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- Harvard Maare, Åsa
(författare)
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Designing for Peer Learning : Mathematics, Games and Peer Groups in Leisure-time Centers
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Constrained by national tests and the mathematics curriculum, teachers have problems finding time for exploratory and hands-on mathematical activities, especially so in classes with a reduced pace of progression, for example because of a large proportion of second-language learners. Could the leisure-time center, where time is not earmarked, provide such opportunities? The conclusion of this thesis is that this can be done, on the condition that designed activities build on the central premise of the leisure-time center: children have the right to choose which activities to engage with. The thesis is interdisciplinary, combining design research, situated cognition/embodied interaction, and pedagogy. The empirical material comes from a design project conducted in collaboration with the Rook, a multicultural school with an integrated leisure-time center. The participating children were 7-9 years old. The games studied were card and board games, especially combinatorial mathematics games (Set and Nim). The situated and embodied approach towards design is reflected in the analysis, which approaches visual artifacts as parts of multimodal communicative scenes with many co-present participants engaged in playing games or solving problems. It is shown that children learn the game through observation and participation, either as players or in non-playing roles. For many games, rules are written in a format that is inaccessible to children. One of the design tasks in the project has been to develop secondary artifacts related to games: graphic guides, conceptual maps, and paper-based exercises that can be used by children without adult support. The premise of the learners’ right to choose has many consequences for the design of learning activities. One is that motivation changes from being a property of the learner to a property of the activity. In order to highlight this difference, this thesis proposes the notions of learnability and learnworthiness to describe those aspects of an activity and its context which make it motivating from the learner’s perspective. The thesis concludes with a discussion of how design can increase the learnability and learnworthiness of a learning activity. Watching the activity being practiced is the most important resource for potential participants to determine its learnability and learnworthiness. The qualities determining the learnworthiness of an activity are reciprocity, mastery, and the potential for closure. Watching a peer successfully solving a task increases the learnability for the observers as well. If problem-solvers think aloud and use their hands to move or point at cards, collaboration and learning by observers is facilitated. Providing games with non-competitive side activities creates opportunities for deliberate practice, and offers a safe entry for children who are reluctant to engage as players.
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| 2. |
- Larsen, Henrik Svarrer, 1962-
(författare)
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Tangible participation : engaging designs and design engagements in pedagogical praxes
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation contributes to three fields within design research:- Explorations of a design space related to aesthetics of Tangible Interaction, which have led to a set of design imaginations as well as perspectives on salient design qualities.- Views on and a designerly example of knowledge construction related to Research through Design as well as to programmatic approaches to design research.- Rich and reflected examples of how to co-develop design and pedagogy in the field of profound disabilities.Through the programme Tangible Participation the research seeks and expresses alternatives by critical questioning and imaginations of change. Such alternatives are articu¬lated in a set of designs making the possible present.These designs have been part of collaborative question¬ing and imaginations in a long-term engagement with pedagogical praxes. Through this engagement, design and pedagogy have co-developed; and from this, the programme has matured and collaborative ways of criticality has been developed.The matured programme presented in this dissertation entails seven designs built and used in the pedagogical praxes as well as evolved framings able to generatively address a design space: a tangible interaction designer’s palette, a sensuous perspective, a compositional principle and potentials of tangibles for participation.
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| 3. |
- Maimaitiyili, Tuerdi
(författare)
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Phase transformation and stability studies of the Zr-H system
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Zirconium alloys are widely used in the nuclear industry because of their high strength, good corrosion resistance and low neutron absorption cross-section. Zirconium has a strong affinity for hydrogen, however, and if hydrogen concentration builds up, the material will gradually degrade. In one class of such hydrogen caused degradation, called hydride induced embrittlement, hydrogen chemically reacts with zirconium forming one, or several, crystal phases of zirconium hydride. These hydrides play a primary, but sometime not fully understood, role in crack initiation and propagation within these materials. Despite the fact that hydride induced embrittlement in zirconium have been studied for several decades, there are still some unresolved issues. It has been the aim of the research presented in this thesis to provide the research community with new and updated data of the hydrides themselves in order to aid further studies within the field of hydride induced embrittlement in general, and the mechanism of delayed hydride cracking in particular. To that end, the research presented here proceeded, in short, as follows: First, zirconium hydride powder, of well defined hydrogen concentration, was produced from commercial grade zirconium. This powder was subjected to heat treatment and the hydride phases were characterized both in situ and ex situ using neutron, synchrotron X-ray, and conventional laboratory X-ray based diffraction techniques. Next, most of the low-pressure zirconium hydride phases were produced under hydrogen/argon atmosphere from commercial grade zirconium powder. This process was simultaneously monitored and recorded in real time using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. These experiments have produced new data of the behavior of different hydride phases during thermal treatment and in situ hydrogenation. For the first time all commonly reported zirconium hydride phases and the complete transformation between two different hydride phases were recorded with a single experimental arrangement. The phase transformation between δ and ε zirconium hydride was recorded in detail and presented. Finally, the controversial γ zirconium hydride was observed both in situ and ex situ and the preparation route, its crystal structure, and formation mechanisms were analyzed and presented.
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| 4. |
- Taube, Elin
(författare)
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Loneliness : an essential aspect of the wellbeing of older people
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to explore loneliness by identifying associated factors and predictors for loneliness among older people. This research was also undertaken to examine the association between loneliness and healthcare consumption. In addition, the reserach explored the experience of loneliness and evaluated the effects on loneliness, symptoms of depression and life satisfaction of a case management intervention for frail older people.Study I was a quantitative study with a longitudinal design involving persons 78 years or older and drawn from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care. The sample comprised of 828 people at baseline (2001) who were followed-up after three years (n=511, 2004) and six years (n=317, 2007). The sample was divided into two groups, based on if the persons felt lonely or not. Factors such as personality traits, health complaints, self-reported health status and life satisfaction were included for identifying associated factors and predictors for loneliness. Studies II-IV were based on a main study with an experimental design, comprising 153 persons, 65+ years, living at home, with dependency in ADL and repeated contact with the healthcare services. Study II had a cross-sectional design drawn from the baseline assessment (n=153) of the main study. Self-reported data and register data was used to investigate the association between use of healthcare and loneliness, health status and health complaints. Study III had a qualitative design and explored the experience of loneliness by performing interviews with 12 persons (10 women), recruited from the main experimental study. The interviews were analysed by using qualitative content analysis. Study IV was a randomised controlled trial, including 153 persons randomised to an intervention (n=80) or control group (n=73) and evaluated the effect of a case management intervention after six and 12 months.Three outcomes were evaluated in regards to effectiveness; loneliness, symptoms of depression and life satisfaction.The results in Study I showed that 52 per cent of the sample at baseline felt lonely sometimes or often (mean age 84 years). The strongest associated factor for loneliness was living alone (OR=6.1, 95%, CI=3.8-9.9) and the strongest predictors for loneliness at both follow-ups, at three and six years, was feeling lonely at baseline (OR=7.2, CI=3.9-13.4 and OR=5.4, CI=2.8-10.5). Those associated factors and predictors that were identified were mainly related to psychosocial outcomes. Study II showed that 60 per cent of the frail older participants (mean age 82 years) had experienced loneliness occasionally or more often during the previous year. Those who felt lonely used significantly more outpatient services, including visits at the emergency department, compared to their peers who did not feel lonely (p=0.026). Only depressed mood was found to be independently associated with total use ofoutpatient services (B=7.4, p<0.001). In Study III, the experience of loneliness among frail older people was interpreted in the overall theme “Being in a Bubble” illustrating as being in an ongoing world but excluded because of the participants’ social surroundings and the impossibility to regain losses. The theme “Barriers” illustrated how participants had to face barriers, physical, psychological and social barriers for overcoming loneliness. The theme “Hopelessness” revealed the experience when not succeeding in overcoming the barriers and was characterised by loss of spirit and seeing loneliness as an unchangeable state. The last theme “Freedom” illustrated a positive co-existing dimension of loneliness which offered independence and time for reflection and recharging. Study IV evaluated the effect of a case management intervention for frail older people living at home in regards to loneliness, symptoms of depression and life satisfaction. At baseline, there were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups in regards to the main outcomes or sociodemographic factors. According to intention-to-treat no significant differences were found for any of the outcomes, at any time point between the two groups.When accounting for complete cases, significant differences in favour of the intervention were found at six months for loneliness (RR=0.5, p=0.028) and life satisfaction (ES=0.4, p=0.028), as well as for depressive symptoms after 12 months (ES=0.5, p=0.035).Loneliness is fairly common among older people and once the feeling is established, it is likely to stay. Factors related to psychological wellbeing appeared as the major reasons for loneliness. Frail older people tend not to differ in regards to prevalence, compared to older people in general. Frail older people who felt lonely used more outpatient services, including visits to the emergency department compared to their not lonely peers. However, it was not loneliness per se that was found to be associated with use of healthcare but rather depressed mood. The experience of loneliness among frail older people showed that it was a prevalent issue, regardless of intensity and was associated with physical and social losses. Case management for frail older people was not effective in regards to loneliness, symptoms of depression and life satisfaction. Nevertheless, there were indications that case management could be beneficial in terms of these outcomes. Loneliness is an important factor that could be associated with lower wellbeing and needs to be actively targeted. Because of the complexity, where single causes are difficult to isolate a comprehensive and individualised approach is recommended. Loneliness can be problematic regardless of intensity and is likely to be unresolved, if left unattended. This implies that appropriate assessments of loneliness and other aspects of psychological wellbeing should be undertaken.
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