The present study investigates high school students' knowledge for concepts that are common in civic education teaching. The concepts that the study investigates are linked to democracy and the Swedish constitution, in order to make connections between conceptual understanding and democratic citizenship. The purpose of the study is to investigate differences between year one and year three and to make visible connections between conceptual understanding and the goal of raising democratic citizens. The experience has been gained through surveys completed by a total of 105 high school students in year 1 and year 3. The results show that students in year 3 generally have a better understanding of concepts than students in year 1. The study also shows that there are interesting connections between understanding of concepts and democratic citizenship.

Skolan har ett uppdrag att utbilda matematiskt kompetenta medborgare. Elevernas motivation att öva grundläggande förmågor som huvudräkning och läsning minskar när de har ständig tillgång till digitala verktyg. Därmed får de även olika förutsättningar att ta till sig matematiken utifrån skillnaden i förmågorna. Algebra utgör grunden till matematik och dess verktyg men elevernas dåliga prestationer i algebra kan förklaras av systematiska fel som deras bristande begreppsförståelse orsakar. Ett centralt begrepp inom algebra är variabel och lärarens roll att vägleda eleverna till begreppsförståelse därmed en viktig pusselbit i elevernas lärande. Studien undersöker lärarnas uppfattning om sina förutsättningar att kommunicera innebörden av begreppet variabel så att det leder till djup förståelse. Studiens syfte är att belysa faktorer som påverkar lärares möjligheter att skapa förståelse och bidra med insikter till lärarutbildning och skolans ledning. Sociokulturella perspektivets betoning på språk och kommunikation samt variationsteorins begrepp kontrastering används för att analysera dessa faktorer genom tematisk analys. Resultaten tyder på att lärarna ser sina förutsättningar på väldigt olika sätt, både i hur de uppfattar vad matematik med förståelse innebär samt hur skolans verksamhet stöder dem i sin strävan att skapa det för variabelbegreppet. Diagnostiska frågor föreslås som ett sätt att underlätta lärarens arbete.

I denna studie undersöker vi matematiklärares olika synsätt utifrån deras erfarenheter kring visuella representationer och aspekter av bråk. Lärare intervjuades om en uppsättning problem som deras elever fick lösa, vilka var de metoderna som användes. Vi undersöker därav även om det finns några samband mellan klassresultaten och matematiklärarnas olika synsätt. Tre olika teorier användes som ramverk vid både metodövervägandet och analysen; Fyra utvecklingsstadier vid inlärning med representationer, fem aspekter av bråk och pedagogical content knowledge. Resultaten visar att det finns likheter och skillnader i deltagande lärares synsätt. Några likheter var att alla deltagande lärare finner visuella representationer att vara ett användbart hjälpmedel vid utveckling av elevers förståelse samt att de alla uttrycker en större bekantskap med aspekten del-helhet jämfört med de övriga aspekterna. Några skillnader mellan lärarnas synsätt var att de har olika inställningar till huruvida bråk uppfattas som svårt för eleverna men också i vilken utsträckning visuella representationer ska användas i årskurs 9. Vid analys av klassresultaten finner vi några samband där eleverna har svårare för uppgifter med areamodeller som inte är indelade i lika stora delar, uppgifter med tallinjer och uppgifter där eleverna ska uttrycka sig med ord. Lärarnas kommentarer till detta är att eleverna saknar förståelse för den matematik som ska användas och att eleverna på så sätt använder en felaktig metod. Lärarna kommenterar även att vissa uppgifter i studien kräver en större begreppsförståelse vilket påverkar elevernas resultat på uppgifterna. / In this study we examine mathematics teacher’s verity in their reasoning and their different perspectives about visual representations and sub-constructs of fractions. Teachers were interviewed about task that their students solved, which were the methods used in this study. Therefor we also examine if there are any correlations between the teacher’s different perspectives of visual representations and the classes results on fraction tasks. The study was based on three theoretical frameworks; Four stages through the use of representations, five sub-constructs of fraction and pedagogical content knowledge. The methodological consideration and analysis were based on these theories. The result showed that there were some similarities and differences in the teacher’s reasoning. A similarity was that all participated teachers found visual representations as a helpful tool when teaching fractions for student’s conceptual understanding. Another similarity was that all teachers were more familiar with the part-whole sub-construct than the other subconstructs of fraction. Some differences in the teacher’s reasoning were if they found fraction difficult or not for the students and in which extent visual representation should be used in the ninth grade. When the class results were analyzed some connections were found. Student have difficulties with tasks where area models are not equaled partitioned, with tasks related to number lines and to tasks were the students must change from a visual to a textual representation. According to the teachers comments these difficulties accurse due to that the students lacks a curtain mathematical understanding that is required when solving these tasks. This leads to the use of an inaccurate method. The teacher’s also comments that some tasks in this study requires a higher conceptual understanding which affects the classes’ results.

<p>I have in this study examined, through qualitative interviews, how adults with foreign background that are pupils in adult education in Sweden, understand the concepts democracy and dictatorship. Their expressed understandings have been compared with their former life experiences as well as with the aim of the social studies to create a qualitative understanding of essential social concepts. My starting point is theories about the adult in leaning processes. It has been assumed that the adult interprets the world much through former life experiences. I have also relied on the idea that having a qualitative, more scientific, understanding of essential subjects is important for the adult as a member of society and participator in the on-going political debate. It should therefore be a central aim for educators in the social subjects within adult education to support a development of more qualified concept understandings among their pupils. In this study I have used the criterions of dr Roland Severin to define a qualified understanding of concepts. Such an understanding includes richness in meaning, structure, general description of cause and relation as well as the capacity to relate to different levels of abstraction. My conclusion is that the pupils in my study have very individual understandings of the concepts, especially the understandings of democracy. Their expressed understandings of dictatorship are in general less rich in meaning. I have found that their understandings are clearly influenced by former life experiences. In comparison to a qualitative understanding of concepts the pupils’ understandings both have strengths and weaknesses. The main strengths in their understandings lies in that they have structure and focus important meanings of the concepts. The pupils can also express their understandings in a concrete manner. The main weaknesses lay in that they lack sufficient meanings of the concepts to give them a exhaustive description. The pupils also tend to give more of concrete and less of general descriptions of the concepts. I have concluded that to support adult pupils in the development of more qualitative, and therefore more useful, social concepts educators should make use of the pupils’ collective experiences. By doing so more meanings of the essential concepts can be revealed and individual experiences can be connected to those of others to create generality in the pupils understandings.</p>

I have in this study examined, through qualitative interviews, how adults with foreign background that are pupils in adult education in Sweden, understand the concepts democracy and dictatorship. Their expressed understandings have been compared with their former life experiences as well as with the aim of the social studies to create a qualitative understanding of essential social concepts. My starting point is theories about the adult in leaning processes. It has been assumed that the adult interprets the world much through former life experiences. I have also relied on the idea that having a qualitative, more scientific, understanding of essential subjects is important for the adult as a member of society and participator in the on-going political debate. It should therefore be a central aim for educators in the social subjects within adult education to support a development of more qualified concept understandings among their pupils. In this study I have used the criterions of dr Roland Severin to define a qualified understanding of concepts. Such an understanding includes richness in meaning, structure, general description of cause and relation as well as the capacity to relate to different levels of abstraction. My conclusion is that the pupils in my study have very individual understandings of the concepts, especially the understandings of democracy. Their expressed understandings of dictatorship are in general less rich in meaning. I have found that their understandings are clearly influenced by former life experiences. In comparison to a qualitative understanding of concepts the pupils’ understandings both have strengths and weaknesses. The main strengths in their understandings lies in that they have structure and focus important meanings of the concepts. The pupils can also express their understandings in a concrete manner. The main weaknesses lay in that they lack sufficient meanings of the concepts to give them a exhaustive description. The pupils also tend to give more of concrete and less of general descriptions of the concepts. I have concluded that to support adult pupils in the development of more qualitative, and therefore more useful, social concepts educators should make use of the pupils’ collective experiences. By doing so more meanings of the essential concepts can be revealed and individual experiences can be connected to those of others to create generality in the pupils understandings.

Tidigare forskning visar att det knappt finns forskning om vilken undervisningsform som lämpar sig för implementering för yngre elever i kemi. Frågan om att hitta en undervisningsmetod som ökar elevernas prestationer i kemi är en utmaning i det moderna skolsystemet. Fortsättningsvis visar forskning att laborationer inte var en lämplig undervisningsform som introduktion för ett naturvetenskapligt lärande i de lägre åldrarna, men det saknas gedigna empiriska bevis som stödjer detta påstående. Därför, i den föreliggande studien, undersöks laboratorie- och traditionella undervisningsmetoder på ämnet vattnets aggressionsformer. Denna studie involverade 50 deltagare som är grundskoleelever i årskurs 3. Data samlades in med ett för- och eftertest. Resultatet av denna studie visade ingen uppenbar skillnad i testpoängen mellan jämförelse- och experimentgruppen. Resultaten visade även att den laborativa undervisningsmetoden gav ett bättre utfall på elevernas förståelse på mikronivå. Till skillnad från experimentgruppen kunde den traditionella undervisningen nämna vattnets fasomvandlingar mycket mer än vad laboratorieundervisningen kunde. Avslutningsvis, visade studien ingen tydlig skillnad i testpoängen mellan jämförelse- och experimentgrupp. / Previous research shows that there is hardly any research on teaching methods suitable for implementation for younger students in chemistry. The issue of finding a teaching method that increases student achievement in chemistry is a challenge in modern school systems. Research shows that laboratory work was not a suitable form of teaching as an introduction to chemistry at younger ages, but there is a lack of solid empirical evidence to support this claim. Therefore, in the present study, the laboratory and traditional teaching methods are examined on the topic of water's state of matter. The research involved fifty participants that are primary school students in grade 3. Data was collected using a pre-test and post-test. The results also showed that the laboratory teaching method improved students' understanding at the micro-level. Unlike the experimental group, the traditional teaching could mention water phase transformations much more than the laboratory teaching could. The outcome of this study showed no evident difference in the test scores between the comparison and experimental groups.

This study aims to investigate the effects of cooperative learning on pupils’ knowledge and development with a particular focus on concepts and conceptual understanding in mathematics. By employing both qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study compared the effectiveness of cooperative learning to traditional teaching approaches in grade 4. The following question was formulated to research the aim of this study: <li aria-level="1">How does pupils’' understanding of concepts in mathematics differ after traditional teaching compared to teaching with cooperative learning in grade 4? Svanelid’s (2014) three aspects were used as an analysis model in this intervention study. With the analysis model, teachers can assess whether pupils have understood various mathematical concepts. The results of the aim showed that cooperative learning had a significant positive impact on pupils’ learning and their understanding of geometrical concepts. Through collaborative activities and interactive discussions, pupils actively participated in the learning process, leading to improved comprehension and retention of geometric concepts. However due to introduction of methodological weaknesses and potential biases the results can not be considered as statistically sound. The study indicated development in pupils’ learning and understanding of mathematics. In an attempt to pursue the main aim of this study, traditional teaching and cooperative learning were used as teaching techniques for pupils to study the development of their learning. After each teaching method, tests were used to identify the results of the analysis. The results indicated progression in the pupils’ learning by using cooperative teaching. Teachers are encouraged to further investigate cooperative learning techniques in their lessons as it potentially can increase pupils’ learning. More research is needed to establish a correlation between the use of cooperative learning in the teaching of mathematical concepts.

Det är allmänt accepterat att lärare bör använda sig av evolutionsteorin som ett sätt att binda ihop undervisningen i biologi. Åtskilliga studier har dock påvisat att flertalet elever har missuppfattningar och föreställningar inom evolution som motverkar deras inlärning av evolutionsteorin. Det samma gäller för begreppsförståelse och konflikten mellan betydelsen av ett ord i vardagsspråket och i ämnesspråket. Tidigare forskning har också kartlagt att biologilärare inte alltid är medvetna om elevers svårigheter eller utformar en evolutionsundervisning som utmanar elevers begreppsförståelse. Denna kvalitativa studie som genomfördes med hjälp av intervjuer med sex olika lärare visar på samma mönster och pekar på några möjliga lösningar för att förbättra elevers förståelse för de evolutionära mekanismerna.  Samtidigt som det finns en stor samstämmighet bland de intervjuade biologilärarna kring begreppsförståelse, precis som i många andra ämnen, resonerar de olika om vilka delar som är viktiga i evolutionsundervisningen och varför. En del fokuserar mer på att lära ut innehållet enligt den lärobok som används medan en del förklarar mer om varför eleverna ska lära sig om evolution.  Som ett resultat av denna studie föreslås bland annat att undervisningen om evolution borde inledas så tidigt som möjligt för att i största möjliga mån minimera risken för att olika missuppfattningar och föreställningar kring evolution inte ska cementeras tidigt. I detta sammanhang bör också information kring ämneskunskap förmedlas vid överlämningarna från ett stadium till ett annat i grundskolan. Vidare föreslås att användandet av CoRe-verktyget implementeras i planeringen av undervisningen och att det införs som ett moment under VFU- arbetet för blivande ämneslärare. Det faktum att tid är en bristvara för lärare innebär att det sällan finns tid för egen reflektion. Därför måste arbetet med CoRe-verktyget schemaläggas på samma sätt som många skolor idag arbetar med kooperativt lärande.