| 1. |
- Amhag, Lisbeth
(författare)
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Mellan "jag" och andra. Nätbaserade studentdialoger med argumentering och responsgivning för lärande
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Avhandlingen handlar om kvaliteten i studenters nätbaserade argumentering och responsgivning. Handlar det om vardagssamtal eller vetenskapliga diskussioner? Syftet är att undersöka om och i så fall hur studenters skriftliga, asynkrona dialoger bidrar till utveckling av kollektivt och individuellt lärande i en nätbaserad akademisk kontext. Det vill säga urskilja, identifiera och beskriva på vilket sätt och i vilken utsträckning studenter använder egna och andras texters meningsinnehåll i argument och responser för lärande i samspel med andra studenter. Syftet är också att finna struktur och mönster på hur argumentering och responsgivning kan formas, förhandlas och befästas i en nätbaserad, akademisk kontext. Datainsamlingen består av 70 studenters (41 kvinnor och 29 män) skriftliga, individuella svar på åtta kursuppgifter, gruppvisa asynkrona argumentering, responsgivning och diskussioner under fyra högskolekurser (60 hp) på distans i Lärarutbildning 90 högskolepoäng. Totalt innefattar studierna 2 430 ”frusna dialoger”. Metodmässigt tillfördes Bakhtins teoretiska ramverk om dialoger till sociokulturell teori och Toulmins praktiska argumentmodell. Nära hälften av dem (42 %) är deskriptivt kategoriserade (N=1 012) utifrån reviderade modeller av Veerman och Veldhuis-Diermanse och Toulmins argumentmodell. Knappt en tredjedel av dem (29 %) är selektivt analyserade (N=707) utifrån Bakhtins teorier om dialoger och Rommetveit’s begrepp meningspotential, med fokus på dialogens potential, röster och argumentmönster och relationerna dem emellan som medierande redskap för både ett kollektivt och individuellt lärande. CSCL perspektivet (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) relateras till både sociokulturell teori och Bakhtins teorier om dialoger utifrån att lärandet är situerat och inte enbart utvecklas individuellt utan också i samarbete med andra i en bestämd situation, vilket får betydelse för lärandets karaktär och resultat. Resultaten som framträder är att studenterna i olika grad successivt utvecklar en förmåga att använda sig av meningsinnehållet i dialogerna som ett aktivt redskap för att utveckla ny förståelse eller nya perspektiv, individuellt som kollektivt. Det som också visar sig är att mening, dialog och interaktion hör ihop och är de medverkande krafterna i nätbaserad undervisning. Det som också tydliggörs är att det är en aktiv och kreativ lärprocess som utvecklas över tid, när studenter som medaktör använder sina teoretiska kunskaper och praktiska erfarenheter tillsammans med andra, mot nya sätt att tänka och handla. Olika dialogiska argumentmönster utvecklas. Det sker ett perspektivbyte "mellan `jag´ och andra" genom att studenterna blir medförfattare med egna och andras ord och röster. Mening blir dels ett resultat av spänningen i skillnaden mellan "jag" och andra och dels som samarbetsförmåga av de kollaborativa arbetssätten.
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| 2. |
- Christensen, Jonas
(författare)
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A profession in change : a development ecology perspective
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A welfare state consists of a variety of client organisations within which, among other professions, academics and social workers are active. Social work as a profession has developed in a welfare context where changes at the different levels of the individual, organisation and society constantly pose new challenges to the profession. When a society undergoes a total transformation, this also affects higher education, especially when it comes to facing needs for new competencies in a subject area such as Economics and Management. A change in a profession can also be seen on different levels and in various contextual environments. The thesis addresses the overall question: In the transformation of different societal and organisational environments, which factors may influence professions’ knowledge acquisition and learning processes? The theoretical frame of reference is provided by a modified model of Bronfenbrenner’s Development Ecology. This theory focuses on the individual’s drive and ability to influence their specific environment. This study’s point of departure is the individual and the individual in relation to their surrounding context on different levels. The thesis makes a contribution by improving knowledge of how Development Ecology may be seen in a welfare context by using study objects within the fields of education and a profession. The data collection primarily took the form of interviews. Other sources were added to the interviews; an analysis of key documents, lectures and seminars where there was an interaction with students as additional, empirical sources in various contexts, along with study visits. The thesis is based on the following three original publications: Management and Economics studies in Lithuania – the creation of a university discipline, Development Ecology in German Social Work and Proposed Enhancement of Bronfenbrenner’s Development Ecology Model. The study demonstrates how the Development Ecology model in a modified and developed form can constructively contribute to understanding a profession undergoing change. In addition, the study shows how the Development Ecology model can be used in two various societal and organisational contexts. It also demonstrates how professional autonomy is conditional given certain organisational and societal frameworks. Finally, the study reveals that entrepreneurship and learning are closely linked to each other and knowledge acquisition is about meetings on different levels where the interplay between the individual and their internal driving forces is essential – namely, to emphasise that the internal driving forces belong to the individual involved (a person).
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| 3. |
- Adelmann, Kent
(författare)
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Att lyssna till röster. Ett vidgat lyssnandebegrepp i ett didaktiskt perspektiv.
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis has two points of departure and four main purposes. The first point of departure concerns the narrow perspective of the listening skill in Swedish. The first purpose is to show the lack of attention to the listening skill in research and mother tongue education in the Swedish compulsory school. Educational documents from 1842 to 2000 about Swedish as a school subject are examined from a historical perspective. Results from the study show that the listening skill is only slowly approaching the same status as talking, but standards for listening are still missing in the syllabus for Swedish. The second purpose is to determine a meaning for the concept of ’listen’ in the Swedish language. Results from the study outline three distinct meanings in the Swedish language: the perception of hearing, the constructing of meaning with attentive listening, and the metaphorical meaning in phrases such as “listening to voices”. Moreover, the concept of ‘listen’ covers a wide semantic field and the Swedish definition foregrounds three dimensions. The second point of departure concerns an extended notion of listening in classroom research. The empirical study is based on field observations and transcriptions of videotaped talk in interaction of eight Swedish white middle-class students in teacher education over a six-month period, with a tutor and an observer. The object of inquiry is the documented part of an earlier reception expressed in an open and explicit response: that is, ‘reported listening’. The Bakhtin (1984) concept of ‘voice’ is connected to the metaphorical meaning of the concept ‘listen’. With an extended notion of listening it is possible to describe all the kinds of voices which the participants listen to, respond to and speak with when they are in dialogue with themselves and are creating a voice of their own. The third purpose is to examine reported listening with regard to what voices and contextual resources the participants refer to: that is, ‘voice response’. The concept of ‘intertextuality’ is adopted as a method to identify this polyphony of voices in the classroom. Results from the study indicate that some of the students have a broad and some a narrow listening repertory. Six listening types emerge in the material and the group seems to be an important contributor to the individual’s dialogic learning. The fourth purpose is to examine reported listening with regard to how the participants use those voices: that is, ‘voice use’. Some rhetorical terms are adopted as a method to identify the student’s purpose in using different voices. Results from the study suggest that the voice use principally has an arguing function and that some of the students use several different functions and some use only a few in their listening profile. Four listening positions emerge in the material, namely the ‘questioner’, the ‘refiller’, the ‘synthesizer’ and the ‘inquirer’. The implications of these findings are discussed. Compared with the American listening tradition “Listening to Voices” represents an alternative theoretical framework with a sociocultural approach.
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| 4. |
- Göransson, Anna-Lena
(författare)
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Brandvägg. Ord och handling i en yrkesutbildning
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Brandvägg describes how a group of firefighters, who consistently maintain that they are “practitioners and not theorists”, relate to various forms of language based knowledge and language based “knowledging” in their vocational training, which is based on problem based learning. From a sociocultural perspective to learning, and within the parameters of a didactic perspective with the focus on the students as learning language users, understanding is searched for what happens in the educational setting. The actions of the students and teachers are discussed in relation to external contexts as the students’ vocational background as firefighters and national curricular directives. Data was gathered during 10 weeks on scene and consists of classroom- and training field observations, 14 qualitative interviews and several informal discussions with the students. The firefighters felt that theory took up too much time in relation to the practical exercises and they saw much of the library and classroom work as a waste of time. A lot of knowledging became instrumental and would come to consist of strategic and ritual actions. The study shows that the learning method, in spite of its intentions, did not stimulate reading or writ-ing, formal classroom interaction, abstract thinking and generalization. It implies the need for teachers to be able to cope with the linguistic difficulties that might occur in the classrooms when it comes to increase students repertoires with learning from written and abstract texts and to motivate this kind of learning and to scaffold the students by acting as good models for developing language use. The study also shows that different verbal actions are learned within different verbal practices, which implies the importance of school as a creative breeding ground for a multitude of verbal actions. It indicates the importance of building on the students’ own verbal repertoires, in this case e.g. their experiences from work in narrative form, examples and work-place stories.
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| 5. |
- Olander, Ewy
(författare)
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Hälsovägledning i barnhälsovården : syntetisering av två uppdrag
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Child Health Services (CHS) form a strategic arena for Swedish health promotion, from a societal as well as individual perspective. The present study focuses on district nurses´ health counselling in CHS. The aim is to improve understanding of what is important in shaping and accomplishing health promotion, and to generate theory useful in a CHS context. Data were collected at CHS in primary health care. Data sources consist of video-observations with recalled interviews of seven district nurses’ meetings with parents and children during open consultations, field notes, notes from group discussions and individual interviews. Data from findings in my earlier study of health counselling in CHS were also used. Data analysis followed the classic Grounded Theory (GT) method. In accordance with GT, concepts and categories were integral parts of a constant comparative analysis. Empirical data indicated that health promotion in CHS has two approaches, a population approach and an individual approach. District nurses thus have two missions: a public health mission (a government demand based on families as parts of the population), and a family health mission (a request from individual families). District nurses' main concern in CHS is to synthesise these two opposing missions and approaches in their practical work at the CHC (Child Health Centres). The category Population-individualisation evolved as the core category. Subcategories are Two-facedness, Individualisation efforts, Normality focus, Case record concern, Communication staging and Action scope promoting. Four dynamic fields between public and family health missions evolved. One is the Population-individualisation field in which general concerns for public health are combined with considering the needs of the specific family. The other fields were labelled Individual support, Population inspection and Routine check-up. Four patterns for synthesis evolved. One is a Hypothetical ideal proceeding. This is a synthesis where both approaches are equally strong. Three patterns with oscillatory movements were evident in praxis: a Sig-sagging pattern with small oscillating movements, a Pendulating pattern with longer movements and a Compensating pattern with different movements compensating each other. Through the generating analysis a substantive theory could be formulated. The generated theory grounded in empirical data within the context of CHS provides us with knowledge that can help district nurses understand and manage their main concern for synthesising these two missions. This theory may also contribute to increased awareness among administrators, decision makers and nurse- and health promotion educators with regard to the double mission in health promotion and the strategies for coping with it. In this way, generated theory should be able to contribute to improve health promotion and health counselling in CHS.
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| 6. |
- Al-Sa'd, Ahmed
(författare)
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Evaluation of Students' Attitudes Towards Vocational Education in Jordan
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral dissertation consists of the empirical main study and the explorative study. The main goal of the empirical study has been to acquire knowledge about students’ attitudes towards vocational education in Jordan, and to explore the dimensionality of their attitudes as well. Another goal has been to investigate which background variables best explain the differences in students’ attitudes. A third goal has been to describe and explain the relationship between students’ attitudes and their behaviour. The goal of the explorative study has been to investigate the perceptions of decision makers about students’ attitudes and the status of vocational education. Data of the empirical study were collected from a multi-stage stratified cluster random sample of tenth-grade students. Data analysis of the empirical study has been based on a reliable and valid attitude scale rigorously constructed to achieve the aforementioned goals. Data collection and analysis of the explorative study have been based on the open-ended interview questions carried out with a group of decision makers. Results of the empirical study showed that students have nearly neutral attitudes towards vocational education, and that three main dimensions comprise the dimensional space of their attitudes. These dimensions are first, a preference to enter a vocational school and encourage others to do so. Second, the importance and usefulness of a vocational school. Third, low status, hatred, and negative image of a vocational school. Only four background variables have been found to be significant predictors of students’ attitudes towards vocational education. These are students’ behaviour to enter vocational or academic school, students’ intention to study at the university, students’ achievement in Arabic language, and finally their place of residence. Results of the attitude behaviour relationship have ascertained the predictability of human behaviour from attitudes, taking into consideration other variables as well. Results of the explorative study have clearly indicated that attitudes towards vocational education are negative. Vocational education has suffered from poor image and low reputation. It is not well liked in the society, and has been considered a second alternative for low achievement students as well.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Helena, 1961-
(författare)
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Möten där vi blir sedda : en studie om elevers engagemang i skolan
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- AbstractThis thesis concerns students’ engagement with school. In Sweden there are as many as 17,5 % of the students, who after year nine do not get the grades in order to be admitted to the national program at the upper secondary school. In this thesis, Students’ experiences are focused in order to understand engagement with school. The study is grounded in a socio cultural perspective on learning where learning is considered to originate from social actions, as well as theoretical perspectives on engagement. In the thesis learning is seen as development not as a process within the child but rather as development that takes place when the child participates in practices within their cultural community and in relations with others. Learning is looked upon as a perspective where the context of our lived experience of participation in the world is important. Learning should be seen as social participation. This kind of participation does not only shape what we do but also who we are and who we can become. In this thesis the concept of engagement is considered as both the wanting to do something, and what the student actual do, the agency of the student. An exploratory sequential mixed method has been used in the data collection, mainly with a student perspective. This means that both quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting and analyzing data has been used to be able to answer the research questions. The overall aim of the thesis is to contribute with knowledge about students’ engagement in school by identifying aspects that influence the engagement.The thesis consists of three different studies. One quantitative study, where 1298 student participated in a survey concerning student engagement with school, which was followed by two qualitative studies, where the descriptive analysis was broadened with interviews, one with students and teachers in two different classes and one with students from eight different schools. Apart from that, students have written reflections on how they experience their learning environments in school. The discussion concerns whether students in year seven are engaged with their school, both according to the psychological and according to the cognitive engagement. The discussion also concerns what aspects of engagement students and their teachers in two highly engaged classes have experienced. In the study students with different socioeconomically and cultural backgrounds take part. The concepts of students’ participation and influence in their schoolwork is also discussed.
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| 8. |
- Andersson, Helena
(författare)
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Möten där vi blir sedda : en studie om elevers engagemang i skolan
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis concerns students’ engagement with school. In Sweden there are as many as 17,5 % of the students, who after year nine do not get the grades in order to be admitted to the national program at the upper secondary school. In this thesis, Students’ experiences are focused in order to understand engagement with school. The study is grounded in a socio cultural perspective on learning where learning is considered to originate from social actions, as well as theoretical perspectives on engagement. In the thesis learning is seen as development not as a process within the child but rather as development that takes place when the child participates in practices within their cultural community and in relations with others. Learning is looked upon as a perspective where the context of our lived experience of participation in the world is important. Learning should be seen as social participation. This kind of participation does not only shape what we do but also who we are and who we can become. In this thesis the concept of engagement is considered as both the wanting to do something, and what the student actual do, the agency of the student. An exploratory sequential mixed method has been used in the data collection, mainly with a student perspective. This means that both quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting and analyzing data has been used to be able to answer the research questions. The overall aim of the thesis is to contribute with knowledge about students’ engagement in school by identifying aspects that influence the engagement. The thesis consists of three different studies. One quantitative study, where 1298 student participated in a survey concerning student engagement with school, which was followed by two qualitative studies, where the descriptive analysis was broadened with interviews, one with students and teachers in two different classes and one with students from eight different schools. Apart from that, students have written reflections on how they experience their learning environments in school. The discussion concerns whether students in year seven are engaged with their school, both according to the psychological and according to the cognitive engagement. The discussion also concerns what aspects of engagement students and their teachers in two highly engaged classes have experienced. In the study students with different socioeconomically and cultural backgrounds take part. The concepts of students’ participation and influence in their schoolwork is also discussed.
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| 9. |
- Assarson, Inger
(författare)
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Talet om en skola för alla : pedagogers meningskonstruktion i ett politiskt uppdrag
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- En skola för alla, som skolpolitiskt mål, har formats i ett större socialt sammanhang där demokratisering och välfärdsstatens framväxt har varit viktiga inslag. Som retorik är dess funktion att samla olika gruppers förhoppningar i en gemensam strävan efter något som skulle kunna bli bättre. Svårigheten inträder när retorik förvandlas till mål för ett politiskt uppdrag. Den fråga jag ställer i avhandlingen är hur en grupp pedagoger gör ett sådant uppdrag begripligt och meningsfullt i förhållande till den vardag de befinner sig i. Avhandlingen ska ses mot bakgrund av de ofta oförenliga diskurser som interagerar och positionerar sig på den arena som präglar skolans verksamhet. Det är i ett sådant motstridigt sammanhang som skolans pedagoger förväntas utforma det politiska uppdraget, en skola för alla, såsom det uttrycks i styrdokumentens texter. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i Laclaus och Mouffes diskursteorier och den politiska retorikens öppenhet för olika tolkningsmöjligheter. Den pedagogiska forskningen har genom post-strukturalismen fått nya förutsättningar att utvecklas som filosofisk vetenskap. Dessa nya förutsättningar har delvis sin grund i den mångfald av kulturpåverkan som förekommer i samhället och i den så kallade lingvistiska vändningens tilltro till språket. I analysen lyfter jag fram pedagogernas röster när de skapar mening i termer, eller tecken, som är gällande i retoriken om en skola för alla. Texterna som analyseras består att utskrifter från pedagogers samtal i grupper, från dagböcker och från samtal med pedagogerna enskilt omkring den dagliga verksamheten. De frågor som ställs i studien är: • Hur förhandlar och omförhandlar pedagoger mening i talet om en skola för alla? • Hur tillförs betydelser och hur byggs tankekedjor upp till diskurser och hur avgränsas dessa? • Hur hanteras rådande vetenskapliga och politiska diskurser? Pedagogernas tal diskuteras därefter utifrån begrepp, som är framträdande i retoriken om en skola för alla såsom likvärdighet, differentiering, särskilda behov och specialpedagogisk kompetens. Analysen visar hur idén om det förgivettagna goda blir utmanat när maktens makronivå, såsom den visar sig i skolans styrdokument, ges betydelser i mellanmänskliga språkliga handlingar på mikronivå. När pedagogerna skapar mening i en skola för alla relaterar de till sina egna mål och till att få verksamheten att fungera. Studien visar hur skolans försök att mäta det omätbara skapar svårigheter för pedagogerna. Vidare riskerar värdegrunden, i sin egenskap av kanon, att bli ett uttryck för symboliskt våld där andra sätt att tänka blir otänkbara. I sina försök att få verksamheten att fungera ger pedagogerna begrepp som rättvisa och särskilda behov mening, inte efter någon metafysiskt fastställd måttstock, utan efter de olika specifika situationer som uppstår just då i praxis. När pedagogerna skapar mening i den nya lärarrollen får begreppet extra-mamma stå som symbol för en person som kan hantera elevers känslor och personliga problem likaväl som dagliga konflikter med upprinnelse inte bara i skolans verksamhet, utan också i de sociala problem samhället står inför. Pedagogernas meningskonstruktioner ligger oftast utanför logiska rationella mönster och befintliga diskurser i det som är föränderligt och öppet för andra möjligheter. Intressant är hur alla i studien kommer att handla om fåtalet, om de elever, som lägger hinder i vägen för att uppnå helhet och harmoni. När en skola för alla blir en sluten totalitet, avgränsat från det, det inte är, riskerar retoriken om öppenhet och olikhet bli till slutenhet och likriktning. På så sätt kan den politiska retoriken om en skola för alla likställas med rättvisa, som i sin egenskap av begrepp inte får mening utan en metafysisk grund eller med demokrati som upphör i samma ögonblick som någon makt bestämmer dess absoluta innebörd.
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| 10. |
- Balan, Andreia
(författare)
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Assessment for learning : a case study in mathematics education
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study was to introduce a formative-assessment practice in a mathematics classroom, by implementing the five strategies of the formative-assessment framework proposed by Wiliam and Thompson (2007), in order to investigate: (a) if this change in assessment practices had a positive influence on students’ mathematical learning and, if this was the case, (b) which these changes were, and (c) how the teacher and students perceived these changes in relation to the new teaching-learning environment. The study was conducted in a mathematics classroom during the students’ first year in upper-secondary school. A quasiexperimental design was chosen for the study, involving pre- and post-tests, as well as an intervention group and control group. The intervention was characterized by: 1) making goals and criteria explicit by a systematic use of a scoring rubric; 2) making students’ learning visible by a use of problem-solving tasks and working in small groups; 3) providing students with nuanced information about their performance, including ways to move forward in their learning; 4) activating students as resources for each other through peer-assessment and peer-feedback activities; and 5) creating a forum for communication about assessment, involving both the students and the teacher. The findings indicate an improvement in problem-solving performance for the students in the intervention group, for instance regarding how well they are able to interpret a problem and use appropriate mathematical methods to solve it. The students also show improvements in how to reason about mathematical solu12 tions, how to present a solution in a clear and accessible manner, and how to appropriately use mathematical symbols, terminology, and conventions. The findings also indicate a change in students’ mathematical-related beliefs during the intervention, towards beliefs more productive for supporting learning in mathematics. The changes in students’ beliefs include mathematical understanding, mathematical work, and the usefulness of mathematical knowledge. During interviews, the students expressed how they perceived the new teaching-learning environment. Students’ responses indicate that they recognized and appreciated the different components of the formative-assessment practice as resources for their learning. Responses from both students and the teacher also indicate that the components of the formative-assessment practice were linked in complex ways, often supporting and reinforcing each other. Furthermore, most components had other effects as well, besides supporting the formative strategies they were intended to. The findings from this study deepens our understanding of how the components of a formative-assessment practice may influence students and their learning in mathematics, but also how these components co-exist in an authentic classroom situation and influence each other.
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