This qualitative study includes a comparison of the perceptions of students with and without intellectual disabilities regarding the opportunities they have to make decisions during the school day and school year. The data from the student groups were shared with adults in the school who then explored their perspectives regarding reasons for any similarities or differences in the perceptions of the student groups. Within-case and cross-case analysis of the data obtained from the three student focus groups, one teacher focus group, one educational assistant focus group and an interview with an administrator resulted in the identification of three major themes: structure of the system, role of adults and safety. Various ways that each of these can facilitate or limit opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities to make decisions during the school day and school year are discussed

En majoritet av svenska barn deltar i förskoleaktiviteter, vilket indikerar att förskolemiljön spelar en viktig roll för de erfarenheter barn får i sin vardag. Förskolans verksamhet baserar sig i hög grad på grundläggande värderingar och idéer beträffande bland annat barnuppfostran, förskolans uppdrag och synen på förskolans roll i samhället. Syftet med den här studien är att beskriva och analysera lärarnas konstruktion av mening och vardagskunskap beträffande förskolan som pedagogisk praktik. Fokus för den empiriska studien är hur delad kunskap om förskolan genereras och artikuleras av lärare som arbetar i förskolan. Den teoretiska ramen tar sin utgångspunkt i teorin om sociala representationer. Studien syftar till att svara på frågor om innehåll och teman i lärarnas samtal samt lyfta fram de kommunikativa resurser som används av deltagarna när de skapar en gemensam förståelse av vardagsarbetet i förskolan. Empirin i föreliggande studie utgörs av diskussioner i fokusgrupper. Sju grupper med sammanlagt 45 deltagare deltog i dessa fokusgruppsintervjuer. Resultatet visar att lärares samtal om förskolans yrkespraktik inkluderar underliggande sociala representationer. Ett antagande som är centralt i studien är att representationerna ligger till grund för hur arbetet organiseras och genomförs. Deltagarna i studien var arbetskamrater och deras diskussioner tog sin utgångspunkt i stimulusmaterial som jag tillhandahöll i syfte att stimulera diskussionen. En analys av data visar att lärarna utvecklar delade kunskapssystem vilket inkluderar olika, sinsemellan motsatta idéer och värderingar av förskolan som pedagogisk praktik. Begreppet relationella kategorier bidrar till att lyfta fram och synliggöra dessa motsatta idéer. De skall dock betraktas med utgångspunkt i ett ömsesidigt beroende och i relation till varandra snarare än särskiljande dikotomier. De relationella kategorierna formar kulturella antaganden utifrån vilka människor tänker och talar. Att tala utifrån en position innebär således att vi tar något för givet. Analysen resulterade i ett flertal relationella kategorier vilka tycks ha inverkan på lärares tal om sin praktik. I studien beskrivs även förankringsprocesser och kommunikativa resurser som deltagarna använder för att skapa gemensam förståelse för vardagsarbetet i förskolan. Resultatet visar att lärarna ger uttryck för två, sinsemellan olika, sociala representationer av förskolan som pedagogisk praktik: Förskolan som en plats för alla och Förskolan som en plats för några. Dessa båda representationer innefattar skilda representationer av barn och barns kompetenser, lärarens yrkesroll samt förskolans roll i samhället. Begreppet cognitive polyphasia bidrar tillatt belysa och beskriva relationen mellan stabil och föränderlig kunskap samt hur det kommer sig att lärarnas sociala representationer av förskolan framstår som ambivalenta och i viss mån t.o.m. motsägelsefulla. Studien bidrar till en fördjupad förståelse för den komplexa och dynamiska kunskap som involverar lärarens konstruktion av mening beträffande förskolan som pedagogisk praktik. Teorin om sociala representationer möjliggör analys och beskrivning av denna komplexitet. / A majority of Swedish children take part in preschool activities. This indicates that the pre-school environment plays an important role in children’s everyday experiences. However, what happens in the preschool is largely based on fundamental values and ideas in society as well as those held among teachers. The study aims to describe and analyze teachers’ constructions of meaning and common sense knowledge concerning preschool as a pedagogical practice. It focuses on how shared knowledge of preschool practice is articulated and generated by teachers. The theoretical framework is the theory of social representations. The study investigates the content in teachers’ talk as well as communicative resources used when discussing their everyday work. The empirical data has been obtained from seven focus group discussions with a total of 45 participants. The participants in the groups were colleagues and they were given material to support their discussions. The results indicate that teachers’ discussions about their daily practice include underlying social representations. Analyses of data show that the teachers develop shared knowledge systems. This indicates that teachers have contradictory ideas and values about preschool as a pedagogical practice. The analytical concept of ‘relational categories’ draws attention to these contradictory ideas as mutually interdependent, where one point of view makes sense only in terms of the other. Several relational categories were identified in the teachers’ talk. The study also gives support to the process of anchoring, showing how communicative resources are used by the participants to create a common understanding of everyday work. The results suggest two different social representations of preschool as a pedagogical practice: Preschool as a place for everyone and Preschool as a place for just a few. Hopefully, this study will increase our knowledge of teachers’ constructions of meaning in relation to preschool as a pedagogical practice. The theory of social representations enables analysis and descriptions of this complexity.

The objective of this thesis is to describe and analyse customs of science teaching in secondary schools and teacher education programmes in Sweden in relation to the notion of “inquiry” in science education. The main focus is on customs of language use and the educational goal of learning about scientific inquiry as distinct from the related goals of learning to do inquiry and learning canonical science content. There is also an exploration and description of different teaching approaches associated with “inquiry”. Previous research has noted that a key issue for reaching the goal of learning about scientific inquiry is the extent to which teachers are able to guide students to explicitly reflect upon this topic. A prerequisite is that teachers give students access to relevant categories of language for explicit reflection on the characteristics of scientific inquiry. Because of the situated nature of language use and learning, this also raises the need to address topics of context, culture and customs in science education. This thesis addresses the questions of how existing customs of teaching science are related to the goal of learning about scientific inquiry, how inquiry-related terminology is used in this context, and how relevant distinctions can be made to aid explicit reflection on these issues. Data has been collected in two studies and analysed and presented in four papers. Study 1 is based on interviews with twelve secondary school science teachers, and Study 2 is based on focus group interviews with 32 pre-service teacher students. The results include a description of the existing customs of inquiry-oriented instructional approaches in Swedish secondary schools. They show that these are often not connected with an explicit focus on teaching about the characteristics of scientific inquiry.  Inquiry-related terminology is analysed with a focus on the role and use of the terms “hypothesis” and “experiment”. Based on a theoretical framework of sociocultural and pragmatist views on language and learning, it is shown how the use of these terms, both in secondary schools and teacher education, tend to conflate the two categories methods of teaching and methods of scientific inquiry. Some problematic consequences for reaching the goal of learning about scientific inquiry are discussed, as well as possible origins of the problems and how the results from this thesis can be useful in overcoming these. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted.

Orientador: Sueli Terezinha Ferrero Martin / Resumo: O grupo focal é um método de pesquisa qualitativa que reúne sujeitos que possuam alguma relação ou característica comum, utilizado a fim de apreender conteúdos a partir da discussão de um tema específico. Embora amplamente utilizado com adultos, tal técnica é pouco explorada em pesquisas com crianças, sendo restritas as referências literárias que abordem o assunto. As construções do trabalho teórico, do caminho metodológico da pesquisa empírica e das análises realizadas nessa dissertação, tiveram como base a perspectiva da Psicologia Sócio-Histórica, sobretudo na concepção do desenvolvimento psíquico infantil. A presente dissertação tem como objeto de estudo a fundamentação e o desenvolvimento da utilização da técnica de grupo focal com crianças, enquanto meio de inclusão desses sujeitos como participantes ativos em investigações qualitativas, valorizando os conteúdos produzidos por seus discursos, sobretudo na avaliação de um serviço público de saúde mental infantojuvenil, inserido na atenção primária de saúde. Foi realizado o levantamento de informações institucionais para identificação de crianças entre oito e dez anos de idade que, segundo os critérios de inclusão na pesquisa, constituiriam dois grupos focais distintos, um com crianças que já haviam se desvinculado do serviço de saúde mental infantojuvenil e outro formado por crianças que permaneciam em processos psicoterápicos no serviço. O primeiro, Grupo A, contou com a participação de três crianças no primeiro encontr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Mestre

O Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, é universitário, de grande porte, quaternário, que conta com um grupo de enfermeiras em cargo estratégico de supervisão, para gerir a vida organizacional no turno da noite, bem como aos finais de semana e feriados, em turno integral. Esse grupo foi recentemente ampliado, através do aporte de quatro novas vagas, criadas com o intuito de atender ao aumento da demanda institucional, constituindo, atualmente, um quadro funcional de 09 supervisoras. Além de atividades específicas de supervisão junto às equipes de enfermagem, essa posição inclui, também, o envolvimento sistemático em questões gerenciais de âmbito institucional e a representação de instâncias superiores do staff de vários serviços. Neste cenário, foi desenvolvida pesquisa qualitativa, do tipo estudo de caso, com o objetivo de investigar quais os desafios relacionados ao cargo, como ocorre o processo de capacitação das novas supervisoras, e, também, conhecer as estratégias adotadas por elas para articulação do trabalho entre si e com outros grupos profissionais do hospital. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio das Técnicas de Observação e de Grupos Focais, no período de janeiro a maio de 2012, e incluiu a participação de 10 sujeitos, no âmbito da supervisão, gerando informações que foram submetidas à análise temática. Os resultados assinalam desafios relacionados, principalmente, à ampliação do campo de atuação e da responsabilidade institucional para além da área de enfermagem, e à necessidade de tomadas de decisões macro gerenciais imediatas, as quais são bastante subsidiadas pelos conhecimentos de enfermagem, considerados pelas participantes como um diferencial positivo no diagnóstico e na resolução de situações-problema. O processo de capacitação ocorre, em geral, através da socialização do saber-fazer, por meio de um processo dialógico que valoriza experiências, vivências e conhecimentos prévios das novas supervisoras. Durante os debates, as participantes conferiram destaque ao relatório de plantão, instrumento estratégico de comunicação institucional, apontado como uma das principais ferramentas para articulação do trabalho. Salienta-se que o espaço de discussão coletiva oportunizou às supervisoras momentos valiosos de debate, de (auto)análise e de reflexão sobre a sua práxis e sobre a nova realidade vivenciada a partir da ampliação do grupo, o que foi ressaltado pelas participantes como uma contribuição bastante positiva do estudo. / The Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil is a large univesity hospital, providing quaternary care. It hás a group of nurses occupying strategic supervisory positions, to manage life in the organizaiton during the night shift and also on weekends and holidays full time. This group was recently expanded with four new places to respond to increased institutional demand, and there are currently 09 supervisors. Besides specific supervisory activities involving the nursing teams, this position also includes systematic involvement in institutional managerial issues and representation of higher levels of staff from various services. In this scenario a case study-type qualitative survey was performed, aiming to investigate the jobrelated challenges, how the new supervisors are trained, and also to get to know the strategies they adopt to articulate work between themselves and with other professional groups in the hospital. Data was collected using the Observation Techniques and Focus Groups, from January to May 2012, and included the participation of 10 subjects in the sphere of supervision, generating information that was submitted to thematic analysis. The results show challenges mainly involving the expansion of the field of action, and of the institutional responsibility beyond the field of nursing, and the need to make immediate macromanagerial decisions, which are largely subsidized by knowledge of nursing, considered by the participants as a positive difference in the diagnosis and resolution of problem-situations. The training process generally takes place via socialization of the knowing-how-to-do, through a dialogical process that values experiences and prior knowledge of the new supervisors. During the debates the participants emphasized the report of the period on duty, a strategic instrument for institutional communication, referred to as one of the main tools to articulate work. It is highlighted that the space for collective discussion provided the supervisors with an opportunity for invaluable debate, (self) analysis and reflection about their práxis and about the new reality experienced when the group was expanded. This was emphasized by the participants as a very positive contribution of the study. / El Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, es universitario, de gran porte, cuaternario, que cuenta con un grupo de enfermeras en cargo estratégico de supervisión, para dirigir la vida organizacional en el turno de la noche, así como los fines de semana y feriados, en turno integral. Ese grupo fue recientemente ampliado, a través del aporte de cuatro nuevas vacantes, creadas con el fin de atender el aumento de la demanda institucional, constituyendo, actualmente, un cuadro funcional de 09 supervisoras. Además de actividades específicas de supervisión junto a los equipos de enfermería, esa posición incluye, también, el envolvimiento sistemático en cuestiones gerenciales de ámbito institucional y la representación de instancias superiores del staff de varios servicios. En este escenario, fue desarrollada la pesquisa cualitativa, del tipo estudio de caso, con el objetivo de investigar cuáles son los desafíos relacionados al cargo, cómo ocurre el proceso de capacitación de las nuevas supervisoras, y, también, conocer las estrategias adoptadas por ellas para articulación del trabajo entre sí y con otros grupos profesionales del hospital. La recolección de datos ocurrió por medio de las Técnicas de Observación y de Grupos Focales, en el período de enero a mayo de 2012, e incluyó la participación de 10 sujetos, en el ámbito de la supervisión, generando informaciones que fueron sometidas a análisis temático. Los resultados apuntaron desafíos relacionados, principalmente, a la ampliación del campo de actuación y de la responsabilidad institucional más allá del área de enfermería, y a la necesidad de tomadas de decisiones macro gerenciales inmediatas, las cuales están bastante subsidiadas por los conocimientos de enfermería, considerados por las participantes como un diferencial positivo en el diagnóstico y en la resolución de situaciones-problema. El proceso de capacitación ocurre, en general, a través de la socialización del saber-hacer, por medio de un proceso dialógico que valoriza experiencias, vivencias y conocimientos previos de las nuevas supervisoras. Durante los debates, las participantes confirieron destaque al informe de la guardia, instrumento estratégico de comunicación institucional, señalado como una de las principales herramientas para articulación del trabajo. Se destaca que el espacio de discusión colectiva brindó a las supervisoras momentos valiosos de debate, de (auto)análisis y de reflexión sobre su práxis y sobre la nueva realidad vivenciada a partir de la ampliación del grupo, lo que fue resaltado por las participantes como una contribución bastante positiva del estudio.

O conceito de qualidade da educação ainda não recebeu a devida atenção nos periódicos de ensino de ciências, embora tenha grande repercussão nos periódicos de educação. O presente trabalho visa contribuir para o preenchimento dessa lacuna, abordando o problema a partir da perspectiva de professores de física, química, biologia e matemática em atuação no ensino médio. Para tal foram organizados dois grupos focais, um composto exclusivamente por professores de física e o outro pelos professores das demais disciplinas, ambos direcionados à discussão do conceito de educação científica de qualidade. Os registros de ambos grupos foram submetidos a uma análise de conteúdo e interpretados à luz da sociologia da educação de Pierre Bourdieu, tendo em vista dois objetivos principais: (1) Identificação de fenômenos sociológicos descritos por Bourdieu no discurso dos professores; (2) Caracterização da opinião dos professores quanto ao conceito de qualidade da educação e quanto às suas especificidades na educação científica. Os resultados mostram que os professores acreditam estar passando por uma situação de precarização da educação porém, em coerência com a teoria de Bourdieu, parece haver um processo de dissimulação que dificulta a identificação de causas estruturais para esse fenômeno. Adicionalmente, os professores mostraram desconfiança quanto à utilização do conceito de qualidade em educação, o que parece ser motivado por experiências negativas com propostas que se baseavam nesse conceito. A caracterização obtida para o que de fato seria uma educação científica de qualidade na perspectiva dos professores pode servir de subsídio para propostas de promoção da educação de qualidade que evitem esse tipo de desencontro. / The concept of quality in education has not received enough attention in science education journals, although it resonates powerfully educational journals. The present work aims to contribute to filling this gap by addressing the problem from the perspective of teachers of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics at work in high school. To this end, we organized two focus groups, one composed exclusively of physics professors and other teachers from other disciplines, both aimed at discussing the concept of quality science education. The records of both groups were subjected to content analysis and interpreted in the light of Pierre Bourdieu sociology, aimed at two main objectives: (1) Identification of sociological phenomena described by Bourdieu in the discourse of teachers; (2) Characterization the opinion of teachers about the concept of quality of education and of their specificities in science education. The results show that teachers believe they are going through a situation of reduced quality of education but, consistent with Bourdieu's theory, there seems to be a process of dissimulation difficulting to identify the structural causes for this phenomenon. Additionally, teachers showed suspicion regarding the use of the concept of quality in education, which seems to be motivated by negative experiences with proposals that were based on this concept. The characterization obtained for what actually would be a quality science education from the perspective of teachers can serve as input to proposals to promote quality education that prevents this kind of mismatch.

Few South African students pass Grade 12 Physical Science with symbols required by university science, engineering and health science faculties. A large number of students who sit for Grade 12 Physical Science and Mathematics exams pass with symbols that are well below those required by the mainstream science courses at South African universities. Most South African universities have introduced Science Foundation Programmes with the aim of upgrading those students who failed to obtain university entrance symbols in the relevant subjects. Amongst the courses offered in Science Foundation Programmes is Foundation Physics. This study investigates the influence of Foundation Physics in order to find out if the programmes in different institutions are successful in empowering the students who failed to get the required entrance mark in Grade 12 Physical Science. Four South African Historically Black universities participated in this study. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation test (FMCE) (Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998) and mechanics marks were used to assess students' understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Data was analyzed from socio-cultural perspective. A total of 194 students participated in the study. Two groups of students were compared, i.e. those who did Foundation Physics (Foundation group) and those who did not do Foundation Physics (non-Foundation group). The students were tested after they had completed a mechanics module, which forms a great foundation of Physics I (Introductory Physics). Two focus group interviews were held with selected Foundation and non-Foundation students per institution. Students voiced their experiences in Physics I and Foundation Physics. Students were chosen to represent focus groups according to their performance in the FMCE test. Mechanics class performances were also used to evaluate students' performance. In order to establish how Foundation Physics is taught, Foundation Physics Lecturer interviews were conducted at all four institutions. Analysis of data showed that both Foundation and non-Foundation students performed equally in Physics I mechanics module. Foundation group performed better than the non-Foundation group in the FMCE, which is a conceptual test. Foundation Physics lecturers indicated that there were some differences in the way mechanics was taught in Physics I and Foundation Physics. These differences affected students' performance. The lecturers also indicated that there was minimal interaction between Physics I lecturers and Foundation Physics lecturers pertaining to the teaching of the two courses. What influence does Foundation Physics have on the performance of students in Physics I? This study found that students who did Foundation Physics performed better than those who did not do Foundation Physics in conceptual questions and both the groups perform equally in questions that require memorizing and calculations. This implies that Foundation Physics courses are empowering the students to perform well in Physics I. However, as it is evidenced by this research, the differences in assessment in Physics I and Foundation Physics courses in some institutions hampers Foundation Physics students' learning, because the questions asked require them to memorize without understanding, something they are not used to. The researcher recommends that Foundation Physics staff and Physics I staff should start communicating, not only about how Foundation Physics should be run as was the case in the past, but also on how best Physics I should be run. This might help in making sure that the two courses are assessed similarly at one institution. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Introdução: A perda dentária e o edentulismo podem afetar de maneira significativa a saúde bucal e a saúde geral, a qualidade de vida, e a nutrição de idosos. A cárie e a perda dentária têm sido descritas como o resultado de processos que envolvem elementos biológicos, nas superfícies dentárias, e de uma combinação de fatores comportamentais e sociais. Além disso, o contexto histórico no qual os indivíduos estão inseridos influencia seus comportamentos e percepções em relação à saúde bucal. Uma compreensão acerca de comportamentos de saúde demanda a utilização de métodos que permitam explorar a realidade subjetiva destes fatores. Objetivo: Os objetivos deste estudo de métodos quantitativo e qualitativo foram avaliar a associação entre fatores demográficos, socioeconômicos, comportamentais e de saúde e a incidência de Cárie Coronária, Cárie Radicular, e Perda Dentária na amostra estudada, e realizar entrevistas de grupo focal com membros desta amostra para explorar suas percepções acerca da perda dentária. Métodos: Um estudo de coorte foi conduzido com uma amostra aleatória simples de indivíduos com 60 anos ou mais em Carlos Barbosa, RS, entre 2004 e 2008. Entrevistas e exames bucais foram conduzidos com 388 indivíduos dentados na linha de base, e com 273 participantes no seguimento. A incidência de perdas dentárias, cáries coronárias e radiculares e suas associações com variáveis da linha de base foram modeladas com o uso de regressão binomial negativa. Em um segundo momento, informações de natureza qualitativa foram produzidas através de uma séria de oito entrevistas de grupo focal envolvendo 41 idosos, selecionados dos participantes do seguimento do estudo. As discussões de grupo foram moderadas pelo autor, foram gravadas, codificadas e analisadas através do uso da Teoria Fundamentada em Dados. Resultados: Foi observado no modelo multivariável que, ser mais velho; do sexo masculino; viver em área rural; ser casado; ter menor escolaridade; ser fumante; e estar insatisfeito com os serviços de saúde acessados, estiveram associados com a incidência perdas dentárias. Entre as variáveis clínicas, o uso de próteses parciais removíveis e o índice de sangramento gengival foram preditores, enquanto maior taxa de fluxo salivar foi um fator protetor para o desfecho. Com relação às cáries coronárias, no modelo multivariável final foi observado que, ser mais velho; do sexo masculino; viver em área rural; e ser fumante, estiveram associados à sua incidência. Entre as variáveis clínicas, o uso de próteses parciais removíveis foi um preditor, enquanto maior taxa de fluxo salivar foi um fator de proteção para este desfecho. No modelo multivariável final tendo como desfecho a densidade de incidência de cáries radiculares, ser mais velho; viver em área rural; e escovar os dentes com frequência menor do que diária, foram preditores; ao passo que a única variável clínica associada ao desfecho foi uma maior taxa de fluxo salivar, como fator de proteção. No segmento qualitativo, as respostas dos participantes permitiram concluir que as perdas dentárias estiveram relacionadas com a falta de programas de saúde bucal; normas sociais (incluindo valores relativos ao gênero); nível limitado de informações de saúde; e reduzidas acessibilidade e disponibilidade de serviços odontológicos. Contextos de vulnerabilidade social e programática tiveram um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento de normas e valores sociais e comportamentos individuais que resultaram em extrações dentárias. Conclusão: Estes achados são importantes, porque compreender as relações causais entre práticas individuais como higiene bucal, hábito de fumar, e procura por cuidados odontológicos preventivos, e perdas dentárias, não elucida as razões para as pessoas assumirem tais comportamentos. / Introduction: Tooth loss and edentulism may have a negative impact in the oral and general health, in the quality of life, and nutrition of the elderly. Dental caries and tooth loss have been described as results of processes involving biologic factors, on the surfaces of the teeth, and of a combination of behavioral and social factors. Furthermore, the historical context in which people are placed influences their behaviors and perceptions towards oral health. The understanding of health behaviors requires the use of methods which allow for the exploration of the subjective reality of those factors. Objective: The objectives of this study using quantitative and qualitative methods were to evaluate the association between demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and health factors and the incidence of tooth loss, coronal and root caries in the studied sample. Also, to carry on focus groups interviews with members from the sample to explore their perceptions about tooth loss. Methods: A cohort study was conducted with a simple random sample of subjects 60 years old or older in Carlos Barbosa city, southern Brazil, between the years of 2004 and 2008. Interviews and oral examinations were conducted with 388 dentate subjects at baseline, and 273 participants at follow-up. The incidence of tooth loss, coronal and root caries and their association with baseline variables were modeled with the use of negative binomial regression. Following the quantitative part of the study, information of qualitative nature was obtained through a series of eight focus groups, involving 41 participants, purposefully selected from those participating in the follow-up. The focus groups discussions’ were moderated by the author, were recorded, coded and analyzed through the use of Grounded Theory. Results: In the multivariate model it was observed that, older age; male gender; living in a rural area; being married; less schooling; being a current smoker; and being dissatisfied with the health services accessed, were associated with the incidence of tooth loss. Among clinical variables, the use of removable partial dentures, and the gingival bleeding index were predictors, whereas higher stimulated saliva flow rate showed a protective effect for the outcome. With regards to the incidence of coronal caries, in the multivariate model it was found that, older age; male gender; living in a rural area; and being a current smoker, were associated with the outcome. Among clinical variables, the use of removable partial dentures was a predictor, whereas a higher stimulated saliva flow was a protective factor for the outcome. In the final model, for the outcome defined as the incidence density of new root caries, it was observed that, older age; living in a rural area; and brushing less than daily were predictors, whereas a higher stimulated saliva flow rate showed a protective effect for the outcome. With regards to the qualitative part of the study, the answers of the participants allowed for the conclusion that tooth extractions had been related, in the past, with the lack of oral health problems; social norms (including social values related to gender); low level of health information; and limited accessibility and availability of dental services. Contexts of social and programmatic vulnerability played a major role in the development of social norms and individual behaviors which resulted in tooth extractions. Conclusion: These findings are important, because understanding the causal relations between individual behaviors such as oral hygiene, smoking, and the pursuing of preventive dental care, do not elucidate why people engage in such behaviors.

The aim is to study and reach an understanding of how upper secondary school students perceive the subject of physical education and health through the assessment practice they experience. Part of the interest concerns the content of the assessment practice and the picture of the subject emerging from this. Another part is to study what students perceive to form the basis of the actual assessment. A third field of interest is directed towards the assessment practice at large and the ways in which students perceive how far this gives them equal opportunities of showing their knowledge and skills. Focus group interviews were carried out inspired by different vignettes, based on various dilemmas identified through earlier research. Four upper secondary schools from southern Sweden are represented, with 38 interviewed students. To further understand and analyze student perceptions, a New Institutional perspective is applied focusing on normative, regulative and cultural conditions1 (Scott 2008). The regulative and normative conditions are understood on the basis of different policy documents, and the cultural conditions are interpreted through previous research in the field. It can be established that institutionalized club sport receives priority both before school policy documents and the less institutionalized health field. Some normative elements are perceived to be important, especially those linked to club sport, like cooperation, consideration, understanding and fair play, while other normative and regulative requirements are neglected or not mentioned at all, like outdoor education. The interpretation may be that above all the culturally based requirements in the form of sport affect students’ perception of the subject of physical education and health. The interviewed students perceive physical education and health as an unfair subject. There are those students who have learned to perform ”correctly” according to sport norms, while at the same time there are those who do not have these skills, and none of the students perceive that they master the sport norms correctly. / Syftet är att undersöka och förstå hur elever på gymnasienivå uppfattar ämnet idrott och hälsa genom den bedömningspraktik de erfar. Ett delintresse utgörs av innehållet i bedömningspraktiken och vilken bild av ämnet som därigenom framträder. Ett andra delintresse är vad eleverna uppfattar ligger till grund för själva bedömningen. Ett tredje delintresse är riktat mot bedömningspraktiken i stort och på vilka sätt eleverna uppfattar i vad mån denna ger dem likvärdiga förutsättningar att visa vad de kan. Elevernas uppfattningar har studerats med hjälp av fokusgruppsintervjuer med inspiration i tre olika vinjetter. I studien deltog 38 elever på fyra olika gymnasieskolor. För att vidare kunna förstå och analysera elevernas uppfattningar användes ett nyinstitutionellt perspektiv där normativa, regulativa och kulturella villkor står i förgrunden (Scott 2008). De regulativa och de normativa villkoren förstås utifrån olika styrdokument och de kulturella villkoren utifrån tidigare forskning om ämnet. Analysen visar att den institutionaliserade föreningsidrotten får företräde framför både skolans styrdokument och ett mindre institutionaliserat hälsoområde. Vissa normerande inslag uppfattas som viktiga, speciellt de som kan kopplas till fostrande aspekter så som exempelvis samarbete, hänsyn, förståelse och fair play, medan andra normerande och reglerande villkor negligeras eller nämns inte alls, som exempelvis friluftsliv. Detta skulle kunna förstås som att det framför allt är de kulturella villkoren i form av föreningsidrott som påverkar elevernas uppfattningar om ämnet idrott och hälsa. De intervjuade eleverna uppfattar idrott och hälsa i stora drag som ett orättvist ämne. Det finns de elever som kan ”rätt” idrott och samtidigt finns de som inte har dessa färdigheter och ingen av eleverna uppfattar att de kommer till sin rätt i ämnet.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / F. Todd Goodson / In the past, literacy was viewed solely as the basic, functional skills of reading and writing. However, with the New London Group’s (1996) proposal of multiliteracies and the more recent push for a plurality of literacies (NCTE, 2011), teachers have been urged to expand their definitions of literacy. This qualitative study explores how secondary-level social studies and science teachers perceive literacies and identifies their instructional literacies practices. Data were collected through a pre- and post-questionnaire, three focus group sessions, classroom observations, field notes, and artifacts. This study solicited nearly one hundred secondary social studies and science teachers from three Midwestern school districts. Eight educators (four social studies and four science) participated in the study that took place in the spring of 2015. Furthermore, a generous grant from a local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa partially funded this research. After applying initial and holistic codes to the data, nine themes emerged: conventional, progressive, hesitant/emerging, collaborate, calibrate, perform, practice, interdisciplinary, and intradisciplinary. The nine themes were further classified by how they appeared in the data: dispositional themes, behavioral themes, and bridge themes. Throughout the data analysis, contemporary genre theory guided the study (Devitt, 2004). Descriptive codes, derived from contemporary genre theory, further revealed that the situational, social, historical, and individual aspects of genre influence teachers’ pedagogical practices related to multiple literacies across disciplines. Therefore, the ways in which teachers perceived multiple literacies and implemented them into classroom instruction are multifaceted and vary depending on grade level, content area, and teaching location. However, teachers’ dispositions regarding literacy move beyond a traditional mindset of functional reading and writing as they engage in professional learning opportunities and collaborate within and across disciplines and grade levels. This study provides secondary educators insight into the prominence of multiple literacies present across content areas while also revealing the teaching methods and instructional strategies that foster multiple literacies.