In the current study, we explore and present different advantages creative writing can have on ESL and EFL-students’ writing and their attitude towards writing. We have also discovered some problems ESL or EFL-learners can come across in terms of writing in another language. In the syllabus for English in upper secondary school, it is stipulated that the students should be able to use their English in different situations. However, this is not always as easy as it might seem. Many ESL and EFL students claim that they feel anxious when it comes to writing in English, especially in an academic way, and do not feel confident enough with their own language production. This self-doubt is not unique for a specific country or region, it occurs all over the globe, and our Swedish students are certainly not an exception. Research shows that by practicing writing in a more creative and free way, the students can develop their language in a more relaxed setting, and at the same time increase their confidence and self-esteem regarding their language production.

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I denna undersökning har sju lärare som undervisar i teknik- och fysikämnena i årskurs 7-9 intervjuats i syfte att undersöka deras syn på lärande för hållbar utveckling inom sina ämnen. Frågorna som ställts i uppsatsen har haft för avsikt att ge insikt om vilka faktorer som påverkar hur hållbar utveckling implementeras i skolämnen. Studien visar att läraren strävar efter att eleverna inte bara ska ta emot information, utan också agera själva utifrån grundläggande demokratiska värderingar. Däremot har det visat sig vara svårt för lärare att involvera hållbar utveckling i deras undervisning när det gäller ämnet fysik eller teknik. I studien har lärarens syn på hur hållbar utveckling ska involveras i ämnen analyserats utifrån de tre traditionerna; faktabaserad, normativ- och pluralistisk vilka genomsyrar undervisningen för hållbar utveckling. Studien visar att lärarnas undervisning har intentionen att utveckla olika förmågor och kunskaper hos eleverna. Till exempel framhåller lärarna vikten av att samla in och utvärdera information självständigt, kunna diskutera och samarbeta, lösa problem och använda kritiskt tänkande samt planera för långsiktiga mål. Ett viktigt perspektiv i lärarnas undervisning är att eleverna ska förstå helheten och sambandet mellan olika vardagliga områden. Dessutom visar studien att skolledningen spelar en viktig roll genom att ge tydligt stöd i de olika skolsaktiviteter som kopplas till hållbar utveckling. Det gör undervisningen för hållbar utveckling mer meningsfull och effektiv. / In this review, seven teachers who teach technology and physics subjects in grades 7-9 have been interviewed in order to investigate their views on learning for sustainable development in their subjects. The questions asked in the study were intended to provide insight into which factors influence how sustainable development is implemented in school subjects. The study shows that the teacher strives for the students not only to receive information, but also to act themselves based on basic democratic values. However, it has proven difficult for teachers to involve sustainable development in their teaching when it comes to the subject of physics or technology. In the study, the teacher's view of how sustainable development should be involved in subjects has been analyzed based on the three traditions; fact-based, normative and pluralistic which permeate the teaching for sustainable development. The study shows that the teachers' teaching has the intention of developing different abilities and knowledge in the students. For example, the teachers emphasize the importance of collecting and evaluating information independently, being able to discuss and collaborate, solve problems and use critical thinking, and plan for long-term goals. An important perspective in the teachers' teaching is that the students should understand the bigger picture and the connection between different everyday areas. In addition, the study shows that school management plays an important role by providing clear support in the various school activities linked to sustainable development. It makes teaching for sustainable development more meaningful and effective.

The following essay has the purpose of giving an account of how the increasing digitalization, medialization and flow of information has affected social science as a subject, and how this has changed the expectations put on students and teachers. Furthermore, the way teachers’ TPACK knowledge and web literacy skills affect their teaching is also examined. Lastly, students’ level of understanding for the term media and information literacy is further investigated.  This is being done with the help of the following three question formulations: 1. What further demands does the increasing digitalization, medialization and flow of information pose for students and teachers, and how does it connect to social science as a subject? 2. How do teachers' knowledge of TPACK and web literacy affect their teaching? 3. What level of understanding do students have for the term media and information literacy?  The essay is based upon 15 peer-reviewed scientific articles, which have been chosen to represent the field of knowledge and answer the three question formulations. The interconnection between media and information literacy and democracy makes the subject increasingly important in today’s society with threats like propaganda, misinformation, and anti-democratic rhetoric. One conclusion made is how important it is for the students’ learning outcomes that the teacher is well-informed and has the necessary knowledge to help and support the students in their learning. It is also important to consider that the way students define media and information literacy may differ from teachers’ understanding, and that can lead to students’ knowledge being interpreted as higher than it is in reality.

”You can scroll but you can’t hide - a qualitive study of three age groups critique and resistance against sponsored posts on Instagram” Author: Sofia PetterssonCourse: Applied strategic communications The aim of this study is to investigate and try to make sense of the critical thinking and following resistance by three age groups against sponsored posts on Instagram. The theoretical background of the study includes Stuart Halls model of encoding/decoding, and Michel Foucaults abstract theories of power/knowledge. The investigative method through which the empirical materials have been gathered is three focus group interviews with three different age groups — 12-16 years old, 19-29 years old and 30-55 years old. To analyze the statements gathered in the focus group interviews, the method of discourse psychology have been applied to the material. The aim of this was to bring forth the repertoars which the groups use to construct reality according to them, and to try and understand how they construct their own identities, both within the group but also the individual.The results were somewhat inconclusive. The study shows that though the older the more consequential the groups think, the method for resistance varied a lot. The youngest group showed some critical thinking and shows tendencies to avoid the advertisements by leaving Instagram. The problem with this group is that they don’t really know why they do this. And they don’t display any deeper understanding as to why they think the way they do. The group 19-29 years showed a more complex understanding of consequences and their critical thinking is more well rounded. In spite of this, this group doesn't show much resisting behavior. The oldest group was the most critical, and talked about more consequential subjects and problems with this kind of advertising. Furthermore, the oldest group had the most knowledge about the technical structures that the sponsored posts are made of and therefore has the best position for resisting the marketing techniques in place. The study is 42 pages long.

This study examines students' perceptions and ability to think critically within the framework of social studies education. With increasing concern for the survival of democracy and the rapidly changing media landscape, it is increasingly important to understand and promote students' critical thinking skills. The study aims to contribute to an increased understanding of students' critical thinking in social studies teaching and points to the need to develop more differentiated and challenging teaching methods to promote students' ability to think critically in different contexts. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating critical thinking discussions into a broader context of media and information literacy to equip students to navigate the media landscape and contribute to healthy democratic societal development.   Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in a survey, the student's knowledge of critical thinking in different contexts and their ability to apply it in practice were explored. The results showed that students generally had a basic understanding of critical thinking, but had difficulty reaching more advanced levels of critical thinking. When it comes to being able to explain critical thinking in theory, a majority have a basic understanding, mainly related to source criticism. The result of applying it in practice was that a majority could reach a more multifaceted understanding of critical thinking. Specifically, it emerged that the students found it more difficult to apply critical thinking in complex situations and that their ability was to some extent situational depending on the subject. In addition, the results showed challenges students articulated related to navigating through the large flow of information and sifting relevant information from irrelevant or misleading sources.

In which purpose, for who and when does equality get fullfilled in the education system? This studie takes aim on the upper level and second upper level school system to study what the curriculum says on the one hand and what the system brings out on the other. With critical theory as method, with Herbert Tingsten as founder, this studie analyzes the logic of the education system to set out if the pupils choice of education, after the upper level lower secondary school, in second upper level is legit with democratic principles such as freedom (of choice). The theory, used to analyze the individuals progress to be autonomous, uses Adam Swifts definition of freedom as an individual being autonomous. The findings of the study shows that what politicians chases as equality really i´snt equality. What sets out be a guarantee in the upper level lower secondary schools official documents, that every student are concerned by the goals of the school, really don’t apply to all students. Equality is withheld, politicians have put forward, when every student gets at least the grade E. This stands against that the grade E as it is graded by the Swedish school department “Skolverket” and so by the teachers in local schools doesn’t reach to the goals outlined in the official documents. Equality as it is defined in earlier studies is partly confirmed by this study, partly redefined as it shows that equality in the education system don’t seem have anything to do with the opportunities or possibilities of the pupils in the school system.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur elever i årskurs 1 på gymnasiet uppfattar att de, inom ramen för kursen Samhällskunskap 1b, kan använda en samhällsvetenskaplig analysmodell för att analysera ett samhällsproblem. Studien utgår från två forskningsfrågor: Hur uppfattar elever på gymnasiets högskoleförberedande program att de ska använda analysmodellen? Vilka olika kvaliteter kan skilja mellan en utvecklad och en mindre utvecklad uppfattning av hur analysmodellen ska användas? Undersökningen tar sin utgångspunkt i en yrkeserfarenhet av att elever ofta undrar hur de ska bli bättre på att analysera. Metoden som använts är att 50 elever besvarat en analysuppgift som syftade till att analysera varför ungdomar inte engagerar sig i det formella, demokratiska arbetet. Till hjälp att utreda frågan hade elevgruppen tillgång till analysmodell och källmaterial från den senaste demokratiutredningen, Låt fler forma framtiden! De svar som samlades in analyserades med en fenomenografisk metod, som syftar till att kategorisera olika uppfattningar som undersökningsgruppen har kring hur analysmodellen ska användas. Resultatet, utfallsrummet, är 6 beskrivningskategorier som skiljer sig avseende hur analysmodellen behandlas, strukturell aspekt, och i vad som behandlas i svaret, referentiell aspekt. Den mest avancerade hanteringen av analysmodellen ser dess delar som en helhet och som en struktur, samt väver in material från källor som stöd för sin argumentation. Den minst avancerade hanteringen behandlar, utan koppling till källor, endast en enstaka del av analysmodellen. I analysarbetet kartläggs också de kritiska aspekter som undervisning behöver fokusera på för att hjälpa eleven från en mindre avancerad uppfattning till en mer avancerad uppfattning, det vill säga för att lära sig att analysera med mer kvalité. Den mest centrala kritiska aspekten visar sig vara att se hur källmaterial är bas för en mer vetenskaplig analys. / It is the writer’s professional experience that upper secondary students often wonder how to improve their skills in analytic reasoning. The aim of this study is to examine conceptions of Swedish upper secondary school-students when it comes to use a model for analytical reasoning in the course Social studies 1b. The research questions are: How do upper secondary student perceive the usage of a model for analytic reasoning? Which qualitative differences can there be between a less complex and a complex conception of the model for analytic reasoning? The research method has been to give an analytic task to 50 upper secondary students aiming to analyze the problem with the diminishing engagement among Swedish youth in the formal democracy process. The participantswere asked to analyze this problem by using the analytic model and a number of sources originating from the Commission on Democracy Report (2014). The student´s answers where analyzed by a Phenomenographic method aiming to find categories of student´s conceptions of the skill of analyzing according to the model. The result, called the learning outcome, was 6 hierarchically structured categories of conceptions, differing from one another in how the analytic model was perceived, the structural aspect, and of how the content of the analysis was handled, the referential aspect. The most complex conception of the analytic model was to perceive it parts as a whole and also use its disposition as a model for the structure of their answers. The least complex conception only handle singular parts of the analytic model and does not use the source material as a factual base for their reasoning. The most central critical aspect to consider when designing teaching for improving the student´s analytic skills is to make them discern the need for source based reasoning if the aim is to develop a more scientific approach.

The purpose of the study is to explore how social media can be used as a forum to discuss politics and also how young people use critical reflection to evaluate the information available on social media. To achieve the purpose, a qualitative research is used. The empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews with six high school students who voted in the Swedish parliamentary elections in/of 2014. The empirical data were then analyzed based on previous research on social media, and the school's mission to foster individuals who think critically. The analysis is also based on the theory of deliberative democracy model. The study shows that social media can be used as a platform for political discussions but it is in a large extent characterized by mudslinging between the sides for and against the various political elements. The survey also shows that the interviewed students do not understand the implications of source criticism. Instead they use critical thinking to determine what is a good or a bad source. The study shows that the deliberative democracy model cannot be applied to social media in its present form, but should be seen as an ideal image of how a deliberative democracy should work.

Detta arbete syftar till att utveckla ett förslag på ett utbildningsmaterial i form av en programmeringsorienterad fysik- och matematiklaboration. Målgruppen är i förstahand studenter som läser andra terminen i det ingenjörsförberedande programmet Tekniskt basår (KTH), men även studenter på motsvarande kunskapsnivå (tillexempel elever i gymnasiets naturvetenskapliga program). Laborationen konstruerades för att skapa förutsättningar för studenterna att:1) Visa på kritiskt tänkande,2) visa på kollaboration,3) öka ämnesförståelsen. Det föreslagna utbildningsmaterialet omfattar området beräkningsfysik, där en ickelinjärdifferentialekvation härled från en matematisk pendel ska lösas med hjälp avnumeriska metoder. Laborationens uppgifter formulerades med kritiskt tänkande som utgångspunkt och utfördes med parprogrammering som samarbetsform för kollaboration. I detta arbete undersöktes punkter 1) och 2) i en utbildningssituation med elever från andra terminen på Tekniskt basår. Fyra elevgruppers konversationer spelades in och en innehållsanalys utfördes på transkriberingen av ljudinspelningen. En mönsterjämförelsemetod användes för att stärka slutsatserna. Utifrån resultaten av undersökningsprojektet konstaterade vi att den teoretiska propositionen om att laborationskonstruktionen har medverkat till elevernas kollaboration och appliceringav kritiskt tänkande, har stärkts. / This work aims to develop a proposal for educational material in the form of a programming-oriented Physics and Mathematics lab. The target group is mainly students from the second semester in the Technical Preparatory Year program (KTH), but also students of equivalent knowledge level (for example, students in the upper secondary school- natural science program). The lab was designed to create opportunity for students to:1) apply critical thinking, 2) demonstrate collaboration, 3) increase subject understanding. The proposed educational material comprises computational physics, where a non linear differential equation derived from a mathematical pendulum is solved using numerical methods. The exercises in the lab were formulated with critical thinking in mind and pair programming was used as the context for collaboration. In this paper 1) and 2) were investigated in an educational setting with students from the second semester of the Technical Preporatory Year (KTH). The conversations of four student groups were recorded and a content analysis was performed on the transcriptions of the audio recordings. A pattern matching method was used to strengthen the conclusions. Based on the results of the research project, we found that the theoretical proposition that the construction of the laboratory work has contributed to the collaboration and application of critical thinking by the students,has been strengthened.