This thesis reports the results from a study focused on the objects of learning. The aim is to analyse and describe how objects of learning are handled in three learning studies. The first question concerns how different aspects of learning is carried out in terms of the intended, enacted and lived objects of learning and their interrelations. The second question concerns the differences and similarities between an object of learning and a learning objective. The theoretical framework for the analysis of this study as well as for the planning instructions is variation theory. The theoretical assumption is that learning is always the learning of something, so as the ability to learn presupposes an experience of variation. Thus, the learner must discern variation in a dimension that corresponds to that aspect in spite of the background of invariance in other aspects of what is to be learned (i.e. the object of learning). In a classroom discourse, the teachers’ as well as the students’ activities constitute the space of learning, which refers to the learning opportunities the students are given, i.e. the enacted object of learning. The intentional object of learning describes the teachers’ intention with the lesson. The lived object of learning is what they actually learn. The object of learning is the compound of two aspects: the direct and the indirect object of learning. The former is defined in terms of content whereas the latter refers to the kind of capability that the students are supposed to develop. The method used is learning study, which can be seen as a hybrid between a design experiment and lesson study. A learning study is theoretically grounded which primary focus is on an object of learning. Here, the teachers and the researcher worked together and had equal status in the group. The objects of learning were chosen by the teachers. The findings should be seen as implications on students’ learning can be understood, depending on how an object of learning is constituted by a teacher in terms of the intended, enacted and lived objects of learning. Another finding is a contribution to the discussion of how teachers’ competences should be constituted.

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 4pt; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1;Mechanics, first experienced by engineering students in introductory physics courses, encompasses an important set of foundational concepts for success in engineering. However, although it has been well known for some time that acquiring a conceptual understanding of mechanics is one of the most difficult challenges faced by students, very few successful attempts to engender conceptual learning have been described in the literature. On the contrary, research has shown that most students participating in university levelcourses had not acquired a Newtonian understanding of mechanics at the end of their respective course. Recently I have described more than 10 years of experiences of designing and using conceptual labs in engineering education that have successfully fostered insightful learning. In the framework of the larger project I have developed labs applying variation theory in the design of task structure and using sensor-computer-technology (“probe-ware”) for collecting and displaying experimental data in real-time. In previous studies, I have shown that these labs using probe-ware can be effective in learning mechanics with normalised gains in the g≈50-60% range and with effect sizes d≈1.1, but that this technology also can be implemented in ways that lead to low achievements. One necessary condition for learning is that students are able to focus on the object of learning and discern its critical features. A way to establish this, according to the theory of variation developed by Marton and co-workers, is through the experience of difference (variation), rather than through the recognition of similarity. In a lab, an experiential human–instrument–world relationship is established. The technology used places some aspects of reality in the foreground, others in the background, and makes certain aspects visible that would otherwise be invisible. In labs, this can be used to bring critical features of the object of learning into the focal awareness of students and to afford variation. In this study, I will account for how the design of task structure according to variation theory, as well as the probe-ware technology, make the laws of force and motion visible and learnable and, especially, in the lab studied make Newton’s third law visible and learnable. I will also, as a comparison, include data from a mechanics lab that use the same probe-ware technology and deal with the same topics in mechanics, but uses a differently designed task structure. I will argue that the lower achievements on the FMCE-test in this latter case can be attributed to these differences in task structure in the lab instructions. According to my analysis, the necessary pattern of variation is not included in the design. I will also present a microanalysis of 15 hours collected from engineering students’ activities in a lab about impulse and collisions based on video recordings of student’s activities in a lab about impulse and collisions. The important object of learning in this lab is the development of an understanding of Newton’s third law. The approach analysing students interaction using video data is inspired by ethnomethodology  and conversation analysis, i.e. I will focus on students practical, contingent and embodied inquiry in the setting of the lab. I argue that my result corroborates variation theory and show this theory can be used as a ‘tool’ for designing labs as well as for analysing labs and lab instructions.  Thus my results have implications outside the domain of this study and have implications for understanding critical features for student learning in labs.

This study is based on an interest in trying to understand what is needed to ensure that students actually learn in a learning object, in this study equations. Algebra is an area of mathematics in several studies proved to be a stumbling block for many students. Using letters in mathematis is difficult for most students according to research reports and it is also consistent with my own experince as a teacher. The purpose of this study was to seek answers to what in the lesson content and also during the interview that allowed the students to learn more about the learning object. Based on students' prior knowledge and the difficulties students might have with the learning object and the offer of learning, I try to get an answer to what might have contribut the students to developed knowledge of the learning object. This qualitative study is based on a variation theory perspective. The two students who participated in the study attended the same class in high school. By using the theory of variation patterns, it made it possible for me to describe how students learn new things about the learning object, equations. To gain insight into how the students solved the data and developed new knowledge, I had the lesson content and their statements in the interviews to help me understand the difficulties in solving the equtionatask and what in the lessons that have contributed to new knowledge. The results show that pupils' understanding and difficulties in learning objects are relevant to how they can perceive, discern and assimilate new knowledge. One student was able to experience learning from their prior knowledge and assimilate what he had to develop in the variety in the offer of learning. The offered learning did not give the second student the same opportunity. The results indicates that the knowledge of students' prior knowledge, the difficulties the learning object can create and students' own narrative, I argue on the basis of the study'sresults, it is important knowledge for every teacher to be aware of befor the presentation of the lesson if it will give every student opportunities to learn.

The aim for this research report is to categorize and describe students’ conceptions about the structure and function of the cell membrane from a phenomenographic and variation theory perspective. Students’ ability to understand different concepts depends on their ability to comprehend certain critical features of the content. The critical feature of understanding the structure of the cell membrane investigated here is the polar and non-polar properties of molecules. The critical feature of understanding the function of the cell membrane is transport through the cell membrane. Another aim is to investigate what animations, concerning cellular transport, can contribute to teaching and students understanding of the cell membrane. Furthermore, a subordinated aim is to distinguish whether there are any existing differences and similarities between South Africa and Sweden in consideration to students’ conceptions about the cell membrane. Two different methods of data collection, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, were used in this investigation. 80 students participated in the questionnaire and 5 students participated in the interviews. Four categories of conceptions about the characteristics of polar and non-polar molecules have been identified. Furthermore, one of the most remarkable and notable findings discovered are that most teachers and students are not aware of the current scientific view on how water molecules are transported through the cell membrane. Knowledge about aquaporines, discovered by Agre in 1992, seems to be almost non-existing in science education in upper secondary school, in Sweden and South Africa as well. Furthermore, students experience animations to be complex and which in some cases seem to be regarded as messy representation. Simultaneously they strongly emphasise the need for animations to support learning and remembering. Animations can be seen as a source of variation in teaching. The conceptions described occurred both among the South African students as well among the Swedish students. Also similarities concerning students’ conceptions have been discerned between the two countries investigated. For example there could be that South African students possess a richer understanding for the concept of the cell membrane than the Swedish students, but find it more difficult to move between different contexts.

<p>The aim for this research report is to categorize and describe students’ conceptions about the structure and function of the cell membrane from a phenomenographic and variation theory perspective. Students’ ability to understand different concepts depends on their ability to comprehend certain critical features of the content. The critical feature of understanding the structure of the cell membrane investigated here is the polar and non-polar properties of molecules. The critical feature of understanding the function of the cell membrane is transport through the cell membrane. Another aim is to investigate what animations, concerning cellular transport, can contribute to teaching and students understanding of the cell membrane. Furthermore, a subordinated aim is to distinguish whether there are any existing differences and similarities between South Africa and Sweden in consideration to students’ conceptions about the cell membrane.</p><p>Two different methods of data collection, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, were used in this investigation. 80 students participated in the questionnaire and 5 students participated in the interviews.</p><p>Four categories of conceptions about the characteristics of polar and non-polar molecules have been identified. Furthermore, one of the most remarkable and notable findings discovered are that most teachers and students are not aware of the current scientific view on how water molecules are transported through the cell membrane. Knowledge about aquaporines, discovered by Agre in 1992, seems to be almost non-existing in science education in upper secondary school, in Sweden and South Africa as well. Furthermore, students experience animations to be complex and which in some cases seem to be regarded as messy representation. Simultaneously they strongly emphasise the need for animations to support learning and remembering. Animations can be seen as a source of variation in teaching. The conceptions described occurred both among the South African students as well among the Swedish students. Also similarities concerning students’ conceptions have been discerned between the two countries investigated. For example there could be that South African students possess a richer understanding for the concept of the cell membrane than the Swedish students, but find it more difficult to move between different contexts.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to examine if the school's democracy project is successful. The objective is examined in relation to two specific questions. The first question is whether students, after completing their studies in civics A, understand the relationship between the concepts of human rights and democracy. The second is if the students understood the concepts of practical significance and impact on society and the individual. Variation theory comes from the phenomenographic theories and is central to this work. The approach to learning, in this essay, is a change in how a person experiences, understands or perceives a phenomenon. Variation theory focuses on a learning object and contextualization sees as crucial to how the individual perceives the object. The study is based on a quantitative research method in the form of a survey at a secondary school. A number of students may respond to valuation questions about how they perceive democracy and human rights in practical situations. The results are related to curriculum goals. The results of the study is not positive in relation to curriculum objectives, where many students respond negatively to questions.

The thesis deals with how technology as a school subject is presented to the pupils in the Swedish compulsory school at junior high school level. The main focus is on how teachers work with the subject matter in teaching, which is on the level of the enacted curriculum. The official documents established by the national school authorities, the intended curriculum, and the hidden curriculum are both of special interest in the study. The hidden curriculum refers to possible, but not intended consequences of the enacted curriculum for pupils’ understanding of technology as a school subject.            The empirical analysis of the study is based on a narrative analysis on the one hand and the variation theory on the other. The empirical data collection consists of data from: (a) interviews with five teachers and (b) a series of classroom observations, covering an entire section of each teacher’s course of the subject matter.           The data from the interviews with these teachers indicated that they understood the concept of technology as human made artefacts aiming to satisfy practical needs. When it came to the understanding of technology as a school subject the teachers differed between understanding the aim of the subject as to: (1) practice craftsmanship, (2) prepare the pupils for future careers as engineers, (3) illustrate science, (4) strengthen girls’ technical self-confidence and (5) get the pupils interested in technology in order to become inventors in the future. The data from the classroom observations indicated that the teaching presented in technology gave the pupils the opportunity to develop three specific capabilities: (1) evaluate and test functionality, (2) be precise and accurate and (3) construct, build and mount. The three capabilities were possible to develop when accomplishing tasks of practical character. Results also indicated that technology as a school subject was taught in different ways depending on the teachers’ educational background, the physical learning environment and the size of the school class. Variation theory was applied as a tool in the analysis of the data from the classroom observations, i.e. the teachers’ ways of working with the subject matter. The analysis indicated that the most frequently used pattern of variation was ‘contrast’.  Through the contrast-variation the teachers managed to contrast better or worse alternatives of constructing and using artefacts. It can be argued that this pattern of variation, ‘contrast’, is the proper pattern when pupils are working with limited or expensive material.           The overall conclusion of the study is that teachers’ interpretations of current intended curriculum and their choices of subject matter and teaching methods affect which abilities the pupils are offered to develop in technology as a school subject. Based on the results of the study it can be argued that the education and the teaching of technology lacks realism and the result is that technology as a school subject may be experienced by pupils as not very important. It is obvious that the school subject technology, as well as teaching in technology, in the Swedish compulsory school, demands more attention from the national school authorities, in order to develop the pupils’ understanding that technology as a subject is related to the future development of society and social welfare.

There are many definitions of historical consciousness. This essay uses the definition where the focus is on the ability to see connections between past, present and future. The aim of the essay was to design two different teaching methods to use when teaching about historical consciousness and to explore how they affect the students’ performances at the examination. The analysis was also open to discuss in what way other factors can have affected the results of the experiment. For this reason, the study has an experimental design. Two classes where taught using two different teaching methods and were later tested on their ability to see and explain connections between past, present and future. The first method is the more traditional teaching method consisting of lectures and the other method is based on variation theory and consists mostly of group discussions. The experiment was done twice so that each class was able to try both teaching methods. The results showed that the teaching method does not affect the students’ performances to any great extent. It did show, though, that the more traditional teaching method could lead to greater variation in the contents of the students’ answers but to less variation between Rüsen’s four types of historical consciousness. Furthermore, the results showed that one of the other main factors that affect students’ performances could be the historical period that the students are working with and are tested on. However, these results would need further studies to confirm whether this is in fact the case. / Det finns många olika definitioner av historiemedvetande. Denna undersökning utgår från definitionen som fokuserar på förmågan att se kopplingar mellan dåtid, nutid och framtid. Syftet med uppsatsen var att designa två olika undervisningsmetoder och utföra ett experiment för att undersöka hur elevers prestationer påverkas vid ett examinerande moment som testar deras förmåga att uttrycka sitt historiemedvetande. Analysen av studien var även öppen för att diskutera hur andra faktorer kan ha påverkat utfallet av experimentet. Studien har därför en experimentell design. Två klasser undervisades med hjälp av två olika undervisningsmetoder och deras förmåga att se och förklara kopplingar mellan dåtid, nutid och framtid testades sedan på ett examinerande moment. Den första metoden är den mer traditionella undervisningsmetoden som framförallt innefattar genomgångar medan den andra metoden är baserad på variationsteorin och främst består av gruppdiskussioner. Experimentet gjordes två gånger så att båda klasserna hade möjlighet att prova båda undervisningsmetoder. Resultatet visade att undervisningsmetoden inte hade någon avgörande påverkan på elevernas prestationer. Det visade dock att den mer traditionella undervisningen skulle kunna leda till en större innehållsmässig variation i elevernas svar men också till mindre variation mellan vilken av Rüsens fyra typer av historiemedvetande som svaret utgår från. Vidare visade resultatet att den andra största faktorn som påverkar elevernas prestationer kan vara det faktamässiga innehållet, med andra ord den historiska tidsepoken, som arbetsområdet behandlar och som eleverna därmed också testas på. Fler studier skulle dock behöva utföras för att bekräfta dessa resultat.

Framförvarande arbete är en empirisk studie som fokuserar på kritiska aspekter; elevers skilda uppfattningar av samma lärandeinnehåll. Syftet är att identifiera kritiska aspekter i undervisning av taluppfattning i årskurs 2. En Learning Study har utförts som innebär att två elevgrupper har genomfört ett identiskt för- och eftertest med lektioner däremellan. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av variationsteorin, som syftar till att effektivt och ändamålsenligt variera samma lärandeinnehåll. Resultatet identifierade följande kritiska aspekter i undervisningen: öppna utsagor med subtraktion, begreppsförmågan, muntliga kommunikationen samt elevens tålamod. Begreppsförmågan handlar om att eleverna hanterar anvisade uppgifter på ett korrekt sätt. Den muntliga kommunikationen är övergripande och påverkar förståelsen av det centrala ämnesinnehållet. Elevernas tålamod är beroende av inre och yttre förutsättningar. Resultatet visade även att kritiska aspekter är dynamiska och förändras kontinuerligt i undervisningsprocessen. Det ställer krav på pedagogens förmåga att kontinuerligt observera, organisera och reflektera i skolverksamheten. Pedagoger och elever som uppmärksammar kritiska aspekter i undervisningen har sannolikt större möjlighet att undanröja hinder och missuppfattningar i elevernas lärande, vilket utvecklar ett gynnsamt lärande.

Este estudo, na perspectiva variacionista, visou a verificar se informantes cursando a oitava série do Ensino Fundamental, o terceiro ano do Ensino Médio e o quarto semestre da Licenciatura em Letras usam o clítico acusativo como uma variante de objeto direto pressuposto, em seus textos dissertativos e narrativos. Além disto, pretendeu determinar quais outras formas de objeto direto aparecem nesses textos, com quais delas o clítico acusativo rivaliza e que fatores condicionam a ocorrência dessas variantes. Os resultados indicam que, em relação às variáveis extra lingüísticas, o clítico é mais freqüente no texto narrativo e menos freqüente nas produções dos alunos do Ensino Superior. Indicam também que o clítico é favorecido quando seu antecedente é sujeito de oração anterior e que o verbo triargumental e o co-referente com traço semântico [+animado] condicionam o aparecimento do clítico na redação escolar. / This study aimed at verifying, under the Variation Theory perspective, whether eight grade elementary school students, high school third grade students and undergraduate Language fourth semester students use the accusative clitic as a variant for the presumed direct object on their compositions. It was also intended to determine which other kinds of direct object appear on their texts, which of them compete against the accusative clitic, and which features constrain such variants. The results indicate a decrease in the use of the accusative clitic as schooling increases. Therefore, its use is less frequent in the texts written by undergraduate students than in the ones written by elementary school students. As to linguistic variables, it was observed that the clitic is favored when it follows the subject of a preceding sentence. Triargumental verbs and [+animate] semantic feature also contribute to the appearance of clitics in school compositions.