Based on earlier experiences of mathematics and mathematical learning, both as a student and as a teacher, I became more and more interested in how well the publicly accepted opinions about mathematics as an uninteresting, difficult and ?geeky? subject corresponded to reality. What do Swedish pupils really think about mathematics and is it possible to identify any differences in their attitudes based on the pupils? age?From this point of view the following questions were formulated:·What are pupils? attitudes towards mathematics in grades 3, 6 and 9 and how do they conceive their learning conditions?·Is it possible to detect any differences in the attitudes and preferences depending on the pupils? age?The result of this study compares well with previous studies done in this and overlapping fields and indicates that:·Younger pupils tend to have a better liking of mathematics but with increasing age that interest fades out.·Most pupils, without regard to age, consider mathematics to be one of the most important subjects, despite the fact that many pupils also find mathematics difficult and boring.·For pupils of all ages, the teacher is the most important factor in the learning process. Older students have more specific demands on the teacher for knowledge and pedagogical skills.·A high noise level, talking and disturbances in the classroom are the most bothering elements when it comes to learning mathematics.

AbstractThis essay is based on a qualitative and quantitative study. We have compared history textbooks on an upper secondary level and how the books handle the Soviet Union. This study is done in Växjö as a region. Furthermore we also made interviews with upper secondary teachers and forms with upper secondary students. Our study of the textbooks has been ranges within the period from 1917 until 2009: we choose the year 1917 because the Soviet revolution started at the former date.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) hold great potential to support learning activities, for example by providing teachers and students with new and extended spaces for interaction and collaboration. However, this potential appears to be difficult to realize, and despite their perceived learning benefits, the reality is that LMSs are being used primarily for administrative purposes. Meanwhile, external pedagogical tools are successfully put into practice to improve learning outcomes, and the aim of this study is therefore to identify and discuss benefits and disadvantages associated with the LMS as a concept. By interviewing secondary school teachers, we disentangle the idea of integrating administrative and pedagogical aids into a single platform, providing detailed insight into the use of digital tools in secondary education. The study contributes to a deepened understanding of integrated learning environments, and we conclude that there is a conflict between structure and flexibility that needs to be addressed before determining the design of a digital learning space..

The setting of pupils' final grades in the Swedish upper secondary school system is the responsibility of their teachers and once grades are set, they are not open to appeal. This can be compared with the British system where an external, central examination board sets the final grades based on the result of externally marked examinations (A-levels). These grades are then open to appeal if it is felt that an injustice has been made.This research paper has been an investigation into how pupils in one Swedish upper secondary school attempt to influence their teachers in the grade-setting process and how these teachers are affected by these different methods. Five teachers in total were interviewed in a qualitative case study. The study has also taken up the controversial issue of how grades, which are set individually by thousands of teachers across the country, can be deemed to be fair and equivalent.The study revealed that pupils employ many different methods when trying to influence their teachers in the grade-setting process e.g.

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..

The study is of qualitative research method, where the interviews are the main material for the study. This study aims to analyze teachers and pupils perspectives on outdoor education in the early years of the elementary school. The main reason for this study is that all the literature in the area tends to lift up the positive aspects of the field. While the practice of education tends to go the other way, where the majority of our children?s classes takes place inside the classrooms.

AbstractThe aim of the study was to examine how a school team works with formative assessment in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The study had a particular focus on formative assessment in relation to pupils with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. Since there is a lack of research within the field of formative assessment and pupils with moderate and severe disabilities this study may contribute to new knowledge in this field. A sociocultural perspective has been used as a theoretical framework. A central concept in the sociocultural perspective is that people develop knowledge in interaction with other people and that communication and language is important.  The methodical framework was inspired by an ethnographic approach and the empirical material was concocted by participatory observations and by interviews.

Learning words have shown to be a very crucial part of learning a second language and the one most important factor to make pupils with Swedish as a second language succeed in school. To make sure that all pupils get the right conditions to learn from all subjects and their entire content a wide vocabulary is necessary. Even so it is found that there are shortcomings regarding this kind of teaching in Swedish schools.Through interviews and observations of two teachers that teach pupils with Swedish as a second language, and also with a short reading test for the pupils, the possible strategies that these teachers use for learning words have been studied. The result shows that the teachers are using several strategies and that they are actively working with transmitting these to the pupils, but there are some areas that need developing..

This study concerns art education, and the importance of creativity in learning. The objective is to examine the use of art education in practice, and the school teacher?s position on this practice.The theoretical basis of the study is rooted in a socio-cultural perspective, and concerns the relationships between theoretical concepts as learning, knowledge and art education.The investigation is qualitative and the main research methods are participant observations and structured interviews.The group studied in this investigation consisted of five active educators, who work at different schools and make use of art-based methods in their daily work.My results show that teachers believe that art education can be used by schools as a gateway to the other subjects. Art is regarded as a form of understanding through which pupils explore their surroundings, challenge their ideas and build skills through interaction with others..

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate if and how upper secondary school librarians can work in a more deliberately pedagogical way with fiction from the perspective of upper secondary school students. In the essay inspiration is fetched from phenomenography in order to determine the different perspectives that may exist amongst the students. In addition to the phenomenography, theories on how learning occurs, individual and social constructivism, are also included in the essay. In the essay three upper secondary schools are included. Interviews were conducted with the librarian of each school and with three students at each school.

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the political debate on the education of newly arrived immigrant pupils at secondary school age. The following issues are under scrutiny:What are the goals, expressed by politicians during the examined periods, for the education of newly arrived pupils?What ideas about education and what educational ideals can be observed in the political debate on the education of newly arrived pupils?Has there been any change, during the examined period, in the policy debate on the education of newly arrived pupils?The research material consists of reports and statements of the Education Committee, as well as a number of parliamentary protocols. Two five-year periods, 1971-1975 and 2006-2010, are studied and compared. All in all, the material consists of 23 documents issued during these periods.

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.

Fountain of Knowledge? The Changing Role of the Library at the Upper Secondary School Level. There have been many changes in the Swedish society in general, and in the school system and hence the school library in particular during the last decade. The aim of this master thesis is then to study what students at the upper secondary school level consider to be the optimal school library to meet their specific information needs at school. In addition to and in comparison with this, the aim is also to study the present conditions of the upper secondary school library as described in documents, reports and other studies in this field.

This essay investigates and compares the readability in two different schoolbooks: Eko Historia (the primary school grade 4-6) and Epos Historia (the upper secondary school). The questions of the survey are:- Which differences in linguistic and layout can be found between books meant for the primary school and books meant for the upper secondary school?- Are the texts easy to read according to the former research in readability?In order to answer the questions structural dimensions as lexicon, syntax, bounds between sentences and narrative voices have been studied. Also the texts disposition and typography have been examined.The results demonstrate that the book designed for the primary school has a verbal structure with an explicit vocabulary, lots of verbs and short sentences. A clear narrative voice gives an impression of spoken language.

Abstract This essay has grown out of an interest for the subject of religion and religious education for upper secondary pupils in Sweden. Our society is characterized by cultural, religious and secular diversity, which also reflects in the classroom where individuals with different religious preferences share space and participate in discussions. One of my aims is that this essay can be a contribution for future studies in the religious field. Previous research has shown that Swedish pupils increasingly lose interest in the subject of religion (on a personal level but also more in general). There is a possibility that this picture might have changed since these studies where done, and that is what I want to investigate in this essay.