Les graphiques ont pris de plus en plus d'importance dans le matériel pédagogique, les manuels scolaires ou encore les programmes informatiques. Malgré la coexistence de différents types de graphiques ou de genres graphiques, jusqu'à maintenant, les recherches sur l'apprentissage ont seulement pris en compte la distinction entre le texte et l'image. Cette thèse vise à éclaircir ce qui, dans la recherche sur l'apprentissage, semble être une catégorie globale et indivisible : les représentations visuelles. Nous nous sommes concentrées sur ce que pensent des enseignants et des étudiants de Master concernant différents types de représentations visuelles et leurs fonctions présumées dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage. A l'heure actuelle, la recherche sur les graphiques est principalement axée sur la compréhension des élèves. Il existe très peu de recherches sur la compréhension des graphiques par les enseignants. En outre, la dimension de la formation des enseignants aux graphiques est, elle aussi, relativement ignorée. La thèse se présente en deux parties : une recherche théorique suivie d'une recherche empirique. La première partie du travail examine la littérature relative aux représentations graphiques dans l'histoire, dans les programmes scolaires à travers le monde ainsi que leur utilisation dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage. Elle expose également les classifications des différents types de graphiques. La seconde partie de la thèse prend appui sur trois enquêtes menées auprès d'enseignants en activité et d'étudiants de Master en formation. La première investigue la compréhension des graphiques d'enseignants en activité en France et au Pakistan. Les deux autres ont été conduites auprès de futurs enseignants, en utilisant la méthode du tri de carte, afin d'identifier leurs compétences relatives à la catégorisation des différents types de graphiques.En conclusion, il semble que les programmes de formation des enseignants manquent d'un enseignement à la compréhension graphique. Même en géographie, pourtant considérée comme la discipline des graphiques et de leur enseignement, nous constatons que les enseignants sont peu familiers avec de nombreux genres graphiques. Dans l'ensemble, les graphiques génériques (camemberts, histogrammes, cartes et tableaux, etc.) ont été facilement identifiés par les enseignants alors que la classification des graphiques hybrides s'est révélée plus difficile pour la plupart d'entre eux. / Visualizations have gained more importance in pedagogical material, in text books and in computer programs. Despite the co-existence of many different types of visualizations or graphical genres, learning research only has taken into account the distinction between text and pictures. This thesis aims at unpacking what, at least in learning research, seems to be one single holistic indivisible category of visualizations. We focused on teachers' and Masters students' thoughts on the existence of different types of visualizations and their presumed function in teaching and learning. Research on graphical representations is mainly focused on students' comprehension of graphical representations. However, there is very little research in extend of teachers' comprehension of graphical representations. In addition, the aspect of teacher training of graphical representations is also relatively ignored. There are two main parts in this thesis: theoretical and empirical. In theoretical part, we presented the literature on the existence of graphical representations in worldwide curricula. Remarkable works of cartographers who played important rule for the advancement of graphic representations in context of teaching and learning. And finally, classification of different genres of graphical representations was also exhibited. Empirical part on the other hand, based on three studies conducted with in-service teachers and Masters students' about their comprehension of graphical genres. First study was conducted with in-service teachers from France and Pakistan to investigate their basic understanding of graphical representations. Second and third study explores the Masters' students' categorization of graphical representations. In conclusion, it seems that the teacher training programs lack the training of graphic comprehension. Even in the domain of geography which is considered the major domain about graphics and graphic education, teachers were observed unfamiliar with many graphic genres. Overall, Generic graphical representations (i.e. line graph, pie charts, bar charts, maps and tables etc.) were identified more comfortably. However, classification of hybrid graphical representations (i.e. combination of map and bar graph or other hybrid graphics) was slightly difficult for the participants.

En dépit de leur omniprésence et de leur rôle essentiel dans nos vies professionnelles et personnelles, les représentations graphiques, qu'elles soient numériques ou sur papier, ne sont pas accessibles aux personnes déficientes visuelles car elles ne fournissent pas d'informations tactiles. Par ailleurs, les inégalités d'accès à ces représentations ne cessent de s'accroître ; grâce au développement de représentations graphiques dynamiques et disponibles en ligne, les personnes voyantes peuvent non seulement accéder à de grandes quantités de données, mais aussi interagir avec ces données par le biais de fonctionnalités avancées (changement d'échelle, sélection des données à afficher, etc.). En revanche, pour les personnes déficientes visuelles, les techniques actuellement utilisées pour rendre accessibles les cartes et les diagrammes nécessitent l'intervention de spécialistes et ne permettent pas la création de représentations interactives. Cependant, les récentes avancées dans le domaine de l'adaptation automatique de contenus laissent entrevoir, dans les prochaines années, une augmentation de la quantité de contenus adaptés. Cette augmentation doit aller de pair avec le développement de dispositifs utilisables et abordables en mesure de supporter l'affichage de représentations interactives et rapidement modifiables, tout en étant accessibles aux personnes déficientes visuelles. Certains prototypes de recherche s'appuient sur une représentation numérique seulement : ils peuvent être instantanément modifiés mais ne fournissent que très peu de retour tactile, ce qui rend leur exploration complexe d'un point de vue cognitif et impose de fortes contraintes sur le contenu. D'autres prototypes s'appuient sur une représentation numérique et physique : bien qu'ils puissent être explorés tactilement, ce qui est un réel avantage, ils nécessitent un support tactile qui empêche toute modification rapide. Quant aux dispositifs similaires à des tablettes Braille, mais avec des milliers de picots, leur coût est prohibitif. L'objectif de cette thèse est de pallier les limitations de ces approches en étudiant comment développer des cartes et diagrammes interactifs physiques, modifiables et abordables. Pour cela, nous nous appuyons sur un type d'interface qui a rarement été étudié pour des utilisateurs déficients visuels : les interfaces tangibles, et plus particulièrement les interfaces tangibles sur table. Dans ces interfaces, des objets physiques représentent des informations numériques et peuvent être manipulés par l'utilisateur pour interagir avec le système, ou par le système lui-même pour refléter un changement du modèle numérique - on parle alors d'interfaces tangibles sur tables animées, ou actuated. Grâce à la conception, au développement et à l'évaluation de trois interfaces tangibles sur table (les Tangible Reels, la Tangible Box et BotMap), nous proposons un ensemble de solutions techniques répondant aux spécificités des interfaces tangibles pour des personnes déficientes visuelles, ainsi que de nouvelles techniques d'interaction non-visuelles, notamment pour la reconstruction d'une carte ou d'un diagramme et l'exploration de cartes de type " Pan & Zoom ". D'un point de vue théorique, nous proposons aussi une nouvelle classification pour les dispositifs interactifs accessibles. / Despite their omnipresence and essential role in our everyday lives, online and printed graphical representations are inaccessible to visually impaired people because they cannot be explored using the sense of touch. The gap between sighted and visually impaired people's access to graphical representations is constantly growing due to the increasing development and availability of online and dynamic representations that not only give sighted people the opportunity to access large amounts of data, but also to interact with them using advanced functionalities such as panning, zooming and filtering. In contrast, the techniques currently used to make maps and diagrams accessible to visually impaired people require the intervention of tactile graphics specialists and result in non-interactive tactile representations. However, based on recent advances in the automatic production of content, we can expect in the coming years a growth in the availability of adapted content, which must go hand-in-hand with the development of affordable and usable devices. In particular, these devices should make full use of visually impaired users' perceptual capacities and support the display of interactive and updatable representations. A number of research prototypes have already been developed. Some rely on digital representation only, and although they have the great advantage of being instantly updatable, they provide very limited tactile feedback, which makes their exploration cognitively demanding and imposes heavy restrictions on content. On the other hand, most prototypes that rely on digital and physical representations allow for a two-handed exploration that is both natural and efficient at retrieving and encoding spatial information, but they are physically limited by the use of a tactile overlay, making them impossible to update. Other alternatives are either extremely expensive (e.g. braille tablets) or offer a slow and limited way to update the representation (e.g. maps that are 3D-printed based on users' inputs). In this thesis, we propose to bridge the gap between these two approaches by investigating how to develop physical interactive maps and diagrams that support two-handed exploration, while at the same time being updatable and affordable. To do so, we build on previous research on Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) and particularly on (actuated) tabletop TUIs, two fields of research that have surprisingly received very little interest concerning visually impaired users. Based on the design, implementation and evaluation of three tabletop TUIs (the Tangible Reels, the Tangible Box and BotMap), we propose innovative non-visual interaction techniques and technical solutions that will hopefully serve as a basis for the design of future TUIs for visually impaired users, and encourage their development and use. We investigate how tangible maps and diagrams can support various tasks, ranging from the (re)construction of diagrams to the exploration of maps by panning and zooming. From a theoretical perspective we contribute to the research on accessible graphical representations by highlighting how research on maps can feed research on diagrams and vice-versa. We also propose a classification and comparison of existing prototypes to deliver a structured overview of current research.

Syfte: Företagsledningen har stor möjlighet att påverka innehållet i årsredovisningen eftersom delar av den saknar regleringar. Detta gör att det finns en problematik om årsredovisningen ger en trovärdig bild av företaget. Enligt tidigare forskning används grafer i årsredovisningar för att påverka läsarens uppfattning om företaget och det har visat sig att företagen snedvrider graferna för att grafen ska se bättre ut. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att undersöka användningen av grafer för finansiella nyckelvariabler i årsredovisningar och snedvridningar av dessa variabler för medelstora företag. Metod: Studien har ett positivistiskt och objektivt synsätt och en deduktiv ansats. Utifrån den teoretiska referensramen formulerades hypoteser som sedan testades mot det empiriska materialet. Det empiriska materialet bestod av grafer från årsredovisningar och detta samlades in genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Studien har en longitudinell design där vi studerade 39 medelstora företag listade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm under två olika år, vilket resulterade i att 78 årsredovisningar studerades. Det empiriska materialet testades genom statistiska tester för att kunna undersöka hypotesernas acceptans. Resultat & slutsats: Studien har visat att medelstora företag har en hög grafanvändning i årsredovisningar och att de använder sig av grafer för finansiella nyckelvariabler konsekvent över tid. Företagen tenderar att visa positiva trender för finansiella nyckelvariabler men studien har även visat att mer än hälften av dessa variabler presenteras felaktigt genom snedvridningar. Denna studie har visat på en högre andel snedvridna finansiella nyckelvariabler jämfört med tidigare forskning som har undersökt stora företag. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Eftersom denna studie har visat att det finns snedvridningar i grafer för finansiella nyckelvariabler för medelstora företag listade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm vore det intressant med ytterligare studier inom området för små och stora företag. Detta för att undersöka om små respektive stora företag skiljer sig från medelstora företag gällande snedvridningar för finansiella nyckelvariabler. Vidare vore det även intressant att undersöka snedvridningar för samtliga grafer i årsredovisningar.  Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar till att öka förståelsen för hur medelstora företag använder grafer för finansiella nyckelvariabler i sina årsredovisningar. Den bidrar även till nya kunskapsområden eftersom inga tidigare studier har undersökt varken svenska eller medelstora företag. Studien visar att grafer för finansiella nyckelvariabler tenderar att visas på ett felaktigt sätt för att ge en bättre bild av företaget. Denna studie ökar därför medvetenheten hos läsare av årsredovisningar att grafer inte alltid presenteras på ett tillförlitligt sätt. / Aim: The management has a great opportunity to influence the content of annual reports as there are elements that do not adhere to regulations. Hence there is a concern whether the annual report is a reliable representation of a company. According to previous research, graphs are used in annual reports with the purpose of influencing the reader’s perception about the company. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that some companies distort the graphs with the purpose of improving their appearance. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the use of graphical representations of key financial variables in annual reports, and the distortion of these variables in mid size companies. Method: The study has a positivist and objective approach with a deductive undertaking. Hypotheses has been formulated based on the theoretical framework, they have thereafter been tested against the empirical findings. The empirical material consisted of various graphs from annual reports which were collected through a quantitative content analysis. The study has a longitudinal design in which we have studied 39 mid size companies during two different years, in total 78 annual reports have been studied. The empirical material has been analyzed through statistical tests with the purpose of investigating the acceptance of the hypotheses. Result & conclusions: The study has shown that mid size companies has an elevated usage of graphs in annual reports, and that they use graphical representations of key financial variables consistently over time. The companies tend to show positive trends for key financial variables, however the study has shown that a majority of these variables are erroneously represented due to distortions. The study has demonstrated a higher share of distorted key financial variables compared to earlier research which has been focused on large companies. Suggestions for future research: As this study has demonstrated the existence of distortions in graphical representations of key financial variables in mid size companies, it would be interesting to conduct further studies in the area of Swedish small and large size companies. Hence investigating if small and large size companies are any different compared to mid size companies regarding distortions of key financial variables. Furthermore it would be interesting to investigate distortions of all graphical representations in annual reports. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to an increased understanding of how mid size companies use key financial variables in their annual reports. It also contributes to new knowledge areas as no previous studies has investigated Swedish nor mid size companies. The study shows that graphical representations of key financial variables tend to be exposed erroneously in order to improve the image of the company. Thus, this study increases the awareness of the reader’s of annual reports and alerts them that graphs are not always presented in a reliable way.

Submitted by Natalie Mendes (nataliermendes@gmail.com) on 2015-07-23T01:03:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 disserta??o19nov.pdf: 5190648 bytes, checksum: 59043649b75e51773c3fda7faa3e7e7b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-23T01:03:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 disserta??o19nov.pdf: 5190648 bytes, checksum: 59043649b75e51773c3fda7faa3e7e7b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-11-04 / This research is situated in the context of inclusive education, where deaf and hearing people can enjoy the same rights and opportunities. Despite the inclusion of law, you need to evaluate the conditions to meet this challenge. As from the experience of this research professor in daily classroom "said" inclusive, many problems have been perceived. Not yet, in the current educational context, physical, human and pedagogical structures that afford favorable conditions for quality education accessible to deaf and listeners students, respecting their specificities, not favoring the repetition and the age / school year. The objective of this research is to investigate whether working with teaching strategies, with emphasis on graphical representations, such as drawing, signs in LIBRAS, photographs, illustrations, can contribute to facilitating communication and learning the Portuguese language written by deaf students. The subjects were deaf students (06) of a class of 7th year, enrolled in regular school system,enrolled in regular school system, in an inclusive school located in Feira de Santana, Bahia, in 2013. In order to analyze possible effects of different pedagogical mediation, was made a Preliminary Assessment of performance in the writing of deaf people from the request of elaboration in writing a ticket. Next, we held an teaching strategy planned Didactic Sequence 12 seconds, which contemplate the use of graphical representations in the teaching learning process. At the end of theses, we proceeded to the evaluation Later, when there was a request to prepare a second ticket. Tickets were evaluated according to the criteria proposed by Brochado (2003). From the comparison of performance in writing of deaf students, before and after Didactic Sequence, we can infer possible effects of these. The data indicated that the Preliminary Assessment only 02 tickets were deemed satisfactory for submitting minimal information that would make the textual genre understandable ticket. The other 04 tickets did not present minimum information to ensure communication, such as event type and date. Already in the Posterior Evaluation, all 06 tickets were considered satisfactory. While not changing interlingual level of students has been observed in this short period of pedagogical mediation, here were qualitative changes in writing performance of the Portuguese language, in terms of increased use of punctuation and of binding elements, beyond the text to ensure a better understanding by the reader. It was observed that at the end of the process, the deaf students were more socialized and motivated to work in the classroom, so there was a better use both in terms of learning as communication of deaf students together with colleagues and with the teacher. One can check that teaching with deaf students is only possible from the compromise of those involved in the educational process. It is necessary that specific teaching strategies are appropriate for teachers to meet appropriate way to deaf students. / Esta pesquisa situa-se no ?mbito da educa??o inclusiva, onde surdos e ouvintes possam usufruir os mesmos direitos e oportunidades. Apesar da lei de inclus?o, ? preciso avaliar as condi??es para enfrentar este desafio. A partir da viv?ncia desta professora pesquisadora, no cotidiano da sala de aula ?dita? inclusiva, muitos problemas tem sido percebidos. Ainda n?o h?, no contexto educacional atual, estruturas f?sica, humana e pedag?gica capazes de proporcionar condi??es favor?veis ? educa??o de qualidade e acess?vel aos alunos surdos e ouvintes, respeitando suas especificidades, n?o favorecendo a repet?ncia e a defasagem idade/ano escolar. O objetivo desta pesquisa ? investigar se o trabalho com estrat?gias de ensino, com ?nfase nas representa??es gr?ficas, tais como desenho, sinais em LIBRAS, fotografias, ilustra??es, pode contribuir para facilitar a comunica??o e a aprendizagem da L?ngua Portuguesa escrita, pelos alunos surdos. Os sujeitos foram os alunos surdos (06) de uma classe de 7? ano, matriculados no sistema regular de ensino, em uma escola inclusiva, localizada em Feira de Santana, na Bahia, no ano de 2013. A fim de analisar poss?veis efeitos da media??o pedag?gica diferenciada, foi feito uma Avalia??o Pr?via do desempenho na escrita dos sujeitos surdos, a partir da solicita??o da elabora??o, por escrito, de um bilhete. Em seguida, procedeu-se a uma estrat?gia de ensino planejada segundo 12 Sequ?ncias Did?ticas, que contemplam o uso de representa??es gr?ficas no processo de ensino aprendizagem. Ao t?rmino destas, procedeu-se a Avalia??o Posterior, quando houve a solicita??o da elabora??o de um segundo bilhete. Os bilhetes foram avaliados de acordo com os crit?rios propostos por Brochado (2003). A partir da compara??o do desempenho na escrita, dos alunos surdos, antes e depois das Sequ?ncias Did?ticas, pode-se inferir poss?veis efeitos destas. Os dados indicaram que na Avalia??o Pr?via apenas 02 dos bilhetes foram considerados satisfat?rios, por terem apresentado informa??es m?nimas que tornassem o g?nero textual bilhete compreens?vel. Os outros 04 bilhetes n?o apresentaram informa??es m?nimas para garantir a comunica??o, como por exemplo, tipo de evento e data. J? na Avalia??o Posterior, todos os 06 bilhetes foram considerados satisfat?rios. Embora n?o tenha sido observada a mudan?a de n?vel interlingual dos alunos, neste pequeno per?odo de media??o pedag?gica, houve mudan?as qualitativas no desempenho da modalidade escrita da L?ngua Portuguesa, em termos de um maior uso de pontua??o e de elementos de liga??o, al?m do texto garantir um melhor entendimento por parte do leitor. Observou-se que, ao final do processo, os alunos surdos estavam mais socializados e motivados para o trabalho em sala de aula, sendo assim, houve um melhor aproveitamento tanto em termos de aprendizagem como de comunica??o dos alunos surdos entre si, com os colegas e com a professora. Pode-se verificar que o trabalho docente com alunos surdos s? ? poss?vel a partir do compromisso dos envolvidos no processo educacional. ? mister que estrat?gias de ensino espec?ficas sejam apropriadas pelos professores para atender de modo adequado aos alunos surdos.

Ο βασικός σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η διερεύνηση του κατά πόσον: κατά τη διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος εντός ενός ευνοϊκού μαθησιακού περιβάλλοντος μιας τάξης πρωτοσχολικής ηλικίας, τα παιδιά, αλληλεπιδρώντας μεταξύ τους και με τη νηπιαγωγό, εμπλέκονται σε διεργασίες οι οποίες προάγουν την ανάπτυξη δεξιοτήτων. Ο πιο πάνω σκοπός διερευνάται μέσα από τρία βασικά ερευνητικά ερωτήματα καθένα από τα οποία αναλύεται σε επιμέρους ερωτήματα: 1. πώς λειτουργεί η εκτενής σε χρονική διάρκεια, τακτική (καθημερινή) και οργανωμένη από την νηπιαγωγό ενασχόληση παιδιών με διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος, μέσα σε ένα ευνοϊκό μαθησιακό περιβάλλον; 2. πώς επιδρά στα παιδιά η διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος στην ανάπτυξη των δεξιοτήτων (α) εμπλοκής στην επίλυση του μαθηματικού προβλήματος : (i) το παιδί χρησιμοποιεί το υλικό αναπαράστασης του προβλήματος και καταγραφής των λύσεών του με τρόπο που οδηγεί σε επίλυση του προβλήματος; (ii) το παιδί εργάζεται με τρόπο που δείχνει ότι έχει λάβει υπόψη τα δεδομένα του προβλήματος; (iii) το παιδί εργάζεται με τρόπο που οδηγεί σε επίλυση του προβλήματος; (β) ανάπτυξης στρατηγικών επίλυσης του μαθηματικού προβλήματος: (i) ποιες στρατηγικές αναπτύσσουν τα παιδιά κατά τη διαδικασία επίλυσης του κάθε μαθηματικού προβλήματος; (ii) τα παιδιά εφαρμόζουν την ίδια στρατηγική και σε επόμενες διαδικασίες επίλυσης του ίδιου μαθηματικού προβλήματος; (iii) παρατηρείται ανάπτυξη ή βελτίωση της στρατηγικής από τα παιδιά σε επόμενη εφαρμογή της διαδικασίας επίλυσης του ίδιου μαθηματικού προβλήματος; (γ) ανίχνευσης των λύσεων του μαθηματικού προβλήματος: (i) μπορούν τα παιδιά να ανιχνεύσουν όλες τις λύσεις του μαθηματικού προβλήματος (ii) με ποιους τρόπους καταφέρνουν τα παιδιά να ανιχνεύσουν όλες τις λύσεις του προβλήματος; (δ) γραφικής αναπαράστασης των λύσεων του μαθηματικού προβλήματος: (i) πώς επιλέγουν τα παιδιά να αναπαραστήσουν γραφικά τις λύσεις του κάθε προβλήματος; (ii) πώς χρησιμοποιούν τα παιδιά τις γραφικές αναπαραστάσεις των λύσεων του προβλήματος στη διαδικασία επίλυσής του; 3. μπορούν οι γλωσσικές αλληλεπιδράσεις που αναπτύσσονται σε μια τάξη πρωτοσχολικής εκπαίδευσης μεταξύ παιδιών αλλά και μεταξύ παιδιών και νηπιαγωγού να συνεισφέρουν στην επίλυση μαθηματικού προβλήματος; : (ι)σε ποια από τις κατηγορίες σωρευτικός λόγος, λόγος αμφισβήτησης, διερευνητικός λόγος εμπίπτει ο διάλογος μεταξύ παιδιών και πού οδηγεί; (ii) που οδηγεί ο διάλογος μεταξύ παιδιού/παιδιών και νηπιαγωγού; (iii) πού οδηγεί ο μονόλογος του παιδιού; Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν ότι (α) μέσα από την αλληλεπίδραση, τόσο μεταξύ τους όσο και με τη νηπιαγωγό, ακόμη και τετράχρονα παιδιά μπορούν να καταστούν ικανά να εφαρμόσουν διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος (β) η συστηματική, εκτενής και οργανωμένη ενασχόληση παιδιών με διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος προάγει την ανάπτυξη δεξιοτήτων (γ) βασικό ρόλο στην ανάπτυξη των δεξιοτήτων παίζει η νηπιαγωγός και ο τρόπος με τον οποίο η ίδια οργανώνει το μαθησιακό περιβάλλον της τάξης. Η παρούσα εργασία αποτελείται από τέσσερα Κεφάλαια. Στο πρώτο Κεφάλαιο μελετάται η διαδικασία επίλυσης μαθηματικού προβλήματος στο νηπιαγωγείο και ο όρος του ευνοϊκού μαθησιακού περιβάλλοντος. Ο καθορισμός των στοιχείων του ευνοϊκού μαθησιακού περιβάλλοντος γίνεται μέσα από βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση σχετικά με το ρόλο της εκπαιδευτικού στη δημιουργία του όλου περιβάλλοντος και της προαγωγής γλωσσικών αλληλεπιδράσεων μεταξύ της ίδιας και των παιδιών και μεταξύ των παιδιών. Στο δεύτερο Κεφάλαιο αναλύεται η μεθοδολογία της έρευνας. Στο τρίτο Κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται και αναλύονται τα δεδομένα της παρούσας έρευνας. Στο τέταρτο, και τελευταίο, Κεφάλαιο συνοψίζονται τα σημαντικότερα ευρήματα της παρούσας εργασίας και διατυπώνονται τα βασικά της συμπεράσματα, μέσα από την απάντηση των ερευνητικών της ερωτημάτων και παρουσιάζονται εισηγήσεις για μελλοντική διερεύνηση ερωτημάτων που προέκυψαν από την παρούσα εργασία. / The aim of this study is to investigate whether: during the process of mathematical problem solving within a favorable learning environment of a pre-school classroom setting, while child-child and child-teacher interaction takes place, children involve themselves in processes promoting skill development. The above hypothesis is studied through three basic research questions, each of which is analysed in further and more specific questions: 1. how does the extensive, frequent (daily) and organized by the teacher, occupation of children with mathematical problem solving process, within a favorable learning environment, function? 2. how does the mathematical problem solving process effect children’s skill development in (a)their involvement in the mathematical problem solving process : (i)can the child use the material created for the mathematical problem representation in a way that leads to the solution of the problem? (ii) does the child’s work show that he/she has considered the problem’s data, (iii) does the child’s work lead to the solution of the mathematical problem? (b)the development of strategies in order to solve the mathematical problem : (i)which strategies do the children develop during the mathematical problem solving process? (ii) do the children apply the same strategy every time they engage in the process of solving the same mathematical problem? (iii) is there a development or an improvement of the children’s strategy during future processes of solving the same mathematical problem? (c)the detection of all possible solutions of a mathematical problem : (i)can children detect all possible solutions of the mathematical problem? (ii) in which ways do the children manage to detect all possible solutions of the mathematical problem? (d)graphically representing the solutions of the mathematical problem : (i)how do children chose to graphically represent the solutions of the mathematical problem? (ii) how do children use graphical representations of problem solutions during the problem solving process? 3. can child-child and child-teacher language interactions, which develop within a pre-school classroom setting, contribute to the problem solving process (i)in which of the categories cumulative talk, investigative talk, exploratory talk does children’s dialogue fall and where does it lead? (ii) where does child-child and child-teacher dialogue lead? (iii) where does child monologue lead? The results show that (a) through child-child and child-teacher interaction children as young as four years old can become capable of applying the mathematical problem solving process, (b) extensive, frequent and organized occupation of young children with the mathematical problem solving process leads to skill development, (c) the teacher’s role is central to the development of skills in the way she organizes the classroom’s learning environment. The present study consists of four chapters. Chapter I studies the problem solving process in pre-school and the term “favorable learning environment”. The determination of the elements of such an environment is established through bibliographical research relative to the teacher’s role in the creation of the classroom environment and the promotion of language interaction between herself and children and between children. Chapter II analyses the methodology of the current study. Chapter III presents and studies the research findings. Chapter IV summarizes the basic findings of the study and presents its conclusions through answering its research questions and gives suggestions for future investigation of questions that have emerged from the present study.