The aim of this Master’s thesis is to investigate international students’ views regarding information seeking and use of information sources. A further aim is also to investigate the possible factors influencing information seeking in relation to everyday life for international students. Interviews were carried out with eight international students, 20-35 years old from three continents. They were to stay in Sweden for at least five months for the purpose of studying. Our theoretical framework is based both on user and context oriented theories of information barriers and on a model of information sources. We have also used a “themes on paper” method which involves constructing themes from the research questions on which the interview guide and analysis were built. Our analysis reveals that the students sought information daily and used a wide range of sources, mostly electronic ones. Internet was the most common information source; printed information and databases had a low usage. Oral sources were used in informal matters. When problems occurred in information seeking the students switched search strategy or asked friends and teachers. The major barrier students encountered lay in the information systems themselves. Teachers and librarians may provide the tools (guided tours, information seeking courses and brochures) but it is up to the student to use them. The major influential factor for seeking information in everyday life was the need to create a sense of security. This can be supported by increasing the amount of relevant information to students before and during their stay in Sweden. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how exchange students experience looking for information in their new life situation during a semester in Prague. A further purpose is to investigate what barriers they have faced and how this affected their information behavior. Six qualitative interviews of students constitute the empirical foundation for the study. The interviewees are from six different European countries, were all participating in the Erasmus program, and all had social sciences/humanities/art as their main subject. The empirical findings were analyzed with the use of T.D Wilson’s context oriented model of information behavior from the article “Information behavior: an inter-disciplinary perspective”. This includes for example the theory of stress and coping from the psychology. The result shows that exchange students are dealing with a complex of problems, being both a student and a newcomer. A certain level of stress is experienced when it comes to getting informed, especially in the initial part of the exchange. One main barrier is the Czech language, which also functions as a great activating mechanism. By learning this, the exchange students get more independent in their use of information and they also get closer to the Czech society. Other common barriers are related to the bureaucratic system in international student offices, libraries and other places where information is supposed to be accessible. Even if the impressions are split the library is a quite well used source among the students. Socials contacts, such as other students and local people, are also important sources, especially when it comes to overcoming the barriers. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis was to examine the information needs of the international students at the University of Borås. A further aim was to examine the types of information sources the international students was using to satisfy their information needs and the environmental factors keeping them from achieving this. This was done through focus group interviews with international students from four different countries ranging from the ages 20 – 35. The students was studying at masters, bachelor or taking courses as part of the Erasmus Mundus program. The theoretical framework for this thesis is based in Wilson’s theories on information needs and factors influencing needs and information seeking behaviours as well as Daft and Lengel’s theory of information richness. The findings of this thesis were that the international students were well aware of their information needs and were able to choose different sources according to their needs. Most of the international students needs were met with a few exceptions; the education system while well received caused some confusion early on and trouble for at least one international student. Several environmental factors was identified among which the information systems and language proved to be the most problematic for the students. The environmental factors and the problems encountered by the international students can be countered by providing better and more well aimed information before and during their stay.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate how academic librarians experience reference work aimed at international students. International students are a growing usergroup in Swedish academic libraries. The study’s main research question is:- How do academic librarians experience reference work aimed at international students?The study was performed with a phenomenographic methodological approach where seven qualitative interviews with academic librarians were conducted. These interviews were transcripted in their entirety and analysed using three key concepts based on the study’s research questions that formed the different experiences that created the study’s outcome space. The results show three major viewpoints on reference work aimed at international students. These viewpoints are based foremost on variations on how the barriers that international students meet in their library use are experienced. Within experience category A barriers are perceived as a hindrance for effective reference service. Barriers are acknowledged within experience category B but are seen as possible to overcome. Within experience category C barriers are overlooked, international students are here perceived as user group in no more need than other user groups. Two of the experience categories also represent different views on the relationship between the library system and the user. Experience category A is characterised by a user perspective whilst perception category B has a system oriented view of the interaction. / Uppsatsnivå: D

<p>Gymnasielevers upplevelser och erfarenheter av att delta i internationella utbyten fokuseras sällan i forskningssammanhang. Som blivande lärare i engelska och religion med internationell profil ville jag veta mer. Därför behandlar detta examensarbete vad elever lär sig av dessa utbyten, men även hur lärandet gestaltas och vilken nytta kunskapen om vad elever lär kan medföra.</p><p>Uppsatsen baseras på litteraturstudier och empiri i form av elevintervjuer. Av intervjumaterialet framgår att gymnasieelever beroende på utbytets syfte, mål och omfattning tillägnar sig kunskaper inom språk, kultur och personlig utveckling. Tidigare forskning bekräftas i stort av elevernas berättelser om sina erfarenheter, men kunskapernas karaktär varierar mellan olika grupper och individer.</p><p>Arbetet visar att internationella utbyten kan få elever att utvecklas på ett sätt som de inte känt tidigare. De flesta informanterna bekräftar att de lärt sig mer än de kunnat hoppas på medan några förväntat sig mer. Över lag stämmer elevernas erfarenheter väl överens med skolans internationaliseringsuppdrag och teorier om erfarenhetsbaserat lärande.</p><p>Eleverna beskriver på ett inspirerande sätt hur varje upplevelse, erfarenhet och reflektion ständigt förändrar människans syn på sig själv och världen.</p>

<p>Detta examensarbete är en kvalitativ studie med kvantitativa inslag. Studien behandlar tre studenters språkinlärning under ett utbytesår i Frankrike. De tre studenterna kommer ursprungligen från Sverige, USA och Tyskland, och franska är således ett främmande språk för alla tre. </p><p>Uppsatsens syfte är främst att genom observationer och intervjuer kartlägga studenternas inlärningsstrategier, det vill säga hur de går tillväga för att lära sig franska. Jag intervjuade studenterna tre gånger under deras vistelse i Frankrike. Dessutom undersöktes studenternas inlärningsstrategier med hjälp av ett frågeformulär, utarbetat av R. Oxford. (1989:290). Studien är även inriktad på om studenternas inlärningsstrategier förändras eller utvecklas under deras utbytesår i Frankrike. En inblick ges även i inlärarnas upplevelser av den egna språkinlärningen och deras resonemang kring den franska undervisningen. </p><p>Studiens resultat visar att alla tre inlärare vid språkinlärning använder sig av inlärningsstrategier i stor utsträckning. Vidare använde de olika strategier både i och utanför klassrummet. En slutsats man kan dra är att dessa tre studenter främst använder de kognitiva och de sociala strategierna. Men man kan även urskilja en stark användning av de metakognitiva och de kompenserande strategierna. Studenternas användning av inlärningsstrategier har under detta läsår inte påvisat några större förändringar. I intervjuerna framgår det att studenterna anser att det tar lång tid att utveckla sin egen inlärningsmetod. Det framgår även att alla tre studenter har olika behov när det gäller deras inlärningsprocesser och lärarens undervisning.</p>

<p>This master thesis is looking into the stories on the internet forum www.resedagboken.se. The stories of Swedish teenaged exchange students in the U.S. are studied and the main purpose is to see both what they are writing about and the reason for why they are spending their time writing down their experiences in a public forum.</p><p>Even though most of the teenagers here are writing with a specific audience in mind, all the stories are free to anyone to take part of and this causes a difficult position for the teenagers who often seem to forget the public point of view when they are telling about their personal lives.</p><p>The study is divided into two parts. The first one looks into the content of the stories and the other one focuses on the storytellers and their reasons for writing. The teenagers are writing both a lot about their everyday lives in their new environment, but also a lot of things to keep in touch with what their friends and family in Sweden are doing. To get their readers to understand and connect more with them over the stories, most of them use references to movies and TV-shows to help the readers visualize the writers’ experience.</p><p>As the teenagers are experiencing this year on their own and are spending a year abroad without the usual supporting by family and friends, my results are pointing to that they are using these stories to get the support they need. Not only are they using the support from the past to deal with the present, they also use these stories so they will keep their place amongst their friends in Sweden. They use stories to prepare both themselves and their family and friends for their return.</p>

Gymnasielevers upplevelser och erfarenheter av att delta i internationella utbyten fokuseras sällan i forskningssammanhang. Som blivande lärare i engelska och religion med internationell profil ville jag veta mer. Därför behandlar detta examensarbete vad elever lär sig av dessa utbyten, men även hur lärandet gestaltas och vilken nytta kunskapen om vad elever lär kan medföra. Uppsatsen baseras på litteraturstudier och empiri i form av elevintervjuer. Av intervjumaterialet framgår att gymnasieelever beroende på utbytets syfte, mål och omfattning tillägnar sig kunskaper inom språk, kultur och personlig utveckling. Tidigare forskning bekräftas i stort av elevernas berättelser om sina erfarenheter, men kunskapernas karaktär varierar mellan olika grupper och individer. Arbetet visar att internationella utbyten kan få elever att utvecklas på ett sätt som de inte känt tidigare. De flesta informanterna bekräftar att de lärt sig mer än de kunnat hoppas på medan några förväntat sig mer. Över lag stämmer elevernas erfarenheter väl överens med skolans internationaliseringsuppdrag och teorier om erfarenhetsbaserat lärande. Eleverna beskriver på ett inspirerande sätt hur varje upplevelse, erfarenhet och reflektion ständigt förändrar människans syn på sig själv och världen.

Studiens syfte är att studera utbytesstudenters rumsliga relation till fem utvalda besöksattraktioner med tyngdvikt på vad för sorts tankar, känslor, värderingar och mening som dessa genererar. Vi har genomfört sex stycken kvalitativa enskilda intervjuer samt en fokusgruppintervju med utbytesstudenter, där fotografier på fem uppvisade besöksattraktioner i Stockholm har presenteras. Dessa besöksattraktioner var Stadshuset, Ericsson Globe/Skyview, Kungliga Slottet, Vasamuseet samt Gröna Lund. Våra underliggande frågeställningar har behandlat besöksattraktionernas fysiska utformning, vad dessa representerar samt vad utbytesstudenterna finner om dess geografiska placering i förhållande till hur staden är utformad. Den teoretiska genomgången behandlar platsens och rummets dimensioner samt semiotik. Ett av uppsatsens viktigaste bidrag handlar om hur makten kan uttryckas i rummet genom besöksattraktioner samt hur viktigt det är att skapa en platskänsla vid utformningen av besöksattraktioner. / The purpose of this thesis is to study foreign exchange student’s spatial relation to five chosen visitor attractions situated in Stockholm. Our main focus lies within what kind of thoughts, feelings, values and significance that these attractions generates. We have conducted six in depth interviews along with one focus group where we have presented images of the selected attractions which are The City Hall, The Ericsson Globe/Skyview, The Royal Palace, The Vasa museum and Gröna Lund, which is Stockholm’s Tivoli. Our research has revolved around questions such as the physical layout of the attractions, what they represent and the importance of where the attractions are located in relation to the city. The theoretical review mainly deals with the dimensions of place, space and semiotics. One of the thesis main contributions describes how power can be expressed in space through visitor attractions, and the importance of being able to create a sense of place in the design of visitor attractions.

This master thesis is looking into the stories on the internet forum www.resedagboken.se. The stories of Swedish teenaged exchange students in the U.S. are studied and the main purpose is to see both what they are writing about and the reason for why they are spending their time writing down their experiences in a public forum. Even though most of the teenagers here are writing with a specific audience in mind, all the stories are free to anyone to take part of and this causes a difficult position for the teenagers who often seem to forget the public point of view when they are telling about their personal lives. The study is divided into two parts. The first one looks into the content of the stories and the other one focuses on the storytellers and their reasons for writing. The teenagers are writing both a lot about their everyday lives in their new environment, but also a lot of things to keep in touch with what their friends and family in Sweden are doing. To get their readers to understand and connect more with them over the stories, most of them use references to movies and TV-shows to help the readers visualize the writers’ experience. As the teenagers are experiencing this year on their own and are spending a year abroad without the usual supporting by family and friends, my results are pointing to that they are using these stories to get the support they need. Not only are they using the support from the past to deal with the present, they also use these stories so they will keep their place amongst their friends in Sweden. They use stories to prepare both themselves and their family and friends for their return.