Med gymnasiereformen 1994 fick alla elever en gemensam första kurs i matematik, kurs A, och ett gemensamt nationellt prov på kursen. På de flesta yrkesförberedandeprogrammen är det över 40 procent av eleverna som inte får godkänt på detta kursprov och 30 procent av eleverna förväntas få ”Icke godkänt” i kursbetyg. En av de största anledningarna, till att eleverna lämnar gymnasieskolan utan fullständiga betyg, är bristen på motivation. Det finns därför ett stort behov av att se över vilka förändringar som kan utföras i de teoretiska ämnena för att öka elevernas motivation och självförtroende på de praktiska programmen. I denna rapport undersöks hur elevernas motivation, tron på den egna förmågan samt uppfattningen om behovet av matematikkunskaper i kommande yrkesliv, påverkas efter en termin med ämnesintegrerat arbetssätt. Undersökningen är utförd på eleverna i årskurs ett på en av byggföretaget Peabs gymnasieskolor och deras matematikundervisning under höstterminen 2009. Genom att utgå från moment i projektet ”Husbygge”, där matematik används naturligt i byggprocessen, kan eleverna uppnå kursmål i Matematik A genom att öva på verklighetsanknutna uppgifter både i bygghallen och under matematiklektionerna. Som kvalitativ metod valdes individuella intervjuer med åtta av eleverna före och efter det ämnesintegrerade projektet samt en enkätundersökning före och efter byggprojektet som utfördes på samtliga elever i årskurs ett. Resultatet av intervjuundersökningen visar att flertalet av eleverna har ökat motivationen för matematikämnet. Resultatet av både enkät- och intervjuundersökningen visar dessutom att majoriteten av eleverna har ökat självförtroendet i matematikämnet efter en termin med ämnesintegrerat arbetssätt. Vid den andra enkätundersökningen hade fler elever även insett hur ofta de faktiskt använder matematik i bygghallen och kommer använda matematik i kommande yrkesliv. / With the upper secondary school reform in 1994, all students´ got a first common course in matematic, course A, and a common national test in the course. More than 40 percent of the students on the most vocational programmes do not pass the national tests in the Mathematic A course and 30 percent of the students are expected not to pass the course. One of the biggest reasons the students leave upper secondary school without completed grades, is the lack of motivation. There is a great need to oversee what changes can be done in the theoretical subjects to increase the students’ motivation and belief in self-efficiency concerning the practical programmes. This report investigates how the students’ motivation, trust in their own ability as well as the understanding for the need of knowledge in mathematics for future occupations is affected after one semester with subject integrated studies. The investigation is performed on first grade students in one of the construction company Peab’s upper secondary schools and their mathematics teaching during the autumn term of 2009. By starting from elements in the project “House construction”, where mathematics is used naturally in the construction process, the students can achieve the criterions in Mathematics A by practising on reality-based tasks in the building area and in the classroom. As qualitative research method, eight students before and after the subject integrated project were chosen for interviews as well as a poll on the first grade students of the mandatory construction project. The results from the interviews indicate an increase for the majority of the students in motivation for mathematics. The result from both the poll and the interviews indicate an increase in self-efficiency beliefs for mathematics after one semester with subject integrated studies for the majority of the students. At the time for the second poll more students had realized how often they actually use mathematics in the building area and will continue to use it in future occupations.

This thesis describes and analyses vocational learning in school and workplaces, particularly the vocational learning involved in becoming a construction worker in Sweden. This includes learning the trade in upper secondary school education and a subsequent apprenticeship. An underlying argument is that activities in these contexts enable a diverse vocational learning outcome. However, there are potential tensions and contradictions, especially between production- and education-oriented aspects of the learning activities in these settings. To address these and associated issues, two research questions were posed. First, how do work-based activities enable vocational learning? Second, what forms of learning are enabled in school and work life settings and how are these forms of learning constituted? These questions were addressed using information drawn from observations, interviews and a survey. Analyses of the data, using a theoretical framework based on activity and forms of learning theory, show that the school and workplace settings enable different types of learning that form a joint constructed object. Further, the contexts provide diverse tasks that, with guidance from more experienced persons, can enhance the learning outcomes. So, vocational learning is enabled through tensions in the activity systems that form a learning outcome. In project-based vocational education and training (PBVET) provided in upper secondary school, vocational learning is enabled through basic training and opportunities to learn key techniques. In subsequent apprenticeships, the transformation of basic knowledge into specialized knowledge is enabled through close guidance and by the apprentices performing complex tasks. There are also clear differences in the freedom allowed in the performance of tasks between the PBVET and apprenticeships. The PBVET does not allow students to develop and apply their own solutions, while apprentices are encouraged to discover and implement solutions that enhance the performance of tasks. So, different forms of learning are enabled in the two contexts; the PBVET largely promotes reproductive learning and the apprenticeships largely promote productive learning. Scope for improvement was detected, as the PBVET does not appear to provide knowledge that fully meets criteria in the syllabuses, and the apprenticeship does not fully meet the learners’ educational needs. However, the settings provide complementary vocational learning opportunities. Thus, tensions and contradictions can be identified in the activity systems in the school and workplace settings that collectively form the boundaries of a learning outcome that largely corresponds to what the learners need to know and (hence) become construction workers.

The issue of this dissertation is the relationship between Vocational Education and Training (VET) in general and VET for building and construction in particular, as well as implications of the fact that Swedish VET is carried out both in school and in working life. Vocational construction education includes a three year Construction Programme at upper secondary school followed by two to three years of on-the-job training in the construction industry. In this case study of an upper secondary Construction Programme, the school based daily instruction as well as work based training, is explored and documented. These constitute a base for descriptions and analysis of education as a whole from the perspective of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The aim of the analysis is to identify the main motives for vocational construction education. The case study results are further based on descriptions and CHAT-analyses of the historical development of construction work as well as of Swedish VET in general and of vocational construction area in particular. The case study illustrates that two activities form vocational construction education; the dominating activity being construction production, and school-activity. The terms of construction industry seem to greatly determine the realisation of the school based construction production activity.  E.g. teamwork is emphasised in both activities. The school activity is marked by the implementation of infusion of core subjects by vocational subjects, aimed at preparing the students for continued professional development in the trade. The conclusion drawn here is that the new Swedish apprenticeship seems to contribute to a narrow professional knowledge base, whereas the use of infused core subjects seems to contribute to a broader professional knowledge base.