| 1. |
- Blomberg, Per
(author)
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Informell Statistisk Inferens i modelleringssituationer : En studie om utveckling av ett ramverk för att analysera hur elever uttrycker inferenser
- 2015
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med ökad kunskap om lärande och undervisning i informell statistisk inferens. I studien användes en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi inriktad mot prövning och generering av teorier med inspiration av grounded theory. Studiens kunskapsfokus är riktad mot karakterisering av statistiska processer och begrepp där system av begreppsramverk om informell statistisk inferens och modellering utgör en central del av forskningen. För att erhålla adekvat empiri utformades en undervisningssituation där elever engagerades med att planera och genomföra en undersökning. Studien genomfördes i en normal klassrumssituation där undervisningen inriktades mot ett område inom sannolikhet och statistisk där bland annat lådagram och normalfördelning med tillhörande begrepp introduceras. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom videoinspelning och skriftliga redovisningar. Materialet analyserades genom ett sammansatt ramverk om informell statistisk inferens och modellering. Resultatet av analysen visar exempel på hur elever kan förväntas uttrycka aspekter av informella statistisk inferens då de genomför statistiska undersökningar. Vidare utvecklades ett ramverk som teoretiskt beskriver informell statistisk inferens i modelleringssituationer. Studien pekar på att ISI-modellering har potential att användas för att analysera hur informell statistisk inferens kan komma till uttryck och att identifiera potentiella inlärningsmöjligheter för studenter att utveckla sin förmåga att uttrycka informella statistisk slutledning och att identifiera potentiella inlärningsmöjligheter för elever att utveckla sin förmåga att uttrycka informella inferenser.
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| 2. |
- Brehmer, Daniel, 1973-
(author)
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Problem solving in mathematics textbooks
- 2015
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of this study is to analyse how mathematical problem solving (MPS) is represented in mathematical textbooks for Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis comprises dominating Swedish textbook series, and relates to uncovering a) the quantity of tasks that are actually mathematical problems (MPs), b) their location in the chapter, c) their difficulty level, and d) their context. Based on an analysis of 5,722 tasks from the area of calculus, it is concluded that the textbooks themselves contain very few tasks that can be defined as MPs, and that those that are MPs are found at the end of a chapter at the most difficult level, and are presented in a pure mathematical context. Implications are discussed.
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| 3. |
- Koljonen, Tuula
(author)
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Finnish Teacher Guides in Mathematics : Resources for primary school teachers in designing teaching
- 2014
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Previous research worldwide has shown that curriculum materials maintain a strong presence and constitute an important tool, artefact, in mathematics classrooms. Yet, there is a vast lack of research on the design and the characteristics of teacher guides. The thesis aims to: 1) investigate the features of the Finnish teacher guides for mathematics at primary school and 2) map the cultural specificities and norms for classroom practices as construed in Finnish teacher guides. The data consist of nine Finnish teacher guides in mathematics (belonging to three textbook series) for Grades 1-6 and comprise almost 90 percent of the teacher guides utilized in Finnish schools for 2008. These teacher guides are examined through three studies. In the first study, we developed an analytical tool based on Davis and Krajcik’s ideas about educative curriculum materials when analysing the teacher guides’ content. In the second study, we analysed a larger sample of the Finnish teacher guides using the same analytical tool, but extending the study to also analyse their form, i.e. their look, structure and voice. This study shows that there is a wide consensus on both the content and the form of the guides. While several educative aspects are weakly presented in the guides, the analysis shows that they offer rich and varied resources for teachers in their everyday work in designing and enacting mathematics teaching and hence, learning in practice. The third study delves more deeply into the characteristics of the support the guides offer to design mathematics classrooms. We characterize the cultural script of the reflected classroom practice by analysing the form and the function of the activities promoted in most of the guides. We found a relatively homogeneous script that promotes differentiation while keeping students in the same mathematical area, opportunities to participate in whole-class interaction that comprises a variety of activities, like mental calculation, games, problem-solving, individual and group work, and small piece of homework after every single lesson. The thesis contributes to the international research discourse on curriculum materials and in particular on teacher guides as resources for design of mathematics classroom in a specific educational context. The study is also of interest for teachers, and for text-book authors in developing teacher guides in line with research.
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| 4. |
- Lindvall, Jannika, 1987-
(author)
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Supporting instructional improvement at scale : The role of teacher professional development programs and mathematics curriculum materials
- 2016
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We are currently witnessing an increase of international interest in mathematics education, fueled partly by the growing concerns of students’ declining results, but also by changed perceptions of what mathematics students should master. In response, many initiatives have appeared in order to move away from traditional to more inquiry based approaches to teaching. Though several small-scale studies have contributed much to our understanding on how to support teachers in this work, there is still a lack of research conducted on a larger scale. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to add to our knowledge of how to support instructional improvement at scale. This is done by focusing on two common approaches to support mathematics teachers’ development of reform based practices: teacher professional development [PD] programs and curriculum materials. The thesis builds on four papers which are all connected to a project aiming at improving the mathematics instruction in a large Swedish municipality. The project includes a PD-program for almost 400 elementary teachers and the mathematics curriculum materials that teachers are using play a central role in the program. The first two papers focus on curriculum materials either by using surveys to compare teachers’ views of the support offered in the materials and their reported mathematics instruction, or by conducting textbook analyses to characterize how some commonly used materials communicate about, for example, goals of lessons. The results demonstrate that teachers using different materials experience different levels of support from them and also show variations in their reported instruction. These differences are further reflected in the textbook analyses which show that the materials offer teachers various support, for example regarding how they communicate about goals. The last two papers focus on teacher PD-programs either by comparing the effects of two programs on student achievement, or by using surveys to examine teachers’ views of one of the programs and its impact on their reported instruction. The results indicate that the two PD-programs have affected students’ achievement in different ways, demonstrating both decline and improvement. Even within the programs differences are revealed between students at the primary and secondary levels. These variations are further present in the teacher surveys, where the results show differences between teachers from different grade-levels. By drawing on the literature review and the results of the papers, the thesis ends with a discussion of possible elaborations of a widely used core conceptual framework for studying teacher PD.
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