I detta arbete används biogasprocessen som ett exempel på hur ett samhällsrelaterat vetenskapligt område kan lyftas in i skolans naturvetenskapliga undervisning. Vi har arbetat fram en laboration om biogas och givit förslag på hur en sådan kan användas direkt i skolan naturvetenskapliga laborativa delar. Vi föreslår ett sätt att prova om elevers nyfikenhet och upptäckarglädje för naturvetenskap och teknik ökar om undervisningens innehåll och upplägg är aktuellt och samhällsrelaterat. I arbetet har vi kommit i kontakt med tre områden: Ett naturvetenskapligt forskarsamhälle, tillämpningar i samhället av ett naturvetenskapligt innehåll samt skolans naturvetenskapliga undervisning. Relationerna mellan dessa delar är med och formar skolans innehåll och läraryrkets komplexa uppdrag. Vår diskussion visar att ett kritiskt förhållningssätt är viktigt i en diskussion om alternativa upplägg av undervisning.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the topic of school-matureness diagnostics.Through theoretical background it presents, at which level a child should be developed enough in terms of his/her character and knowledge, before entering the compulsory school attendance. Terms such as school knowledge and school readiness are tightly connected to the topic and explained in this research. Recent and former legislative requirements concerning the beginning of one's compulsory school attendance, school enrollment, and postponement of compulsory school attendance are mentioned. Following the theoretical part, the practical part of this thesis diagnoses school maturity. The Preliminary test of school maturity by Jaroslav Jirasek is described in detail, other often used diagnostically materials and publicly available publications with content being well usable for the diagnoses are also shortly introduced. Base don those publications a test for the diagnosis of school maturity was developed, and it was together with Jirasek's Preliminary test of school maturity used for testing school maturity with a research sample. The results were analyzed and compared. The research focus was oriented on the applicability of Preliminary test of school maturity by Jaroslav Jirasek. Its results were compared with...

You just kind of write. Writing and writing contexts in the years 7 and 8 of the compulsory school. This thesis deals with writing and writing contexts in the latter part of the Swedish compulsory school and with the interrelationship between the individual and the context, between the pupil, the teacher, the instruction of writing in the short and long perspective and the school as organization and institution. The general aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of school writing and its conditions by describing, analysing and interpreting the writing instruction from the teachers’, the pupils’ and my own perspectives. Fieldwork for my ethnographic study was conducted in two parallel classes, 36 pupils in all, over three terms in which all texts written during Swedish lessons were gathered. The theoretical framework is the sociocultural approach based on research by Vygotsky and Bachtin. Six texts written by three pupils regarding structure, style and teacher’s written response and the instruction in connection with the writing are analysed. The instruction in the long perspective is analysed with regard to what extent it offered the pupils coherence in their studies. To analyse the instruction in an organizational and institutional view concepts from Berg’s studies on school cultures and Langer’s research on effective American schools are used. One major result is that the task, the receiver, the teacher’s response and the non-dialogic classrooms are factors with great impact on the pupils’ texts. Most tasks require that the pupil’s private, personal life and experiences are focused, e.g. in the many narrative texts, whereas discursive texts are not represented at all in the material. The instruction in the long perspective can in the main be characterised as catalogues, i.e. it does not lead to knowledge-in-action and is similar to Swedish as a proficiency subject. As to teacher response it is not possible to see any progression during the three terms but the same aspects are commented on in most texts in both classes and do not improve the texts. The culture and traditions of the school are important influencing factors in the teaching. One reason for this is the lack of in-service training of the teachers when the new steering system of the Swedish school was introduced in the middle of the 1990’s. When organizations undergo fundamental changes traditions seem to exercise greater influence on actors than otherwise. Time has great impact on school activities and three conflicting concepts of time are present at school: the pupil’s activity time, the teacher’s linear time and the institutional time. The work teams play a vital role for the teachers but the care of the pupils take most of their time. Pedagogic and didactic discussions are rare and subject matters have no forum at all. Many of the factors in the writing contexts are institutionally influenced and hence difficult to change but teachers and pupils are actors in school as organization and institution. This means that they can reproduce or transform the structures. In this there are developmental potentials.

The purpose of this scholarly essay is to gain an increased understanding of the power relationship between teachers in after-school centers and teachers in the compulsory school. The starting point for the essay is a story which deals with various self-experienced situations where an imbalance in power is perceived as particularly noticeable. The choice of method, to write a scholarly essay with a hermeneutic approach, means that the own experience has been given room in the essay. To achieve the purpose of the essay, two questions were formulated – how the power relationship can be understood and how the after-school teacher can make room for their own competence and knowledge. These questions were examined from a historical perspective and a knowledge perspective as well as from Bourdieu ́s theory of capital and Foucault ́s thoughts on power. The first question could be answered within the limits of the essay: the power relationship can be understood as a product of the after-school center ́s historical emergence, as a reproduction of the view of knowledge and as a result of the interaction and competition between the individuals and the institutions. The second question, on the other hand, is not possible to answer before a balance in power between the after-school center and the school has been reached – before that, it is not realistic to talk about making room for the after-school teacher ́s competence and knowledge. / Syftet med denna vetenskapliga essä är att få en ökad förståelse för maktrelationen mellan lärarna i fritidshem och lärarna i den obligatoriska skolan. Utgångspunkt för essän är en gestaltning vilken behandlar olika egenupplevda situationer där en obalans i makten upplevts som särskilt påtaglig. Metodvalet, att skriva en vetenskaplig essä med ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt, innebär att den egna erfarenheten har getts utrymme i uppsatsen. För att uppnå syftet med essän formulerades två frågor - hur maktrelationen kan förstås samt hur fritidsläraren kan göra utrymme för sin egen kompetens och kunskap. Dessa frågor undersöktes utifrån ett historiskt perspektiv och ett kunskapsperspektiv samt utifrån Bourdieus kapitalteori och Foucaults tankar om makt. Den första frågan kunde besvaras inom ramen för essän: maktrelationen kan förstås som en produkt av fritidshemmets historiska framväxt, som en reproduktion av kunskapssynen samt som ett resultat av samspelet och konkurrensen mellan individerna och institutionerna. Den andra frågan är däremot inte möjlig att besvara innan en balans i makten mellan fritidshemmet och skolan uppnåtts – innan dess är det inte realistiskt att tala om att göra utrymme för fritidshemslärarens kompetens och kunskap.

This dissertation describes the decision-making process of parents in the field of postponing the compulsory school attendance or starting it on schedule. The qualitative research is based on an aggregate of 41 semi-structured interviews with parents and two focus groups, completed by subsequent observations and interviews with parents and teachers. The research goal consisted in illuminating the background of the high number of postponements in the Czech Republic, where every year about 20 % of children start in the first class a year later. The dissertation also provides insight on this topic in a comparative perspective and analyzes the initiation of compulsory education in selected European countries. The research results presented in the form of an established theory document that parents' decisions are based primarily on the needs of the family and especially of the need to be a good parent. The decision making is influenced also by the parents' attitude to the delay which has also impact on the weight being attached to other factors of the decision-making process, such as school maturity and individual areas of school readiness as well as the month of birth. During the decision-making process the experience of parents with enrolment in the first grade plays an important role as well. The...

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of school maturity and readiness of pupils in the preparatory class. In the theoretical part the basic terminology from the field of pre-school education and problems of entering the elementary school is defined. There are also the principles of the preliminary test of school maturity described in detail. They are subsequently applied in practical research. The research part focuses on the comparison of the level of school maturity and readiness of pupils in the preparatory class and children in kindergarten. The survey was mainly conducted using qualitative methods, specifically through interviews, questionnaires and anamnesis. However, one quantitative method was also included - the standardized preliminary test of school maturity. This test focuses on fine motor skills and visuo-motor coordination ability. The research was carried out in preparatory classes and kindergartens in Mladá Boleslav and its surroundings. The goal of this diploma thesis was to find out whether education in a certain kind of preschool facility can affect children's readiness for school. Research results showed, that preparatory classes have better conditions for the development of a preschool pupil with postponement of school attendance than kindergartens. KEY WORDS Preschool...

There is a growing demand for studies applying quantitative methods to large-scale data sets for the purpose of evaluating the effects of educational reforms (UVK, 2010). In this thesis the statistical method, Propensity Score Analysis (PSA), is presented and explored in the evaluating context of an extensive educational initiative within science and technology education; the Science and Technology for All-program (NTA). The research question put forward reads; under what conditions are PSA-analyses a useful method when measuring the effects from a school improvement initiative in S &amp; T? The study considers the use of PSA when looking for long-term effects that could be measured, what to take into consideration to be able to measure this, and how this could be done. The baseline references (outcome variables) used in order to measure/evaluate the long-term effects from the studied program is students’ achievements in the national test (score and grades) and their grades in year 9. Some findings revealed regarding the object of study (long-term effects from using NTA) are also presented. The PSA method is found to be a useful tool that makes it possible to create artificial control groups when experimental studies are impossible or inappropriate; which is often the case in school education research. The method opens up for making use of the rich source of registry data gathered by authorities. PSA proves reliable and relatively insensitive to the effects of covariates and heterogeneous effecter if the number of samples is large enough. The use of PSA (or other statistical methods) also makes it possible to measure outcomes several years after treatment. There are issues of concern when using PSA. One is the obvious demand for organized collection of measurement data. Another issue of concern is the choice of outcome variables. In this study the chosen outcome variables (pupils’ score and grading in national tests and grades in year 9) open up for discussions regarding aspects that might not be reflected/measured in national tests and/or teachers’ grading. Findings regarding the long-term effects from using NTA) show significantly positive effects in physics on test scores (average increase 16.5%) and test grades, but not in biology and chemistry. In this study no significant effects are found for course grades. PSA approach has proved to be a reliable method. There is however a limitation in terms of the method's ability to capture more subtle aspects of learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approach when studying long-term effects from educational intervention is therefore suggested. / <p>QC 20131120</p>

Oregon in 1922 was the scene of significant Ku Klux Klan activity. This thesis examines the interrelationship of the Klan, the press of Oregon, the gubernatorial race of that year and the passage of the Compulsory School Act. In addition, one chapter covers the ultimate fate of the Compulsory School Act in the courts. Specific material in this thesis is derived principally from newspapers and periodicals of the time, although general sources on the Ku Klux Klan were utilized for the broader discussions of the situations. The existence of the Ku Klux Klan in Oregon in 1922 directly affected both the passage of the Compulsory School Act and the election of Walter Pierce. The roles of the state’s newspapers were mixed. Two were quite outspoken on the issues of the Klan and the Compulsory School act, while most took less forthright stands. It was in the United States Supreme Court, however, that the final decision on the compulsory School Act was made.

I föreliggande studie undersöks fyra lärares erfarenheter av olika former av stöttning i klassrumssamtal i årskurs 2–3. Studiens syfte är att bidra med kunskap om hur lärare kan stötta elevers kunskapsutveckling i ämnet svenska. Teorin som ligger till grund för studien är sociokulturell med en modell som visar hur eleverna får stöttning i sin kunskapsutveckling utifrån emotionell och instrumentell stöttning. Materialet till studien består av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med verksamma lärare i årskurs 2–3. Det insamlade materialet är analyserat dels utifrån en innehållsanalys som utgår från forskningsfrågorna, dels en tolkning som utgår från den teoretiska modellen. Av studien framgår att samtliga lärare beskriver att de använder sig av såväl lärarledda som elevledda klassrumssamtal och både emotionell och instrumentell stöttning för att stärka elevernas kunskapsutveckling. Den emotionella stöttningen sker genom att lärarna visar att de tror på elevernas förmåga att svara på en fråga eller utföra en uppgift. Den instrumentella stöttningen sker genom att tillämpa bildstöd för att eleverna ska utveckla sin ordförståelse och därigenom kunna vara delaktiga i samtalen som sker mellan lärare och elever men också med användande av materiella verktyg som reglerar interaktionen i undervisningen.

Denna studie redogör för hur personal verksamma i grundsärskolan med inriktning träningsskola, beskriver sitt arbete med elevers kommunikationsutveckling genom AKK, Alternativ och Kompletterande Kommunikation. Studien utgår från semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts på rektorer, specialpedagoger, pedagoger och elevassistenter. Intervjuerna har analyserats genom tematisk innehållsanalys (Braun &amp; Clarke, 2006). Ianalysarbetet framkom gemensamma mönster, kring hur utveckling av elevers kommunikation med hjälp av AKK beskrivs av personal. Dessa redovisas under tre huvudteman i resultatdelen; samverkan för utveckling, resurser i elevens omgivning samt utvecklingsområden. Syftet med denna induktiva studie (Bryman, 2011) har varit att få en fördjupad insikt kring hur informanterna beskriver kommunikationsutveckling genom AKK. Resultatet visade attpersonal har en tydliggörande struktur genom AKK, framför allt genom bilder i olika former.Tecken som stöd används för att förstärka och förtydliga kommunikationen. Multimodal kommunikation anses vara gynnsamt. Personal motiverar eleverna till att använda AKK genom att vara förebilder, och strävar efter att använda det hela tiden. Samverkan för kommunikationsutveckling är en viktig faktor. AKK är personlig och det är omgivningens ansvar att tolka elevens kommunikation. / In this study we have investigated how staff working in compulsory school for children with severe learning disabilities, describe their work with students' communication development through AAC, Augmentative and Alternative Communication. The survey is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with principals, special educators, teachers and student assistants. The interviews have been analysed through thematic analysis (Braun &amp; Clarke, 2006). In the analysis work we found common patterns, about how development of student communication with help of AAC is described by staff. These are reported and named under different themes in the introductory section. The purpose of this inductive study (Bryman, 2011) has been to gain a deeper understanding into how informants describe communication development through AKK. The result indicated that staff have a clear structure through AAC, especially images in different forms. Signs as support are used to reinforce and clarify communication. Multimodal communication is considered to be favourable. Staff motivate students to use AAC by being role models and strive to use it in all time. Collaboration for communication development is an important factor. AAC is personal and it is the responsibility of the environment to interpret the pupil´s communication.