<p>Here is presented the result and discussion of a survey concerning the psychosocial environment in a school in the vicinity of Stockholm. The theoretical background of this study was the model of demand-control by Theorell, and various aspects of stress by Frankenhauser and Ödman. The survey was constituted of an inquiry form which was handed out to six different classes at the school. A total of 86 students filled in the form, and their answers were treated with standard statistical procedures to reveal the results. The inquiry form was made up by five parts; one that concerned the background of the respondent, one that reflected the psychosocial health and stress level and three parts that concerned discrimination, victimization and school democracy. Among the results was that female students was highly affected by stress related psychosocial disorder, and that they probably in some sense were able to cope with it because of good relations to friends. Another result of the study was that students with different cultural backgrounds had the same psychosocial health conditions as those with Swedish cultural background, and they were not seemingly affected by discrimination. These results, as well as the others in this study, are of course part of a very complex context and no certain conclusions can be drawn.</p>

This qualitative study draws on the traditions of narrative inquiry and arts-based research to explore the intricate puzzle of the experience of writing in a grade nine English Language Arts classroom, with a particular group of participants engaged in a creative autobiographical writing project. This case study of a small rural classroom, where 10 of 12 students participated as writers in the research, explores both the teachers and the students experiences. As a participant-researcher, I designed a three-cycle writing project spanning nine weeks, where all participants engaged in conversations about writing. One specific feature of the classroom setting was that both the teacher and the researcher were themselves active writers and deliberately and systematically offered stories of their own writing practice as part of the teaching about writing process, while undertaking the same writing tasks as the students. The data collected and analyzed in this dissertation includes students group conversations in class time, participants drafts and final writing, entry and exit drawings of how students saw themselves as writers, and individual reflective private conversations. From this data, I created portraits of the participants as writers and of the instructional moments. The drawings which were shaped by a participants historical relationship with writing, their broader personal, social and educational context, and the study provided insight into the individuals relationship to and with writing, providing access to a participants knowledge and experience at times unavailable through more traditional forms of data. Two main themes that emerged were resistance to writing and students complex relationship with revision. Their resistance manifested itself in a variety of forms, including one instance of plagiarism and a total absence of writing with another. An exploration of revision practices revealed a tangled process that often failed to improve the quality of students writing, where revision became, for example, a matter of excision with the delete key or serial first drafting. This study complicates the common school use of autobiographical writing prompts, by documenting the many forms of participant resistance and task subversion. Further, the interpretation of autobiographical as necessarily entailing only the true proved an area of tension.

Here is presented the result and discussion of a survey concerning the psychosocial environment in a school in the vicinity of Stockholm. The theoretical background of this study was the model of demand-control by Theorell, and various aspects of stress by Frankenhauser and Ödman. The survey was constituted of an inquiry form which was handed out to six different classes at the school. A total of 86 students filled in the form, and their answers were treated with standard statistical procedures to reveal the results. The inquiry form was made up by five parts; one that concerned the background of the respondent, one that reflected the psychosocial health and stress level and three parts that concerned discrimination, victimization and school democracy. Among the results was that female students was highly affected by stress related psychosocial disorder, and that they probably in some sense were able to cope with it because of good relations to friends. Another result of the study was that students with different cultural backgrounds had the same psychosocial health conditions as those with Swedish cultural background, and they were not seemingly affected by discrimination. These results, as well as the others in this study, are of course part of a very complex context and no certain conclusions can be drawn.

This essay reflects on the thoughts and experiences of social workers in child protection agencies when it comes to talking about sexuality with teenagers, age 13-20, who is being subjected to inquiry. The research is qualitative and based on five semi-structured interviews. It has a phenomenological position and has been analyzed hermeneutically through cognitive and gender theory. Previous research shows that youths who get in contact with child protection often have issues about their sexuality. This study show that social workers in the agencies lack knowledge about this issue and that they seldom talks about it with the teenagers or their own colleagues. They are however aware of risks involved with the youth’s sexual activities and the problems that may evolve from it. Despite this they sometimes avoid the subject. Their reason is that they are afraid of investigating more than necessary and by doing so offend the clients. Sexuality for them is a private area and they feel that they need motivation for asking certain questions. The study also shows that they find it easier to talk with teenagers of the same gender as themselves. The teenagers therefore get varied help and treatment.

Ansatsen; Deltagande design inom MDI förespråkar att användare är med under hela designprocessen, även under det tidigaste skedet, före det har skissats på någon prototyp över huvudtaget. Medverkan innebär då att användarna får klargöra sina behov, åsikter och önskemål om en produkt. En speciell deltagarteknik har utvecklats för att göra detta möjligt och heter Contextual inquiry. I detta arbete har tekniken tillämpats på hyresgäster inom Skövdebostäder och har gällt produkten elektronisk anslagstavla. Hypotesen har varit att inställningen till en produkt är mer positiv när användare har deltagit i det tidigaste stadiet i designprocessen och skulle då förklaras med hjälp av ett psykologiskt "fenomen" som kallas Hawthorne-effekten. Resultatet från studien kunde inte ge stöd för hypotesen, det fanns med andra ord ingen signifikant skillnad mellan experimentgrupp och kontrollgrupp.

This undergraduate thesis analyzes the narrative and opinion responses of sixteen tropical interviewees to understand environmental realities and argue for the necessity of developing a deep connection to one's place in order to attain true sustainability. Trending themes that influenced this conclusion were: participant reproduction of stereotypes commonly attributed to tropical regions; the emergence of religious doctrine in descriptions of human's role in nature and spiritual depictions of interactions with the unbuilt environment; and explanations of extra-classroom environmental education. I argue that the best way to live sustainably on this planet is to integrate place-based environmental education that fosters both personal comfort with the natural world and a means to understand the global implications of individual actions.

The impact of Internet technology on critical thinking is of growing interest among researchers. However, there still remains much to explore in terms of how critical thinking can be fostered through online environments for higher education. Ten years ago, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) published an article describing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework which provided an outline of three core elements that were able to describe and measure a collaborative and positive educational experience in an online learning environment, namely teaching presence (design, facilitation, and direct instruction), social presence (the ability of learners to project themselves socially and emotionally), and cognitive presence (the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse). This dissertation extends the body of research surrounding the CoI framework and also the literature on developing critical thinking in online environments by examining and exploring the extent to which teaching and social presence contribute to cognitive presence. The researcher was able to do this by offering 189 learners enrolled in 10 research methods courses and educational research courses an opportunity to use an innovative online resource (Research Design Learning Resource – RDLR) to assist them in learning about educational research and developing research proposals. By exploring how participants used this resource the researcher was able to gain insight into what factors contributed to a successful online learning experience and fostered cognitive presence. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches (mixed methods) were used in this study. The quantitative results indicated that both social and teaching presence had a strong positive relationship with cognitive presence and that learners generally perceived to have a positive learning experience using the RDLR. The qualitative findings helped elaborate the significant quantitative results and were organised into the following themes: making connections, multiple perspectives, resource design, being a self-directed learner, learning strategies, learning preferences, and barriers to cognitive presence. Future directions for critical thinking in online environments are discussed.

Although interpersonal communication studies have focused on various aspects of interpersonal relationships, research on the player identity and gendered emotional manipulation in romantic relationships has received little attention. This narrative research inquiry was undertaken to explore perceptions of men and women related to the player identity and gendered emotional manipulation. This investigation used social construction as a theoretical perspective to understand three areas of investigation that include: the existence and relevance of the player identity, the player’s relation to emotionally manipulative behaviour, and the connection between socially constructed gender conventions and the player identity. Hesse-Biber’s (2006) feminist interviewing approach guided semi-structured interviews with six male and six female participants. Respondents reported the existence and relevance of the player identity in romantic relationships today, connecting this identity to emotionally manipulative behaviour, as well as relating this identity to traditional gender conventions. Finally, implications for men and women in romantic relationships today and future areas of research are discussed in light of these findings.

Despite a substantial evidence-base for pediatric pain management, pain is not always well managed in clinical practice. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an innovative knowledge translation (KT) intervention that is compatible with the Promoting Action on Research in Health Services (PARiHS) framework. A prospective, repeated-measures, mixed-methods case study was conducted to (a) explore the implementation process of AI as a KT intervention in pain, (b) examine the beginning effects of AI on pain related outcomes, and (c) describe extraneous factors related to the PARiHS framework. Outcomes were measured at six and three weeks pre-intervention and three and six months post-intervention, ending with a semi-structured interview on the acceptability of the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and quantitative and qualitative content analyses. Twelve nurses (nine staff and three administrative/clinical leaders) from a surgical unit at a pediatric hospital participated in the study. They perceived their context to be relatively complex, with a culture focused on clinical competence, family-centered care, and teamwork, and a transformational leadership style. Overall, participants were satisfied with the intervention structure, which consisted of four three-hour, interactive sessions delivered over two weeks to promote change based on positive examples of pain management on the unit, and suggested only minor refinements. The intervention was delivered with high fidelity and most participants (n = 11) attended all four sessions, where they developed an action plan to enhance evidence-based pain assessment documentation. There was a statistically significant improvement in participants’ pain knowledge and attitudes post-intervention. This outcome was significantly and positively correlated with participants’ attitudes towards research. Both of these factors had a significant relationship with participants’ effort to document pain assessments. Participants named AI a ‘refreshing approach to change’ because it was positive and democratic, with a focus on building on existing practices. They felt the process cultivated a positive reception to change, broadened their horizons around pain, and enhanced their team spirit. The facilitators were considered credible with effective communication skills. Given the promising results of this study, the refinement and evaluation of the AI intervention are warranted in other contexts and for other clinical practices.

Children of alcoholics (COAs) are those who grow up in a home where one or more parent is an alcoholic; once adulthood is achieved, they are referred to as adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs). Several risk factors have been identified as a potential result from exposure to an alcoholic environment; however there is a dearth of literature exploring resilience in this population. Descriptive Narrative Inquiry was used to explore the question, Describe the qualities, processes, or internal motivational factors which have facilitated resilience for adult children of alcoholic parents. Two ninety-minute life history interviews were conducted with four participants, including the researcher. The participants were female, middle class, university students who considered themselves to be adult children of alcoholics who are resilient. A composite narrative was used to depict the results of this study, combining the data from each participants life story. The narrative was written in the first-person through the character of Sophie, and the data included is the result of a narrative analysis from the transcripts of the participants data. The narrative depicts the developmental stages of the participants lives, including childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and the present. Their experiences of growing up in an alcoholic home were documented at each stage. A thematic analysis was conducted, extracting the common themes, meaning made, and personal characteristics that were generated within and across participants that contributed to their development of resilience. The results are discussed in four major themes: Being in Relation: Others Create a Difference; Belief Systems: Spirituality, Religion, and Values; The Self: An Evolving Being; and Alcoholism: Meaning in Itself. It is through the dialogue of the participants experiences of resilience that awareness creates opportunity for advocacy for children and adult children of alcoholics. The implications of this research in relation to the experiences of resilience are discussed for children and adult children of alcoholics, educators, and counsellors. Directions for future research are addressed.