The new curriculum reforms of Czech and Slovak educational systems provide schools enough room for new effective methods developing pupil's key competence. The dissertation deals with one of them - the project-based teaching, especially in science subjects in the second stage of basic school. It presents results of a comparative study which was conducted 2008/2009 school year. The most important aim was to establish and compare common characteristics of realized projects. The sample consisted of 180 Czech and 71 Slovak basic schools. The projects data and views of teachers were collected via a questionnaire. The results of the survey indicated that project-based teachings in science subjects was used in more than 80 % of Czech schools and more than 60 % of Slovak schools. Schools in both countries preferred projects realized only in one class, by one teacher and within the frame of one science subject. Czech schools preferred short projects that lasted no more than one week, Slovak schools organized mostly long projects lasting more than one week. Most projects in Czech schools were short-term, lasting on average no more than one week. Projects in Slovak schools on the other hand lasted on average more than one week. The majority of projects were planned and prepared by a teacher. Teachers were...

Previous research shows that English teachers in Sweden struggle with the assessment of oral proficiency. The reasons for this are several but most of them have occurred in the gap between the intended and perceived curriculum. English teachers interpret the knowledge requirements within oral proficiency differently because of their pedagogical background and experience. This study investigates teachers’ interpretations of the intended presentation of interaction and fluency in the oral proficiency knowledge requirements. The study also investigates what methods and procedures the teachers use when assessing the two abilities and what views the teachers have on the syllabus and assessment support. Semi-structured interviews were organized with four different English teachers with extensive experience in teaching and assessing English in Sweden. The data from the interviews were analyzed through the use of qualitative content analysis in order to find potential links between results and earlier conducted research. The results suggest that the English teachers interpreted, valued, and assessed interaction and fluency differently in relation to the knowledge requirements. The teachers also promoted the knowledge requirements from the Oral National Test since these simplified the interpretation of aspects such as interaction and fluency. The teachers did not present the syllabus as poor or complex, but their exclusive use of Oral National Test knowledge requirements and assessment material suggested something else. Along with this result, all teachers criticized the assessment support that comes with the knowledge requirements in the syllabus. The assessment support was thus something several of the teachers mentioned as key along with the implementation of co-assessment for future reliability within oral proficiency assessment.

Scientific thinking is an essential skill for full application in society associated with responsible human decision-making. The development of research skills and knowledge also contributes to its complexity. For the possibility of their systematic development, it is necessary to map the current situation of students in primary schools. The aim of the work was to find out what are the research skills of these students in the field of correctly formulating a research question based on specific problem and after finding a solution to formulate an answer to a given research question. Four research-oriented tasks were used, which were solved by 58 students from the seventh grade of primary school. It was found that more than half of the students are not able to formulate the research question correctly and more than one third of the students are unable to formulate the answer to the given research question correctly.

Language teachers’ accounts regarding grammatical assessment have changed over the years. Researchers have presented conflicting approaches, methods and different materials language teachers can use when assessing pupils’ L2 grammar. In addition, different researchers, within the applied linguistic field, have presented and discussed what possibly can affect teachers’ accounts of underlying reasonings for certain practices. This study aims to investigate English teachers’ accounts concerning grammatical assessment and reveal what methods English teachers use, further, what underlying reasonings the teachers have for their choices. To accomplish this investigation, three semi-structured interviews with English teachers from lower secondary schools in Sweden were conducted. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis and table-coding. The results showed that the English teachers relied on four different methods when assessing their pupils L2 grammar. Grammatical assessment methods that emphasized both a traditional- and alternative assessment approach. Furthermore, all of the English teachers had several underlying reasonings for their grammatical assessment methods. The teachers considered learners’ need, personal experiences, school system guidelines and time constraints. This study provides further insight to the grammatical assessment discussion within teaching English as a second language, and contributes with a perspective of how Swedish lower secondary English teachers work with grammatical assessment.

Denna avhandling har fokus på 88 elevers föreställningar om vad som händer i kroppen då de äter en smörgås, dricker vatten och sväljer en värktablett. Sedan har jag studerat hur dessa föreställningar påverkar deras kunskaper vad det gäller kroppens fysiologi och deras ställningstagande i hälsofrågor. Enkäter av olika slag samt intervjuer har använts vid datainsamlingen. Studien bekräftar till vissa delar den forskning som är gjord i främst Europa. Det som är nytt och tidigare inte har publicerats är det som fokuseras i denna sammanfattning av licentiat avhandling - Elevers föreställningar om kroppens organ och kroppens hälsa utifrån ett skolsammanhang. Eleverna hade mycket svårt att se sambanden mellan de olika organsystemen i kroppen. Detta visade sig då eleverna ombads att beskriva hur vattnen tar sig genom kroppen. Studien visade det att endast ett fåtal elever kunde länka ihop: matspjälkningsystemet - blodsystem - njurarna. Det var något lättare om än inte enkelt för eleverna att överföra sin kunskap om matspjälkningssystemets funktion, som i fallet då de beskrev en smörgåsens väg genom kroppen, och överföra denna kunskap till hur en värktablett transporteras genom kroppen. Eleverna har visat att de har lättare att överföra kunskap från ett sammanhang till ett annat, som i fallen smörgåsen och värktabletten, än att föra samman flera olika organsystem som i fallet med vattnets väg genom kroppen. En grupp elever beskrev ett system för vattens transport i kroppen som helt saknar naturvetenskaplig förankring. Dessa elever ritade ett rör som transporterade vatten direkt från munnen ner till njurarna. Detta hade konsekvenser för hur eleverna sedan svarade på andra frågor, dessa elever hade svårare att förstå njurens funktion och de hade också mer vardagsnära förklaringar exempelvis på frågan varför vi människor svettas. När det gäller hälsorelaterade frågor kunde man se att några elever anser att kroppen lagrar näring och energi då de avstår en måltid. Detta resultat är intressant då de har en annan syn på hela näringsupptagningen i kroppen än den vedertagna naturvetenskapliga förklaringen. En grupp elever som hade en mera utvecklad förståelse av hur värktabletter transporteras genom kroppen, var de som främst ansåg att värktabletter kunde ersättas med smärtstillande krämer. Denna grupp angav också spontant färre alternativ för att lindra smärta, så som massage etc.  Över hälften av de eleverna som intervjuades ansåg att det fanns näring vatten men de kunde inte närmare precisera vad denna näring skulle bestå av. Den andra mindre hälften ansåg antingen att det inte fanns näring i vattnet eller angav olika mineraler och grundämnen. Jag fann också en föreställning bland eleverna om att man måste dricka vatten för att bekämpa bakterier. När eleverna tillfrågades vad de ansåg att de fått sin kunskap om kropp och hälsa ifrån fann man skolan som den absolut viktigaste källan och där efter föräldrarna och på tredje plats TV:n. Andra alternativ som Internet, tidningar och så vidare var det betydlig färre elever som angav som kunskapskällor. / The focus point of this thesis lies on 88 pupils’ idea of what happens when we eat a sandwich, drink water or swallow a painkiller. I have analyzed how these ideas affect their knowledge regarding the physiology of the body, and regarding health issues. The study confirms some parts of the research already carried out, principally in Europe, but it is the new and never before published research that I discuss in this summary of my licentiate's dissertation. The pupils were asked what happens in the body when you drink water. It was revealed that one group of pupils had an idea about an alternative system for fluids. These pupils drew a tube from the mouth connected directly to the kidneys. These pupils had troubles understanding the function of the kidney, and they also had more simple explanations to why, for example, humans sweat. Regarding water’s way through the body, some pupils had difficulties showing the connection between the digestive system, the blood circulation system and the kidneys. It was somewhat easier for the pupils to transfer their knowledge about the function of the digestive system regarding a sandwich's path through the body in relation to what happens if you swallow a painkiller. In these cases it was easier for the pupils to transfer their knowledge from one context to another, as in the case with the sandwich and the painkiller, than to connect different organ systems, as in the case with the water's path through the body. Regarding health related issues, it was revealed that a few students believed that the body stores nutrition and energy when they skip a meal. This result is interesting since they had a different view on the assimilation of food in the body than the accepted scientific explanation. The pupils with a more advanced understanding of a painkiller’s way through the body were those who believed that pills primarily could be replaced by pain-relieving creams. This group spontaneously gave fewer alternatives to painkillers than other pupils. Over half of the interviewed pupils believed that there is nutrition in water, but they were unable to specify what this nutrition would consist of. The rest of the pupils believed either that there was no nutrition in water, or specified different minerals and elements. There was also an idea that you have to drink water to fight off bacteria.   When the pupils were asked where they thought their knowledge about body and health came from, they gave school as the primary source, the parents as the secondary source, and TV as the third source. Other alternatives like the Internet, newspapers etc. were less frequent.

På grund av mångfalden i dagens svenska skolor kan inte alltid traditionellt arbetssätt i matematikundervisning främja elever att utveckla sina förmågor såsom analys- och resonemangsförmåga. Läroboksstyrda lektioner ger inte elever möjligheter att komma till tals, lyssna på andras resonemang, tänka kritiskt och analysera andras tankesätt. Därför som matematiklärare blir det intressant att undersöka hur lärarna på alla stadier (låg-, mellan- respektive högstadiet) använder sig av dialogisk undervisning och vilken form av dialogisk undervisning som dominerar i respektive stadie. Därför genomfördes en fallstudie av dialogisk undervisning inom ramen för detta självständiga arbete. Datainsamlinggenomfördes genom observation samt ljudinspelning, i en lågstadie-, i en mellanstadie- och i en högstadieklass, sammanlagt nio lektioner. För att kunna analysera data har Robin Alexanders välkända ramverk för dialogisk undervisning använts (presenterat bl.a. i artikeln Developing dialogic teaching, 2018). I ramverket kategoriseras undervisningen utifrån repertoarer och principer som belyser olika aspekter av dialoger i klassrummet. Fallstudien visade att lektioner präglade av dialog förekom mest på låg- och mellanstadiet och i mindre utsträckning på högstadiet. Lärarnas främsta teaching talk bestod av recitation (initiera-respons-feedback) men kompletterat med hur och varför i hög grad i låg- och mellanstadielektioner med syfte att föra samtalet vidare vilket i sin tur möjliggjorde för att eleverna att komma till tals för att förklara och motivera sitt tänkande till skillnad från på högstadielektionerna där elevernas främsta learning talk bestod av korta svar. / Due to the diversity in today's Swedish schools, traditional methods in mathematics teaching can’t always promote students to develop their abilities such as analytical and reasoning skills. Textbook-guided lessons don’t give students opportunities to speak, listen to others thoughts, think critically and analyze the thinking of others. Therefore, as a mathematics teacher, it will be interesting to investigate how teachers at all stages (primary, intermediate, and upper-secondary) use dialogic teaching and which form of dialogic teaching dominates in each stage. Therefore, a case study of dialogic teaching was conducted within the framework of this independent work. Data collection was carried out through observation and sound recording, in an elementary school, in an intermediate school and in a high school class, a total of nine lessons. In order to be able to analyze data, Robin Alexander's well-known framework for dialogic teaching has been used (presented in the article Developing dialogic teaching, 2018). The framework categorizes teaching on the basis of repertoires and principles that illuminate various aspects of dialogues in the classroom. The case study showed that lessons characterized by dialogue occurred mostly in primary and middle school and to a lesser extent in high school. The teachers' main teaching talk consisted of recitation (initiate-response-feedback) but supplemented with how and why to a large extent in the primary and intermediate stage with the aim of passing on the conversation, which in turn made it possible for the students to speak to explain and motivate their thinking unlike in high school where the students' main learning talk consisted of short answers.

This thesis contains pioneer work in Sweden which contributes to the research on cybersecurity teaching within the Technology subject as formulated in the course and subject governing documents.The work goes in line with a bigger strategy of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the European Union (EU). A discourse analysis was performed on the interviews with four Swedish expertsfrom MSB, Internetstiftelsen, and #290CyberSecurity respectively where the interview questions were formulated around three axes; the first axis was the cybersecurity content and knowledge aimed at young individuals, the second axis was the experts’ views on teaching cybersecurity starting from lower secondary schools, and the third axis was regarding platforms or tools that could be used in cybersecurity teaching and what the experts’ perceptions on them are. The analysis resulted in six different codes and formulated the views of the experts. Content analysis was also performed on information from the experts’ organizations which were 14 security documents and reports in total that resulted in a content frame of ten cybersecurity areas. All the ten areas were found to be related to the keywords that appear in the governing documents of the Technology subjects in the course syllabus for grades 7-9 and the subject syllabus for Technology 1. Current cyber attacks and risks threatening young students were further analyzed under each area to narrow down the content frame tailoring it to young students. A new online evaluation tool was then developed to assess the cybersecurity sensibility of the young students. The formulation of the questions was inspired by the SANS cybersecurity awareness survey as well as based on both, the ten cybersecurity areas that are categorized in this thesis and the different scenarios of risks and cybersecurity attacks threatening young students. Domain SamplingTheory (DST) and scenario-based questions were considered to make the tool more fitting for the young and minimize the errors. The tool tested a random group of 250 students from 12 municipalities where110 were in the sixth grade and 140 in the ninth. The tool showed that despite students spending most of their time online using different devices and applications, they are not secure enough which puts them at risk. Moreover, most of the students were interested in getting cybersecurity education and very few received it in schools even though the cybersecurity requirements are stated in the governing documents of the Technology subject. / Detta examensarbete innehåller banbrytande arbete i Sverige vilket bidrar till forskningen om cybersäkerhetsundervisning inom teknikämnet i svenska skolor. Arbetet går i linje med en större strategi från Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB) och Europeiska unionen (EU). En diskursanalys utfördes på intervjuerna med fyra svenska experter från MSB, Internetstiftelsen och #290CyberSecurity där intervjufrågorna formulerades runt tre axlar; den första axeln var cybersäkerhetsinnehållet som är riktad mot unga individer, den andra axeln var experternas syn på undervisning i cybersäkerhet som börjar från grundskolorna, och den tredje axeln gällde de plattformar eller verktyg som kunde användas i cybersäkerhetundervisning samt vad experternas uppfattning om dem är. Analysen av intervjuer resulterade i sex olika koder vilket speglar experters åsikter. Innehållsanalys utfördes också på information från experternas organisationer. Det var totalt 14 säkerhetsdokument och rapporter som resulterade i en innehållsram med tio cybersäkerhetsområden. Alla de tio områdena är relaterade till nyckelorden som finns i styrdokumenten för teknikämnena i kursplanen för årskurs 7-9 och ämnesplanen för Teknik 1. Aktuella cyberattacker och risker som hotar unga elever analyserades vidare under varje område för att begränsa innehållsramen och anpassa den för unga elever. Ett nytt online utvärderingsverktyg utvecklades sedan för att bedöma cybersäkerhetsrespons och attityd hos de unga eleverna. Formuleringen av frågorna inspirerades av SANS cybersäkerhetsmedvetenhetsundersökning och var baserad på de tio cybersäkerhetsområdena som kategoriseras i detta examensarbete samt de olika scenarierna för risker och cybersäkerhetsattacker som hotar unga elever. Domain Sampling Theory (DST) och scenariobaserade frågor ansågs göra verktyget mer passande för de unga och minimera felen. Verktyget testade en slumpmässig grupp på 250 elever från 12 kommuner där 110 gick i 6:an och 140 i 9:an. Verktyget visade att trots att elever tillbringar större delen av sin tid online med olika enheter och applikationer är de inte tillräckligt säkra, vilket utgör en risk för dem. Dessutom var majoriteten av eleverna intresserade av att få utbildning i cybersäkerhet och väldigt få fick det i skolorna trots att det står i styrdokumenten för teknikämnet.

The aim of the thesis is to compare the educational systems of two European states with different state institutions, history and current political-historical situation. The work will be of comparative character and will be based mainly on the work with the studied literature. The work will use both Czech and Spanish literature. The main benchmarking tool will be the International Standard Classification of Education at ISCED 2011. In the practical part, this classification will be applied to both education systems, and at the end of each level of education there will be comparisons. The result will be a simultaneous evaluation and comparison of the education system of the Kingdom of Spain and the Czech Republic. KEYWORDS: ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education by UNESCO), education system, early childhood education, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary education, short cycle of tertiary education, bachelor or other equivalent, master or other equivalent).

This diploma thesis deals with national assessment of language abilities of hearing impaired pupils and closer focuses on pre-lingual deaf pupils at the ends of the primary and lower secondary schools. Based on the definition of the characteristics of the national assessment, the diploma thesis also focuses on an overview of currently used language tests, both at international level as well as it gives information about the practice in selected foreign education systems. Special attention is devoted to information that deal with the assessment of language abilities in the Czech Republic, and the form of participation of deaf pupils in such testing . The practical part is done by a research which was done to find out the views of those involved in the education of pupils with hearing disorders just the current assessment practice language skills of the pupils. In the final part of my diploma thesis is a possible outline for innovations for testing related to information from the preceding parts of my diploma thesis.

This study examines the subject civics (social studies) in interaction with other subjects in interdisciplinary projects. By studying three different integrated projects in the grades 7-9, the study examines how subjects interact with one another. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze the character and function of civics in interdisciplinary projects. The results are used to discuss the relationship between subject and integration. In the world of education, there are two endeavors that may seem to counteract each other: on the one hand, focus on more clearly subject-specific knowledge and, on the other, the pursuit of cooperation and interaction between subjects in different forms of interdisciplinary organization of teaching and learning. Integration between subjects can be seen as an opportunity to address the complex problems and challenges of today's citizens in a changing global world. The results of the study describe three dynamic interdisciplinary projects that all contain a movement between different types of interaction between subjects with various degrees of integration. These types are predisciplinary, helping, correlated, shared and reconstructed. In addition, the study shows that civics in the three projects is emerging as an obvious main subject that aims to develop the pupils’ abilities to orientate (facts and concepts), analyze and discuss. So far integrated teaching appears to result in both what subject-specific teaching reaches and, moreover, it seems to form a synthesis knowledge that can be difficult to measure, but that relates to the main goals of the curriculum beyond subjects. These abilities to act can be used to describe the synthesized knowledge citizens need in order to act in the world. / Baksidestext I denna studie av hur samhällskunskapsämnet tar sig uttryck i ämnesintegrerade projekt i grundskolans årskurs 7-9, undersöks de till synes motstående strävandena att dels fokusera ämnesspecifika kunskaper, dels ge utrymme för samspel och integration mellan ämnen.  Resultaten visar en ömsesidig relation där ämne och ämnesintegration förutsätter varandra. Projekten innehåller en rörelse mellan olika typer av ämnessamspel – förvetenskapligt, hjälpande, sammankopplande, förenande, omskapande – med olika grad av integration mellan ämnen. Delar av projekten domineras av ämnesspecifika kunskaper där samhällskunskapsämnet framträder som tydligt huvudämne utifrån de ämnesdidaktiska profilerna orienteringsämne, analysämne och diskussionsämne. Andra delar av projekten domineras istället av integrerade synteskunskaper som relaterar till övergripande läroplansmål. Begreppet handlingsämne används för att beskriva denna syntetiserade kunskap medborgare behöver för att kunna agera i världen. Licentiatuppsatsen har skrivits inom CSD-FL, Forskarskolan för lärare i geografi, historia, religionskunskap och samhällskunskap, en särskild fortbildningssatsning för yrkesverksamma lärare. Centrum för de samhällsvetenskapliga ämnenas didaktik (CSD) vid Karlstads universitet har ansvarat för forskarskolan.