The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of upper elementary mathematics teachers and students about the use of manipulatives in teaching and learning mathematics. This study is a qualitative case study. The participants of this study were four elementary mathematics teachers in a private school and their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. The data were collected through one-to-one interviews, observations and analyzing documents consisting of annual plan, daily plan, notebooks of students, and the field note that the researcher kept throughout the study. This study revealed that although all the teachers advocate the use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics, they use traditional teaching techniques in their classes. They mentioned different factors affecting their use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics such as not knowing how to use them, grade level, availability of materials, time constraints, students&rsquo / reactions (seeing them as a toy or not being accustomed to them), school administration, classroom management, not finding materials appropriate for the subject being taught and classroom size. In fact, these are the factors that are seen on the surface level. This study indicated that even when teachers are provided with training about the use of manipulatives, supported by the school administration, and provided with manipulatives, the use of manipulatives is largely determined by their views / beliefs about the nature of mathematics, how students can learn mathematics, the effect of manipulatives and their knowledge in using them. Students seemed to like learning by using manipulatives. When conditions were arranged for learning, they were willing to learn through manipulatives.

The concept of matter as it is treated in the philosophical systems of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and John Duns Scotus is examined, partly to ascertain the influence which the original Aristotelian concept of matter had on the two medieval thinkers, and partly to determine which of these two thinkers remained more faithful to the original Aristotelian concept. An analysis is carried out of the views of the three philosophers regarding the ontological status of matter; the intelligibility of matter; the issue of the real distinction between matter and form; the role played by matter in individuating composite substances; and its role in defining composite substances and determining their essences. Finally, the views of Aquinas and Scotus regarding the theory of universal hylomorphism and the theory of the plurality of forms are discussed and compared. It is shown that, while most of the Franciscan philosophical tradition up to Scotus's time was far more influenced by Platonist than by Aristotelian principles, Scotus, though a Franciscan, was much closer to Aristotle than to Plato in his views regarding matter. In fact, the few deviations from the original Aristotelian concept found in Scotus's theory can be ascribed to theological concerns. It is argued, furthermore, that Scotus's views on the concept of matter are far closer to the original Aristotelian theory than our analysis shows Aquinas himself to be.

This thesis presents an empirical study of the meeting between a group of doctoral students and their research milieus, understood as a web of values in the social rooms. The purpose is to explore what these research milieus mean for the doctoral students and their questions about views of life.   The theoretical points of departure are on one hand the Uppsala Studies in Faith and Ideologies and on the other the concept of habitus in the study Homo Academicus of Pierre Bourdieu, including the idea that the postgraduate studies can be seen as a secondary socialization.   The study consists of three parts: an observation study, a questionnaire study and a field survey consisting of personal interviews.   The results are in short: 1.      Approximately seven of ten doctoral students reflect on questions about views of life every day or every week. 2.      The milieus of views of life, as interwoven parts of the research milieus, have influence on how the doctoral students think about questions of life. The empirical material shows that there is “a now” and “a then” to these questions. There often appears to be a difference between the cluster of life values in the research milieu and the much more soft values of the students that initiates this process. 3.      The value process mentioned above that is an important part of the secondary socialization often ends in conformity with those values that are parts of the present paradigm. However the process can also end in such a value conflict that the students (ca 25%) often or very often have reflected on discontinuing their postgraduate studies. The students’ soft values seem to be more important than the values they meet in the research milieu. 4.      These value questions, including the research ethics and the postulates of the paradigms, have little or no place in the university education. A part of the participants are of the opinion that questions about views of life are taboo in their research milieu.   The results from the empirical study are then confronted first with the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu, particularly his overly structuralistic view of agents and their habitus, and then with some central moments in the theoretical concept of Anders Jeffner, the prominent figure in Uppsala studies in faiths and ideologies. It is Jeffner’s individualistic view of the autonomous actor with a relative constancy in views of life that is called into question by the empirical results of this study.

Historically, research on Aboriginal education issues has ignored the needs of Aboriginal people and disempowered the Aboriginal community. This thesis seeks to offer a corrective to that trend. The intent of the thesis research was to establish a process for conducting educational research with one Aboriginal community - the Dakota People of Wahpeton which would enable this community to have a legitimate voice and control over future research that will be conducted on their behalf. A methodology called community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) was utilized because it provided the means for community input and direction. Through the use of CBPR, collaborative relationships were established with 20 Dakota People of Wahpeton, who were identified as the research participants. The interview was used as the primary research method. The thesis discusses how the conflict between two cultural world views - the Aboriginal view of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota People, generally referred to as "Sioux", and the contemporary Western view - was resolved within the process of implementing the Community-Based Participatory Research methodology. This resolution of differences was accomplished by bridging, then mirroring, the methodologies and ways of gaining knowledge unique to these two respective cultural world views. Additionally, theoretical and practical suggestions are offered so that the thesis might serve as a model for Dakota-Nakota-Lakota Community-Based Participatory Research in the future. In keeping with Community-Based Participatory Research, the voice of the people will be emphasized in this thesis, through extensive use of quotes. Furthermore, the voice of the researcher will be clearly identified so that he may be held accountable for his input.

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En föränderlig arbetsmarknad ställer nya krav på studenter och nyexaminerade. Formella kompetenser har fått ge plats åt diverse informella egenskaper och färdigheter i syftet att söka och erhålla arbete. Syftet med denna studie är att genom semistrukturerade intervjuer undersöka hur fem sistaårsstudenter på ett civilekonomprogram i Mellansverige resonerar kring anställningsbarhet och vilka strategier de tar till för att påverka sin anställningsbarhet. Resultatet visar slutligen att studenterna reflekterar över sin egen anställningsbarhet först i samband med att de själva börjat söka jobb och att de i huvudsak ser på anställningsbarhet som ett ”mått” för hur attraktivt man är på arbetsmarknaden. Utbildning, extrajobb och engagemang beskrivs vidare som de främsta strategierna för ökad anställningsbarhet bland studenterna. Studenterna ser på sig själva som anställningsbara och ser positivt på sina förmågor att erhålla jobb efter examen.

The thesis is dealing with vocational education in Czech Republic. Particularly, it is focused on the comparison of students' and teachers' opinion on the contribution of vocational education to future path of the graduates. It has two parts - theory and research. Theoretical part begins with discussion about vocational and general education on the philosophical and empirical level. The specifics of Central Europe in this discussion are also mentioned. In the next part, system of vocational education in Czech Republic is presented, including its history and current issues. Theory is ended with providing statistics about changes in participation in education since 1989 and about the success of the graduates in the labour market in tertiary education. In practical part, interviews with students and teachers are conducted to find out their opinion about influence of upper secondary vocational education on the future success of the graduates.

Magister Legum - LLM

The field of pronunciation instruction has long been a neglected area. In recent years, however, researchers have found a renewed interest in the subject. For example, research has been conducted to investigate the views on pronunciation instruction held by teachers and learners. In light of this, the present study seeks to explore the field of research in pronunciation instruction to answer the question of whether pronunciation instruction is important and beneficial for learners of English as a foreign language. The results of the present study show that teachers and learners alike consider pronunciation instruction an integral part of language teaching. Furthermore, the results show that pronunciation affects comprehension and that pronunciation teaching has positive effects on pronunciation development. In the present study, these results are connected to the Swedish school context, where we draw the conclusion that pronunciation should be included in the English language classroom to a greater extent than is the case at the time of writing this thesis.

It has become something of a cliché for contemporary scholars to assert that Madison turned Montesquieu on his head and thereafter give little thought to the Frenchman’s theory that republics must remain limited in territorial size. Madison did indeed present a formidable challenge to Montesquieu’s theory, but I will demonstrate in this dissertation that the authors of the Federalist Papers arrived at the extended sphere by following a theoretical pathway already cemented by the French philosopher. I will also show that Madison’s “practical sphere” ultimately concedes to Montesquieu that excessive territorial size and high levels of heterogeneity will overwhelm the citizens of a republic and enable the few to oppress the many. The importance of this dissertation is its finding that the principal mechanism devised by the Federalists for dealing with factions—the enlargement of the sphere—was crafted specifically for the purpose of moderating interests, classes, and sects within an otherwise relatively homogeneous nation. Consequently, the diverse republic that is America today may be exposed to the existential threat anticipated by Montesquieu’s theory of size—the plutocratic oppression of society by an elite class that employs the strategy of divide et impera.