Research in science education over the past 20 years has emphasized the importance of active cognition in conceptual development. Students formulate knowledge within language constructions constrained by culture and social construction and relate to their own purposes using speech and writing. Many students in high school do not recognize the use of analogy in the development of science theory and concepts. By focusing on the constructed nature of science and analogy this thesis aimed to determine the capacity of high ability students to engage their own thinking and so have a powerful tool with which to deconstruct and reconstruct their scientific understandings. This thesis focused on the use of analogy in a Year 7 electricity unit and a Year 9 geology unit and used examination questions, quizzes, diary entries and interviews to determine the role of analogies in learning. The specific research questions asked were: Can high ability students create their own analogies?, What role do analogies play in learning?, and How do analogies help students in concept development? The thesis found that analogies are powerful tools in supporting student conceptual development. They allow students to link from their existing framework to new understandings and visual analogs were the most effective in supporting learning. The students move to new understandings may not happen within the teaching time but could occur several months after the introduction of the analogy. / High ability students are able to recognize and construct their own analogies; however, many students have difficulty deconstructing analogies on their own. The content of the student created analogies seemed to be associated with activities involving reflection and reflection time emerged as a critical component of the learning process. The role of analogies in providing a focus for discussion with peers, teachers and parents so that ideas could be thought about, tested and clarified was found to be one of their important functions in supporting learning.

Gestures and metaphors are important mediational tools to materialize abstract conventions in the conceptual development process (Lantolf and Thorne, 2006): metaphors are used in the educational setting to simplify abstract knowledge for learners (Ungerer and Schmidt, 1996; Wee, 2005); gestures, through visual representation, can "provide additional insights into how humans conceptualize abstract concepts via metaphors" (Mittelberg, in press, p. 23).This study observed and videotaped four composition instructors and 54 ESL students at an American university to probe how their metaphorical expressions and gestures in a variety of naturally occurring settings, such as classroom teaching, student-teacher conferencing, peer reviewing and student presentations, represent the abstract rhetorical conventions of academic writing in English. By associating students' gestures with the instructors' metaphors and gestures, this study found evidence for the assistive roles of metaphors and gestures in the learning process. The final interviews elicited students' metaphors of academic writing in English and in their first languages. The interviewees were also asked to reflect upon the effectiveness of the metaphors and gestures they were exposed to.This study confirmed the roles of gestures in reflecting the abstract mental representation of academic writing. Twelve patterns were extracted from the instructors' data, including the linearity, container, building, journey metaphors and others. Of these twelve patterns, six were materialized in the students' gestural usage. The similarity of gestures found in the instructors' and students' data provided proof of the occurrence of learning. In the elicited data, students created pyramid, book, and banquet metaphors, to highlight features of academic writing in English and in their first languages. These new metaphors demonstrate students' ability to synthesize simple metaphors they encountered for a more complex one, which is more significant in the learning process. The interviews suggest that metaphors are better-perceived and more effective in relating abstract knowledge to the students. Gestures were not judged by the students to be helpful. This could result from the fact that gestures, other than emblems, are often understood unconsciously and are naturally used to provide additional information to the verbal utterance rather than replacing speech, which is more prominent perceptually and conceptually.

Published Article / An exploratory study was conducted to investigate firstly, the contextual problems first-year university students experienced at their respective schools and secondly, the subject related-problems that they could be bringing to science classes and which could later affect their understanding of science concepts. The study is grounded in constructivism. A questionnaire was administered to all the 2007 First-year B.Ed (FET) Natural Science students at the Central University of Technology, Free State. The contextual problems identified by respondents included school, educator, examiner and student-related problems. Subject specific problem areas were identified in biology, chemistry and physics. The paper also reports on the preliminary results of some teaching interventions implemented in the three subjects. A Force Concept Inventory (FCI) test was administered to the physics students, and a concept test for chemistry group. Concept mapping as a teaching and learning strategy has been introduced in biology classes. Further research continues on the effectiveness of these interventions.

In an accident, some seatbelt is let out by the seatbelt retractor in the vehicle. This is done to minimize the chest pressure and for the occupant to correctly impact the air bag. In an adaptive load limiter (LLA) the force in the seatbelt could be changed between different levels. In this way the chest pressure and the speed in to the air bag can be optimized and to minimize injuries.The work has been aimed at develop new concept of switching between the high and low force. The goal is to reduce the number of parts, the complexity and the size of the components. The LLA device today is made out of nine components.This work has included brainstorming for ideas of new concepts. The concept have been sketched. The three best concepts have been valued in a concept evaluation matrix. CAD- models have been done. Calculations have been done by hand to see which forces the components will be subjected to. FEM-calculations have also been done to see that components can handle the amount of stress they which they will be subjected to during the switching. Tests of components have also been made to verify the concept on Autolivs test center. The results were then evaluated. The work is ended by recommendations of further development.This thesis has been done on Autoliv Sweden AB in Vårgårda. Autoliv was founded in 1953 in Vårgårda of the two brothers Lennart and Stig Lindblad. Autoliv is world- leading in car safety. Autoliv is currently operating in 27 countries and has over 70 000 employees. They save over 30 000 lives and prevent over 300 000 injuries every year. Autoliv has made seatbelts since 1956. / Vid en krock släpper en bältesrulle i ett fordon ut lite bälte för att personen i sätet skall landa rätt i krockkudden och där med minska tryckskadorna på hen. I en bältesrulle med en adaptiv kraftbegränsare kan kraften i bältet varieras mellan två olika lägen av en växlingsmekanism. På det sättet minimeras trycket på bröstkorgen och hastigheten in i krockkudden kan optimeras.Arbetet har riktats mot att ta fram nya koncept för att växla mellan krafterna. Syftet med det har varit att försöka få ner antalet, minska storleken och komplexiteten på komponenterna i en adaptiv kraftbegränsare. Dagens konstruktion på kraftbegränsare innefattar nio komponenter.Arbetet har innefattat brainstorming för att ta fram nya koncept. Skisser av dessa koncept är gjorda. De tre bästa koncepten har sedan utvärderats i en konceptutvärderingsmatris. CAD- modeller är därefter framtaget. Handberäkningar för att se vilka krafter som komponenter utsätts har genomförts. FEM- beräkningar har gjorts för att se att delar inte går sönder. Provning av komponenter och funktioner är har gjorts på Autolivs test center i Vårgårda. Resultaten har även analyserats och arbetet avslutas med framtida rekommendationer för vidareutveckling.Detta examensarbete har gjorts på Autoliv Sverige AB i Vårgårda. Autoliv grundades 1953 i Vårgårda av de två bröderna Lennart och Stig Lindblad. Autoliv är världsledande inom säkerhet inom bilindustrin. Autoliv är verksamma i 27 olika länder med över 70 000 medarbetare. De räddar årligen 30 000 liv och förebygger över 300 000 skador. De har tillverkat säkerhetsbälten sedan 1956.

Faculty of Humanities School of Education 8900024a watsonp@clm.wits.ac.za / An understanding of how and what students learn is crucial to improving teaching and learning practices in universities. In the South African context, the need to achieve equity in outcome (success) gives this imperative a sharper urgency. This study investigates the development in student understandings of the concept ‘law’ during a semester of tertiary-level introductory legal study. The study begins from the understanding that ontogenetic development, in the Vygotskian sense, arises from interaction in the social domain, prior to becoming internalized as individual mental structure. The study is thus based on an understanding that the social domain plays a critical role in ontogenesis. In order to make the role of this domain evident, the study combines a Vygotskian frame, and a Vygotskian understanding of the role played by semiotic mediation in development, with a Discourse account of language. The work of Gee is used for this purpose. It is suggested that the two sets of theory are complementary, each providing a dimension that is comparatively lacking in the other. Additional literature is drawn on to further clarify the individual / social relation and it is suggested that the social domain influences individual development in at least two ways: first through the action of context, and how this acts to position text and individuals acting within it; and secondly through historical positioning: through the cultural model understandings brought to the task by the participants. From this theory is drawn a framework for analysis of the empirical data studied. This data included two essays written by students on the topic ‘What is Law’, the first at the beginning, and the second after six months, of introductory legal study. Additional data studied included the course-pack materials of the course, and transcripts of the lecture series. The primary question addressed in the research is: how can an account of first-year undergraduate students’ development of the concept ‘law’ in an introductory course on law be provided, such that the analysis enables an understanding of the role of the social domain in ontogenesis? Specific questions addressed in analysis included whether cultural model understandings, which differed between the different groups studied, were evident in initial student writings, and if so, whether these understandings might help or hinder concept development; what power relations were evident in the context, and how these could be expected to position students; and finally, what Discourse appropriate changes (development) could be read in student texts, and how this could be related both to contextual positioning and prior knowledge held. The findings of this study are specific to the study and cannot be extrapolated to different circumstances. However, at the empirical level the study suggests that factors likely to be associated with success in this context include Discourse familiarity, content foregrounding in prior knowledge structures, the development of authority in writing, and identity shifts towards an ‘insider’ position. Factors found to be associated with lack of success include conflicts of new knowledge with prior knowledge structures, a lack of recognition of the task constraints, a strong identification with a different community, and confusion resulting from contradictions in the mediation provided. These factors may help to understand differential performance in the context by students from different cultural backgrounds. At a broader level, the study suggests that the addition of a Discourse account to a Vygotskian understanding of development provides tools for analysis which are generative in contributing to understandings of how the social impacts on the individual in development. These tools make explicit the intractable nature of the content, form and values combination which functions in language to reproduce context, and through this positions individual development-in-context. This positioning does not act deterministically: through trajectory and choice, identity and individual positioning are a crucial construct in learning. Finally, the study provides evidence of the complexity of the interaction of this content, form, values combination in development: an analysis which focused on content alone would not have captured the richness of development which this method made evident

Examensarbetet har bedrivits vid Tekniska Högskolan i Jönköping och i samarbete med fallföretaget Solutions for Tomorrow AB. Arbetet har utformats efter ett syfte; att utveckla ett produktkoncept där alternativa material och tillverkningsmetoder leder till kostnadsbesparingar. Syftet har sedan brutits ned till fyra frågeställningar som arbetet kretsar kring. Två frågeställningar behandlar redan framtagna koncept och två rör ekonomiska aspekter för nya projekt. För att besvara frågeställningarna är arbetet utformat som en konceptstudie där hela utvecklingsprocessen har genomförts. Studien är framför allt baserad på en kvalitativ metod där fokus har legat på intervjuer och textanalyser. En deduktiv ansats har använts då kända teorier och modeller har tillämpats vid antagande av slutsatsen. Studien har resulterat i två produktkoncept som beräknas sänka produktionskostnaderna för den analyserade komponenten. En mer kostnadseffektiv tillverkningsmetod kan innebära att nya leverantörer kan komma att kontaktas och nytt ritningsunderlag måste framställas. I framtiden bör en mer omfattande konstruktionsanalys av komponenten genomföras, då nya material och tillverkningsmetoder erbjuder nya möjligheter till kostnadseffektivisering. De kostnadsberäkningar som görs i rapporten utgår i många fall från den tillverkningsmetod som används och tiden det tar att utföra olika steg i processen. Delar av produktionen ligger idag i Tyskland och ingen möjlighet gavs att bevittna processen. De kostnader som är relaterade till arbetstiden är därför uppskattade. Kostnadskalkyleringarna för koncepten beräknas ha en viss felmarginal och bör inte användas vid beslutstagande. / This thesis project has been conducted at the School of Engineering at Jönköping University and in cooperation with the case company Solutions for Tomorrow AB. The project was modeled around a purpose; to develop a product concept where alternative materials and manufacturing techniques will lead to cost savings. The purpose was broken down into four questions around which the project is focused. Two of the questions are about the produced concepts and two of them are about the economic aspect of the new concepts. To answer the questions the thesis project is designed as a conceptual study where the whole development process has been carried out. The study is mostly based on a qualitative method where focus has been on collecting data from interviews and related literature. A deductive approach was used since known theories and models has been applied when assuming the conclusions. The study has resulted in two product concepts that according to the calculations will lower the production related costs. A more cost efficient manufacturing method implicates that new suppliers might be needed and new production drawings needs to be fabricated. A more extensive constructional analysis should be conducted in the future since new materials and manufacturing methods offers new possibilities to further cost potentiation. The cost calculations that are performed in this report are in many cases based on the manufacturing methods used today and the time it takes to perform the steps in the production. Parts of the present production are located in Germany and no opportunity was given to witness the process. The costs related to the manufacturing time are therefore estimates. Hence the cost calculations are expected to have a certain error margin and should not be used in decision making.

Two students from the school of engineering in Jönköping has during the spring semester of 2018 performed a bachelor thesis. The thesis was performed in cooperation with Greenworks Tools in Jönköping. The purpose of this thesis is to establish an understanding of the technical aspects of a hedge trimmer and the product development process. During this thesis, the students will generate and evaluate different concepts for a new gearing system. The study investigates if it is possible to rotate the motor in one of Greenworks hedge trimmers 90±15°along the cutting direction, without deteriorating the hedge trimmer´s performance or ergonomical propperties. The main limitation for the thesis is that exclusively the motor gear and the connection to the gearbox can be changed. To answere the thesis problem different kinds of methods and tools were used. A few of the implemented methods used during the thesis are product development process, QFD and Pugh’s matrix, to verify the concepts Cad simulations and calculations were established. The result of the study shows that it is possible to rotate the motor without detoriating the hedge trimmers preformance with respect to the given information. The thesis study generates a basis for further development and for future products.

The design of structures and mechanisms subject to impact loading has historically involved designing in such a way as to minimize damage induced by the impact. This has historically been accomplished by absorbing and dissipating the energy of the impact. However, in some applications it is desirable to harness the energy and return it to the impacting object to maximize the coefficient of restitution (COR), resulting in large rebound velocities. The use of traditional rigid-body mechanisms to achieve high-COR mechanisms is limited by issues of friction, durability, poor strain-energy distribution and others. Compliant mechanisms do not possess the same limitations and are well-suited to these types of applications. The principles needed to realize these types of designs are found in existing literature but are confined to very specific applications such as hollow-body golf club heads. The contribution of this thesis is an approach to the generation and evaluation of compliant mechanism concepts for use in impact applications where a high COR is required. This approach is based loosely on common general concept development processes found in literature. This thesis describes the process of including the use of lumped mass or mechanical models, the categorization of strain-energy storage, the use of both closed-form and finite-element static models and the use of dynamic finite-element models to determine if a configuration is eligible to be used in a final design process. This thesis also contributes a case study in the development of configurations for metalwood golf club driver heads.

Målet med detta projekt var från början att ta fram en fullt fungerade prototyp. Eftersom detta inte uppfylldes av olika skäl så ändrades målet. Målet blev nu att skapa underlag som CAD – modeller men även konstruktionsritningar för att tillverka en borsmodul. Projektet startades av ett initiativ från Weda Poolcleaner Ab, då produkten var eftertraktad på marknaden. Men också av förfrågan från andra flera olika kunder. Utförandet av projektet skedde genom en noggrann tidsplanering. Fyra faser, analys, inledning, genomförande, utvärdering. En hel del möten och telefonsamtal med kund och leverantörer genomfördes. Inledningsfasen användes för att skapa mål, kundkrav och avgränsningar. Marknadsundersökningar gjordes i analysfasen för att kunna se vilka produkter som finns på marknaden. Även en nulägesanalys tog fram för att undersöka den nuvarande produkten. Genomförande fasen bestod mest av konceptutveckling som startades genom ett produktträd där alla problem som upptäcktes, påföljden var en ide-genereringsfas. Förslagen som klarade sig bäst modellerades i CAD. I utvärderingsfasen genomfördes komponentutveckling, där simuleringar och undersökningar utfördes. För att sedan kunna förutsätt finslipa konstruktionen. Resultat presenteras i bilder och beskrivningar. / The main plan for this thesis was at the beginning to construct a fully functional prototype. But when the circumstances changed the aim did also. The aim was now to develop CAD models and constructional drawings. The initiative starts at Weda Poolcleaner ab, when they notice the urge of the product. The thesis was divided in four phases starting with accurate scheme. The first phase, introduction, was to create the aim, requirements and the limitation of the project. The second phase, analysis was to create a better understanding of the current product. The third phase, execution, was mainly consisted of concept development. Last but not the least phase, evaluating, consisted of development of the components. Simulation and examinations was performed. The conclusion is presented in pictures and documented description. e to insert text.

Purpose: To identify effects of variability of visual input on development of conceptual representations of academic concepts for students with normal language (NL) and language-learning disabilities (LLD). Method: Students with NL (n=38) and LLD (n=11) participated in a computer-based training for introductory biology course concepts. Participants were trained on half the concepts under a low-variability condition and half under a high-variability condition. Participants completed a post-test in which they were asked to identify and rate the accuracy of novel and trained visual representations of the concepts. We performed separate repeated measures ANOVAs to examine the accuracy of identification and ratings. Results: Participants were equally accurate on trained and novel items in the high-variability condition, but were less accurate on novel items only in the low-variability condition. The LLD group showed the same pattern as the NL group; they were just less accurate. Conclusions: Results indicated that high-variability visual input may facilitate the acquisition of academic concepts in both NL and LLD college students. Specifically, it may be beneficial for generalization to novel representations of concepts. Implicit learning methods may be harnessed by college courses to provide students with basic conceptual knowledge when entering courses or beginning new units.