Denna studie undersöker hur populärvetenskapliga framställningar gestaltas för e-bok och video. Resultatet visar de mediespecifika skillnader som medierna e-bok och video för med sig. Detta görs i en studie med två exempel genom jämförande visuell analys av två olika typer av medium som båda förklarar samma fenomen med olika multimodala förutsättningar. Analysen gör det möjligt att se och dra slutsatser kring vad mediumet för med sig för skillnader. Ämnet är intressant för producenter av populärvetenskap. Syftet med studien är att undersöka, genom visuell analys, hur samma ämne gestaltas i e-bok och video. Beroende på medium har producenter av populärvetenskap, och designers med intresse för pedagogiskt material, helt olika förutsättningar och begränsningar i produktionen. Efter att studien är gjord har det framgått vad populärvetenskapliga framställningar i e-bok och video har för designlikheter. I det första exemplet behandlas multimodaliteter i e-boken Introducing Mind and Brain, A Graphic Guide, (Gellatly och Zarate 2018) och videon THE MIND explained: Memory (Netlfix 2019). För att avgränsa materialet används den sekvens från vardera medium som förklarar hur känslor kan bidra till att förstärka minnen. I det andra exemplet behandlas multimodaliteter i e-boken Introducing Aesthetics, A Graphic Guide (Kul-Want 2010) och videon Explained: Beauty (Netlfix 2019). För att avgränsa används den sekvens från vardera medium som förklarar att skönhet är subjektivt. Resultaten av den jämförande analysen diskuteras avslutningsvis för att besvara forskningsfrågan: Hur skiljer sig populärvetenskapliga framställningar i två olika medier, e-bok och video? Sammanfattningsvis gestaltas ämnet på olika vis beroende på medium men med designlikheter. Resultatet visar på att populärvetenskapliga framställningar i olika medium delas in i kortare pedagogiska sekvenser. De innehåller ofta verkliga exempel på situationer som mottagaren kan koppla informationen till, och tydliga visuella ledtrådar som guidar mottagaren genom materialet. Medierna har också gemensamt att de innehåller element som förstärker materialets legitimitet.

Ce travail de recherche vise à étudier la transmission d’informations vibrotactiles pour l’aide à la navigation et plus particulièrement pour améliorer la régulation des phases d’approche et la gestion des contacts avec l’environnement. L’un des défis majeurs de ce domaine de recherche est de comprendre comment rendre compte d’informations, parfois complexes, avec une modalité sensorielle n’étant pas naturellement utilisée pour les traiter. Ainsi, ce travail doctoral avait pour but de montrer la possibilité de suppléer la vision et à spécifier les caractéristiques de la stimulation vibrotactile qui influencent l’accès aux informations d’approche. Les différentes études qui étayent cette thèse ont été réalisées à partir d’un dispositif expérimental couplant un environnement virtuel et un dispositif tactile comprenant différents vibrateurs placés à la surface de la peau. Les deux premiers chapitres expérimentaux se sont appuyés sur des tâches d’estimation de temps de pré-contact (time-to-contact, TTC) classiquement utilisées pour étudier les processus visuels mis en jeu dans la régulation des situations d’approche. Le premier chapitre expérimental (expériences 1, 2 et 3) constituait une étude préliminaire qui a notamment montré que le jugement était plus précis lorsque le dispositif tactile renvoyait des informations concernant la distance d’approche (par rapport à des informations sur la taille angulaire). Les résultats du second chapitre expérimental (expériences 4 et 5) ont montré que la modalité tactile permettait d’estimer le TTC mais de manière moins précise que la modalité visuelle. Toutefois, lorsque la modalité visuelle est occultée, transmettre des informations tactiles durant la période d’occultation permet d’améliorer la précision du jugement. Le dernier chapitre expérimental (expériences 6 et 7) s’est intéressé plus précisément à l’influence des informations vibrotactiles sur la régulation d’une approche au sol dans une situation simulée d’atterrissage en hélicoptère. Les deux expérimentations ont montré que l’utilisation d’informations tactiles permettait une diminution significative de la vitesse de contact au sol lorsque l’environnement visuel était dégradé et que cette diminution dépendait de la variable informationnelle transmise par le dispositif. Au final, les résultats de ce travail de recherche sont discutés au regard des théories fondamentales sur la perception et l’action. Ils permettent de montrer comment des informations d’approche peuvent être perçues à travers la modalité tactile et ainsi suppléer la vision lorsqu’elle est dégradée. / The purpose of this doctoral research was to study vibrotactile information in navigation tasks, especially for approach regulation. One of the main issues in this research area is to find out how to specify complex information though a sensory modality that is usually unused. Thus, this work aimed at demonstrating the possibility to supply vision with tactile information and at specifying the characteristics of the vibrotactile stimulation that allow access to the information. The different studies have been carried out with an experimental display coupling a virtual environment and a tactile display consisting of several actuators placed on the skin. The first two empirical chapters were based on time-to-contact (TTC) judgment tasks, a paradigm generally used to study visual processes involved in approach situations. The first experimental chapter (experiments 1, 2 and 3) was a preliminary study, which showed that TTC estimation were more precise when the tactile display conveyed information about the distance to the target (compared to information about its angular size). The results of the second chapter (experiments 4 and 5) showed that TTC estimation was less accurate with tactile information compared to vision. Nevertheless, conveying tactile information when visual information was occluded significantly improved time-to-contact estimation. In the last chapter of this thesis, we focused on the influence of vibrotactile information on the regulation of a ground approach with a virtual situation of landing with a helicopter. We showed that tactile information reduced significantly the impact velocity when the visual environment was degraded (experiment 6 and 7). Moreover, the results showed that this decrease of velocity depended on the variable conveyed by the tactile display. Finally, the results of this work are discussed regarding fundamental theories about perception and action. Overall, it shows that approach information can be perceive through the tactile modality and thus supply vision in degraded environment.

In this research we introduce a novel reading system that enables Individuals with Blindness<br />or Severe Visual Impairment (IBSVI) to have equivalent spatial reading experience to their<br />sighted counterparts, in terms of being able to engage in different reading strategies e.g.<br />scanning, skimming, and active reading. IBSVI are enabled to read in a self-paced manner<br />with spatial access to the original layout of any electronic text document. This system<br />renders text on iPad-type devices, and reads aloud each word touched by the user\'s finger.<br />The user could move her finger smoothly along the lines to read continuously with the<br />support of tactile landmarks. A tactile overlay on the iPad screen helps IBSVI to navigate<br />a page, furnishing a framework of tactile landmarks to give IBSVI a sense of place on the<br />page. As the user moves her finger along the tangible pattern of the overlay, the text on the<br />screen that is touched is rendered audibly to speech. The system supports IBSVI to develop<br />and maintain a cognitive map of the structure and the layout of the page. IBSVI are enabled<br />to fuse audio, tactile landmarks, and spatial information in order to read.<br />The system\'s initial design is founded on a theoretical hypothesis. A participatory design<br />approach with IBSVI consultants was then applied to refine the initial design. The re"fined<br />design was tested in a usability study, which revealed two major issues with the tested<br />design. These issues are related to the lack of instant feedback from the system (psycho-<br />motorical problem), and the lack of conveying the semantic level of the page structure.<br />We adapted the reader design to solve the usability problems. The improved design was<br />tested in an experience sampling study. The results showed a leap in the system usability.<br />IBSVI participants successfully self-paced read spatial text. Further reading support was<br />then added to the system to improve the user experience while reading and interacting with<br />the system. We tested the latest design of the reader system with respect to its featured<br />function of enabling self-paced reading and re-finding information. A decomposition study<br />was conducted to evaluate the main components of the system; the tactile overlay, and the<br />intelligent active reading support. The results showed that both components are required<br />to achieve the best performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and spatial perception.<br />We conducted an evaluation study to compare our reader system to the state-of-the-art<br />iBook with VoiceOver. The results show that our reader system is more effective than iBook<br />with VoiceOver in finding previously read information and in estimating the layout of the<br />page, implying that IBSVI were able to construct a cognitive map for the pages they read,<br />and perform advanced reading strategies. Our goal is to to enable IBSVI to access digital<br />reading materials effectively, so that they may have equal learning opportunities as their<br />sighted counterparts. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the preschool teachers’ understanding of digital competence in preschool and their use of it to create learning situations for children in the form of increased opportunities for literacy. Digitalization has been given a lot of space in the latest revised curriculum of the preschool (2018). This has made digital competence a prerequisite for the pedagogical task in preschool. I want to highlight the opportunities and risks that digitalisation in preschool activities could entail in the form of, on the one hand increased accessibility and participation, on the other hand increased stress and reduced equivalence. It is about democracy as all children should have the opportunity to develop their learning about handling digital tools in everyday life in order to be able to participate in societal issues. Digital competence is a necessity in today`s society, both adultse and children come into contact with the digital in society in our everyday lives. Developments in ICT (Information and communication technology) take place at a furious pace, this will affect children`s working lives in the future. The preschool teachers digital competence has a significant impact on an equivalent teaching in the preschool. The starting point for the essay is my experiences of professional life. I will present the wording of the governing document on digitization in general and the meaning of the teacher assignment. Iwill investigate various strands of research on digitization in preschool and investigate the connection between literacy and multimodality. Finally I will examine the teacher´s  competence development. We adults need new knowledge and skills to guide the children in their development. Finally I will discuss the duties of the academic leader of the preschool when it comes to the implementation of digital tools in the preschool. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka förskollärarens uppfattning av digitala kompetens iförskolan, samt förskollärarens användning av dem för att skapa läs- och skriv situationer förbarnen. Digitalisering har fått stort utrymme i förskolans reviderade läroplan (2018).  Den snabba utvecklingen av det digitala i samhället avspeglar sig på förskolan i vårtpedagogiska uppdrag, att forma barnen till framtida medborgare som kan hantera teknik samtsamarbeta med andra människor i framtida yrkeslivet.  Utgångspunkten för essän är mina egna upplevelser av mitt yrkesliv, jag vill ge läsaren en ärligbild för att synliggöra den komplexitet som den innebär. Digitalisering medför både möjligheter och utmaningar i förskolans kontext. Pedagogerreagerar på olika sätt inför förändringar, ökade krav medför stress hos pedagoger idigitaliseringsarbetet. Jag kommer att börja med att presentera styrdokumentens, formuleringar om digitaliseringgenerellt och läraruppdragets innebörd. Hur ser läroplan för förskolan på digitalisering iförskolan? Jag kommer att undersöka vad forskningen säger om digitalisering i förskolan föratt belysa både risker och möjligheter som studier har visat. Jag kommer ta upp och diskuteravad begreppet litteracitet innebär, samt analysera samband med multimodalitet som är ettteoretiskt synsätt, och hur multimodala verktyg kan underlätta arbetet med litteracitet iundervisningssituationer i förskolan. Till slut kommer jag att undersöka förskollärarnaskompetensutveckling. Vi vuxna behöver nya kunskaper och färdigheter för att lära oss navigeraoch vägleda barnen i sin utveckling och lärande. Jag kommer även att diskutera rektorns roll idetta förändringsarbete.

To produce norms and beauty ideals through visual representations - A semiotic and multimodal study of how companies construct the “perfect body”.The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate how clothing companies, with the help of visual representations, construct, confirm and/or whether they challenge different norms and ideologies regarding the "perfect body". Based on the above-mentioned research aim, this thesis aspires to answer the following research questions:- How do visual representations on Instagram contribute to constructing, confirming and/or challenging beauty ideals and norms? - What are the norms regarding each gender according to the analyzed visual representations?In order to address the study’s aim and research questions, this study adopts a case study design which is based on qualitative methodology. More specifically, this thesis conducts a multimodal semiotic analysis of a Swedish clothing company’s Instagram posts. Based on a purposeful collection method, the study offers an in-depth analysis of six Instagram posts, considered to be representative of the company’s overall marketing strategy.Drawing from theoretical perspectives such as, social constructivism, social semiotics, self-discrepancy and poststructuralist feminism this thesis shows cases that both can confirm and contest society’s norms and beauty ideals. In summary, this thesis shows that the company under investigation both constructs and contests ideals and norms regarding the "perfect body", for the individual gender. These ideals are confirmed by creating visual representations where only people who meet society's ideals and norms are presented. The company thus does not challenge the notion of the "perfect body", which is a fit and thin body.

This essay examines how the picture book characters Mamma Mu and Kråkan are presented in text and illustrations. The purpose is to analyze how the interaction between the characters play out and how it can be interpreted from a critical gender perspective, and how picture books can set a scenery on how children perceive the world. The analysis is based on three entries from the book Mamma Mu bygger koja. Through a social semiotic theory approach and a multimodal method, the essay examines how the book’s various semiotic resources may reproduce gender norms. The essay discusses the differences and similarities in how Mamma Mu and Kråkan are presented. The analysis shows several differences, partly in how their facial expressions and mood are expressed, how detailed their actions are visualized, and in attitudes towards each other. The conclusion is that Mamma Mu has a calm and friendly demeanor and approach towards Kråkan. Kråkan, on the other hand, has a harsh, heated and diminishing demeanor and actions towards Mamma Mu. The author states that the way the female and male characters are portrayed in this picture book could replicate outdated and problematic gender norms and therefore should be problematized and questioned.

The symphonic relationship between the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), a mission conceived as entrusted by God to coordinate their contributions to the society, provides the Russian state with a moral framework and the ROC with the possibility to confirm her spiritual role for the establishment of a Russian Orthodox world. This vision of a new Russian world helps the ROC expand her canonical borders to amend for the fragmentation of the pastoral community after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The category of Orthodox businessmen represents a precious support for creating an influential network of activities of (apparently) cultural and religious content well outside of the post-Soviet territory. This also applies to Greece, given the two countries` historical and religious boundaries. This study will show how political messages can be successfully transferred through images depicting the religious soft power activities of Russian-Greek businessman Ivan Savvidis by analyzing the data through the methods of Visual Grammar. This study found that, by exploiting his Pontic identity and certain cultural values extrapolated through the Visual Grammar to attract the Russian-Greek diaspora in Northern Greece, Ivan Savvidis manages to convey the image of Russia as savior and protector of the Orthodox world, therefore showing the great potential of visuality in Russian religious soft power activities.

Worldwide, an influx of immigration, has increased the heterogeneity of our classrooms. In light of today’s heightened teacher accountability, standards and high-stakes assessment, traditional ways of teaching need to change in order to effectively serve the needs of our culturally and linguistically diverse students. Therefore, a qualitative-interpretive study was conducted with ten science teachers working in six private, international schools based in Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium with a focus on teacher perceptions, beliefs, teaching practices, and instructional resources used to teach science to English Language Learners (ELLs). Emphasis was placed on the specific teaching modalities and resources that science teachers use to support ELLs in their classrooms. It also addressed the needs of teachers to effectively teach science to ELLs. In response to the research questions, the thematic analysis revealed that the teachers working in these schools had a good awareness of ELL needs in science and wanted to make a difference for these learners. They perceived ELLs as quiet, but hardworking and motivated students. To some degree, the teachers used all seven modalities of teaching: reading, writing, speaking, listening, doing, interpreting, and representing, with or without the use of technology, and considered multimodality to be the most effective way to make science accessible to ELLs. Though not exhaustive, this research offers a set of pedagogical tools and resources for pre-service and in-service teachers to meet the needs of their ELLs in science. Furthermore, based on the teacher responses, the research identifies five key areas which are necessary for science literacy development of culturally and linguistically diverse students. These include: (i) teachers’ positive mindset and awareness towards ELLs in science; (ii) school leadership and administrative support for ELLs; (iii) time, multimodality, and specialized professional development (PD) to scaffold science for ELLs; (iv) the provision of realistic opportunities to collaborate with the ELL or English Language Development (ELD) teacher; and (v) co-teaching science with an ELL/ELD teacher. I would hereby like to share the findings of this thesis and make these accessible to fellow science teachers in the hope that they will refer and/or utilize the proposed strategies and resources in their daily practice.

Environmental issues have been described as one of society’s wicked problems. In contrast to widespread technological responses to environmental issues, I spotlight social aspects as chief barriers to productive change. I posit that socially constructed frames can influence people’s perspectives, opinions, and behaviors regarding environmental issues. In this project, I explored organizational work and framing processes as a means to bridge the chasm between technological and social approaches to environmental issues. To date, researchers using framing theory have narrowed their focus to testing the effectiveness of different frames. By doing so, however, researchers remain limited to discursive explanations regarding how frames are constructed at a micro level. In contrast, I adopted a multimodal approach that accounts for both discursive and non-discursive modalities to investigate how organizations deploy visual, material, and textual approaches to shape environmental meaning through framing processes. Specifically, I focused on organizational campaigns to construct meaning around the contentious issue of bottled water. I adopted a qualitative approach, using a multimodal analysis, to explore advertisements and campaigns used by bottled water companies and environmental activist groups to shape perspectives, opinions and behaviors of plastic containers and bottled water usage. I found that visual, material, and textual modalities can be used as value-neutral tools to help stakeholders construct different frames and shape the public’s opinion of bottled water. Different multimodal elements serve different functions in constructing different frames. I also identified particular barriers for the framing construction process.

Advertisements are multimodal texts created to get attention from potential customers in order to sell products. Previous research has shown how advertisements’ visual and verbal features make up ideological codes that are used to affect readers. To interpret these codes and gain an understanding of advertisements as communicative artifacts, a linguistic approach needs to be merged with a multimodal approach. In this study systemic functional grammar and multimodal semiotics are applied to ten skin care advertisements by Elizabeth Arden from 1920-2013. The aim is to investigate how the relationship between skin care companies and their potential customers is constructed through the use of language and images in skin care advertisements. Furthermore, the study aims to analyze whether and how the relationship between skin care companies and customers change over time. The findings indicate that the reader is constructed as unequal to Elizabeth Arden. The results also show a longitudinal difference in that the reader and the writer are constructed as closer in earlier advertisements and more distant in later advertisements. The language is also less demanding in recent years. Furthermore, the findings show that later skin care advertisements, unlike earlier advertisements, refer to science. The change might be an indication that societal and consumer values are evolving. Hence, the result might reflect societal changes.