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.

This study examines how formal mathematics can be taught in the Swedish secondary school with its new curriculum for mathematics. The study examines what a teaching material in formal mathematics corresponding to the initial content of the course Mathematics 1c could look like, and whether formal mathematics can be taught to high school students.The survey was conducted with second year students from the science programme. The majority of these students studied the course Mathematics D. The students described themselves as not being motivated towards mathematics.The results show that the content of the curriculum can be presented with formal mathematics. This both in terms of requirements for content and students being able to comprehend this content.

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.

AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to investigate if elementary school pupils? attitudes towards mathematics, from a teacher?s perspective, have changed since 2001-2002. I also intend to investigate if the whys and wherefores among the pupils attitude are the same and what influences pupils? attitude to mathematics. The reason why I chose to deepen myself into elementary school pupils? attitude to mathematics, and things that relate, is that I find it very interesting.

This study aims to visualize the youngest preschool children matematical learning in the free game. In my study the mathematics will be analyzed  based on the interactions children participate in, and how children experience mathematics through the lived body.I have chosen to undertake a qualitative research in form of observations. Through this research method, I would approach the child's perspective, which means that i analyze the material that the children in the observations reveals to me as a researcher.The results of the study show that children experience mathematics skills both through the lived body, as well as in interaction situations between children. The mathematics are around among us, all the time. This is very important to take into account for children's continued development of mathematical knowledge..

The purpose of this study has been to compare the present with the future syllabus of mathematics. With a text analytical approach has questions about how the structure is different, how the look at knowledge has changed and which learning theory that characterizes the two syllabus been answered. As a theoretical framework I adopt three different learning theories, behaviourism, cognitivism and the socio-cultural perspective. The pervious research I have looked at is the concept of knowledge an the underlying theories to previous curriculum. During the increase results in the greatest difference seen in the structure.

AbstractBy finding out the pupils' choice of strategies for problem solving, we as teachers, can get a better understanding of their way of thinking, and thus also help them develop in their learning of mathematics. In a classroom environment where several different strategies could be found, the pupils' learning is facilitated as they, with the help of classmates, find positive and negative attributes of different kinds of strategies. The pupils are, in other words, each other's resources, rather than competitors. The main point is that the classroom environment, as well as the role of the teacher in the classroom, are both key elements for good mathematics learning.In order to increase the understanding of the pupils' choice of learning strategies, a survey was performed based on two school classes, one third grade and one six grade class at the same school. Both classes received the same mathematical problem to work with, and the strategies observed were analyzed and compared.

In my study I have chosen to examine the mathematics in children's free play and everyday situations, with focus on sorting and classification. The purpose of the study was to see how children express their mathematical knowledge. I have chosen to use a qualitative method in my examination, here I did observations in a children's group where the children were between three and six years old. I also did interviews with the teacher's on the department to see how they relate to the mathematics and how they formulate the department to achieve as good a learning environment as possible.The result shows that the teacher's approach is incredible important to the children's learning ability and that they are always present to challenge and discuss together with the children. The observation indicates that children use mathematics all the time in their everyday situations and that it is the interaction between individuals and environment that affects children's development. .

This project has aim to examine how students experience their concentration ability during mathematics lessons in the mornings and afternoons, and how students? learning can be in-fluenced by the concentration ability during mathematics lesson in the morning and after-noons respectively? Which role do the methods of learning play in mathematic depending on which time it is carried out during mornings or afternoons with regard to student concentra-tion ability? In order to find out those issues, I used two methods; (interview and observa-tion).Interview with 4 students and 3 teachers and observations of 4 mathematics lessons based on a qualitative method. In order to measure students' concentration ability during ma-thematics education on various times, I distributed questions to 23 students and repeated it during each lesson that I have observed from a quantitative approach in two classes in a sec-ondary school. In the literature I discuss the definition of concentration, and factors affecting the concentration negatively and positively. What is the relationship between concentration, learning and type of activity and how individuals can improve their learning and attention? In addition I studied two earlier studies on the concentration.

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).

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.

During recent years, the trend of Swedish students? negative performance and results in mathematics has been discussed. It is agreed that a change in teaching methods is necessary in order to solve this issue. Thus we found it interesting to take a closer look at an alternative way of teaching. The purpose of this study was to find out what teachers and students associate concrete mathematics with and make a comparison between them.

Algebra in school, - a study on students` algebraic knowledge of the field equations in ninth grade.International (TIMSS) and national mathematics studies detects that Swedish pupils math skills is deteriorating in comparison to other countries. Therefore has the subject of mathematics become one of the school subjects which are becoming increasingly in focus. The government has made a big effort, Matematiklyftet, in mathematics in primary education, 650 million has been invested and the Agency has been tasked to train all current mathematics teachers through peer collegial learning. This effort is the most pervasive in modern times in Sweden.The aim of this study is that we as prospective mathematics teachers want to find our approach to surveys results. By using the Governments? diagnoses, Diamant, student group interviews, teacher interviews and theories in mathematics education, we want to make students' algebraic knowledge of the field equations visible.

The study´s main purpose is to examine how three educators who work with children ages 1-3  in three different preschools working with mathematics in preschool. I have used a qualitative research in the form of interviews to obtain educators perspectives on their working. The educator´s stories about their working methods are the most important findings and it turned out that the interviewed educators was working fairly similar in terms of mathematics learning with the youngest children  in preschool. They both schedule mathematics in various activities and work with it in everyday situations. Their different approaches can be divided into five different categories which are: planned theme work and experiences, body and play, interaction and conversation, environment and materials, visualize mathematics..

The purpose of my study is to examine how four preschool teachers go about using the term play in children's early mathematical development. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, I have the following questions:How the preschool teachers visualize mathematics in children?s play?What reflections have the preschool teachers about the importance of play for children's mathematical learning in preschool?How do the preschool teachers see on their own role in the children's play?In this study, I have conducted a semi-structured qualitative interviews based on the interviews with four preschool teachers from various departments in a preschool. I have also conducted some observations to complete my study. Whereas in my analysis of the researched material, I have used Vygotsky's theory.The survey shows that the preschool teachers are aware of the use of mathematical language and concepts in children?s different activities which were conducted daily in the preschool.