From interviews with biology teachers and pupils, some important factors are presented that motivates and interests pupils in biology. Some of these are varied education, commitment of the teacher, narrative skill and individually reachable goals. Other important factors are practical application and connection to daily life, as well as actuality of the subject and pupils experience of the use of learning. Circumstance around teacher and pupils will influence which factors that has the most impact. It´s up to each teacher to make a decision which factors to be used based on his or her own qualities and depending on the group they will teach. Teachers and pupils agreed about factors that will cause an interesting lesson. The pupils emphasize that variation is the most important factor. Their experience is that many teachers have theoretical introductions that are too long. / Utifrån intervjuer med biologilärare och elever presenteras ett antal punkter som viktiga, eller som grundförutsättningar, för att motivera och intressera elever för ämnet biologi. Några av dessa är varierad undervisning, lärarens engagemang och berättarförmåga samt individuella greppbara mål. Praktisk tillämpning och verklighetsanknytning, ämnets mediala aktualitet samt att eleverna upplever nytta av sitt lärande är andra exempel på viktiga faktorer. Omständigheter runt lärare och elever påverkar vilka faktorer som spelar mest in. Detta måste varje pedagog känna av, beroende på egna egenskaper och elevmålgrupp. Lärare och elever är eniga om vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att göra lektionen intressant. Eleverna betonar dock vikten av variation och menar att flertalet lärare har alltför långa teoretiska genomgångar.

In each classroom there is a teacher with good intentions wanting what´s best for their pupils. But grades and tests in mathematics from 2009 in Sweden shows there is a crack between the subject being taught and the learning child. The purpose with this research is to find an understanding from a teaching and learning perspective of which teaching method is more suitable for teaching and learning mathematics by doing a comparison between two methods. The main question is: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional and the laboratory method of teaching, supported by the two keywords teaching method and learning? This C-paper is based on a qualitative research aiming to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior. Semi-structured interviews was used on two teachers in primary school, both teachers have integrated classes, grade 2 and 3. Observations were made in both classes. The empirical data was analyzed through theories and sorted in advantages and disadvantages. The result of the traditional method distinguishes to have a textbook and has a reproductive way of teaching, while concrete mathematics has a more reflecting approach. The school using concrete method is also using the model of the four learning style (visual, verbal, tactile and kinesthetic). Accordingly of this study the concrete method support the individual way of learning by using one of the dominant learning styles. Activity, problem solving and making children aware and in charge of their own education, show their way to understanding the subject. 8-9 years old children, learning how to read and write, have another abstract way of thinking which makes it hard for them to work with a textbook. This will lead to a slow learning, preventing the child to achieve understanding of the subject.

The subjects of this study are 575 teachers of After School Alternative Program in Tainan City. By doing survey, it aims at investigating those teachers¡¦ perspective of the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement, the remedial teaching method and the outcomes of remedial teaching. The results will offer suggestions for the future study and the remedial teaching teachers¡¦ training held by the education administrative organization. According to the outcome of the study, the conclusions are as followings. 1.Most of the After School Alternative Program teachers attribute the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement to students¡¦ personal factor. 2.The After School Alternative Program teachers agree with the remedial teaching method and consider ¡¥teaching strategy¡¦ as the most important. 3.Most of the After School Alternative Program teachers agree with the effect of the remedial teaching and think that ¡¥teaching development¡¦ affects the outcomes the most. 4.The teachers with different experiences, different education backgrounds and from different school scales have different opinions of the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement, the remedial teaching method and the outcomes of remedial teaching. 5.The After School Alternative Program teachers think that the remedial teaching method positively affects its outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to compare an inquiry-based teaching method for natural sciences in municipal schools and special education and to find out if this way of teaching may be helpful when working with students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Swedish national curriculum of 2011 states that teaching methods should be fitted to every student’s needs and preconditions. The implication of this is very important for all students, especially for children with special needs. The theoretical framework that has been applied as a foundation for this study is Vygotskijs "Zone of Proximal Development" and Deweys "Learning by Doing". The method applied for the study is a semi structured interview and five teachers where interviewed. The result of the study shows that teachers with a higher education in natural sciences are more confident with regards to teaching natural sciences and the application of the inquiry-based way of teaching. All the interviewed teachers find inquiry-based teaching to be helpful to all students but perhaps in particular for students with ADHD due to the fact that these lessons are broken down into smaller pieces of activities which helps the students keep their focus easier. This is particularly helpful for students with ADHD since their main challenge is hyperactivity.

The purpose of this study was to to examine what teachers think about visual art and how the learning process in this subject does look like. To answer these issues, I made interviews with five teachers of visual art from different schools, and I examined several examples of pupils’ artworks. The stories of the teachers were analyzed in relation to governing documents and with assumptions from sociocultural theory, postmodernism and pedagogical - aesthetic research as theoretical point of view. By the qualitative interview method, the observations of the pupil’s artworks, and by the analysis of the interviews with the teachers, I have come to the conclusion that teachers think differently about art but they try to keep themselves in line with the national governing documents. Its affects aspects of disciplines, styles, techniques and medium that is exemplified by the pupil’s art works, and it points out similarities and differences between the pupil’s art works and between the teachers when teaching visual art.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Information and Communication Sciences, Computing Department, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 503-514.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed September 22, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-52)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-218). Also available electronically via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Learning Chinese characters is challenging for many people, especially for those who were not born in Chinese-speaking countries. Applying the theory of chunking, constructing stories containing compound characters as mnemonic techniques to form associations within the learners, this study examines if this method can facilitate immediate learning and retention of Chinese characters. A case study strategy is adopted and a native language teaching class of Chinese in Sweden with six pupils is chosen as the case. Six participants were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The participants in the experimental group learned Chinese characters with the method of chunking and association, while the control group learned characters with the stroke order. The tests results indicated that the experimental group received better results than the control group, especially in the character tests. The experimental group used chunking, radicals and associative interpretations as strategies in the character and meaning tests. The control group on the other hand passed the meaning tests very well. Surprisingly, the control group also used associative interpretation and only scored lower than the experimental group by a small margin in the meaning tests. The experimental group experienced that chunking a character into its corresponding chunks and radicals facilitates the memorization of characters. Consequently, this case study concludes that the method of chunking and association is beneficial for the understanding and learning of Chinese characters. This case study also concludes that the knowledge of the method of chunking and association can improve the learning of the meaning of characters.

This diploma thesis deals with the aspect of pronunciation in English textbooks for lower secondary school level. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate and compare five sets of English textbooks from viewpoint of presentation and practice of pronunciation.