The purpose of this study is to give a description of how six pedagogues in the third and fourth grade teaches mathematics and which working methods they use. When using the term working methods it is implied that it can for example be outdoors pedagogic, laboratory material, problem solutions et cetera. This material can both be an everyday material or a pedagogical material. The research was carried through by interviews and observations. Six pedagogues were interviewed in two different districts. Most of the pedagogues taught in the third grade and some in the fourth grade. The results show that all of the pedagogues use outdoor pedagogic, laboratory material and the schoolbook when teaching in mathematics.   According to the pedagogues elaborative material is when the pupils use their hands and bodies. The pupils are supposed to feel and act. The pedagogues work with elaborative material first by giving an introduction about the material that they are going to use in the mathematical lessons. The pedagogues use elaborative material so that the pupils get a better understanding. The pedagogues also considered that using elaborative material contributed to the pupils learning by several other senses, which then led to an easier and more fun understanding of mathematics.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka sju lärares val av undervisningsmaterial vid introduktionen av subtraktion. Utgångspunkten i studien är taget ur livsvärldsfenomenologin, och data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer där det kvalitativa datamaterialet sedan analyserats genom olika teman. Resultatet visar att samtliga lärare var överens om att konkret och laborativt material var att föredra vid introduktionen av subtraktion. Läroböckerna användes istället vid ett senare stadium för att hjälpa eleverna att befästa kunskaperna på en mer abstrakt nivå. / The aim of this study is to look into what teaching material seven teachers choose to use during the introduction of subtraction.The study has been inspired by life-world phenomenology, and has been conducted through semi-structured interviews, where the qualitative datasets later have been analyzed through different themes. The results show that all of the teachers agreed that concrete and laboratory materials where to prefer when introducing subtraction. The textbooks were used at a later stage to help the pupils consolidate their knowledge at a more abstract level.

The purpose of this study is to provide a description of how mathematics teachers in grades 3 choose to work with mathematics and how it affects of student performance in national tests. The categories I will use are outdoor education, textbooks, learning materials and problem solving. Laboratory materials can be everyday materials and educational materials in which pupils have an abstract understanding of the subject. This survey was conducted through interviews and observations. The survey was also conducted in relation to student performance in national math tests. Educators believe that national tests cannot determine everything that the student can in mathematics. Educators also believe that the reason for the students is refused, inter alia, the students with special needs and those pupils who do not have the motivation and interest in the subject. The teachers explain that learning materials are when the students do something with the bodies, that is when they are feeling and doing. In the laboratory teaching gives teachers an introduction to the material to be used. The laboratory materials make students understand better and create interest in the subject.

The objective of this research is to unveil how respective teacher consider about the laboratory working methods in mathematics. The research even includes answers to questions such as, what approaches and attitudes the teachers have and the methods they use when instructing their students when teaching mathematics, what the materials used by the teachers are and how important working creatively is to help the students develop their logical thinking. I also looked into issues that can help understand how and why teachers use laboratory mathematics for students in young ages. As a conclusion the research showed that the teachers aim to the goal that includes helping the students understand mathematics, strengthen their logical thinking and creativity. In the method section qualitative data was used, which contained four interviews with different pedagogues that daily interact with students in elementary school. The reasons for using the method of qualitative data was to help me deeper understand and answer the specific questions I had to the pedagogues and to even compare how different pedagogues differ in their approaches and methods. The theoretical framework I used throughout the research was based on and connected to the literature and theories provided during my studies and which showed that the majority of the teachers share similar views and thoughts about the laboratory working methods. During the research, the pedagogues concluded that the basis for increasing the students’ development and knowledge, creative methods of working by the teachers are needed. Working creatively provides the students a wider path of freedom of thinking logically and thereby solving problems. Summarizing the research, it is based on theories concerning laboratory mathematics and the attitudes and approaches taken by the teachers in this subject. In the research, the fact that the teachers use a wide spectrum of laboratory material, is studied and proven. My conclusion is that all the teachers concerned find it crucial to use the creative thinking as a basic approach of teaching in order to increase the interest for mathematics among the students.

Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka om och hur abakusen kan vara ett alternativt verktyg för elever med svårigheter i matematik. Sex intervjuer med matematiklärare har genomförts. En av dessa lärare arbetade på gymnasiet, tre på högstadiet och två på lågstadiet. Tre använder eller har använt abakusen och övriga tre har ingen erfarenhet av den. Studiens resultat visar att samtliga deltagare är positiva till att använda abakusen som ett alternativt verktyg för elever med svårigheter. De ansåg dock att matematiklärare behöver en bred kunskap om abakusen, för att arbeta med eleverna, och att det finns en kunskapströskel som eleverna behöver komma över för att lära sig hur abakusen fungerar. Studiens resultat visar också att de deltagande matematiklärarna anser att speciallärare har en betydelsefull roll att fylla i detta sammanhang, som rådgivare till lärare angående abakusens användning samt funktion. Detta, i kombination med att lärarna ger elever grunderna i matematik, leder till att elever med svårigheter i matematik lättare tar till sig kunskap i matematikämnet. Avslutningsvis diskuteras betydelsen av alternativa verktyg för elever som påvisar brister i matematiken samt speciallärares uppdrag att främja, förebygga och stödja elever i svårigheter. / The purpose of this study is to investigate if and how the abacus can be an alternative tool for students with mathematics difficulties. Six interviews with mathematics teachers have been conducted. One of these teachers worked in high school, three in high school and two in primary school. Three use or have used the abacus and the other three have no experience with it. The study's result show that all participants are positive about using the abacus as an alternative tool for students with difficulties. However, they felt that mathematics teachers needed a broad knowledge of the abacus to work with the students, and that there was a knowledge threshold that the students needed to come across to learn how the abacus works. The study's result also show that the participating mathematics teachers consider that special education teachers have an important role to play in this context, as advising teachers about the use and function of the abacus. This, in combination with the teachers giving the students the basics of mathematics, makes it easier for students with difficulties in mathematics to gain knowledge in the mathematics subject. Finally, the importance of alternative tools for students demonstrating shortcomings in mathematics, as well as specialist teachers' assignments to promote, prevent and support students in difficulties, is discussed.

Studien syftar till att få kunskap om hur laborativt material och arbetssätt framhålls och behandlas inom området bråk i olika läromedel. Vidare undersöker vi även hur lärare undervisar laborativt utifrån dessa läromedel. För att samla in data har vi använt oss av metodtriangulering i form av granskning av läromedel och intervjuer. De läromedel som har granskats är Favorit matematik, Eldorado och Prima matematik. För att bredda kunskapen inom området intervjuades lärare som var aktiva användare av dessa läromedlen i sin undervisning. Med hjälp av variationsteorin har vi även analyserat de laborativa inslagen i läromedlen för att se på dess relevans i relation till variationsmönstrena kontrastering och generalisering och därmed hur elevers lärande främjas genom läromedlens föreslagna arbetssätt. Resultatet visar att de tre granskade läromedlen skiljer sig åt samtidigt som de har många likheter. Samtliga läromedel har tagit i beaktning att det laborativa materialet behöver ta plats i undervisningen på ett eller annat sätt. Dessa läromedel ger eleverna möjlighet att utforska med något slags laborativt material. Studiens slutsats blir således att vi kan se att läromedlen, på ett eller annat sätt, bidrar med laborativt material och arbetssätt. Utifrån variationsteorins sätt att se på lärande passar Eldorados laborativa arbetssätt bäst in på de variationsmönster vi granskat. / The study aims to gain knowledge about how laboratory material and working methods are highlighted and treated in the field of fraction in different teaching materials, and how teachers describe that they teach based on this. In order to collect data, we have used method triangulation in the form of examination of teaching material and interviews. The teaching materials that have been examined are Favorite Mathematics, Eldorado and Prima Mathematics. To broaden the knowledge in the field, teacher 's who were active users of these teaching materials were interviewed in their teaching. Using the theory of variation, we have also analyzed the laboratory elements in the teaching materials to look at its relevance in relation to the variation patterns of contrast and generalization and thus how pupils' learning is promoted through the proposed teaching methods. The result shows that the three study materials examined differ at the same time as they have many similarities. All teaching materials have taken into account that the laboratory material needs to take place in the teaching in one way or another. These teaching materials allow students to explore with some kind of laboratory material. The study's conclusion thus becomes that we can see that the teaching aids, in one way or another, contribute with laboratory material and working methods. Based on variation theory's approach to learning, Eldorado's laboratory approach fits best with the variation patterns we examined.