This study aims to investigate how the choice of media form, i.e. printed format, audiobook or reading and audio combined, affect the ability of ESL students to achieve comprehension, and how different ways of asking questions can affect their comprehension ability. Lastly, the study aims to investigate the relationship between comprehension and students’ proficiency levels in their L2. To answer this question, 155 students were recruited and divided into three groups and assigned one type of media form. The quantitative data was collected through an online comprehension test and analysed. The results showed a significant difference between the media forms and revealed that printed reading was superior. However, a printed and audio combination was the most time efficient way for students to achieve comprehension, which indicates that the inclusion of audio does not impede student learning. Previous research in the same field shows that the results are inconclusive, but shares one common conclusion, that students enjoy the audio format. As a result, the educational system should make every effort to media choices for students to choose their preferred media, and more research in the field needs to be done, as students enjoyment leads to increased learning.

Motivation is not something that we can take for granted. Some would say that motivation in the workplace is key for optimal performance and production. This master thesis looks into how shift-based operators in industrial work environments can sustain motivation, with the help of Self-Determination Theory, looking deeper into Autonomous motivation and how this can be a change in how operators perform, even in the long shift hours that are common in process control industries. This thesis aims to evaluate the current motivational drivers with operators. What keeps operators motivated in their work today? What type of motivation is lacking in their current workplace? And, how can they keep their motivation for a longer time? The method includes observations, surveying, and interviews. The results showed that there is a lower motivation in three subcategories of intrinsic behavior; Pressure/Tension, Perceived Choice, and Value/Usefulness. This thesis work is part of the research project Interactive Process Control, at Umeå University. By using these insights there is an opportunity to target these motivations in the future development of the IPC interactive tool.

This work investigated the establishment of the interactive process among the students of a third grade high school class with the adoption of the methodology of problem-based learning (PBL) and its relation in the development of students' scientific and everyday concepts about electrodynamics. The research was carried out at a state public high school in the interior of the state of Sergipe. In order to analyze social interactions, we used Vygotsky's ideas, Wertsch's (1984) constructs, from Monteiro's (2006) perspective, and the (2002) Analytical tool of Mortimer and Scott. Participant observation was used for data collection, which was performed during 11 classes, and a recorder was used to record the conversations of two groups. Field records, evaluation chart, knowledge sheets and tests of the students were also used. The results showed that the PBL allowed the students to formulate and to expose their points of view of the studied contents, which promoted the emergence of interactive chains as a pattern of interaction and to use semiotic resources as mediators for the understanding and development of the concepts. / Este trabalho investigou o estabelecimento do processo interativo entre os alunos de uma turma da terceira série do ensino médio com a adoção da metodologia da Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas (ABP) e sua relação no desenvolvimento dos conceitos científicos e cotidianos dos estudantes sobre eletrodinâmica. A pesquisa foi realizada em um colégio público estadual do interior do estado de Sergipe. Para analisar as interações sociais lançamos mão das ideias de Vygotsky, dos constructos de Wertsch (1984), na perspectiva de Monteiro (2006), e da ferramenta analítica de Mortimer e Scott (2002). Utilizou-se a observação participante para a coleta de dados, que foi realizada durante 11 aulas, e se utilizou um gravador para gravar as conversas de dois grupos. Foram utilizados ainda registros de campo, fichas avaliativas, folhas de conhecimentos e provas dos alunos. Os resultados mostraram que a ABP permitiu aos alunos formularem e exporem seus pontos de vista dos conteúdos estudados o que promoveu o surgimento de cadeias interativas como padrão de interação e utilizarem recursos semióticos como mediadores para o entendimento e o desenvolvimento dos conceitos.