The central concern of this thesis is to discuss interpretations of learning in educational research. A point of departure is taken in core epistemological and ontological assumptions informing three major approaches to learning: behaviourism, cognitive constructivism and socioculturalism. It is argued that all three perspectives provide important insights into research on learning, but each alone runs the risk of reducing learning and interpretations of learning to single aspects. Specific attention is therefore given to Intentional Analysis, as it has been developed to account for sociocultural aspects that influence learning and individual cognition. It is argued that interpretations of learning processes face challenges, different kinds of holism, underdetermination and the complexity of intentionality, that need to be accounted for in order to make valid interpretations. Interpretation is therefore also discussed in light of philosopher Donald Davidson’s theories of knowledge and interpretation. It is suggested that his theories may provide aspects of an ontological and epistemological stance that can form the basis for interpretations of learning in educational research. A first brief sketch, referred to as ‘epistemic holism’, is thus drawn. The thesis also exemplifies how such a stance can inform empirical research. It provides a first formulation of research strategies – a so-called ‘interpretative holism’. The thesis discusses what such a stance may imply with regard to the nature and location of knowledge and the status of the learning situation. Ascribing meaning to observed behaviour, as it is described in this thesis, implies that an action is always an action under a specific description. Different descriptions may not be contradictory, but if we do not know the learner’s language use, we cannot know whether there is a difference in language or in beliefs. It is argued that the principle of charity and reference to saliency, that is, what appears as the figure for the learner, may help us decide. However, saliency does not only appear as a phenomenon in relation to physical objects and events, but also in the symbolic world, thus requires that the analysis extend beyond the mere transcription of an interview or the description of an observation. Hence, a conclusion to be drawn from this thesis is that the very question of what counts as data in the interpretation of complex learning processes is up for discussion. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Conceptual change is one of the most important influences in modern educational research and this theoretical framework can be used for empirical research aimed at improving our common knowledge about learning as well as developing new theories and practices within the education system. In its very basic meaning, conceptual change can be explained as a person who during the course of the learning experience changes their initial conception of a phenomenon (such as a object or a concept) from one specific point of view to another. The aim of this study is to map out the differences and similarities between two seemingly opposite movements within today’s pedagogical research community. Within phenomenography a constitutionalist approach to learning is used, which means that the conceptions formed by students are considered to be an internal representation of the individual’s interpretation of their own knowledge in relation to their surroundings. The intentional analytical approach suggests that contextualisation is necessary for conceptual change to take place, for the student to be able to interpret the assignment or task at hand and then incorporate that in meaningful activity that will lead to a successful learning process. Both the intentional and the phenomenographic approach agree that it is the meaning of a task that is important in the learning situation, but the differences lie in the ways of distinguishing what this meaning consists of as well as the means of finding out what the meaning is to an individual. / Begreppsutveckling är en av de viktigaste influenserna inom det pedagogiska forskningsområdet. Denna teoretiska inriktning innebär att man genom empirisk forskning studerar lärande och dess kontext. Detta kan sedan bidra till vår kunskap om vad som påverkar lärprocessen samt hur denna skulle kunna användas i utvecklingen av nya didaktiska metoder och verktyg. Begreppsutveckling kan förstås som teorier om hur en individ, genom övning och reflektion ändrar en grundläggande uppfattning om ett fenomen eller objekt från en specifik uppfattning till en annan. I den här litteraturstudien, kommer jag att försöka kartlägga två skilda sätt att anta utmaningen att undersöka hur lärande genom begreppsutveckling kan förstås och tolkas, nämligen fenomenografi och intentionell analys. Fenomenografi är utvecklat med en konstitutionell ansats till lärandet, där man menar att de koncept som individen använder formas genom interna representationer av den egna tolkningen av omgivningen samt hur det egna konceptet relaterar till omgivningen. Intentionell analys å andra sidan menar att begreppsutveckling uppstår när individen kontextualiserar uppgiften genom meningsskapande processer i relation till omgivningen och att detta beskriver lärprocessen. Den gemensamma nämnaren för båda dessa perspektiv är att det är meningsskapandet för individen som är nyckeln till lärandet. Skillnaden mellan dem märks i synen på lärandet i de meningsskapande processerna där man närmar sig betydelsen av denna process som den ter sig för den lärande individen.

The cognitive models that research on conceptual change has generated have been the subject of criticism, suggesting that these reflect an unrealistic view of learning as an overly “cold” and isolated process. Accordingly, representatives of this criticism suggest that research on conceptual change should investigate to what extent the cold cognition relates to “warm” affective constructs. In the present thesis, the warmth is not considered as prior to conceptual change, but is inferred from the very process of conceptual change itself. The aim is to investigate and describe how this warmth – in terms of normativity – is expressed in conceptual change and how individuals, in these processes, emerge as subjects in their interchange with the environment. This is done by exploring what students do when they make meaning of gender and nation in interviews and exam papers. The results show that the students mainly relate to two different norm-systems, including six normative aspects of conceptual change. The first system includes the goal to challenge or emancipate, the means to problematize, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes critical theory as an ideal, social structures and power as values, and me as a social being and actions as part of a tradition as what to make meaning of. The second system includes the goal to preserve, the means to claim how it “is”, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes psychological/biological reductionism as an ideal, essences and a natural order as values, and me as an individual and actions as an outcome of intentions as what to make meaning of. By understanding what the students do as interfering with these normative aspects, it becomes possible to understand them as negotiating norms that are brought to the fore. With this, “coldness” appears to be a misleading epithet of conceptual change. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

<p>This study highlights how pre-school teachers in a monocultural Swedish district looks at the concept of multiculturalism and what multiculturalism and /or intercultural approaches means in their pre-schools. The study takes its starting point in Johannes Lunneblads thesis "Förskolan och mångfalden" (2006) and Lpfö-98 (2006). The present study is a qualitative study in the form of interviews and the study have an intercultural and intentional perspective. The study shows that preschool teachers in the area perceive multicultural work as a compensatory education for children with non-European background. An analysis of the interviews on a deeper level shows that there is a broader understanding of multiculturalism that includes the class, sexuality and everyone of the children's "home culture”. About the pre-school teachers in this study can be said that there is an intercultural attitude in certain situations.</p>

Previous research in environmental education and learning has mainly concerned students’ understanding of natural scientific knowledge, whereas research on the influence of other knowledge in learning environmental issues is marginal. Also, the interest in most studies investigating students’ natural scientific knowledge has been to capture constraints in students’ understanding, hence investigations of students’ meaning making are rare. The main objective of this thesis was to explore individual students’ reasoning regarding climate change, and the influence of knowledge on their reasoning. In Study I, students’ conceptions of the enhanced greenhouse effect (EGHE) were investigated. The results showed that students incorporated different pieces of information from different problem areas into the conceptualization of the EGHE. Setting up causal links between diversely different pieces of information seems to be a way to make meaning, and thus a necessary step in the learning process. Study II is an investigation of students’ solutions to climate change. The results indicated that students contextualized problems and solutions by addressing the individual(s), where the individual(s) was either “myself” or “someone else”. The different notions of the individual(s) became crucial as the students’ views of the environment, as well as society, changed according to the different contexts.  To further study students’ conceptions of “me” and “others”, Study III examined students’ conceptualized solutions to the dilemma between economic development and mitigating climate change. The findings suggested that students’ conceptualized nature as a “box” of resources, and that economic development would sustain and improve nature. Therefore, the dilemma between economic development and mitigating climate change or dealing with environmental problems did not exist. Results from all three studies were discussed with respect to theoretical implications. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.

This study highlights how pre-school teachers in a monocultural Swedish district looks at the concept of multiculturalism and what multiculturalism and /or intercultural approaches means in their pre-schools. The study takes its starting point in Johannes Lunneblads thesis "Förskolan och mångfalden" (2006) and Lpfö-98 (2006). The present study is a qualitative study in the form of interviews and the study have an intercultural and intentional perspective. The study shows that preschool teachers in the area perceive multicultural work as a compensatory education for children with non-European background. An analysis of the interviews on a deeper level shows that there is a broader understanding of multiculturalism that includes the class, sexuality and everyone of the children's "home culture”. About the pre-school teachers in this study can be said that there is an intercultural attitude in certain situations.

Purpose: The current thesis assignment aims to explain, understand and follow the strategies the young children employ into a conception of numbers. This thesis is based on a study performed by Doverborg and Pramling Samuelson. The following research questions serve to refine the stated goal: How mathematical thinking regarding conception of numbers occurs within younger children and which strategies they use? How is the interaction between the teacher and the younger children? Method: The study is organized as a qualitative study and was conducted in a pre-school with a group of four children. The children that have participated within my study are between two and three years old. They were filmed in four exercises. Then the films were transcribed. The method used is an analytic approach intentional analysis which allows studying the children´s strategies according to the established questions and also it makes it possible to follow how they think regarding mathematics. Conclusion: My study group shows in the final results that they in their strategies made use of one or more principles in their conception of numbers. / Syfte: Bidra till en bättre förståelse för små barns tänkande kring matematik. Jag utgår ifrån Doverborg och Pramling Samuelsons studie som behandlar antalsuppfattning i matematik hos de yngsta barnen. Följande frågeställningar syftar har undersökts: Hur sker de yngsta barnens matematiska tänkande omkring antalsuppfattning och vilka strategier de använder sig av? Hur sker samspelet mellan pedagogen och de yngre barnen? Metod: Studien är upplagd som en kvalitativ studie och genomfördes i en förskola med en grupp på fyra barn. De barn som har deltagit i min studie är mellan två och tre år gamla. De filmades i fyra övningar varefter filmsekvenserna transkriberades. Metoden som använts är en analytisk metod intentionell analys som gör det möjligt att studera barnens strategier i enlighet med fastställda frågor och även gör det möjligt att följa hur de tänker om matematik. Slutsats: Min undersökningsgrupp visar i slutresultatet att de i sina strategier använde sig av en eller flera principer i antalsuppfattning, nämligen principen om ett till ett korespondens, principen om den stabila ordningen, kardinalprincipen, och principen om godtycklig ordning. Barnen kan också urskilja grupper av två eller tre föremål, det vill säga subitizing.

<p>The driving force of conducting the two studies presented in this thesis is to examine ways that conceptual understanding and problem solving could be part of mathematics teaching, and through that, part of students' mathematical knowledge. The specific aims of the thesis are: 1) to characterize the classroom discourse of two, apparently similar, problem solving courses in teacher education and 2) to discuss the possibilities of developing two analytical approaches - the communicational approach to cognition and the dialogical approach - used for studying mathematical discourse. The two aims are elaborated on by means of data collected through audiotaped recordings and field notes from observations of problem-solving activities in engineering and teacher education. In relation to the first aim, the analysis of the classroom discourse within the two courses makes it clear that both courses displayed different kinds of discourse that could be broadly categorized in terms of: subject-oriented, didactically oriented, and problem solving oriented discourses. However, the comparisons between the two courses reveal a marked difference in the distribution of these categories of discourse. It is suggested that the introduction of explicit conceptual frameworks in teaching is of crucial importance for the topical focus of the classroom discourse, and for prospective teachers' opportunity to engage in mathematical productive discourse. The analyses of the two approaches for studying mathematical discourse reveal that the two frameworks can be further developed and the study also indicates ways in which such development can be achieved using a theory of contextualization and theories of mathematical learning. Finally, the thesis discusses theoretical and practical implications of the results, foregrounding issues of importance for the research on mathematical discourse, and for teachers and teacher educators involved in designing instructions for mathematical problem solving.</p>

The driving force of conducting the two studies presented in this thesis is to examine ways that conceptual understanding and problem solving could be part of mathematics teaching, and through that, part of students' mathematical knowledge. The specific aims of the thesis are: 1) to characterize the classroom discourse of two, apparently similar, problem solving courses in teacher education and 2) to discuss the possibilities of developing two analytical approaches - the communicational approach to cognition and the dialogical approach - used for studying mathematical discourse. The two aims are elaborated on by means of data collected through audiotaped recordings and field notes from observations of problem-solving activities in engineering and teacher education. In relation to the first aim, the analysis of the classroom discourse within the two courses makes it clear that both courses displayed different kinds of discourse that could be broadly categorized in terms of: subject-oriented, didactically oriented, and problem solving oriented discourses. However, the comparisons between the two courses reveal a marked difference in the distribution of these categories of discourse. It is suggested that the introduction of explicit conceptual frameworks in teaching is of crucial importance for the topical focus of the classroom discourse, and for prospective teachers' opportunity to engage in mathematical productive discourse. The analyses of the two approaches for studying mathematical discourse reveal that the two frameworks can be further developed and the study also indicates ways in which such development can be achieved using a theory of contextualization and theories of mathematical learning. Finally, the thesis discusses theoretical and practical implications of the results, foregrounding issues of importance for the research on mathematical discourse, and for teachers and teacher educators involved in designing instructions for mathematical problem solving.