Beräkningar av subtraktionsuppgifter visar sig vara en utmaning för svenska elever i årskurs 3. Problematiken ligger i valet av beräkningsmetoder, där dessa inte är lika effektiva och framgångsrika som vid beräkningar av addition. Denna studie är inspirerad av en fenomenografisk ansats, som syftar till att redogöra för vilka uppfattningar elever i årskurs 3 har av subtraktion, samt vad som påverkar elevers metodval vid beräkningar av subtraktion. Studiens syfte besvaras med följande frågeställningar; hur uppfattar elever subtraktion? Vilka aspekter påverkar elever att välja en specifik metod vid beräkningar av olika subtraktionsuppgifter? Med utgångspunkt från semistrukturerade individuella intervjuer med 10 elever från två klasser i årskurs 3, visar det sig att samtliga elever inledningsvis uppfattar räknesättet subtraktion som en subtraktiv förändring, där något försvinner eller tas bort. Vid beräkning av sex olika subtraktionsuppgifter; tre textuppgifter och tre uppgifter med okända tal, visar eleverna en variation i att vara flexibel respektive anpassningsbar i metodvalet. Resultatet redovisar kategorier som representerar olika beräkningsmetoder. Inom respektive kategori lyfts elevers egna beräkningar inklusive deras motiveringar till valet av beräkningsmetod.  Standardalgoritmen visar sig vara den dominanta beräkningsmetoden, där ett fåtal elever använder standardalgoritmen vid samtliga uppgifter. Där valet av att använda standardalgoritmen som beräkningsmetod beror på att metoden är enklast att använda och att det går fort att räkna ut svaret med standardalgoritmen. I resultatet hävdar eleverna även att valet av metod beror till stor del på de ingående talens värde i den givna uppgiften. / Calculations of subtraction tasks has shown to be challenging for Swedish pupils in grade 3. The problem lies in the choice of calculation methods, where these methods aren´t as effective and successful as those methods for calculations of addition.  This study is inspired by a phenomenographic approach and aims to explain what perceptions pupils in grade 3 has of subtraction, and what affects pupils’ choice of methods in calculations of subtraction. The aim in the study focuses on the following questions; how do pupils perceive subtraction? Which aspects influence pupils to choose a specific method when calculating different subtraction tasks? Based on semi-structured individual interviews with 10 pupils from two classes in grade 3, it turns out that all pupils initially perceive subtraction as a subtractive change, where something disappears or is taken away. In the calculations of six different subtractions task; three text tasks and three tasks with unknown numbers, the pupils show a variation by being flexible and adaptable in their choice of method. The result reports categories that represents different calculation methods. In each category, pupils own calculations is mentioned including their motivations for the choice of calculation method. The standard written algorithm is shown to be the most dominant calculation method, where a few pupils use the standard algorithm in all tasks. The choice to use the standard algorithm as calculation method is due to the simplicity of the method and that it´s faster to calculate the answer with the standard algorithm. In the result, the pupils also claims that the choice of methods depends on the value of the including numbers in the given task.

The aim of this essay is to describe how students in third grade speak about writing. I want to investigate what ideas and awareness children has about writing. I want to compare the results from third grade with pre-school children. I also want to find out how it is in other countries and over time. To achieve the aim, have four questions been formulated: What is writing for children in third grade? What similarities and differences are there with children in other countries? Has there been any change regarding children´s conceptions of writing compared with a 1985 study? Has there been any development in children´s conceptions of writing between pre-school and third grade? The study is based on interviews with ten students in third grade to get answers for the aim of this study. The questions for the interview are from a previous study The Mind is Not a Black Box: Children´s Ideas about the writing Process where Nora Scheuer, Montserrat de la Cruz, Juan Ignacio Pozo, Maria Faustina Huarte and Graciela Sola (2006) used four questions with picture cards. Each card represents a child in the writing process (anticipating, writing, revising, rereading). The results showed that students in third grade have come further in their development and have a more complex knowledge of what writing is than pre-school children. The students in third grade can describe which cognitive processes they process when they write. The results also showed that students have been formed by the formal teaching. They describe writing based on the criteria’s school puts on them. Students in third grade want to develop a fully spoken text that meets the language requirements that school or adults place on them. The Portuguese children speak about a concern about cursive witch Swedish children don´t do. This is probably because cursive is not a requirement in the Swedish curriculum.