Cities worldwide need to become healthier, both physically and mentally. While Sweden ranks highly on a global scale of sustainable urban development, the country is facing issues with the declining mental health of its citizens, notably affecting the younger population. To sustainably develop our cities, possible negative impacts on the people must be recognised and avoided. Situated in the interdisciplinary field of Urban Studies, this research combines environmental psychology, architecture, and urban planning, while also considering the political aspects of city development. This thesis aims to study the concept of restorative environments, spaces which positively influence well-being and restore mental fatigue caused by external and internal stressors. Previous studies on restorativeness have focused on outdoor natural environments, considered to encompass the highest levels of restorative qualities. However, to develop mentally healthy cities, the restorativeness of built environments must be considered, which is especially important as we spend most of our lives indoors. This thesis analyses cafés used as informal learning spaces by university students in Malmö through the main research question: ‘What restorative qualities exist in the indoor built environment of cafés utilised as informal learning spaces (ILS) by students in Malmö, Sweden?’. Collected data through document analysis, quantitative survey and qualitative follow-up sessions are analysed through the theories of Attention Restoration Theory and concepts of third place and thirdspace. Whereas previously published research suggests that built environments lack restorative qualities, findings in this research provide not only the identification of such qualities but a preference for them. Both concepts of third places and thirdspaces are especially relevant for students at Malmö University, in which the city becomes the campus. However, there is a disconnect between the policy-making level and the students where current urban development laws fail to recognise restorative qualities. Subsequently, this research will provide results to a gap in existing research and hopefully encourage future studies on similar topics.

Informal language learners from extended language immersion settings such as missionaries often have very disparate outcomes. Some learners achieve high proficiency levels while others fossilize in their interlanguage once they reach basic communicative competence. Could these differences in language outcomes be explained by learning strategies, motivation, or other psychological factors? To investigate these differences, 20 participants were selected based on participation in a post-mission language ability self-assessment resource (LASER) who had taken an Oral Proficiency Interview – Computer (OPIc). These learners were interviewed to probe beyond the LASER and discover what factors seemed to correlate with higher language proficiency outcomes. A qualitative analysis of these interviews revealed different factors that individually contribute to the success of individual learners. Some of these factors are interpreted as being consequences of proficiency rather than causes of it. Deliberate memorization of vocabulary and a sense of pride or perfectionism were hallmarks of higher achieving learners. Emerging across learners as key to higher proficiency was time spent in an immersive environment and with native speakers. This study has implications for autonomous or informal learners in identifying those strategies and motivations that have yielded success for others, as well as for the academic fields that study motivational, strategic, and individual variables in second language learning.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka reflektionens inverkan på arbetsplatslärande. Den tidigare forskningen visar att reflektionen har en positiv effekt på minnet och således även på lärandet, vare sig det handlar om skolväsendet, informellt lärande eller lärande på arbetsplatsen. Datan som analyserats togs fram genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med sex informanter från helt skilda yrken och arbetsplatser. Intervjuerna hade som utgångspunkt hur förutsättningarna ser ut för lärandet i sin allmänhet i deras respektive yrken, för att sedan övergå till att handla om hur respondenterna uppfattar reflektion och hur det skulle kunna påverka deras dagliga arbetsliv. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats utifrån två teoretiska perspektiv som dels berör individuellt lärande och reflektion, men också organisatoriskt lärande. Resultatet från studien indikerar att trots möjligheten till en flexibel och lärande organisation, upplever medarbetare att den tid som skulle behövas till den egna och gruppens reflektion inte finns. Istället för att göra utrymme för utvärdering som skulle kunna gynna organisationen your ett längre perspektiv, så fokuseras tiden till produktion och arbete. Studien indikerar också att inställningen hos medarbetare generellt är positiv till reflektion och att de själva upplever det vara ett verktyg för lärande på arbetsplatsen. / The aim of this study was to investigate how reflection could impact workplace learning. Previous studies have shown that reflection has had a positive effect on memory, and therefore also on learning, whether it may be in schools, informal learning or workplace learning. The data that was analyzedwas extracted from semi-structured interviews with six informants from completely different professions and workplaces. The starting point of the interviews was investigating how the prerequisites were for workplace learning, and transferred into questions about the informants view of reflection and how it may affect their daily working life. The gathered material has been analyzed through two theoretical perspectives that partly involve the individual person's learning and reflection, but also the organizational learning. The results indicate that despite the possibility of a flexible and learning organization, coworkers experience that the time necessary for their own and the group’s reflection does not exist. Instead of making space for evaluation that could benefit the organization in the long run, their time is focused upon production of labour. The study also indicates that the coworkers’ attitude toward reflection is positive, and that they in their experience feel that it could be a tool for workplace learning.

The purpose of this degree paper is to look at some adolescents’ use of English inconversations outside of school. Adolescents in today’s society come into contact with theEnglish language in various different ways and one of these can be through oral interactionwith others.By using a mixed-method approach consisting of a questionnaire and interviews thisqualitative study provides an insight into some adolescents’ extramural Englishinteractions. The goal is to find out why some students at a school in the south of Swedenchoose to speak English in settings where there is no apparent reason for them to do so. Theaim is also to see what the conversations look like and what attitudes the students havetowards English. It was found that the main reason is because the students think it is morefun to speak English than Swedish. They claimed that they can express themselves better inEnglish and that it sounds better to speak English. The conversations occur spontaneouslyand errors are corrected. Two groups of students were interviewed and their answersdiffered, because their attitudes towards English differed. The students, who engaged themost in extramural English conversations, were well aware of the usefulness of English.

Teknikämnet i grundskolans senare år är ett ämne som möter många problem. Ämnet har i sitt innehåll och syfte förändrats en hel del i och med de olika skolreformerna och idag (2018) saknar över hälften av de verksamma lärarna ämnesbehörighet. Det finns behov av att underlätta för dessa obehöriga lärare och hjälpa dem att lättare planera tekniklektioner för att därmed underlätta elevernas lärande. Med utgångspunkten att en viktig aspekt för lärande är att kunna knyta an vardagskunskaper till akademiska kunskaper, ämnade denna undersökning att analysera vilken teknikdiskurs högstadieelever kan få utanför skolan. Denna teknikdiskurs jämfördes sedan med de teknikdiskurser som finns i skolans värld, med syftet att kunskap om teknikdiskurser utanför skolans värld kan stötta lärares planering av teknikämnet. För att ta reda på var elever möter teknikdiskurser under sin fritid, använde sig denna undersökning av videodelningsplattformen Youtube. I stort sett alla svenska ungdomar mellan 12-15 år använder Youtube, och 86 % av dem använder den varje dag. Vid olika svenska prisutdelningar vann den svenska Youtubern och Influencern Therese Lindgren titlar som Årets Youtuber och Barnens favoritvloggar. Även Therese Lindgrens Youtubeserie, ”Therese testar teknik”, vann pris som årets serie. Detta pekar mot att Therese Lindgren och hennes serie ”Therese testar teknik”, är populär bland ungdomar och kan påverka deras syn på teknik. Ett urval av avsnitten av serien ”Therese testar teknik” valdes ut för analys för att ta reda på vilken teknikdiskurs som fanns representerade i dessa videor och hur de förhöll sig gentemot den diskurs som finns i skolans värld. Resultatet visade att videorna presenterade teknik på ett jämförbart sätt med skolan. Videorna motsatte sig inte skolans bild av teknik, men diskurserna hade olika fokus. Teknik i videorna representerades som artefakter och system av artefakter som användes i en aktivitet för att lösa ett problem eller en uppgift, som påverkades av naturvetenskap och påverkade samhället. Förutom de diskurser som kunde jämföras med skolan, förmedlar videorna även känslor kring teknik, genom Thereses icke-verbala handlingar. Therese förmedlar teknik som roligt, spännande och exalterande, något som kan påverka ungdomars egna inställningar till teknikämnet. / Technology as a subject in Swedish high schools faces many problems. The subjects purpose and content has gone through significant changes over the years, and today (2018) less than half of all active teachers possess the right qualifications. There is therefore a need to aid these teachers in planning and executing their classes, to ensure a quality education for our pupils. With the assumption that a big part of learning is to be able to connect knowledge gathered outside of school to the academic knowledge acquired in school, the purpose of this paper was to analyse which technological discourses high school pupils could acquire outside of school. These discourses were then compared to the technological discourses that can be found in schools, to help aid the technology teachers’ planning of their classes. To find out where pupils are exposed to technology discourses on their free time, this paper looked to the social video-sharing platform, Youtube. Practically all Swedish kids between the ages of 12 to 15 use Youtube, and 86 % of them use it every day. At Swedish award shows the Swedish Youtuber and Influencer Therese Lindgren won titles such as Youtuber of the year and the Kids favourite vlogger. Therese Lindgrens Youtube series, “Therese testar teknik”, won the title of Series of the year. This seems to tell us that Therese Lindgren and her show “Therese testar teknik” are popular among kids and could potentially influence their view of technology. A selection of episodes from the series were picked to be analysed, to find out which technological discourse was represented in these videos, and how it compared to the discourses in schools. The results showed that the videos presented technology comparable to schools, but with some differences in focus. In the videos, technology was presented as the artefacts and systems of artefacts used in an activity to solve a problem or a task, that were affected by natural sciences and affected society. Aside from the parts of the technology discourse that was comparable to the ones in schools, the videos also presented emotions connected to technology, through non-verbal communication. The videos presented technology as something fun and exciting, something that can influence the viewers’ own attitude towards technology.

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Workplace learning can contribute to a reformative change in an economy’s workforce development.  Learning, whether formal or informal, is subject to various power balances in each context. Factors affecting learning decisions can include legal framework, market requirements, organizational culture, organization of work, and financing limits. This research explores the application of learning practices in workplace, in addition to the institutionalization of the application and its sustainability’s enforcement factors from the participants’ perspective. Through a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews’ outcome, a sample from several departments in two organizations in the Egyptian services sector share their impression, experience, and recommendations for fostering learning in workplace practice. The data was analysed thematically in the light of Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice theory, Ellstrom’s (2011) competency development study, and Fuller and Unwin’s (2006) expansive learning environment framework. The findings highlights the various initiatives for organizational development logic and  investigates both the barriers and the enforcers for practical continuity. The study is aligned with the constructivist approach as it identifies opportunities and organizational settlement through social interaction to ensure inclusive learning for its population.

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This focused ethnography of Appalachian Trail (AT) long-distance hikers explored the situated and informal nature of individual knowledge construction as mediated through a community of practice. Unlike place-based or cyber-bound communities, the ever-changing membership and location dynamics of AT hikers offered a unique and researchable community for study. The complex and understudied sensemaking trajectories of individuals moving through this mobile community were investigated over three years through in-depth interviews and participant observations. Inductive analysis of expert and novice stories illuminated experiential patterns and collective traditions that comprise the AT learning culture. In contrast to traditional approaches to knowledge and skill acquisition, this study found socio-reflective exchanges, nested in hiking pods, to be critical sites for cognitive modeling and informal scaffolding between experts and novices. The situated encounters and developmental support of these nomadic pods were found to facilitate individuals' construction of community-based knowledge. / Ph. D.