Cirkelmodellen, en del av genrepedagogiken, är en fasindelad undervisningsmodell där systemiskfunktionell lingvistik och ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande tillämpas i ämnesundervisning för att göra elever uppmärksamma på hur språkliga resurser uttrycker mening i olika typer av texter i skolans olika ämnen. Cirkelmodellens inledande fas behandlar ämneskunskapen och de följande uppmärksammar genrens syfte och språkliga resurser. I litteratur om genrepedagogik uttrycks ofta att denna undervisningsmodell utvecklar både språk- och ämneskunskaper hos flerspråkiga elever. Samtidigt skiljer sig litteraturen åt beträffande principer för urval av ämnesinnehåll. Då innehållsurvalsprinciper är en bärande del av ämnesdidaktiken, vars syfte är att undersöka förutsättningar för att utveckla ämneskunnande, vill denna studie undersöka hur litteraturen framställer samhällsämnesdidaktiska principer i förhållande till genrepedagogisk undervisning. Studien har avgränsats till nio metodinriktade handböcker i språk- och kunskapsutvecklande arbetssätt och genrepedagogik, avsedda för lärare. En kvalitativ jämförande textanalys har gjorts med hjälp av en för undersökningen konstruerad analysmodell som kombinerar ämnesdidaktiskt inriktade teorier med genrepedagogikens teoretiska underbyggnad och visar på skillnader mellan olika undersökta framställningar. I undersökningens avslutande del diskuteras vilka pedagogiska konsekvenser dessa skillnader kan tänkas få för språk- och kunskapsutvecklande undervisning.

Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka vad förskollärare på I Ur ochSkur förskolor har för synpunkter på och erfarenheter av planerade aktiviteter, som inkluderar ämnesspecifika begrepp inom ekologi. Kvalitativa intervjuer av sex förskollärare verksamma inom två I Ur och Skur verksamheter iMellansverige har genomförts. Intervjusvaren har sammanfattats genom enfenomenologisk metod som använts som analysverktyg. Intervjufrågorna ärskapade utifrån studiens frågeställningar. Resultatet visar att samtliga förskollärare beskrev ekologi som ett brett begrepp, det handlade om att fokuserapå delar av begreppet och anpassa lärmiljöer därefter. Olika kretslopp var detinnehåll som dominerade förskollärarnas svar. Både bra och mindre braaspekter på planerade aktiviteter lyftes av förskollärarna. Utifrån de braaspekterna belyser förskollärarna bland annat trygghet för samtliga i verksamheten, genom vetskapen om vad aktiviteten innehåller samt fokuseradekunskaper om ett visst ämne. De mindre bra aspekterna som samtliga förskollärare lyfter är vikten av barnens intressen samt svårigheten att utveckla aktiviteten mot något annat håll om den är för uppstyrd. De ämnesspecifika begreppen lyftes av samtliga förskollärare som viktiga och ibland komplicerade. Förskollärarens medforskande roll var en aspekt som samtliga förskollärare lyfte som viktig, för att bemöta barnen i deras utveckling av kunskap.Förskoleverksamheter erbjuds via den här studien inspiration till kunskapsutveckling genom utomhuspedagogik, inom ämnesområdet ekologi och inkluderandet av ämnesspecifika begrepp. / The purpose of this study is to investigate what preschool teachers withinoutdoor preschools views and experiences of planned activities are, which include subject-specific concepts in ecology. Qualitative interviews with sixpreschool teachers active in two outdoor preschools in Central Sweden hasbeen conducted. The interview results has been summarized using aphenomenological method. The interview questions are created based on thestudy's questions. The results show that all preschool teachers highlightedecology as a broad concept, it was about focusing on parts of the concept andto adapt learning environments. Different cycles were the content that dominated the preschool teachers answers. Both good and not so good aspects ofplanned activities were highlighted by the preschool teachers. Based on thegood aspects that the preschool teachers highlighted, was security foreveryone in the workplace, through the knowledge of what the activity contains and focused knowledge of a certain subject. The not so good aspectsthat all preschool teachers highlighted was the importance of the children'sinterests and the difficulty of developing the activity in another direction if itis too steered up. The subject-specific concepts were highlighted by all preschool teachers as important and sometimes complicated. The preschool teacher's coresearching role, was an aspect that all preschool teachers highlighted as important when it´s about meeting the children in their development of knowledge. Through this study, teachers in preschools are offered aninspiration for knowledge development through outdoor pedagogy. In thesubject area ecology and the inclusion of subject-specific concepts.

This graduation theses deals mainly with theoretical themes. It deals with issues of art selected from the selected literature, works of art, Internet resources and empirical research probe. This thesis consists of two parts, the theoretical and practical one. The theoretical part consists of chapters that result from the mapping of three selected areas - identity, space and time. The practical part is focused on realization of two creative tasks that are based on art issues selected from the theoretical part of the text. One part of the text is also a reflection that deals with the nature of the area of thought, as stated in the literature studied, focused on the teaching primary schools. KEYWORDS subject-specific context, recherche, questia, techers'education, elementary school

The main purpose of the research was to investigate the effectiveness of genre-based approaches in teaching academic writing. The study was motivated by the researcher's perceptions about university students' difficulty in acquiring the essayist literacy of the academy, and the fact that very little empirical research had been conducted on the effect of genre-based writing interventions. The following questions guided the research: (1) Can genre-based approaches be justified theoretically? (2) How effective are genre-based academic writing interventions? (3) Which is more effective: a narrow-angled or a wide-angled approach? The theoretical framework combines foundational principles of Systemic Functional Grammar, Constructivism and Critical Literacies. A mixed methods design was used, including a survey of writing tasks, genre analysis, discourse analysis, and a quasi-experimental comparison of pre- and posttest essay ratings. The survey of writing tasks indicated that the academic essay was the written genre most frequently required by humanities departments, and that argumentation, discussion, explanation, description and analysis were the text types featuring most prominently in writing prompts. Since the materials of the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies contained the largest number of essay-length tasks, the subject-specific intervention was focused on students of history. The cross-disciplinary group included students with Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Political Sciences, Psychology and Sociology as majors. A genre-based presyllabus, comprising exploration, explicit instruction, joint construction, independent construction and critical reflection, was customized for the subject-specific and cross-disciplinary groups. The syllabus gave prominence to the use of rhetorical modes, logical development of an argument, and engagement with other authors. The statistical analyses of the essay scores show that the narrow-angled and the wide-angled genre-based interventions were effective. Although the size of the improvement on the four dimensions of the scoring instrument was not equal, the overall improvement of the students in each of the groups is statistically significant. Despite the more modest overall improvement of the students in the cross-disciplinary group, their mastery of stance and engagement exceeded that of their subject-specific counterparts. Even though both interventions were effective the subject-specific group performed significantly better than the cross-disciplinary group overall (p = 0.043). Their performance was also more consistent across the four dimensions of the scoring instrument. The results of the opinion survey indicate that students from both groups were generally positive about the effect of the respective interventions on their academic writing abilities. The only significant difference is the subject-specific group's more positive evaluation of the transferability of the skills they acquired. The more pronounced skills transfer was probably facilitated by the subject-specific group's deeper level of engagement with source materials and more opportunities for practising content-based writing. Main limitations of the study include the small sample size and non-parallel presentation of the two interventions. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Unit for Academic Literacy / Unrestricted

Cochlear implants are electronic devices intended for restoring hearing to the profoundly deaf. Unfortunately the degree of restored hearing varies greatly between subjects. To investigate some of the mechanisms that determine this variability, mathematical models of the auditory system are used. The level of detail that these models incorporate varies greatly. The present study describes the development of a method to create high detail, subject specific cochlea models. μ-CT scans and photomicrographs were used to obtain the morphology and histology of a specific guinea pig cochlea. A 3D model was constructed from this data and the finite element method was used to determine the potential distribution inside the cochlea. The potential distribution was calculated for different stimulus protocols applied to different modelled electrodes. A neuron model was then used to obtain neural excitation profiles. The modelled excitation profiles were compared to data from literature and it was found that this model is valid and can be used as a tool in electric hearing research. The model output was also compared to brainstem response data from the specific subject to assess the degree to which this model can predict brain stem data from a specific subject. Possible improvements to the model were also discussed. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

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Researchers argue that students need to understand the language and the key concepts of each discipline to understand the academic content. The purpose of this study is to develop, analyze and evaluate a development project in civics. Therefore, the study answer following questions:  How do subject-specific concepts take place during the lessons according to the students? In what way can concept definition maps encourage students to talk about subject -specific concepts? How do students experience the work with concept definition maps? Two qualitative methods are used to answer the questions, both interviews and classroom observations. The interviews focus on how the students describe their experience with subject-specific concepts during civics lessons but also how they experience the work with concept definition maps which was implemented during the intervention. The observations onthe other hand show in what way the concept definition maps encourage students to talk about subject-specific concepts. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the sociocultural perspective and other theories that stress the importance of encouraging students to generate their own meaning of terms but also how the language develops in interaction with others.The result shows that the students often rely on the definition they get from their teacher orthe textbook but there is no room for students to explore the concepts themselves. All the students felt that the concept definition maps had good impact on their understanding of the subject-specific concepts. The results also showed that the there was a positive interdependence during the intervention where the students learned from each other’s prior knowledge and paths of thinking.

Den här studien vill synliggöra elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter och deras situation på yrkes­förberedande gymnasieprogram. Studien är baserad på kvalitativa halvstruktu­rerade intervjuer med kvinnliga elever som studerar vid yrkesförberedande gymnasieprogram. Resultatet belyser det stöd och bemötande som eleverna upplever från skola, familj och kamra­ter. Ett tydligt re­sultat i denna studie är brist på information från lärare till elever om tillgängliga kompenserande hjälpmedel. I slutsatsen presenteras förslag på utvecklingsprojekt mellan be­rörda parter i skolan för att förbättra måluppfyllelsen för elever i behov av särskilt stöd.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers for the younger ages perceive the conceptof social issues and what subject-specific didactic considerations they make regarding them intheir social studies teaching. The research questions that the paper aimed to answer are whatsubject-specific didactic considerations teachers for the younger ages make in their teaching ofsocial issues, and what role does the teacher believe they take or should take in social studiesteaching. Previous research regarding teaching social issues has examined the teaching of olderstudents. This, together with the few descriptions in the policy documents regarding socialissues for younger students, is the basis for the interest to fulfill this study.The method is based on a phenomenographic research approach and empirics were collectedthrough qualitative semi-structured interviews. A total of six teachers were interviewed, withformal qualifications in the subject of social studies. Their answers were then analyzed basedon the theory within the phenomenographic research approach and Vygotsky's socioculturalperspective.The result consists of three qualitatively different categories that describe the teacher'sperception of the concept of social issues and teaching of the content including the purpose andmethod. The results show that teachers work with social issues from a democratic perspective,a values-based perspective and based on current events.

Kunskaper om och perspektiv på skolämnet geografi är viktiga när relationen mellan lärare och ämne sätt i fokus, särskilt om lärares ämnesspecifika förståelse betraktas som bärande för hur geografiämnet blir till i skolan. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska hur geografilärares ämnesspecifika förståelse kommer till uttryck och kan förstås när lärare själva får reflektera över ämnet och undervisningen. Resultaten visar på en bred variation i hur lärare förstår och resonerar om det egna ämnet. Analysen uppvisar skillnader i hur denna förståelse kan tolkas där två av fynden rör hur vardagens geografier inkluderas samt geografiämnets roll som beredskapsämne. Till det förs en diskussion om det ömsesidiga beroendeförhållandet mellan vad lärare upplever som möjligt och tillåtet, den kapacitet de har att agera, samt geografilärarens roll som medskapare av ämnet.