Traditionally, innovation processes have often focused on creatively solving problems with the help of new technology or business models. However, when describing products in terms of function or visual appearance, the reflection on a less visible dimension, the product meaning, is left out. The perspective of meaning is an alternative path to innovation that pays attention to the reason for using a product, its “why” rather than its “how”. Nevertheless, within the field of innovation management, research on meaning is still in its infancy and lacks well developed frameworks. The objective of this study is to increase the understanding of the dimension of meaning within the innovation processes in companies and - in particular - the practices that support such a process, looking particularly at nine cases where managers sought to develop directions of new product meaning - spanning businesses within manufacturing, consumer goods and fashion. The study shows that companies used practices often opposite to what is described in innovation literature. Rather than taking out and leaving their opinions behind to reach a “beginner's mind”, the managers showed a silent evolving of interest and a conscious exposing of their own personal beliefs. They moved beyond standard procedures of information sharing to a practice of a multifaceted criticizing. Rather than outsourcing the product solutions, a practice of embodying the proposed product meaning was observed. In-depth studies showed that when the participants do not expose their thoughts with conviction, the process of searching to innovate product meaning seems to struggle. The act of exposing does not happen in a moment but when individuals open up and let old interpretations fade away, leaving room for new perspectives. Moreover, these studies showed that external sources, so called interpreters, fuel discussions on product meaning by leveraging a critical ability that includes practices described as asking, giving, daring and playing. The study contributes with an increased understanding of the meaning dimension within innovation management by leveraging theories of hermeneutics, design and leadership. It shows that this type of innovation process is relevant but differs from processes of creatively solving problems. Rather than being driven to find solutions, a meaning perspective includes a process of striving towards new potential product meaning. / Innovationsprocesser handlar ofta om kreativ problemlösning. En ny produkt beskrivs ofta genom användandet av ny teknik eller en ny affärsmodell. Men med fokus på det visuella såsom utseende och funktion utelämnas en parameter - nämligen den som rör produktens mening. Meningspespektivet utgör ett alternativ för innovation. Det lyfter frågor kring anledningen till att använda en produkt med fokus på ”varför” vi ska använda den snarare är ”hur”. Inom innovationsområdet befinner sig forskningen kring mening i ett tidigt skede utan väl utvecklade ramverk. Målet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för ett meningsperspektiv inom företags innovations processer - speciellt de tillämpningar, eller praxis som stödjer denna process. Studien har haft en retrospektiv och tolkande ansats i kombination med ett aktivt deltagande perspektiv. Nio fall inom tillverkande industri, konsumentvaror och mode har studerats med fokus på ledare som sökt finna en ny riktning för sin produkt genom att tillämpa ett meningsperspektiv. Studien visar att företagens tillvägagångssätt ofta stod i motsats till de som finns beskriva i befintlig litteratur inom innovationsområdet. Istället för att dela sina åsikter med varandra och sedan lägga dem åt sidan för att tillämpa ett ”nybörjar-sinne” så visade ledarna ett stilla intresse som utvecklades över tid. De blottlade medvetet sina egna personliga övertygelser och gick längre än att endast dela information i projekten. Istället utvecklade de ett mångfacetterat och kritiskt synsätt. Till skillnad mot ett användande av ”outsourcing”, att leja produkt lösningar på extern part, observerades en typ av förkroppsligande, eller införlivande, av den nya föreslagna meningen av en produkt. Mer djupgående studier visade att när deltagarna inte delar sina åsikter med genuint engagemang så vacklar en innovationsprocess inriktad på att finna ny mening för en produkt. Tillämpandet av detta blottläggande sker inte direkt utan när individer öppnar upp och låter gamla tolkningar blekna till förmån för nya perspektiv. Vidare, att externa källor, så kallade ”tolkare”, gynnar diskussioner kring en produkts mening genom en kritisk förmåga bestående av fyra delmoment kallade fråga, ge, våga och leka. Studien bidrar med en ökad förståelse för meningsperspektivet inom innovationsområdet genom att hämta teorier från fälten hermeneutik, design och ledarskap. Den visar att den här typen av innovationsprocess är relevant men att den skiljer sig från processer som fokuserar på kreativ problemlösning. Istället för att drivas att finna lösningar innebär detta meningsperspektiv att sträva framåt mot en produkts nya potentiella mening.

This study researches questions concerning arts education and critical thinking. The study poses two questions. What strategies for critical thinking are revealed in conversation with five art educators? And how can art education be a suitable platform for critical thinking?  The Swedish school authorities have set out strong general guidelines concerning the need for schools to develop students skills in critical thinking. This subject is traditionally focused on the social sciences yet this study wants to go into how critical thinking may be integrated and used in art education. The data from the study is presented in six themes; “self reflection”, “conscious planning”, “making the many perspectives visible”, “giving space for individual expression”, “trust, safety and relationships”, and “norms”. These themes are then critically appraised in the light of “norm criticism”, a contemporary social theory that works with questioning the societal norms around subjects such as gender, race, sexuality. The study shows many important strategies for critical thinking in the concerned group of educators. The educators assert the need for appropriate planning, creating a safe and encouraging space for students to express their thoughts and feelings in their art work and in critical analyses of pictures and discussions concerning societal norms. Although the study has its limitations – it’s based on data from a small group, who were partly selected out of their interest in the subject of critical thinking – it suggests that there are many good reasons to work more deeply with critical thinking in art education. Art education also has the advantage of creativity and the work with picture analyses. Using their own individual expression students may learn a more intimate understanding of what critical thinking really means, not only as a mere thought process, but a bodily, practical understanding. Further studies would be good and could e.g. include an ethnological study of the current condition of critical thinking in Swedish art education of today. The study includes a figuration which is inspired by theme ”trust, safety and relationships” and is called  ”Trygga rum”, “The Safe Space”. “The Safe Space” a three part sculpture made out of a combination of metal and textile in the shape of cocoons (and sound installation), representing the qualities of safety as a crucial part of the processes of developing critical thinking.

Undervisningen i gymnasieskolan har ett mål att förmedla kunskaper och värden som samhället vilar på, samtidigt ska eleverna utrustas med ett kritiskt tänkande för att kunna granska påståenden och förhållanden. Detta kan ses som ett dubbelt uppdrag i skolan och denna uppsats syftar till att belysa hur läroböcker i samhällskunskap, som riktar sig mot yrkesförberedande respektive studieförberedande elever, hanterar det dubbla uppdraget i framställningen av demokrati och medborgarskap. Fyra läroböcker har använts i undersökningen och analyserats med hjälp av diskursanalys och Chantal Mouffes teori om demokrati. Analysen visar att läroböckernas föreställning av demokrati karaktäriseras av representativ demokrati med medborgerliga rättigheter som yttrandefrihet, likhet inför lagen och allmän rösträtt. Alternativa sätt att konstruera ett demokratiskt samhälle exkluderas och olika tolkningar och perspektiv kring demokratiska principer saknas i läroböckerna. Kritisk tänkande riktas mot det som hotar det rådande demokratiska samhället, exempelvis direktdemokrati, politiska åsikter som inte respekterar yttrandefrihet och rättssäkerhet samt trakasserier och personliga påhopp mot politiker. Därmed undviker läroböckerna till stor del ett kritiskt tänkande mot den föreställda demokratin och det rådande demokratiska samhället, i synnerhet i läroböckerna som riktar sig mot yrkesförberedande elever.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lärare kritiskt förhåller sig till inlästa läromedel samt vilka medvetna val kring inlästa läromedel lärare gör. Vi har valt att göra semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla in data som vi sedan med hjälp av tidigare forskning har analyserat ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Genom analys av de 12 intervjuer vi har genomfört i två kommuner i Skåne har vi kommit fram till att; lärare uppfattar forskning kring inlästa läromedel som bristande, de förlitar sig på att annan personal har tagit fram en fungerande tjänst för eleverna. De anser att inlästa läromedel har en positiv inverkan på elevernas inlärning oavsett om de har någon form av svårighet eller ej. Vi har sett att de anser sig göra medvetna val vad gäller inläsningstjänster i undervisningen.

The main purpose of this master thesis is to examine how high school students think when they independently are evaluating information for a school assignment. We examine what types of sources they use, and what their reasons are. Besides that we also examine what sorts of criteria they use when evaluating if a source is usable, and if there are any other factors that can have an influence for their choice of material. We have done a qualitative study with 23 students, where the students wrote down their answers in a questionnaire containing wide open questions. We have created our own tool for analysing the material by extracting the most general things in our chapter of earlier research, concerning the three questions which our study is based on. The result shows that the students trust literature and primary sources. Our students also make extensive use of the Internet, but they are sceptical of its trustworthiness. They trust sources of authority, and they make independent evaluations concerning the credibility by comparing sources with each other. The students use a great number of criteria when they are evaluating sources, which indicate that they examine their sources very thoroughly. We can also see a number of factors that can have an effect on the students when they are judging a source’s relevance. The result also shows that our students are really good at evaluating sources, and that training in critical thinking improves the students’ source critical consciousness. / Uppsatsnivå: D

In this Master thesis interest is directed towards approaches toinformation literacy (IL) and critical thinking in the educationalactivities of university libraries. The aspiration of universitylibrarians to promote the critical abilities of students isproblematized. At the center of attention is the project“Lärandemål för informationskompetens” [Learning outcomes forinformation literacy], which in 2006 was carried out incollaboration between the Swedish university libraries, in responseto the educational reforms connected to the Bologna Process.Through the discourse analytical framework of NormanFairclough, documents related to the project “Lärandemål förinformationskompetens” are studied in order to identifydominating approaches to IL. The purpose is to investigate anddiscuss the possible implications of the dominating perspectives,with regard to the development of critical thinking amongstudents.The study results in the identification of two main discourses, thestandardization discourse and the discourse on employability. Bothof these discourses are seen to be connected to two overarchingdiscourses also identified in the study, the market discourse andthe discourse on information overflow.In conclusion, it was found that the objectivist and positivistepistemology underlying the dominating perspectives, in severalrespects is counterproductive to the aspiration to promote criticalthinking among students. A social constructionist approach issuggested as an alternative. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine and understand how teachers of younger children view the concept of critical evaluation of information and how their interpretations of the concept relate to their teaching. The need for the development of children’s ability to critically evaluate has been emphasized through research as well as the need for collaboration between teachers and librarians in order to help pupil’s process information into knowledgeThe study has a socio-cultural perspective and the material was collected through observations and qualitative interviews with teachers. The results of the study indicate that many teachers experience uncertainty when it comes to the area of critical evaluation and that they do not teach the subject to any substantial extent. Although there is a new curriculum which clearly raises the question, the issue of critical evaluation is paid comparatively little attention by the teachers. There are, however, teachers who express an interest in the subject. Generally, the teachers think of the critical evaluation of a source as a way to decide what to believe, but other aspects can be distinguished. Some speak about critical evaluation as attitude towards information. A potential way of incorporating critical evaluation into teaching is, according to the teachers, to have a continuing dialogue around the subject with the children.It is likely that teachers need further education within the area of critical evaluation in order for a method development to take place. / Program: Bibliotekarie

<p>Validerat; 20101217 (root)</p>

<p>Performance of an intersection affects the total travel time in a traffic network. An intersection with good performance can easily be described by its contribution to lower travel time than in a comparable intersection. The travel time is of importance in the cost calculations when a specific intersection is to be chosen and designed. It is important to be able to make correct and precise performance calculations so that the cost calculations will not be incorrect. For that purpose the software Capcal, which is a traffic model for intersection analysis on performance, is used in Sweden. Capcal is frequently revised but part of it is still based on old theory and data. Therefore is it important to continually validate the model to control its reliability when it comes to traffic conditions of today with increasing traffic. The model can be validated by comparing its results with reality. </p><p>Performance of an intersection without signal control is defined by the so called performance measurements queue length, capacity, degree of saturation, delay and service time. We have studied a few three-way intersections and roundabouts in Norrköping and Linköping to collect these measurement from reality. These field studies were performed by filming and manually measuring of traffic flows. The films were further processed afterwards to collect additional data. The results from the field studies were compared to output from Capcal. </p><p>Generally our study shows a good correspondence between the output of Capcal and the performance measurements from reality. The differences that exist are caused by the reliability of the field studies and what speed that is possible to model in Capcal. The study showed that if the speed limit is modeled it does not always correspond to the real traffic behavior in all of the studied intersections.</p>

<p>Arbetet syftar till att synliggöra några lärares uppfattningar, reflektioner och upplevelser om elever och information. I resultatet redovisas hur lärarna upplever elevers förmåga att handskas med information och när, var och hur de anser att eleverna tränar informationsfärdigheter. Dessutom redovisas lärarnas reflektioner kring elever, information och kunskap samt deras syn på om ett undersökande arbetssätt kan underlätta arbetet med informationsfärdigheter. Resultatet grundar sig på en kvalitativ forskningsintervju där fyra lärare från en skola i Linköping deltog.</p>