web, hybrid and native application, where the latter is specific to the operating system it has been developed to.

Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district in Stockholm with high environmental standard. Stockholm Water Company evaluates a local wastewater treatment plant with cutting edge technology. The first step is an experimental treatment plant (Sjöstadsverket) with four parallel lines of treatment, each with a capacity to treat wastewater from 150 persons. Within the membrane technology subproject the possibility of using reverse osmosis (usually called RO) to regain nutrients is examined.Reverse osmosis separates the incoming water in a clean permeate and a concentrate that, as the name indicates, is a more concentrated version of the incoming water. Using this method in wastewater treatment, a solution high in nutrients can be obtained without the use of chemical precipitation agent and with no production of sludge.

Background: The lack of knowledge regarding preschool children's mental health prompted Uppsala University, in collaboration with Uppsala Kommun, to start a study in which children aged 3, 4, and 5 years are screened using the "Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire" (SDQ). This screening method has been introduced into the majority of Uppsala County child care centers (BVC), and the nurses' experience of working with this method is examined in this paper.Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured questions was used to interview ten nurses who pioneered the SDQ Method. The interviews where recorded, transcribed and analyzed using content analysis.Results: Three themes and nine categories were identified from the interviews. The themes were: "Attitude and motivation are important when working with the form", "Clearer overall picture with preschool answer", and "A tool to identify difficulties". The results show that the nurses were satisfied with the form.

Today's technology offers a variety of opportunities to interact with the interactive systems. Human-Computer Interaction in the last decade is the area of research that has contributed the most to this development. But how is this interaction perceived? The user experience is something that is formed by the interaction between human and the computer interactive systems. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how the user experience differs depending on how one interacts with a game.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

How can we use modern X-ray technology to raise awareness of the information that is hidden in historic upholstery? The materials and techniques add information to the history object in question and  about a profession that is sparsely documented in our country. The knowledge we have today has largely been obtained by studying damaged upholstery, or by removing the show cover and upholstery, a technique which involves high risk of damaging the upholstery. X-ray technology offers  a non- intrusive way to examine historical upholstery.Through case studies, I examined four artefacts. The artefacts went trough an inititial visual exam before being transported to The National Heritage Board in Visby where they underwent a thorough X-ray exam.