Detta självständiga arbete tar sin utgångspunkt i en undran över hur lärare tillvaratar elevers möjliga utveckling inom den enskilda instrumentundervisningen.  Syftet är att bidra med mer kunskap om hur lärare reflekterar kring elevers möjliga utveckling utifrån två forskningsfrågor: Hur beskriver lärare mötet mellan lärare och elev för att tillvarata elevens möjlighet att utvecklas inom den enskilda instrumentundervisningen? Vad karaktäriserar lärares utsagor om elevers möjliga utveckling inom den enskilda instrumentundervisningen? För att besvara forskningsfrågorna har material i form av tre intervjuer med musiklärare samlats in. Intervjuerna har analyserats med kulturhistoriska teoretiska begrepp.  Resultatet visar att lärare använder sig av olika strategier för att identifiera och hantera elevers aktuella utvecklingsnivå och aktivera elevers närmaste utvecklingszon på ett önskvärt sätt. Lärare använder sig även av verktyg och tecken, som inspelning och genre för att mediera kunskap. Vidare visar resultatet även att elevers egna viljor och förtroende för läraren är viktiga komponenter för lärare att ta hänsyn till för att möta elevers potentiella utveckling. Utöver detta visar resultat att det finns hinder för elevers möjliga utveckling som har varit karaktäriserande för informanternas utsagor. De hinder som beskrivs är om läraren har för många elever vid ett givet tillfälle, psykiska samt sociala problem hos eleven eller om uppgifterna som eleven får är alldeles för svåra.

Public librarians need to be ready to meet many different people and the quality of work must be high. Reading promotion work has a special focus in the Swedish Library Act and is also something that the library's visitors value highly. International studies have shown that librarians have found a space through staff book clubs, where they have been able to exchange knowledge and experiences in professional development purposes. In Sweden several public libraries hold different types of staff forums for conversations about reading and literature, all of them to let the librarians gain and give each other knowledge. The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about Swedish public librarians opportunities for professional development in reading promotion work, through forums for conversations about reading and literature. The study has been conducted by observing forums for conversations about reading and literature and interviewing librarians who participate in these. The results have shown increased job satisfaction and increased confidence in both meeting with the library's visitors and to organize reading promotion activities. The lack of time for reading was said to be the biggest obstacle and is described as a constant dilemma in relation to the library visitors expectations of the library staff. Since there was no previous research in the field within the Swedish context, this study can serve as inspiration for further studies.

Introduction: It is no longer an exception that more and more preschools consist of children whose mother tongues are different from preschools’ main language. To move towards an egalitarian inclusive society, Early Childhood Education, in which most of the time children learn through play-based activities according to their knowledge, interests, and curiosity, can play an efficacious role in relation to second language children’s language development along with their general development. Purpose: The study aims to investigate how preschool educators who work with second language children’s language learning and development view play and its role in learning a second language. Method: Four preschool educators are selected using the focus group methods, who have experience working with children whose mother tongue is not Swedish, to collect empirical data through conducting semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Preschool educators’ views on the relationship between play and second language children’s language learning have been analyzed using thematic analysis. Theoretical connection: Play and interactions within the play, among second language children, preschool teachers, and other children who are native speakers as an opportunity for learning a second language, have been analyzed using Lev Semënovič Vygotsky’s sociocultural approach, which focuses on individual learning and development as something that takes place through people's interactions with objects, events, or other people. Artefacts, the zone of proximal development (ZPD), and scaffolding, which are some of the central concepts of Vygotsky’s sociocultural approach, are used to interpret and present the results of the study. Results: Among salient findings of the study, both free play and play as a planned activity are considered essential to children’s learning and development by educators. Imitation is one of the most common language learning tools used by second language children to learn the second language during play besides using the first language, non-verbal communication, and contextual use of the second language. All types of play are considered effective for stimulating language learning among second language children as long as the play is based on their interests and curiosity. Educators’ conscious involvement is beneficial for escalating language learning in second language children; however, children’s integrity and peace must not be compromised.

L’approche d’apprentissage par problèmes (APP) a vu le jour, dans sa forme contemporaine, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université MacMaster en Ontario (Canada) à la fin des années 1960. Très rapidement cette nouvelle approche pédagogique active, centrée sur l’étudiant et basée sur les problèmes biomédicaux, va être adoptée par de nombreuses facultés de médecine de par le monde et gagner d’autres disciplines. Cependant, malgré ce succès apparent, l’APP est aussi une approche controversée, notamment en éducation médicale, où elle a été accusée de favoriser un apprentissage superficiel. Par ailleurs, les étudiants formés par cette approche réussiraient moins bien que les autres aux tests évaluant l’acquisition des concepts scientifiques de base, et il n’a jamais été prouvé que les médecins formés par l’APP seraient meilleurs que les autres. Pour mieux comprendre ces résultats, la présente recherche a voulu explorer l’apprentissage de ces concepts scientifiques, en tant que processus de construction, chez des étudiants formés par l’APP, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Montréal, en nous appuyant sur le cadre théorique socioconstructivisme de Vygotski. Pour cet auteur, la formation des concepts est un processus complexe de construction de sens, en plusieurs étapes, qui ne peut se concevoir que dans le cadre d’une résolution de problèmes. Nous avons réalisé une étude de cas, multicas, intrasite, les cas étant deux groupes de neuf étudiants en médecine avec leur tuteur, que nous avons suivi pendant une session complète de la mi-novembre à la mi-décembre 2007. Deux grands objectifs étaient poursuivis: premièrement, fournir des analyses détaillées et des matériaux réflectifs et théoriques susceptibles de rendre compte du phénomène de construction des concepts scientifiques de base par des étudiants en médecine dans le contexte de l’APP. Deuxièmement, explorer, les approches de travail personnel des étudiants, lors de la phase de travail individuel, afin de répondre à la question de recherche suivante : Comment la dynamique pédagogique de l’APP en médecine permet-elle de rendre compte de l’apprentissage des concepts scientifiques de base? Il s’agissait d’une étude qualitative et les données ont été recueillies par différents moyens : observation non participante et enregistrement vidéo des tutoriaux d’APP, interview semi-structuré des étudiants, discussion avec les tuteurs et consultation de leurs manuels, puis traitées par diverses opérations: transcription des enregistrements, regroupement, classification. L’analyse a porté sur des collections de verbatim issus des transcriptions, sur le suivi de la construction des concepts à travers le temps et les sessions, sur le role du tuteur pour aider au développement de ces concepts Les analyses suggèrent que l’approche d’APP est, en général, bien accueillie, et les débats sont soutenus, avec en moyenne entre trois et quatre échanges par minute. Par rapport au premier objectif, nous avons effectivement fourni des explications détaillées sur la dynamique de construction des concepts qui s'étend lors des trois phases de l'APP, à savoir la phase aller, la phase de recherche individuelle et la phase retour. Pour chaque cas étudié, nous avons mis en évidence les représentations conceptuelles initiales à la phase aller, co-constructions des étudiants, sous la guidance du tuteur et nous avons suivi la transformation de ces concepts spontanés naïfs, lors des discussions de la phase retour. Le choix du cadre théorique socio constructiviste de Vygotski nous a permis de réfléchir sur le rôle de médiation joué par les composantes du système interactif de l'APP, que nous avons considéré comme une zone proximale de développement (ZPD) au sens élargi, qui sont le problème, le tuteur, l'étudiant et ses pairs, les ressources, notamment l'artefact graphique carte conceptuelle utilisée de façon intensive lors des tutoriaux aller et retour, pour arriver à la construction des concepts scientifiques. Notre recherche a montré qu'en revenant de leurs recherches, les étudiants avaient trois genres de représentations conceptuelles: des concepts corrects, des concepts incomplets et des concepts erronés. Il faut donc que les concepts scientifiques théoriques soient à leur tour confrontés au problème concret, dans l'interaction sociale pour une validation des attributs qui les caractérisent. Dans cette interaction, le tuteur joue un rôle clé complexe de facilitateur, de médiateur, essentiellement par le langage. L'analyse thématique de ses interventions a permis d'en distinguer cinq types: la gestion du groupe, l'argumentation, les questions de différents types, le modelling et les conclusions. Nous avons montré le lien entre les questions du tuteur et le type de réponses des étudiants, pour recommander un meilleur équilibre entre les différents types de questions. Les étudiants, également par les échanges verbaux, mais aussi par la construction collective des cartes conceptuelles initiales et définitives, participent à une co-construction de ces concepts. L'analyse de leurs interactions nous a permis de relever différentes fonctions du langage, pour souligner l'intérêt des interactions argumentatives, marqueurs d'un travail collaboratif en profondeur pour la co-construction des concepts Nous avons aussi montré l'intérêt des cartes conceptuelles non seulement pour visualiser les concepts, mais aussi en tant qu'artefact, outil de médiation psychique à double fonction communicative et sémiotique. Concernant le second objectif, l’exploration du travail personnel des étudiants, on constate que les étudiants de première année font un travail plus approfondi de recherche, et utilisent plus souvent des stratégies de lecture plus efficaces que leurs collègues de deuxième année. Ceux-ci se contentent, en général, des ouvrages de référence, font de simples lectures et s’appuient beaucoup sur les résumés faits par leurs prédécesseurs. Le recours aux ouvrages de référence essentiellement comme source d'information apporte une certaine pauvreté au débat à la phase retour avec peu d'échanges de type argumentatif, témoins d'un travail profond. Ainsi donc, par tout ce soutien qu'elle permet d'apporter aux étudiants pour la construction de leurs connaissances, pour le type d'apprentissage qu'elle offre, l’APP reste une approche unique, digne d’intérêt. Cependant, elle nécessite d'être améliorée par des interventions au niveau du tuteur et des étudiants. / The Problem-based learning (PBL) approach was developed, in its contemporary form, at the Faculty of Medicine, of MacMaster University in Ontario (Canada) in the late 1960s. Very quickly, this new active pedagogical approach, student-centered and based on biomedical problems, will be adopted by many medical schools around the world and used also in other disciplines. Despite its apparent success, however, PBL is also a controversial approach, particularly in medical education, where it has been blamed for promoting superficial learning. Furthermore, it has been documented that students trained by this approach, tend to be less successful at tests assessing the acquisition of basic scientific concepts.To what degree doctors trained by PBL excel in their work as doctors, remains to be determined as well. To better understand these results, this study sought to explore further the construction of scientific concepts, in the context of PBL, at the Faculty of Medicine, of Université de Montréal. The study is grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and its inherent treatment of concepts’ formation as a complex construction process of meaning. We conducted a case study, multiple cases in the same site, the cases being two groups of nine medical students with their tutor that we followed during a full session, from mid-November to mid-December 2007. Two major objectives guided the study: First, we sought to offer a detailed study of the process of meaning making and development of scientific concepts by medical students in the context of PBL. Second, we studied students’ individual work that followed initial tutor mediated discussion of the case, and preceded the return session. We tried to answer to the following research question: How do the dynamics of PBL in medicine support students’construction of scientific concepts? The study was qualitative in nature, and data were collected through various means: no participant observation, video recordings of PBL tutorial sessions, semi-structured interviews of students, discussion with tutors and the consultation of their manuals. Analysis entailed the verbatim transcriptions of the observed problem solving sessions and interviews, and in turn inductive data analysis of concept formation accross time and over session. Through the grouping and classification of data and study of evolution of concepts over time, insights could be gathered into students’development of scientific concepts and the tutor’s role in this construction. Analysis suggests that PBL approach is generally well received, and discussions are lively, with an average of three to four exchanges per minute. Considering the first goal, we offered detailed explanations of the dynamics of concepts’ building that extends in all three phases of the PBL, namely the initial phase, the individual student research phase and the return phase. For each case studied, we highlighted the initial conceptual representations, resulting of students’ interactions, under the guidance of the tutor, and followed their transformation, through discussions at return phase. The choice of social constructivist theoretical framework of Vygotsky has allowed us to reflect on the mediation role played by components of the interactive system of PBL, that we considered as a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in a broader sense, and which are the problem, the tutor, the student and his peers, resources, including graphics artifact conceptual map, used extensively in all tutorials, to support the construction of scientific concepts. Our research has shown that students developed three kinds of conceptual representations: correct concepts, incomplete concepts and misconceptions, returning from their research. So, it is necessary, through social interaction, that attributes of scientific theoretical concepts be validated by facing the practical problem. In this interaction the tutor plays a key complex role of facilitator, mediator, mainly through language. Thematic analysis of his interventions helped to distinguish five themes: group management, arguments, questions of different types, modeling and conclusions. We have shown the link between tutor’s questions and the type of student responses, to recommend a better balance between different types of tutor’s questions. Students, also by verbal exchanges and by the collective construction of initial and final concept maps participate in the co-construction of these concepts. Analysis of their interactions enabled us to identify different functions of language, to emphasize the importance of argumentative interactions, markers of in depth collaborative work. We also showed interest of concept maps not only to visualize the concepts, but also as artifacts and tools of psychic mediation that play both, communicative and semiotics functions, in the development of scientifically sound concepts. Regarding the second objective, the exploration of students’ personal work, we found that first year students pursued a more thorough search, and relied on more effective reading strategies than their second year colleagues. These second year students relied more on reference books, reading simply and relying heavily on the summaries made by their predecessors, which is suggestive of a more superficial learning. Those students also, relied more on tutor. By using textbooks essentially as information source, debates were marked by cognitive low level exchanges, leading to little argumentative exchange and lack of deep and engaging collaborative work. Overall, however, the research suggests PBL is a unique, worthwhile pedagogical approach, offering students with opportunities to construct new conceptual understandings of complex medical concepts with help of a team within the zone of proximal development. But it requires to be improved by interventions concerning both tutors and students.

RÉSUMÉ L’approche d’apprentissage par problèmes (APP) a vu le jour, dans sa forme contemporaine, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université MacMaster en Ontario (Canada) à la fin des années 1960. Très rapidement cette nouvelle approche pédagogique active, centrée sur l’étudiant et basée sur les problèmes biomédicaux, va être adoptée par de nombreuses facultés de médecine de par le monde et gagner d’autres disciplines. Cependant, malgré ce succès apparent, l’APP est aussi une approche controversée, notamment en éducation médicale, où elle a été accusée de favoriser un apprentissage superficiel. Par ailleurs, les étudiants formés par cette approche réussiraient moins bien que les autres aux tests évaluant l’acquisition des concepts scientifiques de base, et il n’a jamais été prouvé que les médecins formés par l’APP seraient meilleurs que les autres. Pour mieux comprendre ces résultats, la présente recherche a voulu explorer l’apprentissage de ces concepts scientifiques, en tant que processus de construction, chez des étudiants formés par l’APP, à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Montréal, en nous appuyant sur le cadre théorique socioconstructivisme de Vygotski. Pour cet auteur, la formation des concepts est un processus complexe de construction de sens, en plusieurs étapes, qui ne peut se concevoir que dans le cadre d’une résolution de problèmes. Nous avons réalisé une étude de cas, multicas, intrasite, les cas étant deux groupes de neuf étudiants en médecine avec leur tuteur, que nous avons suivi pendant une session complète de la mi-novembre à la mi-décembre 2007. Deux grands objectifs étaient poursuivis: premièrement, fournir des analyses détaillées et des matériaux réflectifs et théoriques susceptibles de rendre compte du phénomène de construction des concepts scientifiques de base par des étudiants en médecine dans le contexte de l’APP. Deuxièmement, explorer, les approches de travail personnel des étudiants, lors de la phase de travail individuel, afin de répondre à la question de recherche suivante : Comment la dynamique pédagogique de l’APP en médecine permet-elle de rendre compte de l’apprentissage des concepts scientifiques de base? Il s’agissait d’une étude qualitative et les données ont été recueillies par différents moyens : observation non participante et enregistrement vidéo des tutoriaux d’APP, interview semi-structuré des étudiants, discussion avec les tuteurs et consultation de leurs manuels, puis traitées par diverses opérations: transcription des enregistrements, regroupement, classification. L’analyse a porté sur des collections de verbatim issus des transcriptions, sur le suivi de la construction des concepts à travers le temps et les sessions, sur le role du tuteur pour aider au développement de ces concepts Les analyses suggèrent que l’approche d’APP est, en général, bien accueillie, et les débats sont soutenus, avec en moyenne entre trois et quatre échanges par minute. Par rapport au premier objectif, nous avons effectivement fourni des explications détaillées sur la dynamique de construction des concepts qui s'étend lors des trois phases de l'APP, à savoir la phase aller, la phase de recherche individuelle et la phase retour. Pour chaque cas étudié, nous avons mis en évidence les représentations conceptuelles initiales à la phase aller, co-constructions des étudiants, sous la guidance du tuteur et nous avons suivi la transformation de ces concepts spontanés naïfs, lors des discussions de la phase retour. Le choix du cadre théorique socio constructiviste de Vygotski nous a permis de réfléchir sur le rôle de médiation joué par les composantes du système interactif de l'APP, que nous avons considéré comme une zone proximale de développement (ZPD) au sens élargi, qui sont le problème, le tuteur, l'étudiant et ses pairs, les ressources, notamment l'artefact graphique carte conceptuelle utilisée de façon intensive lors des tutoriaux aller et retour, pour arriver à la construction des concepts scientifiques. Notre recherche a montré qu'en revenant de leurs recherches, les étudiants avaient trois genres de représentations conceptuelles: des concepts corrects, des concepts incomplets et des concepts erronés. Il faut donc que les concepts scientifiques théoriques soient à leur tour confrontés au problème concret, dans l'interaction sociale pour une validation des attributs qui les caractérisent. Dans cette interaction, le tuteur joue un rôle clé complexe de facilitateur, de médiateur, essentiellement par le langage. L'analyse thématique de ses interventions a permis d'en distinguer cinq types: la gestion du groupe, l'argumentation, les questions de différents types, le modelling et les conclusions. Nous avons montré le lien entre les questions du tuteur et le type de réponses des étudiants, pour recommander un meilleur équilibre entre les différents types de questions. Les étudiants, également par les échanges verbaux, mais aussi par la construction collective des cartes conceptuelles initiales et définitives, participent à une co-construction de ces concepts. L'analyse de leurs interactions nous a permis de relever différentes fonctions du langage, pour souligner l'intérêt des interactions argumentatives, marqueurs d'un travail collaboratif en profondeur pour la co-construction des concepts Nous avons aussi montré l'intérêt des cartes conceptuelles non seulement pour visualiser les concepts, mais aussi en tant qu'artefact, outil de médiation psychique à double fonction communicative et sémiotique. Concernant le second objectif, l’exploration du travail personnel des étudiants, on constate que les étudiants de première année font un travail plus approfondi de recherche, et utilisent plus souvent des stratégies de lecture plus efficaces que leurs collègues de deuxième année. Ceux-ci se contentent, en général, des ouvrages de référence, font de simples lectures et s’appuient beaucoup sur les résumés faits par leurs prédécesseurs. Le recours aux ouvrages de référence essentiellement comme source d'information apporte une certaine pauvreté au débat à la phase retour avec peu d'échanges de type argumentatif, témoins d'un travail profond. Ainsi donc, par tout ce soutien qu'elle permet d'apporter aux étudiants pour la construction de leurs connaissances, pour le type d'apprentissage qu'elle offre, l’APP reste une approche unique, digne d’intérêt. Cependant, elle nécessite d'être améliorée par des interventions au niveau du tuteur et des étudiants. / ABSTRACT The Problem-based learning (PBL) approach was developed, in its contemporary form, at the Faculty of Medicine, of MacMaster University in Ontario (Canada) in the late 1960s. Very quickly, this new active pedagogical approach, student-centered and based on biomedical problems, will be adopted by many medical schools around the world and used also in other disciplines. Despite its apparent success, however, PBL is also a controversial approach, particularly in medical education, where it has been blamed for promoting superficial learning. Furthermore, it has been documented that students trained by this approach, tend to be less successful at tests assessing the acquisition of basic scientific concepts.To what degree doctors trained by PBL excel in their work as doctors, remains to be determined as well. To better understand these results, this study sought to explore further the construction of scientific concepts, in the context of PBL, at the Faculty of Medicine, of Université de Montréal. The study is grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and its inherent treatment of concepts’ formation as a complex construction process of meaning. We conducted a case study, multiple cases in the same site, the cases being two groups of nine medical students with their tutor that we followed during a full session, from mid-November to mid-December 2007. Two major objectives guided the study: First, we sought to offer a detailed study of the process of meaning making and development of scientific concepts by medical students in the context of PBL. Second, we studied students’ individual work that followed initial tutor mediated discussion of the case, and preceded the return session. We tried to answer to the following research question: How do the dynamics of PBL in medicine support students’construction of scientific concepts? The study was qualitative in nature, and data were collected through various means: no participant observation, video recordings of PBL tutorial sessions, semi-structured interviews of students, discussion with tutors and the consultation of their manuals. Analysis entailed the verbatim transcriptions of the observed problem solving sessions and interviews, and in turn inductive data analysis of concept formation accross time and over session. Through the grouping and classification of data and study of evolution of concepts over time, insights could be gathered into students’development of scientific concepts and the tutor’s role in this construction. Analysis suggests that PBL approach is generally well received, and discussions are lively, with an average of three to four exchanges per minute. Considering the first goal, we offered detailed explanations of the dynamics of concepts’ building that extends in all three phases of the PBL, namely the initial phase, the individual student research phase and the return phase. For each case studied, we highlighted the initial conceptual representations, resulting of students’ interactions, under the guidance of the tutor, and followed their transformation, through discussions at return phase. The choice of social constructivist theoretical framework of Vygotsky has allowed us to reflect on the mediation role played by components of the interactive system of PBL, that we considered as a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in a broader sense, and which are the problem, the tutor, the student and his peers, resources, including graphics artifact conceptual map, used extensively in all tutorials, to support the construction of scientific concepts. Our research has shown that students developed three kinds of conceptual representations: correct concepts, incomplete concepts and misconceptions, returning from their research. So, it is necessary, through social interaction, that attributes of scientific theoretical concepts be validated by facing the practical problem. In this interaction the tutor plays a key complex role of facilitator, mediator, mainly through language. Thematic analysis of his interventions helped to distinguish five themes: group management, arguments, questions of different types, modeling and conclusions. We have shown the link between tutor’s questions and the type of student responses, to recommend a better balance between different types of tutor’s questions. Students, also by verbal exchanges and by the collective construction of initial and final concept maps participate in the co-construction of these concepts. Analysis of their interactions enabled us to identify different functions of language, to emphasize the importance of argumentative interactions, markers of in depth collaborative work. We also showed interest of concept maps not only to visualize the concepts, but also as artifacts and tools of psychic mediation that play both, communicative and semiotics functions, in the development of scientifically sound concepts. Regarding the second objective, the exploration of students’ personal work, we found that first year students pursued a more thorough search, and relied on more effective reading strategies than their second year colleagues. These second year students relied more on reference books, reading simply and relying heavily on the summaries made by their predecessors, which is suggestive of a more superficial learning. Those students also, relied more on tutor. By using textbooks essentially as information source, debates were marked by cognitive low level exchanges, leading to little argumentative exchange and lack of deep and engaging collaborative work. Overall, however, the research suggests PBL is a unique, worthwhile pedagogical approach, offering students with opportunities to construct new conceptual understandings of complex medical concepts with help of a team within the zone of proximal development. But it requires to be improved by interventions concerning both tutors and students.

The purpose of the present study was to use an alternate psychoeducational assessment method to examine learning potential of Indian students in an academic domain, specifically Algebra. The study examined six Indian adolescents early in their Year Seven Mathematics. For the purpose of this study, the students were classified as achievers or non-achievers based on Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) grade equivalent scores, and Grade 7 Mathematics marks on the First Report Card.<p> A cross-case analysis of verbal and nonverbal protocol data gathered from the six Indian achieving and non-achieving Grade Seven students, and reduced through use of a technique developed by Giorgi, yielded information regarding the subjects' internalization processes of algebraic concepts. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development methodology, which was employed in the study, permitted the researcher to investigate processes used by the students during learning, maintenance, and near and far transfer tasks. While verbal and nonverbal communication styles appeared to distinguish achieving from non-achieving students, those same traits did not seem to affect efficiency in problem solving as observed during the present study. Other characteristics such as language usage, questioning techniques, and risk taking were the traits which most clearly affected the students' problem solving skills.<p> During the present study, formal metacognitive data proved hard to collect. This may be attributed to the reluctance of some students to participate in the questioning, and to the difficulty other students experienced In understanding the questions. All students had difficulty at some stage of the study in generating a rule to explain how they had solved the problems.<p> The results of the present study indicated that there were qualitative differences in problem solving between subjects. Those qualitative differences did not follow a pattern of achievement versus non-achievement as delineated by CTBS scores and classroom evaluation in Mathematics. Zone proximal development methodology provided a process assessment which uncovered learning potential profiles that were masked by static standardized tests.

The purpose of the present study was to use an alternate psychoeducational assessment method to examine learning potential of Indian students in an academic domain, specifically Algebra. The study examined six Indian adolescents early in their Year Seven Mathematics. For the purpose of this study, the students were classified as achievers or non-achievers based on Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) grade equivalent scores, and Grade 7 Mathematics marks on the First Report Card.<p> A cross-case analysis of verbal and nonverbal protocol data gathered from the six Indian achieving and non-achieving Grade Seven students, and reduced through use of a technique developed by Giorgi, yielded information regarding the subjects' internalization processes of algebraic concepts. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development methodology, which was employed in the study, permitted the researcher to investigate processes used by the students during learning, maintenance, and near and far transfer tasks. While verbal and nonverbal communication styles appeared to distinguish achieving from non-achieving students, those same traits did not seem to affect efficiency in problem solving as observed during the present study. Other characteristics such as language usage, questioning techniques, and risk taking were the traits which most clearly affected the students' problem solving skills.<p> During the present study, formal metacognitive data proved hard to collect. This may be attributed to the reluctance of some students to participate in the questioning, and to the difficulty other students experienced In understanding the questions. All students had difficulty at some stage of the study in generating a rule to explain how they had solved the problems.<p> The results of the present study indicated that there were qualitative differences in problem solving between subjects. Those qualitative differences did not follow a pattern of achievement versus non-achievement as delineated by CTBS scores and classroom evaluation in Mathematics. Zone proximal development methodology provided a process assessment which uncovered learning potential profiles that were masked by static standardized tests.

A rubric specifically for speaking skills was recently implemented and practiced in an English classroom for grade 6, in a school in the south of Sweden. The predetermined effected results of how the rubric works is debated among many schools and researchers, but no research have been done on the actually effects specifically in this area recently. Therefore, the overall aim for this study is to analyse how this specific tool for the spoken language learning works in practice. The study includes theory and previous research, which will be presented and moreover discussed in relation to the findings. Semi-structured interviews will be used and the participants are two teachers who teached year 6 at the same school in a city in the south of Sweden; both used the rubric in the English classroom. I investigated why and how it was implemented and used in the English classroom. Moreover, I answered the questions of what kind of rubric was used; and by comparing the rubric to the knowledge requirement in the syllabus, I determined how it outlined the knowledge requirements. In addition, by analysing the teachers’ answers, I investigated how the rubric affected the students’ learning and how it facilitated the learners’ self-awareness of their language development. The conclusion demonstrates that the rubric for speaking skills is beneficial for the majority of the students, but it has a negative effect on the students who are on a lower knowledge level than the rubric includes.

Studier visar att svenska elever har en negativ inställning till läsning och skrivning, vilket kan medföra problem för dem. För att vara en aktiv medborgare i samhället ställs det krav på att vara en bra kommunikatör. Att kunna läsa och skriva utgör en naturlig del av att kunna kommunicera. Det är lärarnas uppgift att ge eleverna möjlighet att komma framåt i kunskapsutvecklingen. Därför måste lärarna aktivt delta i språkutvecklande forskning som kan bidra till ett positivt lärande. I studien undersöks hur F-3 lärare kan använda kooperativt lärande för att bidra till elevers kommunikationsutveckling i svenskundervisningen. I studien undersöks även hur svensklärare, genom att använda kooperativt lärande, kan arbeta inkluderande i klassrummet.Studien är genomförd med en sociokulturell teoretisk utgångspunkt. En viktig aspekt i detta synsätt är att människor lär av och med varandra. Språket är en viktig del i att skapa en känsla av sammanhang och tillhörighet. Studien är kvalitativ och utförd med hjälp av en trianguleringsmetod där fokusgrupper/intervjuer, observationer och samtal ingår. Tre lärare som arbetar med kooperativt lärande i F-3 ingår i studien. Intervjuerna, observationerna och samtalen genomfördes på två skolor i södra Sverige.Resultatet visar att genom användningen av kooperativt lärande gynnas främst de svaga eleverna i all kommunikationsutveckling i svenskämnet. Då det gäller muntlig kommunikation främjas även de tysta och blyga eleverna. I det sociala samspelet utvecklas alla elever. De elever som har funktionsvariationer gynnas speciellt av kooperativt lärande, men för att få störst utdelning måste de vara med under hela lektionen.

This paper is based on the interest of knowing more about cooperative learning and the possible impact it has on primary students' education. Using cooperative learning as a method in school is mostly to involve the students more in their learning process. Through discussions and other structures students have a chance to express themselves and every student can participate in the activity. Our purpose for doing this study is to bring forward the positive aspects of using cooperative learning but also the challenges. Our research questions are: 1. How is cooperative learning used? 2. How do teachers describe cooperative learning and the contribution to students´ language development? Our paper is based on the sociocultural theory which cooperative learning has evolved from. It is important for pupils to use talking skills in school. The methods we used to collect data was through interviews and observations. We interviewed six different active teachers and observed four of them. The material we used to record the interview was a dictaphone. One of us asked the questions and the other made notes by writing down some keywords in case there was something wrong with the recording. The results show us cooperative learning may make the classroom environment a bit noisy. However, this still works since the method has more benefits than challenges. In conclusion, the interviews and the observations reveal the result of how cooperative learning contributes to students' learning by benefiting the students.