Objective: The aim of the study is to describe pupils' understanding of the mathematical concept of function. How do pupils define the concept of function? What images of the concept of function evoke when they solve tasks, which involve identifying and constructing functions?Theory: A student's thinking about a mathematical concept depends on more than just the formal definition of the concept; therefore Tall and Vinner introduce the term concept image to describe the role cognitive structures play when students learn about concepts. The cognitive structure includes all mental images, associated properties and processes that an individual associates with a given concept. According to Sfard, an individual's understanding of mathematical concepts may have different character: an operational conception, where a concept is conceived as a process and a structural conception, where the given concept is conceived as an object, that is, as a whole.Method: 16 pupils at the Science Program at two different upper secondary schools inSweden answered a questionnaire on the mathematical concept of function.

AbstractIn this study, the conceptions of a number of teachers in the Swedish primary and lower-secondary school about cultural pluralism, the values connected to this pluralism by the Curriculum for the Compulsory School System, the Pre-School Class and the Leisure-time Centre, Lpo 94, and the possibilities for pupils to gain knowledge about these values, were studied. The conceptions of the teachers were regarded and interpreted as ideology, since the study was made from a point of departure containing an assumption about how the content of the curriculum is of importance for the development of relations of power and dominance between different groups in society. The purpose of the study was to interpret the statements of a limited number of teachers about cultural pluralism, values and knowledge, regarding the ontological, axiological and epistemological assumptions and conceptions expressed therein. The empirical data of the study was gathered through qualitative interviews with eleven teachers working in six different primary and lower-secondary schools in the Mid-Sweden region. The conceptions expressed in the statements given by the respondents were categorized.

This study aims to examine what students in two schools think of the physical environment in their school, and how this affect their studies. My main question I wanted to answer was:How does the students think that the physical environment affect their day in school?I also wanted to find out what the students think is important in the physical environment in their school. The study is based on interviews with students i two different schools. One secondary school, in which three eight-grade students were interviewed, and one high school in which two students were interviewed. The result of the interviews is that the students think that their work in school is affected by the physical environment. The most important things is to feel safe in school and to have the possibilities to do studies without limitations in the environment, for example room to do their own studies, and a flexibility and variation in the environment.

The chief aim of this study is to investigate the impact of context on written peer response. A second aim is to explore students? attitudes towards peer response. The investigation has taken place at an upper secondary school in the south-east of Sweden, involving 20 students in grade 2 and 3 in the course Swedish C. The investigation is based on the students? comments on their peers? speech drafts and six qualitative interviews.

A central question is what view of communication is dominating in a municipality in the southern part of Sweden. The study deals with communication theory from two different perspectives; the view of transmission and the view of creation of meaning. Falkheimer and Heide (2003) claim that the view of transmission is one-way communication where the receivers apprehend passivly. In the view of creation of meaning the goal is to develop and strengthen the common notion that exists in a group. Empirical studies were done, that consisted of qualitative interviews with politicians, directors of the municipality, and principals from three childcare and school areas, and also from one upper secondary school.

This paper aims to investigate how secondary school teachers of social studies working on grading and assessment in relation to Lgr 11. The paper will be based on three issues, and will be explored through interviews with five-working teachers. The existing boundaries and the essay outline and key concepts presented. Then follow the theoretical extensions selected. These are adapted along the topic selection.

AN EVALUATION OF EFFA-VÄSTERS PARENT PROGRAMME FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN 2-4 YEARS- A qualitative and quantitative research focused on content, effects and implementationAuthors: Fritz, Jesper & Johansson, LinaSupervisor: Koutakis, NikolausÖrebro UniversityAcademy of Law, psychology and social workSocial Work ProgramSocial Work 41-60 pointsC-essay, 15 pointsAutumn term 2008AbstractThis study is written on commission by The Unit for prevention which is a part of the Social welfare Services in the district of Örebro. The social work practice carried out by the unit is based on universal prevention, which includes providing parent programmes. The aim in this study is to describe and evaluate the EFFA-Väster parent programme, which has been compiled by social workers working at the unit, with regard to the content, effects and implementation of the program. The study is based on a non-experimental inquiry of an experimental group which has been subjected to a pre- and post test. Further, observations has been made of every program session to examine whether the program is implemented in accordance with the intention and how the program is received by the participants.

When an organisation is going through a work of change, it is highly important that both management and employees has a healthy communication in order to make everybody feel involved. It is then important to be observant for both the managements and employees thoughts and ideas.This study has been performed on an upper secondary school which is performing a work of change. The change has divided the employees in three different groups. One, which thinks the change have evolved the organisation to something better. The second group of people means that it is preventing individual development of competence.

The level of increased central government that we have experienced during the last decades in school, for the purpose of increasing equality and to adapt the Swedish school to a certain international standard, clearly shows that increased control scarcely leads to improvement.The aim of this paper is to examine whether teachers believe that national tests contribute to equivalent assessment and increased goal attainment. Furthermore the teachers? attitude towards and work with national tests is described. The paper is written from a school improvement perspective, where good examples from current research on what creates increased quality in school meaning increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment are related to research on school effectiveness and increased testing in schools. The study builds upon a quantitative survey among teachers in upper primary - and secondary school in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden.The result shows that the teachers have a somewhat more positive than negative attitude towards national tests, as a whole.

Domestic science is an interdisciplinary subject. Furthermore domestic science is a combination of theory and practice. The basic competence, a recommendation from ?The Swedish School Institution? (Skolverket), is to enter the secondary school with minimum grade G, (godkänd) in the basic themes: Swedish, English and Mathematic. Today there are many pupils finishing their secondary school without grade in one or more basic themes; Swedish, English and Mathematic.

My purpose with this work is to find out how it relates with pre-schoolteatchers view about a quality in comparasion to control document, Lpfö-98, and with factors pre-schoolteatchers consider effects quality in pre-school describe pre-schoolteatchers view on that high quality is in pre- school.The investigation has been done by quality interviews with five pre- schoolteatchers working in pre- school. The results show that they do not make a difference between what are high quality and the factors that affect the possibility of creating high quality. Most important is qualified and engaged educationalist in the pre- school who who shows a good attitude towards the children, and where development and learning is central. The most decisive to a pre- schools quality are the personell who work there. A conditon to achieve high quality in pre- school is a head who knows the pre- school activity and its curriculum, and who takes active part in the activity, invites to discussions and offers pertinent competence development.According to the leading document Lpfö-98 you will achieve high quality by offering children rear and care.

This study illuminates chosen parts of the present opportunities, in the Western World, for parents and children to choose which school the child will attend (freedom of choice), along with possible consequences that may follow. My research questions are: 1) Do tendencies show that freedom of choice leads to increased segregation, and if that is the case, how is it manifested and does it matter? 2) What relations between the student composition of schools and teachers' expectations and attitudes toward students are there? 3) Do the results from previous studies match with the result from my interviews? The methods used for answering the questions are literature studies and interviews made with six teachers who are working in two upper secondary schools in the northern part of Sweden, i.e. three from each school.The result shows that freedom of choice, regarding schools, seems to lead to student compositions that contribute to increased segregation in societies. It leads to more homogenous student compositions, in the form of ethnicity and social class, in schools in general, with consequences like different expectations and attitudes among teachers depending on the status of the composition.

In my essay I have examined how teachers look upon their role as leader in the classroom. I have interviewed six teachers, senior level ones and teachers from the upper secondary school, about how they look upon tasks that involve planning, control, motivation, groups, and individuals. Based on their answers, I have analyzed if there is anything that can be related to a common leader competence within their profession and, in that case, how it will appear.The result that I have found has been that it exists a common leadership style that teachers are more or less conscious of. The teachers decide on what level the classes or the pupils are andafter that decision they plan their education. The leadership in the classroom can be of different kinds depending on the situation.

This paper will discuss the proposed reintroducing of a final degree in upper secondary school. In a public government inquiry that was released in March 2008 a proposal about reintroducing a final degree in upper secondary school was presented. A final degree has not been a part of the upper secondary school science 1968. Why was the system with a final degree abounded and why do the government want to reintroduce it?Research in pedagogy has through the years presented numbers of theories about assessment.

This essay aims to investigate how students in upper secondary school perceive the subject religion A. The study is both qualitative and quantitative and I will use a survey to investigate the perception of religion among students both vocationally oriented and theory oriented. I will use questions concerning religious background and perception on the subject in relation to the curriculum but also try to investigate whether there are differences on perception between the vocational and theory orientation. The theoretical approach is mainly based on the curriculum concerning religion A but former research is also used such as books written by Sven G Hartman (2000), Ulf Sjödin (1995), Ove Larsson (1991), Elsie Davidsson (1989) and Anders Törnwall (1988). The result in the study is that students for the most part perceive the subject religion A as something positive and the background has a connection to their present perception.