Syftet med föreliggande uppsats är att undersöka hur gymnasieelever närmar sig det vetenskapliga skrivandet. Studien undersöker även elevers diskursiva och kritiska kompetens. Bakgrunden till undersökningen utgörs av reformen som genomfördes i gymnasieskolan 2011 och dess nya krav på vetenskaplighet i text inom svenskämnet. Den tidigare forskningen som gjorts på området visar att gymnasieelever har en relativt låg diskursiv och kritisk kompetens. Tidigare studier visar även att elever inte har verktygen som krävs för att skriva vetenskapliga texter. Dessa studier att samtliga genomförda innan reformen 2011. Metoden i den här studien utgörs av kvalitativa fokusgruppsintervjuer och analys av elevskrivna PM. Resultatet visar att eleverna kan tillämpa regler för vedertagna referenssystem. Dock har vissa elever svårt att göra korrekta referatannonseringar vid ett par tillfällen. Eleverna kan klargöra för flera konkreta strategier för att kritiskt granska källors tillförlitlighet. De närmar sig det vetenskapliga skrivande med genomtänkta strategier och kan applicera de skriftspråkliga normer som gäller för ett PM på en mer generell nivå. I jämförelse med den tidigare forskningen visar eleverna en högre diskursiv och kritisk kompetens.

Abstract The overarching goal of this study is to investigate whether teachers of Swedish at upper secondary schools in Sweden feel that they know how to teach critical literacy, especially on the Internet, and also if they know how it is taught. It also investigates the difficulties teachers experience in teaching critical literacy. A secondary goal is to investigate the knowledge of critical literacy among students at upper secondary schools in Sweden. The study is based on quantitative and qualitative research. The research consists of two parts. The first one is made through a digital survey-machine. The answers can be analyzed in both a quantitative and a qualitative way. The selected group for the survey consists of both students and teachers. The second one is based on interviews with three teachers. The majority of earlier research in this field focuses on the information seeking process. Not much has been written about critical competence when teaching Swedish and if teachers today have the right tools and skills to handle critical literacy on the Internet. The study points to school being an important place for learning critical competence. It is imperative that teachers teach students to navigate on the Internet, to be able to assess the impact media and technology have on their lives and also to review the information they find. One of the problems is that teachers feel insecure about how to handle critical literacy in their everyday teaching. Important tools for this work are knowledge of the different stages in the information seeking process, but also knowledge of how to integrate critical literacy in the classroom. The conclusion is that a great deal has to be done in this area, both at a political level, but also at an educational level. According to the results of this study teachers need more media competence to help students in an ever changing digitalized world.