Thesis (M.S.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2004. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David W. Mogk. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-107).

Fieldtrips are established to bring many advantages for education. Even so, studies show that they are not implemented to a great extent in schools internationally. In Sweden fieldtrips are a mandatory part of the curriculum concerning geography for the junior high school. If they are not carried out in the way intended by the Swedish National Agency of Education, the duty to provide equivalent education to all Swedish children can be affected. Therefore, seven interviews with geography teachers in six junior high schools within the Stockholm area were conducted, to gain insight to their experience of geographical fieldtrips and the conditions surrounding them, to further help fill the knowledge gap concerning what might affect the implementation of fieldtrips. The results show that the teachers did not conduct geographical fieldtrips at all or to a low standard because of inhibiting conditions and a lacking understanding of its purposes. This combined with a belief that the curriculum being overfeed with content made the teachers feel forced to prioritize within the curriculum, causing them to deselect geographical fieldtrips in favor of other content. The results were discussed within a theoretical framework regarding field trips, outdoor education and equivalent education within a perspective of justice. / <p>Skriven inom kombinationsprogrammet för magisterexamen och lärarexamen med inriktning geografi.</p><p>Examensarbetet görs inom ramarna för forskningsprojektet Just Urban Green, lett av Annika Dahlberg och Sara Borgström.</p>

Using interaction analysis and discourse analysis as a method of data analysis, I take a cultural-historical approach to explore teacher-student and student-student interactions during out-of-classroom science projects. The database is composed of my fieldnotes, videotaped science fieldtrips, and videotaped computer sessions where students worked collaboratively to produce science digital videos, highlighting their experiences during science fieldtrips. This thesis is formed by three studies I conducted with elementary students from a public school in British Columbia, Canada. These three independent and yet interrelated studies have implications for science learning and instruction in general. More specifically, this thesis contributes to the understanding of student-student and teacher-student interactions during collaborative work when they are engaged in science activities that occurred out of the classroom settings, such as fieldtrips and in the computer laboratory.