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Internet-based and mobile technologies enable new ways of learning. They offer us new possibilities to access an enormous amount of knowledge at any time and everywhere. Among many advantages, the adaptations require a rethinking of our previous learning behaviour patterns and processes. The challenge for students is no longer to get access to information and knowledge, but to select the right one and to deal with the information and knowledge overflow. The aim of this research is to define, design and validate an advanced concept to support the contemporary learning processes. Therefore, the requirements for a new approach have been assessed, the available solutions from the related area of (personal) Knowledge Management have been investigated, and the weaknesses in the context of learning identified. The identified issues have been substantiated by university students via a quantitative survey. Besides several smaller aspects, knowledge fragmentation and the nescience of the knowledge formation process have been classified as the most critical ones. To overcome these problems, a methodological concept has been developed, and a corresponding technological design created. The chosen approach is an intelligent, independent intermediate layer, which traces the different steps our knowledge entities are going through. Based on personal and individual configurations, the system provides a comprehensive and overall observation of nearly all our knowledge work activities. It supports the building and accessing of the knowledge formation paths for every important knowledge unit, later path combination and the access to automatically generated versions of our work. Moreover, it helps the users not only to remember what they did, but also gives them some strong indications why they did it. This is achieved by combining different knowledge actions and looking at the influences they have on each other. The suggested concept has been critically proved and confirmed via a qualitative expert analysis and backed up by a quantitative survey among university students.

Knowledge formation and transformation among IT professionals has not received adequateattention in the current studies even though it plays important role in development in bothInformation Technology and business sectors. Therefore, the exploration of knowledgeformation and transformation among IT professionals through empirical study to verify theproposed theoretical framework is useful practically and academically. This study gives theproposed framework a fresh way to understand the learning and sharing processes among ITprofessionals. In addition, this study also explores influential factors that have impact onknowledge formation and transformation among IT professionals.

Standardized knowledge transfer in project-based organizations is analyzed. The empirical material considered comes from 11 recurring projects from two sectors: the construction sector and the IT sector. Existing research is extended by developing a conceptual framework that expresses how standardized knowledge transfer and where difficulties arise. Results show that knowledge is difficult to capture and control. Standardization is viewed as the core over which the team member, the recurring project, the permanent organization and the product claim joint ownership. My framework describes how standardization tasks are fulfilled as knowledge proceeds through the transfer process. I show that standardized knowledge tends to take the shortest path in a transfer, i.e., to move the individual who has acquired the knowledge. However, choosing the quickest transfer path de-standardizes the knowledge. Engaging the permanent organization offers opportunities to standardize but requires a longer transfer process. This process is often too lengthy to achieve. It is difficult for the permanent organizations to transfer even existing routines. Project members often fail to use standardized knowledge. My framework is also designed to take into account the new knowledge that develops in projects. I show that knowledge from projects fails to complete the lengthy transfer journey and remains personalized. The studied corporations resisted transfer. To explain why, I highlight roles in the transfer. The individuals provide the content to be transferred. The permanent organization gathers and standardizes knowledge. Finally, the temporary organization opposes standardization when an arena is offered to adapt the standardized concept to local conditions. When the three roles are coordinated, power becomes important as projects ignore knowledge made available by the permanent organization, and the permanent organization shows little interest in knowledge formed in the projects.

The main issue of this work concerns the meaning of educational supervisionas a tool for collaborative work-related knowledge formation in preschool. The study is based upon and complements the analysis of the phenomenoneducational supervision in a previous study presented in my previousbook Det mångtydiga mötet – ett försök att förstå komplexiteten i pedagogiskhandledning med yrkesverksamma [The many folded encounter – anattempt to understand the complexity in collaborative educational supervision].Supervision dialogues are in the focus as one of several tools for developingthe content of knowledge in preschool, the knowledgebase of the professionals,and their coping with professional issues within their daily work.These two studies together form my licentiate treatise. For studying the phenomenon,two perspectives have been used: a societal and an inter-subjectiveperspective. Educational supervision, as an epistemic culture, is analysed inrelation to an emerging knowledge society. The implementation of a new curriculum for preschool, with its model forparticipatory goal-steering, has been the basis for the analysis of the supervisionprocess as an activity for knowledge formation. The analysis is relatedto curriculum theory. Issues related to power are crucial in contexts for supervision.These are analysed with regards to the participators in the supervisiondialogue on the one hand, and to institutional actors, e.g. the relationshipbetween university and preschool and between the professionals in a localpreschool and the administrative level of the municipality, on the other. Thefundamental premise of the work has been that supervision is to be conductedon the conditions of those being supervised. The study relies on previous experiences of and reflections on supervisionas well as on consultee-centered case consultation. Further material and methodsused for the study are interviews with supervisors and supervised, andtextual analysis of contemporary educational literature on supervision. Thelatter includes both a close and a distanced re-reading of my above mentionedbook. Educational supervision of professionals seems to have developedinto a specific domain within the field of supervision. As a result of the review,supervision was categorised as three approaches with regards to their respectiveoverarching goal. The potentially positive and negative effects of supervision, as well assome pitfalls, have been identified. The conclusions concern criteria for goodsupervision that contribute to a dialogue for knowledge formation within aninter-subjective perspective. An inter-subjective relation, with an object forsupervision that is negotiated with regards to autonomy as well as reciprocalityis emphasized. A narrative strategy for supervision is seen as a possibilityfor developing a professional language and a domain for further investigations. / <p>With an abstract in English</p>

Epistemological development and its relationship to critical thinking has been postulated in educational psychology since the 1970’s. By empirically examining epistemological development in relationship to thinking critically, a richer understanding of overall student development and instructional needs could be achieved. By taking into account a student’s epistemological development, issues unique to these stages could inform how to most effectively work with students to promote critical thinking development. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential relationship between collegiate epistemological development and critical thinking skills by examining differences in critical thinking skills at different levels of epistemological development. The hypothesis of the study was that students reporting an epistemological level of either Absolutist or Evaluativist would have higher critical thinking scores than students reporting a Multiplist level. The instruments employed were the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTT) and the Kuhn epistemological instrument. The study population of 157 students was taken from a medium-sized private institution in the southeastern United States. The data indicated that the majority of the study population, 87%, identified as the Multiplist level of epistemological development, according to Kuhn’s definitions. Overall critical thinking scores for the sample was lower than expected but still within reported ranges. Analysis of variance tests were performed on the data and failed to indicate a statistically significant relationship in overall epistemological developmental level and four of the five individual epistemological judgement domains. This finding was not anticipated, challenges current theoretical understanding of this relationship, and indicates a need for further investigation of the nature of the relationship between critical thinking and epistemological development in the higher educational setting.

Avhandlingen behandlar införande av varsin dator till elever och lärare, här kallat en-till-en. Syftet är att bidra med kunskap om hur en-till-en påverkar lärande. Särskilt fokus ligger på kunskapsproduktionens karaktär och kvalitet och på förhållanden i den svenska skolan. En ytterligare ambition är att väcka reflektioner kring och bilda kunskap om hur en-till-en, som en produkt av kunskapssamhället, påverkar såväl kunskapssynen som kunskapsbildningens kvalitet och villkor. Därtill är också ambitionen också att, mot bakgrund av kunskapssamhällets särskilda villkor, bidra till nya insikter kring kunskapsbegreppets utvecklingsmöjligheter i relation till en-till-en. Utgångspunkten tas i kunskapssamhället och villkoren för kunskapsproduktion och i hur Sverige har valt att fokusera på behovet av att ge eleverna digital kompetens. Den teoretiska ansatsen ligger i fenomenologi som ontologiskt ställningstagande och i fenomenografi gällande perspektiv på lärande. Avhandlingen bygger på fyra studier: en narrativ forskningsöversikt med fokus på vad forskning berättar om elever respektive lärare i en-till-en projekt. Vidare ingår en teoretisk artikel med fokus på att utveckla en alternativ förståelse för villkoren för kunskapsbildning på den sociala webben med utgångspunkt från Martin Heideggers fenomenologi. En intervjustudie kring elevers upplevelser av sitt lärande i en-till en ingår också samt en fenomenografisk analys av inlämnade kunskapsuppgifter med fokus på kritiska dimensioner och kunskapsdjup. Resultaten diskuterar huruvida det starka färdighetsfokus som uppstår vid kunskapsbildning i en-till-en är samstämmigt med den performativa kunskap som i kunskapssamhället antas vara av vikt och hur det påverkar kvalitet och karaktär på bildad kunskap. Avhandlingen diskuterar också hur en-till-en påverkar elevers sätt att uppleva sitt lärande i en situation som präglas av flexibilitet och ständigt nya förutsättningar för lärande. Slutligen diskuteras också ett möjligt sätt att utveckla kunskapsbegreppet mot bakgrund av de resultat som framträtt i avhandlingens fyra studier genom att formulera begreppet ”stretchad kunskap”. / The thesis deals with the introduction of computers to each student and teacher in school, called one-to-one. The aim is to contribute with knowledge about how one-to-one affects learning. Particular focus is on the quality and character of knowledge formation in the Swedish school. A further aim is to bring reflections and create knowledge about how one-to-one, as a product of the knowledge society, affect the conditions for learning. In addition, in the light of the special conditions of the knowledge society, the goal is to bring insights on the developmental possibilities for the term knowledge in relation to one-to-one. The basis for the thesis is the knowledge society and the conditions of knowledge production, and in how Sweden has chosen to focus on the need to provide students with digital skills. The theoretical approach is in phenomenology as ontological stance, and in phenomenography in terms of perspective on learning. The thesis is based on four studies: a narrative research review focusing on what research tells us about pupils respective teachers in one-to-one projects. Further included is a theoretical article with a focus on developing an alternative understanding of the conditions for the formation of knowledge on the social web, based on Martin Heideggers’ phenomenology. An interview study about the students’ perceptions of their learning in one-to-one is also included as well as a phenomenographic analysis of a knowledge task focusing on critical dimensions and knowledge depth. The results are discussing whether the strong focus on digital skills arising from the knowledge formation in one-to-one is consistent with the performative knowledge that is assumed to be of importance in the knowledge society. The thesis also discusses how one-to-one affects students’ ways of experiencing their learning in a one-to-one setting, and the effects upon quality and character of knowledge. Finally the thesis also discusses a possible way to develop the concept of knowledge in the light of the results presented in the four studies by formulating the concept of “stretched knowledge.”

Knowledge as a resource and knowledge formation as a process are seen as central to providing nations and regions as well as firms with a competitive advantage. This is captured by the view that the economic and industrial landscape is currently undergoing a transformation towards a knowledge-based economy. This dissertation engages with two views that have gained great influence in the discussions – in academia as well as in policy – on this industrial transformation. This concerns the view on which types of knowledge formation processes that are seen to actually provide a competitive advantage. There is today a prevailing tendency to connect the creation of competitive advantage to research-intensive, so-called high-tech, activities. It also concerns the view on where these knowledge formation processes take place. Much inspired by innovative and high-tech regions, competitive advantage is often closely associated with the role of geographical proximity for knowledge formation. The aim of this dissertation is to develop our understanding of the role of those knowledge formation processes that currently fall outside what is captured by these prevailing views. Three research questions are addressed. First, what is the role of non-research intensive knowledge formation processes in the creation of competitive advantage? Second, how can knowledge formation processes connected to the creation of regional competitive advantage be promoted? Third, what is the role of proximity in knowledge formation processes in the creation of competitive advantage? A qualitative case study approach is adopted for the empirical part of the research, consisting of one case study where low- and medium-tech industrial activities are studied and one case study where the regional dimension of knowledge formation is studied. Personal interviews constitute the major part of the empirical material. The research findings give evidence that reveals shortcomings in theory as well as in policy practice in regards both these prevailing views. It is shown that low- and medium-tech activities are still highly relevant, not only on their own but for the industry as a whole. Further, current forces of globalisation call for an approach to regional development that includes a dual focus of strengthening regional connections as well as facilitating and promoting extra-regional connections. This is particularly important in small, open economies such as Sweden. Further, the finings are in line with those requesting a multidimensional approach to the concept of proximity – one that regards proximity not only as a concept with geographical connotation but also with reference to proximity in context, cognition or value-systems. The dissertation suggests instead that an approach to industrial activities that assumes that those firms, regions and countries that can manage complex knowledge formation processes may develop competitive advantages. It is this ability to achieve and manage sticky processes in a slippery world that is essential for the creation of competitive advantage. And we are more likely to identify these particular competitive advantages on the firm level than on the industry level. Within every industry, there are firms that can manage more suitable ‘bundles’ of knowledge bases, network connections etc, which enable them to adapt at a lesser cost (costs can for instance be measured in terms of efforts, money or time) than other firms within the same industry. This is important to acknowledge – in policy as well as in theory – in order to not exclude important parts of what contributes to industrial competitive advantage in the knowledge-based economy. / QC 20100715

Många av våra samtida städer står inför en ökad urbanisering vilket kan leda till störrepåfrestningar och nya utmaningar för stadsplaneringen att handskas med. Smarta städer harkommit som en reaktion på den ökade komplexitet städerna står inför i samband med attfler människor kommer konkurrera om samma ytor. En av dessa komplexiteter är hurmobiliteten i städerna ska förbättras utan att äventyra andra värden. Idag sker det enintensiv utveckling av autonoma fordon vilket många tror kan vara en lösning påmobilitetsproblematiken. En identifierad problematik är den stora ovissheten, som härrörfrån de bristande erfarenheterna kring autonoma fordons effekter i staden. Denna ovisshetskapar behovet av en tvärsektoriell samverkan mellan kommunal planering ochteknikutvecklingsföretag för att åstadkomma en mer omfattande kunskapsbild.En fallstudie har genomförts i Göteborg där representanter från den kommunalaplaneringen, det privata näringslivet och konsultföretag har intervjuats. Observationsstudierhar genomförts för att få en uppfattning av hur kunskapsbildningsprocessen ser ut mellanden offentliga och privata sektorn. Detta för att få en bild av vilka utmaningar ochmöjligheter de olika aktörerna ser med en implementering av autonoma fordon i stadenslångsiktiga planering. Resultaten som har kommit fram i denna fallstudie pekar på problemsom kan uppstå när avgränsningen i ett kunskapsgenererande projekt leder till ettkunskapsbortfall. Undersökningen identifierar även den problematik som kan uppstå närolika fackspråk möts för att tillsammans generera en gemensam kunskapsbild. / Many of our contemporary cities face increased urbanization, which can lead to greaterstrains and new challenges for urban planning to deal with. Smart cities are a reaction tothe increased complexity that cities face, as more people will have to compete for the samespace. One of these complexities is how urban mobility should be improved withoutcompromising other values. Today there is an extensive development of autonomousvehicles, which many believe may be a solution to mobility issues. An identified problem isthe great uncertainty, that derives from the lack of experience regarding autonomousvehicle effects in the city. This uncertainty creates a need for cross-sectorial collaborationbetween municipal planning and technology developing companies in order to achieve amore comprehensive knowledge base.A case study has been conducted in Gothenburg where representatives from municipalplanning, private industry, and a consulting company have been interviewed. Observationshave been conducted to gain an understanding of how the knowledge-making processlooks like between the public and private sector, this to get a picture of the challenges andopportunities that the various actors identify in relations to the implementation ofautonomous vehicles in the city's long-term planning. The results that have emerged in thiscase study points to problems that may arise when the delimitation of a knowledgegeneratingproject leads to a loss of knowledge. The study also identifies issues that mayarise when different technical languages meet to mutually generate a comprehensiveknowledge base.

Avhandlingen behandlar införande av varsin dator till elever och lärare, här kallat en-till-en. Syftet är att bidra med kunskap om hur en-till-en påverkar lärande. Särskilt fokus ligger på kunskapsproduktionens karaktär och kvalitet och på förhållanden i den svenska skolan. En ytterligare ambition är att väcka reflektioner kring och bilda kunskap om hur en-till-en, som en produkt av kunskapssamhället, påverkar såväl kunskapssynen som kunskapsbildningens kvalitet och villkor. Därtill är också ambitionen också att, mot bakgrund av kunskapssamhällets särskilda villkor, bidra till nya insikter kring kunskapsbegreppets utvecklingsmöjligheter i relation till en-till-en.Utgångspunkten tas i kunskapssamhället och villkoren för kunskapsproduktion och i hur Sverige har valt att fokusera på behovet av att ge eleverna digital kompetens. Den teoretiska ansatsen ligger i fenomenologi som ontologiskt ställningstagande och i fenomenografi gällande perspektiv på lärande. Avhandlingen bygger på fyra studier: en narrativ forskningsöversikt med fokus på vad forskning berättar om elever respektive lärare i en-till-en projekt. Vidare ingår en teoretisk artikel med fokus på att utveckla en alternativ förståelse för villkoren för kunskapsbildning på den sociala webben med utgångspunkt från Martin Heideggers fenomenologi. En intervjustudie kring elevers upplevelser av sitt lärande i en-till en ingår också samt en fenomenografisk analys av inlämnade kunskapsuppgifter med fokus på kritiska dimensioner och kunskapsdjup. Resultaten diskuterar huruvida det starka färdighetsfokus som uppstår vid kunskapsbildning i en-till-en är samstämmigt med den performativa kunskap som i kunskapssamhället antas vara av vikt och hur det påverkar kvalitet och karaktär på bildad kunskap. Avhandlingen diskuterar också hur en-till-en påverkar elevers sätt att uppleva sitt lärande i en situation som präglas av flexibilitet och ständigt nya förutsättningar för lärande. Slutligen diskuteras också ett möjligt sätt att utveckla kunskapsbegreppet mot bakgrund av de resultat som framträtt i avhandlingens fyra studier genom att formulera begreppet 'stretchad kunskap'.