Growth mindset interventions have been shown to give small but significant boosts to mathematics performance. These interventions are both brief and cheap, making them attractive for boosting mathematics performance. Is it possible that South African students can benefit from a growth mindset intervention? Mindset assessments and interventions have predominantly been developed in the United States. There have been applications of the assessments and interventions to other cultural contexts, often with minimal adaptions. Adaptions are not reported in detail (or thoroughly evaluated) in existing research literature. In a series of four studies, I establish that South African high school students do have mathematics mindsets akin to the fixed and growth mindsets reported elsewhere. Using an iterative design process and item analysis, I modified a mathematics mindset assessment for use with disadvantaged students in South Africa. In two correlational studies I established validity and reliability for a mindset assessment I call “Thinking About Maths”. I examined the contribution of mathematics mindsets to mathematics performance, in comparison with mathematics anxiety, study attitude and study milieu (or environment). I found that whilst mindsets do contribute to performance, the contribution is minimal compared to other variables measured. Additionally, I found that in an impoverished study environment males have high mathematics anxiety which inhibits mathematics performance whereas females have high study attitude, boosting mathematics performance. With assistance from students and teachers, I developed a mindset intervention that is culturally appropriate and relevant. 305 Grade 9 students participated in a field-based quasi-experiment, which had a passive control group. The intervention was delivered on WhatsApp over four weeks. Each week contained a growth mindset message, a YouTube clip, advice on a learning strategy, and an integration activity. The groups were facilitated by young adult mentors. It was clear that WhatsApp groups were an effective mode of delivery and there was good evidence of participation from students. Mathematics performance at the intervention school improved significantly beyond that of the control school. The strength of the intervention seems to lie in the combination of mindset messaging and the teaching of effective strategies.

As the demand for programming skills in today’s job market is rapidly increasing for disciplines outside of computing, CS courses have experienced spikes in enrollment for non-majors. Students in disciplines including art, design and biological sciences are now often required to take introductory CS courses. Previous research has shown the role of growth mindset, self-efficacy and relevance in student success within CS but such metrics are largely unknown for non-majors. In this thesis, we surveyed non-majors in CS1 at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo during the early and late weeks of the quarter to gain insights on their growth mindset, their self-efficacy and the perceived relevance of the course to their lives. In our analysis, we discovered that non-majors’ levels of growth mindset and of self-efficacy decreased throughout the duration of CS1 with additional differences by gender. However, non-majors largely found that the material covered in CS1 was highly relevant to their academic and professional careers despite being challenged by it. These findings provide important insights into the experiences of non-majors learning to code and can help better serve a more diverse population of students.

Den här kunskapsöversikten berör ämnet matematikångest. Matematikångest är ett utbrett fenomen och var tredje elev i samtliga OECD-länder uppger att de ofta känner ångest inför matematikundervisningen (OECD, 2015). Kunskapsöversikten har sammanställts av kvalitativa och kvantitativa studier samt andra kunskapsöversikter. I texten definieras begreppet matematikångest och dess symptom beskrivs. Metoder och strategier för att motverka matematikångest sammanställs i hopp om att vara till hjälp för professionen. Grupparbeten, vikten av ett tryggt klassrumsklimat och ett growth mindset samt övning i att kommunicera och diskutera matematiska begrepp är några av de strategier och metoder som beskrivs vara hjälpsamma för elever med matematikångest.

In this essay I will be exploring the work of five significant jazz trumpet players of the 20thcentury: Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. I will be delving deeper into the styles of these five trumpeters to find some characteristics of their improvisation. After that I will implement them into my own jazz improvisation vocabulary. By studying transcriptions of their solos, reading articles and watching videos about these trumpeters and their playing style, I intend to create exercises in order to add these aspects of their playing into my own improvisation. I will also explore the mental aspect of playing specifically jazz trumpet, and how the mindset can help develop my playing by studying how the aforementioned players’ mindset and attitude appears in their playing. The results will be a host of exercises which I created on my own, or acquired from other musicians, and different ways of approaching jazz improvisation on the trumpet.

In this essay I will be exploring the work of five significant jazz trumpet players of the 20th century: Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. I will be delving deeper into the styles of these five trumpeters to find some characteristics of their improvisation. After that I will implement them into my own jazz improvisation vocabulary. By studying transcriptions of their solos, reading articles and watching videos about these trumpeters and their playing style, I intend to create exercises in order to add these aspects of their playing into my own improvisation. I will also explore the mental aspect of playing specifically jazz trumpet, and how the mindset can help develop my playing by studying how the aforementioned players’ mindset and attitude appears in their playing. The results will be a host of exercises which I created on my own, or acquired from other musicians, and different ways of approaching jazz improvisation on the trumpet. / <p>My examenskonsert was 25th of February, 2022</p>

Denna studie undersöker lågstadielärares aktiviteter och metoder som används i klassrummet med syfte att motivera elever samt lärarnas resonemang kring deras urval. Som datainsamlingsmetoder används både observation och intervju. Det insamlade datamaterialet analyseras sedan med hjälp av Självbestämmandeteorin (SBT). Resultatet visade att lärare i största mån värdesätter relationerna till eleverna och ser det som en ingångsport till att lyckas lära känna och skapa trygghet för eleverna som sedan kan ge möjlighet till att stötta och motivera eleverna. Studien visar även på indikationer att lärare i många fall lutar sig tillbaka på läromedel som får styra undervisningen och därigenom tappas även tydliga genomgångar, målbeskrivning för eleverna och tydliga avslut på lektionerna. En annan intressant upptäckt är att lektionerna ofta ser likadana ut trots lärares önskan att differentiera och involvera elevinflytande i större mån.

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Researchers and health care professionals agree that living an inactive lifestyle negatively impacts individuals and communities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018; Lee et al., 2012), and ongoing research highlights the benefits for adults achieving a recommended 150 minutes of physical activity (PA) per week (CDC, 2018; US Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2018; Warburton, Nicol, & Bredin, 2006). However, despite these benefits, only 20% of individuals comply with these recommendations (American College Health Association [ACHA], 2017; Blackwell & Clarke, 2018; HHS, 2018). A recent area of research to address this issue explores psychological non-cognitive skills in predicting exercise behavior (Orvidas et al., 2018; Walton, 2014; Wilson, 2006; Yeager & Walton, 2011). The current study explored the relationships among college student exercise behavior and non-cognitive skills: exercise self-efficacy, grit, and mindset. In Phase 1 (quantitative portion) of the study, participants (N = 366) completed a survey online assessing the above variables as well as collecting various demographic information. In Phase 2 (qualitative portion), participants (n = 10) were interviewed to further explore the variables and potentially help explain the quantitative results. Phase 1 data were analyzed through Pearson correlations, linear and multiple regressions, and MANOVAs. Results showed that Grit (Grit-S), Grit-Perseverance (Grit-P), Mindset (ITF), and Exercise Self-Efficacy (ESE) were significantly positively correlated with college student exercise behavior; however, all correlations were weak, with the exception of ESE being moderately correlated. Grit-Interest (Grit-I) was not significantly correlated. Furthermore, the results of the regression analysis showed only ESE making a significant contribution to the variance, further suggesting it as a moderately strong predictor of exercise behavior. In terms of the relationship between the variables, results showed that Grit-S was significantly strongly positively related to Grit-P and Grit-I and significantly, but weakly, positively related to ITF and ESE. In addition, ITF and ESE were significantly, but weakly, positively related. Finally, the sample was split into three groups: Insufficiently Active (IA), Active (A), and Highly Active (HA) based on adapted HHS 2018 PA Guidelines. Overall, the groups were significantly different. Specifically, the HA group reported significantly higher Grit, Grit-P, Mindset, and ESE than the IA group. The A group was only significantly different from IA and HA groups for ESE. However, the differences, again, had marginal effect with the exception of ESE. The current study reinforces the importance of ESE in exercise behavior, which seems to hold true for college students. In addition, it sheds light on the domain-specificity of non-cognitive skills, the need for continued analysis of measurement scales, the uni- or multi-dimensionality of constructs, particularly Grit, and the necessity of further research on the connection between non-cognitive skills and exercise behavior. Keywords: Grit, mindset, self-efficacy, non-cognitive skills, exercise behavior, college students, perseverance, goal-setting / Kinesiology

Bakgrund: Organisationers konkurrens om duktiga medarbetare har aldrig varit hårdare och med rätt arbetstagare på rätt plats kan organisationen skapa konkurrensfördelar. För att anses attraktiva måste organisationer kunna möta arbetstagares krav och erbjuda mer än bara en arbetsplats att gå till. Det pågår ett “krig” om talanger och när organisationer lyckats attrahera en talang måste de också se till att behålla den. Det finns dock en risk med att organisationen glömmer de medarbetare som inte är definierade som talang. Organisationen måste därför hitta ett hållbart sätt att attrahera, utveckla och behålla alla de rätta medarbetarna.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur de valda organisationerna arbetar med Talent Management samt hur arbetet upplevs av medarbetarna. Genom detta vill vi bidra till ökad förståelse för hur medarbetarnas uppfattning av Talent Management påverkar deras inställning till arbetet.   Metod: Vi har genomfört en flerfallsstudie där två organisationer som arbetar med Talent Management har undersökts. Genom en kvalitativ forskningsmetod har vi samlat in data i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. I intervjuerna deltog både medarbetare och de ansvariga för organisationernas arbete med Talent Management.   Slutsats: Talent Management hänger ihop med organisationens kultur och när det är väl integrerat i kulturen uppstår ett Talent Mindset. Det är organisationens Talent Mindset som ligger till grund för hur de arbetar med Talent Management. För ett framgångsrikt arbete med Talent Management måste organisationen erbjuda utvecklingsmöjligheter till alla medarbetare, inte bara till identifierade talanger. Utvecklingsmöjligheter bidrar till motivation och en positiv inställning till arbetet vilket gör att organisationer lättare behåller de rätta medarbetarna. Om organisationer arbetar med samtliga medarbetares utvecklingsmöjligheter kan de dock gynnas av att kalla strategin för något annat än Talent Management i syfte att inte kommunicera ett felaktigt fokus på talang. / Background: The competition among good employees is tougher than ever. The right people in the right place of an organization will provide the company with a competitive advantage. There is an ongoing war for talented employees, and organizations must know how to meet employee needs. When a company is able to attract a talent they also need to know how to retain it. However, there is a risk that organizations overlook the employees that have not been identified as talents. Therefore, organizations need to make sure that they have a sustainable approach to attract, develop and retain, not only talents, but all the right people.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the selected organizations work with Talent Management and the employee reactions to it. We aim to increase the understanding of how the employees’ reactions to Talent Management can affect their attitudes towards work.   Method: We did a case study where two organizations that work with Talent Management were investigated. We used an abductive research approach and a qualitative research method. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Bother the manager of the Talent Management process and the employees participated in the interviews.   Conclusion: Talent Management is related to organizational culture. Therefore, it is important to align Talent Management into the culture in order to create a Talent Mindset. The Talent Mindset is the basis for how the organization works with Talent Management. To work with Talent Management successfully, the organization needs to develop all employees. When the employees experience opportunities to develop in the organization they also feel motivated. Motivation contributes to positive attitudes and that will make it easier for organizations to retain the right people. If the organization works for all employees opportunity to develop within the organization they could benefit from calling the strategy for anything other than Talent Management, in order to not communicate a wrong focus on talent.

Studien syftar till att besvara frågeställningarna: Hur och varför används läxor i matematikundervisningen på det sätt som det görs idag? Hur uppfattar svenska lärare internationell forskning kring läxor i matematikämnet? Detta görs genom en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där verksamma matematiklärare i årskurserna 4-6 intervjuats gällande deras uppfattningar och erfarenheter kring läxor i matematik och internationell forskning. Resultatet är tolkat utifrån den fenomenologiska tolkningsprocessen och analyserat med hjälp av en tematisk analysmetod. Resultatet av studien visar att väldigt få läxor används i svenska skolan, där mängdträning är det som står i fokus. Detta för att det anses att läxor ska användas för att befästa befintlig kunskap och inte skapa ny kunskap. Lärarna visade delade åsikter gällande den internationella forskning som presenterades under intervjuerna. Den internationella forskningen som presenterades tog upp problematiken gällande läxläsning i olika länder och en forskning skapade en lösning på problematiken. Majoriteten av de svenska lärarna tyckte att lösningen som forskning föreslog lät bra i teorin men fann flera problematiska punkter för att det skulle kunna appliceras i praktiken. De punkter de svenska lärarna tar upp blir en fråga för skolorganisationen och blir därför grunden i den forskning som behöver göras inom forskningsområdet.