| 1. |
- Elofsson, Jessica
(author)
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Children’s early mathematics learning and development : Number game interventions and number line estimations
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Children’s early mathematics learning and development have become a topic of increasing interest over the past decade since early mathematical knowledge and skills have been shown to be a strong predictor of later mathematics performance. Understanding how children develop mathematical knowledge and skills and how they can be supported in their early learning could thus prove to be a vital component in promoting learning of more formal mathematics.In light of the above, with this thesis I sought to contribute to an increased understanding of children’s early mathematics learning and development by examining effects of playing different number games on children’s number knowledge and skills, and by investigating children’s representations of numbers on number line tasks.Two number game intervention studies were performed, and effects of three different number game conditions (linear number, circular number and nonlinear number) were investigated by examining 5- and 6-year-old children’s pre- and posttest performance on different numerical tasks. The findings indicate that playing number games in general support children’s development of number knowledge and skills, where the specific learning outcomes are affected differently depending on the type of number game utilized.To elucidate children’s representations of numbers, their performance on two different umber line tasks have been analyzed using a latent class modeling approach. The results reveal that there is a heterogeneity in 5- and 6-year-old children’s number line estimations and subgroups of children showing different estimation patterns were distinguished. In addition, it is shown that children’s number line estimations can be associated to their number knowledge as well as to task specific aspects.The findings presented in this thesis contribute to the discussion of the value of selecting game activities in a conscious way to support children’s early mathematics learning and development. They also add to the discussion regarding the number line task and how children’s number line estimations can be analyzed and interpreted.
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| 2. |
- Forsberg, Camilla, 1983-
(author)
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Students’ Perspectives on Bullying
- 2016
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of the present thesis was to listen to, examine and conceptualise students’ perspectives on bullying. Students’ perspectives have not been commonly heard in research and less qualitative research has been conducted. This study contributes with students’ perspectives on bullying using semi-structured interviews with students from fourth-to eighth grade.This thesis includes four studies. The aim with paper I was to investigate how bystander actions in bullying situations and reasons behind these actions were articulated. Paper II was a comparison study between Sweden and US, focused on how students articulate and discuss what factors influence students’ decisions to defend or not defend victims when witnessing bullying. The aim in Paper III was to study how students themselves discuss, reason and make sense of how and why bullying processes emerges in their social worlds. In paper IV the aim was to study how junior high school girls discuss and understand bullying. Findings reveal that students’ reactions as bystanders to bullying depend on how they define the situation. Explanations to the emergence of bullying were understood through a complex social ordering of belonging process. Students position themselves and others in striving to belong, and when defining victims as responsible for bullying. Social norms and negotiation of identities were also discussed among the students. Students discussed how gender and a normative peer structure, where a pressure to fit in, interlinked with how they understood bullying.
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| 3. |
- Nylander, Erik, 1982-
(author)
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Skolning i jazz : Värde, selektion och studiekarriär vid folkhögskolornas musiklinjer
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Avhandlingen består av fyra empiriskt orienterade artiklar där studiekarriärer till och från folkhögskolornas musiklinjer studeras. Med utgångspunkt i relationell utbildningssociologi, metodologiskt såväl som teoretiskt, analyseras musiklinjernas sociala rekrytering, inträdesregler och relation till högre utbildning och professionella musikfält. Med hjälp av statistisk från individdataregister och enkätundersökningar riktade till musiklinjeansvariga tecknas en bild av det utbildningslandskap där folkhögskolelinjerna i musik är en del. Genom etnografiskt fältarbete av de mest prestigefyllda jazzlinjerna och deras musikauditions, undersöks hur det går till när urvalet till de dominerande linjerna sker. Resultaten visar hur musiken vuxit till att bli den volymmässigt största inriktningen bland folkhögskolornas särskilda linjer och hur de är att betrakta som intermediärt positionerade i det svenska utbildningslandskapet i musik. Musiklinjerna visar sig hierarkiskt organiserade mellan högt och lågt och differentierade mellan elit- och massutbildningar. Argumentet framförs att man kan betrakta tillgångar i musik som en särskild kapitalform, vad som i avhandlingen benämns ett musikkapital, vilket gradvis differentieras och blir beroende av genrespecifika erkännanden. Selektionen till musiklinjerna i jazz präglas av en serie spänningsförhållanden mellan tradition och förnyelse, teknik och känsla, regelföljande och regelbrott samt mellan institutionella och karismatiska värderingspraktiker.
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| 4. |
- Elwér, Åsa
(author)
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Early Predictors of Reading Comprehension Difficulties
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of the present thesis was to examine the cognitive and language profile in children with poor reading comprehension using a longitudinal perspective. Even though comprehension skills are closely connected to educational success, comprehension deficits in children have been neglected in reading research. Understanding factors underlying reading is important as it improves possibilities of early identification of children at risk of developing reading problems. In addition, targeted interventions may prevent or reduce future problems. Descriptions of the cognitive and language profile in children with different types of reading problems from an early age and over time is an important first step.The three studies included in this thesis have been conducted using data from the International Longitudinal Twin Study (ILTS). In the ILTS, parallel data have been collected in the US, Australia, Sweden and Norway. Altogether, more than 1000 twin pairs have been examined between the ages 5 and 15 years using well known predictors of reading, along with decoding, spelling, reading comprehension and oral language measures.In the three studies, the Simple View of Reading has been used as a theoretical framework and children who exhibited different kinds of comprehension related difficulties have been identified at different ages. The studies include both retrospective and prospective analyses. The results across studies indicated a robust oral language deficit in all subtypes displaying comprehension problems. The oral language deficit was widespread and included vocabulary, grammar and verbal memory. In addition, the oral language deficit was manifested as compromised phonological awareness and print knowledge prior to reading instruction. Reading comprehension deficits were late emerging across studies in children with comprehension difficulties.
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| 5. |
- Hansson, Per-Olof
(author)
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New ways of learning : Participatory action research and Kenyan runners’ appropriation of smartphones to improve their daily lives and participation in m-learning
- 2015
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In Kenya, mobile technology is widely used, with more and more people gaining access to the Internet. Mobile technology has the potential to support learning and improve lives, particular those of impoverished people. In this study, 30 Kenyan runners from poor backgrounds and with limited formal education participated. They were provided with a basic smartphone and Internet data bundles for one year so that they could participate in m-learning. The participatory action research approach was used. Sources of data included interviews, observations, fieldnotes, web inquiries, and mobile log files. A sociocultural perspective was used to analyze how the participants learned informally using the smartphones.Findings indicate that the Kenyan runners’ rapid appropriation and mastery of the smartphones was based on their curiosity and interest in sports. The runners’ skills and knowledge increased over time, showing how digital resources improved their training, increased their social interactions, developed entrepreneurial skills, created awareness in and with the rest of society, and improved participation in m-learning. Sociocultural analysis showed that feedback from peers and the tool itself were both significant for learning. The participants themselves influenced the research process. From their interest emerged an online course (MOOC) about human rights. Key challenges in the process were power consumption, lack of electricity, and the availability and cost of Internet access. A lack of critical attitude about content on the Internet was also discernible. The main findings highlight how mobile technology can not only improve daily lives, but also develop new ways for people to participate in mlearning.
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| 6. |
- Rahm, Lina, 1973-
(author)
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Educational imaginaries : a genealogy of the digital citizen
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis makes use of a genealogical approach to map out and explainhow and why computers and citizenship have become so closely connected.It examines the historical continuities and disruptions, and the role thatpopular education has played in this interrelation. Drawing on previousresearch in the overlap between Swedish popular education history andhistorical computer politics, this thesis adds knowledge about howimaginaries of popular education, operating as silver bullet solutions toproblems with computerization, have had important functions as governingtools for at least 70 years. That is, Swedish popular education has since the1950s been imagined as a central solution to problems with computerization,but also to realize the societal potentials associated with computers.Specifically, this thesis makes two contributions: 1) Empirically, the thesisunearths archived, and in many ways forgotten, discourses around thehistorical enactment of the digital citizen, and the role of popular education,questioning assumptions that are taken for granted in current times; 2)Theoretically, the thesis proposes a conceptual model of educationalimaginaries, and specifically introduces the notion (and method) of‘problematizations’ into these imaginaries.
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| 7. |
- Arriaza Hult, Maria, 1990-
(author)
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Party Education as Mobilisation : Framing education in Swedish and Spanish political parties of the left
- 2022
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This dissertation aims to contribute knowledge of how five movement-related left parties in Sweden and Spain formulate education for their members. By analysing (i) the Swedish Social Democratic Workers’ Party, (ii) the Swedish Left Party, (iii) the Spanish Social Democratic Workers’ Party, (iv) the Spanish United Left and (v) the Spanish Podemos, the study interprets how organised educational activities are formulated and motivated with the aim to instigate member engagement. The analysis builds on interviews with leading party representatives and study leaders, study and course materials, and other official documents, which steer how the parties organise their education. With a framing perspective as a theoretical itinerary, the study emphasises parties' education as a setting where meaning is formulated to initiate collective action. The four included papers stress and discuss how educational material is formulated and how the parties perceive and motivate organised party education. Papers 1 and 2 analyse text materials and shows how educational materials establish narratives that invites the members to become active in the parties. Even though the educational narrative is welcoming, the study materials also reinforce frames of how to be schooled into becoming an ideal party member. Papers 3 and 4 study interview materials and suggest that member education is interpreted as something that strengthens parties’ movement relations, provides useful training, opens up a space for political reflection, and constructs a feeling of community within the parties. The dissertation emphasises that these five movement-related left parties perceive their educational activities as settings that create relations between the party and its members. Applying the framing perspective to the understudied educational practices that transpire in parties contributes to deepening the theoretical understanding of how education can be formulated in relation to its bearing on creating collective identities.
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| 8. |
- Avby, Gunilla
(author)
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Evidence in practice : On knowledge use and learning in social work
- 2015
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Against the backdrop of the transformations in the entire framing of professional work, social work has come under close scrutiny in many countries, including Sweden. Doubts have been raised about practitioners’ existing knowledge base, and the importance of practitioners engaging in learning and the renewal and extension of professional capacities has been emphasized.The present thesis concerns knowledge use and learning in the daily practices of child investigation work. The aim is to explore processes of knowledge use and learning in practice. The study is based on a mix of qualitative approaches, basically from ethnography, comprising methods such as participant observations, interviews, reflective dialogues and documentary analysis of case data.The main findings demonstrate that investigation work is characterized mainly by the use of practice-based knowledge. Research-based knowledge is predominantly used as a means of explaining a client’s situation or to underpin and legitimize one’s own beliefs and decisions made on other grounds. Professional learning is largely adaptive in character, as the social workers learn to handle tasks in a fairly routinized way on the basis of rules or procedures that draw on existing knowledge in the practice setting.Two conclusions are drawn: First, the use of knowledge in child investigation work bears little resemblance to principles of evidence-based practice. Second, the reproduction of professional knowledge is largely implicit and taken for granted. The study offers insight into the much-discussed topic of putting knowledge into practice, which is of importance to strategies for organizing profes sional learning and knowledgeable practice.
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| 9. |
- Bennich, Maria, 1959-
(author)
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Kompetens och kompetensutveckling i omsorgsarbete : Synen på kompetens och lärande – i spänningsfältet mellan samhälleliga förutsättningar och organisatoriska villkor
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Avhandlingen är en sammanläggningsavhandling med syfte att studera om synen på kompetens är relaterad till lärmiljön och strategier för kompetensutveckling. Parallellt med syftet har jag analyserat och diskuterat kompetensutveckling ur ett samhälleligt och interorganisatoriskt perspektiv. Fokus ligger här på styrprinciper, brukarinflytande och nationella utvecklingsprogram. Avhandlingen utgörs av en lokal studie som bygger på 22 intervjuer och 74 enkäter, en forskningsöversikt samt en studie som bygger på utvärderingar av det nationella utvecklingsprogrammet Kompetensstegen.Resultatet från den lokala studien – två vårdboenden och två hemtjänstverksamheter – visar att förutsättningarna för lärmiljön skiljer sig åt beroende på verksamhetstypen. Inom hemtjänstverksamheterna var stöd och engagemang från ledningen mer central för kompetensutveckling än inom vårdboendena. Samtidigt visar resultatet att i de verksamheter där det fanns en mer utvecklad lärmiljö och en integrerad strategi – dvs. en kombination av icke‐formella och formella läraktiviteter – för kompetensutveckling, var uppfattningarna om omsorgspersonalens kompetens mer utvecklade. Fokus låg här på att utveckla både kompetens och verksamhet. Det som förenade samtliga verksamheter var uppfattningen att personalen behöver en förmåga att utveckla relationer till brukaren.Analysen av Kompetensstegen – en stor nationell satsning – visar på en brist i samspel och jämlika relationer mellan arbetsplatserna och utbildningsanordnare. Denna brist hade implikationer för hur väl satsningen på kompetensutveckling lyckades. Inom de verksamheter där arbetsplats‐ och utbildningssystem samverkat, ledde detta samspel till att arbetsplatslärandet blev mer flexibelt, effektivt och användbart för deltagarna. Exemplet visar att kompetensfrågor behöver analyseras ur ett samhälleligt perspektiv.Den samhälleliga analysen visar att kompetensfrågor lätt kommer bort eftersom dessa inte är integrerade i styrprinciper som konkurrensutsättning, upphandlingsförfaranden och kundval. Kompetensutveckling inom äldreomsorgen är en komplex, svårbestämbar och krävande process som behöver synkroniseras på olika nivåer. De nationella satsningar, där formell utbildning dominerar, har sällan fått något genomslag i verksamheten. Perspektivet har oftast varit kortsiktigt och individinriktat. Tillfälliga resursförstärkningar och projektsatsningar leder inte heller till att frågan om kompetensutveckling prioriteras och att nödvändiga resurser avsätts lokalt. Nyckelord: omsorgspersonal, kompetens, kompetensutveckling, äldreomsorgen, interaktiv forskning, interorganisatorisk samverkan
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| 10. |
- Bolldén, Karin, 1980-
(author)
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Online teaching practices : Sociomaterial matters in higher education settings
- 2015
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of this study was to describe and analyse online teaching practices in the Swedish higher education context. The study had an online ethnographic approach and was based on empirical data on the teaching in two university courses. The study rested primarily on observational data but interviews and available documents also formed the basis for analysis. Empirical data were analysed with a perspective of practice theory – a perspective within a sociomaterial account. The results showed that online teaching was characterised by an embodied sociomaterial practice. The teacher’s body could be understood as both multiple and closely interwoven with technology. Furthermore, the teacher’s body was used in the teaching situation to reduce technological complexity but also, along with other forms of materiality, to prefigure what kind of teaching would take place. Teacher interventions in online environments could furthermore be understood as relational to both technology (that is the virtual material arrangement) and teachers’ doings and sayings (that is the teaching practice). Teacher interventions were aimed at making the arrangement intelligible for the students. The study showed that teacher interventions arranged both students and information and communication technology (ICT) in order to make them work as a teaching practice. The teaching practice that emerged was characterised as an interplay between virtual materiality and social practice, where asymmetricrelations between teachers and the ICT prevailed.
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