Museum techniques of presentation are reviewed for the possibility of use in contemporary botanic gardens. Supporting evidence suggests that these techniques are being successfully applied in some botanic gardens around the world. Institutions that have adopted museum techniques have been found to operate efficiently, whilst providing increased levels of enjoyment and education for visitors. Cultural differences between various countries have small influences on the most effective presentation techniques used, but further local research is required to uncover visitor preferences and use patterns in Australian botanic gardens. General principles of design that work well in the indoor environments of international musuems apply well in the outdoor environments of botanic gardens. Therefore greater use should be made of existing international museum research into visitor patterns of behaviour where it is locally appropriate.

<p>This study was undertaken among teachers in different schools of Sweden and among several teachers with experience in teaching drama during February and March 2006. The aim was to explore what the beneficial aspects of working with drama outdoors are and simultaneously to examine any problems that may appear and what kind of activities the teachers believe are more conducive to outdoor settings.</p><p>Qualitative research methods were used for this study. An open questionnaire was sent to eight drama teachers for their opinion on doing drama activities in outdoor environments. Also, activities recommended for using in outdoor settings were prepared and send to several teachers, some of whom had previous experience working outdoors. They were asked later in an open questionnaire to evaluate the relative success of the activities they managed to do and the positive aspects and problems they encountered in doing the activities in outdoor settings. Additionally, some unstructured observations of two different groups took place in two elementary schools. </p><p>The research reveals that in general terms, the teachers encountered many beneficial outcomes of using drama activities in outdoor environments and they encountered some problems as well. </p><p>This study demonstrates the relative success and benefits of drama activities in outdoor environments and addresses some common problems that may appear. It contains a variety of drama activities that can be useful to teachers who are interested in working with drama in the outdoors. The discussion includes some recommendations for teachers.</p>

This study was undertaken among teachers in different schools of Sweden and among several teachers with experience in teaching drama during February and March 2006. The aim was to explore what the beneficial aspects of working with drama outdoors are and simultaneously to examine any problems that may appear and what kind of activities the teachers believe are more conducive to outdoor settings. Qualitative research methods were used for this study. An open questionnaire was sent to eight drama teachers for their opinion on doing drama activities in outdoor environments. Also, activities recommended for using in outdoor settings were prepared and send to several teachers, some of whom had previous experience working outdoors. They were asked later in an open questionnaire to evaluate the relative success of the activities they managed to do and the positive aspects and problems they encountered in doing the activities in outdoor settings. Additionally, some unstructured observations of two different groups took place in two elementary schools. The research reveals that in general terms, the teachers encountered many beneficial outcomes of using drama activities in outdoor environments and they encountered some problems as well. This study demonstrates the relative success and benefits of drama activities in outdoor environments and addresses some common problems that may appear. It contains a variety of drama activities that can be useful to teachers who are interested in working with drama in the outdoors. The discussion includes some recommendations for teachers.

Children’s outdoor play is decreasing. One factor is children's increased use of technology. Contributing to an existing research project, Hållbara Lekmiljöer i Staden by Uppsala University and KTH, the aim of this research project is to investigate the potential role technology could play in children’s outdoor play if integrated within outdoor environments. A further aim of the project is to understand how children use and repurpose (appropriate) their surroundings for play, and whether evidence of one child's play can influence a future child’s play. After a review of relevant literature and previous work, the project conducted a workshop to understand how children conduct outdoor play. Through analysing the behaviours and activities of the children during this workshop (obtained via observations and interviews), three play patterns involving natural materials emerged. These include collecting materials, constructing structures using the materials, and destroying materials. The former two, alongside appropriation and technology, became themes for ideation and inspired the design process, which ultimately produced The Drum. The Drum is a digital-physical play artefact that allows children to create patterns based on their combination and types of touch interactions. Children used the technology to facilitate their play, successful appropriations due to three design features: a recognisable output medium, portability, and small design. However, these features were unable to influence future play and behaviour due to the lack of development of The Drum and the research setup. Therefore, further development of The Drum and a better research setup are suggested as actions for future work.

Studiens övergripande syfte var att undersöka och diskutera vilka som är de viktigaste egenskapernai en förskolas utemiljö och om dess kvalitet är mätbar. Studien har besvarat frågeställningarnagenom att applicera en analys- och bedömningsmodell från tidigare forskning (OPEC) på sexförskolors utemiljöer i Gävle kommun. Modellens bakgrund och kriterier har jämförts mednuvarande svenska styrdokument för planering av förskolor. Experter inom området har använtssom en del i att undersöka vilka egenskaper som utgör en god utemiljö. Resultatet visade att detfinns en diskrepans mellan modellens kriterier och aktuella styrdokument samt sakkunnigas åsikter.Resultatet visar också hur hög kvalitet de studerade förskolornas utemiljöer uppnår enligt OPEC. / The overall aim of this study was to explore and discuss which ones are the most importantcharacteristics of a preschools outdoor environment and if its quality is measurable. The study hasanswered the research questions by applying an analysis and assessment model from previousresearch (OPEC) on six preschools outdoor environments in the city of Gävle. The model'sbackground and criteria was compared with current Swedish policy documents for planningpreschools. Experts in the field has been used to study what characteristics that make a goodoutdoor environment for preschool children. The results showed that there is a discrepancybetween the model’s criteria and both the relevant policy documents and the experts’ opinions.The result also shows the quality of the studied preschools outdoor environments according toOPEC.

no / The number of people visiting their local parks and countryside is increasing according to a recent survey published by Natural England [1]. An important reason given for visiting green spaces was to “relax and unwind” and these areas can be considered restorative or tranquil environments giving relief from cognitive overload and reduction of stress. Our green spaces can be a refuge from the din of city life and the green environment can provide shelter for wildlife and bird song can be heard. But are they suffi- ciently tranquil and what guidance do we have for improving such spaces if they are not?

Previous research has highlighted the importance of place for learning in preschool, and positive benefits of using indoor and outdoor environments as complements to each other have also been described. Outdoor environments have been particurly described as significant for learning in biology. This study, which is based on phenomenographic theory, aims to contribute with insights into preschool teachers´perception of the importance of the outdoor environment for teaching biology. Is teaching mainly outdoors, or does it take place in other environments, if so, why? In order to obtain rich data material, semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain as detailed descriptions as possible of preschools located in two different municipalities were interviewed. The results from this point to four enviroments that the preschool teachers perceive as important for teaching biology: the preschool yard, the forest, indoors and nearby enviromments to the preschool. However, there are different opinions about why certin places are chosen such as attractive, educational , and everyday enviroment to name a few. This indicates that the choice of location can be context-dependent and influnced by a number of diffrent factors.  Keywords: biology teaching, outdoor enviroemnts, perceptions, preschool teachers / Tidigare forskning har belyst betydelsen av plats för lärande i förskolan, dethar även beskrivits positiva fördelar med att använda inomhus och utomhusmiljöer som komplement till varandra. Utemiljöer har särskilt beskrivits sombetydelsefulla för lärande i biologi. Denna studie, som är grundad påfenomenografisk teori, syftar till att bidra med insikter om förskolläraresuppfattning om utemiljöns betydelse för undervisning i biologi. Är detframför allt utomhus som undervisning bedrivs, eller sker det i andra miljöer,i så fall, varför? För att få ett rikt datamaterial genomfördessemistrukturerade intervjuer för att få så detaljerade beskrivningar sommöjligt av förskollärares uppfattningar. I studien intervjuades sjuförskollärare från tre förskolor belägna i två olika kommuner. Resultaten fråndenna studie pekar på fyra miljöer som förskollärarna uppfattar som viktigaför biologiundervisning: förskolegården, skogen, inomhus och närliggandemiljöer till förskolan. Det förekommer dock olika uppfattningar om varförvissa platser väljs, det är lockande, pedagogiska och vardagliga för att nämnanågra. Detta indikerar att valet av plats kan vara kontextberoende ochpåverkas av en rad olika faktorer.

Barns motoriska utveckling är en viktig del av arbetet i förskolan. I Läroplan för förskolan, Lpfö 18 (Skolverket 2018, s. 9) står det att förskolans uppdrag är att utmana och främja barns motoriska utveckling och lärande i varierande miljöer. Den forskning som undersökt barns motoriska utveckling i utomhusmiljöer och vid riskfylld lek är bristfällig, vilket innebär att mer forskning inom området behövs. Därav är syftet med denna studie att undersöka hur förskollärare arbetar i utomhusmiljöer och hur riskfylld lek används för att främja barns motoriska utveckling. Studien har genomförts med den kvalitativa metoden self-report, där förskollärare besvarat nio frågor via e-post. I studiens resultat framkommer det att förskollärarna anser utomhusmiljön som betydelsefull för barns motoriska utveckling. Det framgår dessutom att när barn får möta varierande miljöer och leka med olika material främjas deras motorik. Förskollärarna lyfter fram vikten av närvarande, medforskande och stöttande pedagoger när barn utvecklas motoriskt i utomhusmiljöer. Resultatet visar även att förskollärarna anser att riskfylld lek är gynnsamt för barns motoriska utveckling, då de utmanas i olika rörelseaktiviteter vilket främjar deras motorik. / Children's motor development is an important part of the work in preschool. In the Swedish Curriculum for the preschool, Lpfö 18 (Skolverket 2018, p. 9) it is stated that the preschool's mission is to challenge and promote children's motor development and learning in varying environments. Previous research that has studied children's motor development in outdoor environments and at risky play is inadequate, which means that more research in the area is needed. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate how preschool teachers work in outdoor environments and how risky play is used to promote children's motor development. The study has been conducted using the qualitative method self-report, where preschool teachers answered nine questions via e-mail. The results of the study show that preschool teachers consider the outdoor environment to be important for children's motor development. It also appears that when children encounter varying environments and play with different materials, their motor skills are promoted. The preschool teachers highlight the importance of present, co-researching and supportive teachers when children develop motor skills in outdoor environments. The results also show that preschool teachers consider risky play to be beneficial for children's motor development, as they are challenged in various activities which promotes their motor skills.

A navegação autônoma é um dos problemas fundamentais na área da robótica móvel. Algoritmos capazes de conduzir um robô até o seu destino de maneira segura e eficiente são um pré-requisito para que robôs móveis possam executar as mais diversas tarefas que são atribuídas a eles com sucesso. Dependendo da complexidade do ambiente e da tarefa que deve ser executada, a programação de algoritmos de navegação não é um problema de solução trivial. Esta tese trata do desenvolvimento de sistemas de navegação autônoma baseados em técnicas de aprendizado supervisionado. Mais especificamente, foram abordados dois problemas distintos: a navegação de robôs/- veículos em ambientes urbanos e a navegação de robôs em ambientes não estruturados. No primeiro caso, o robô/veículo deve evitar obstáculos e se manter na via navegável, a partir de exemplos fornecidos por um motorista humano. No segundo caso, o robô deve identificar e evitar áreas irregulares (maior vibração), reduzindo o consumo de energia. Nesse caso, o aprendizado foi realizado a partir de informações obtidas por sensores. Em ambos os casos, algoritmos de aprendizado supervisionado foram capazes de permitir que os robôs navegassem de maneira segura e eficiente durante os testes experimentais realizados / Autonomous navigation is a fundamental problem in the field of mobile robotics. Algorithms capable of driving a robot to its destination safely and efficiently are a prerequisite for mobile robots to successfully perform different tasks that may be assigned to them. Depending on the complexity of the environment and the task to be executed, programming of navigation algorithms is not a trivial problem. This thesis approaches the development of autonomous navigation systems based on supervised learning techniques. More specifically, two distinct problems have been addressed: a robot/vehicle navigation in urban environments and robot navigation in unstructured environments. In the first case, the robot/vehicle must avoid obstacles and keep itself in the road based on examples provided by a human driver. In the second case, the robot should identify and avoid unstructured areas (higher vibration), reducing energy consumption. In this case, learning was based on information obtained by sensors. In either case, supervised learning algorithms have been capable of allowing the robots to navigate in a safe and efficient manner during the experimental tests

A navegação autônoma é um dos problemas fundamentais na área da robótica móvel. Algoritmos capazes de conduzir um robô até o seu destino de maneira segura e eficiente são um pré-requisito para que robôs móveis possam executar as mais diversas tarefas que são atribuídas a eles com sucesso. Dependendo da complexidade do ambiente e da tarefa que deve ser executada, a programação de algoritmos de navegação não é um problema de solução trivial. Esta tese trata do desenvolvimento de sistemas de navegação autônoma baseados em técnicas de aprendizado supervisionado. Mais especificamente, foram abordados dois problemas distintos: a navegação de robôs/- veículos em ambientes urbanos e a navegação de robôs em ambientes não estruturados. No primeiro caso, o robô/veículo deve evitar obstáculos e se manter na via navegável, a partir de exemplos fornecidos por um motorista humano. No segundo caso, o robô deve identificar e evitar áreas irregulares (maior vibração), reduzindo o consumo de energia. Nesse caso, o aprendizado foi realizado a partir de informações obtidas por sensores. Em ambos os casos, algoritmos de aprendizado supervisionado foram capazes de permitir que os robôs navegassem de maneira segura e eficiente durante os testes experimentais realizados / Autonomous navigation is a fundamental problem in the field of mobile robotics. Algorithms capable of driving a robot to its destination safely and efficiently are a prerequisite for mobile robots to successfully perform different tasks that may be assigned to them. Depending on the complexity of the environment and the task to be executed, programming of navigation algorithms is not a trivial problem. This thesis approaches the development of autonomous navigation systems based on supervised learning techniques. More specifically, two distinct problems have been addressed: a robot/vehicle navigation in urban environments and robot navigation in unstructured environments. In the first case, the robot/vehicle must avoid obstacles and keep itself in the road based on examples provided by a human driver. In the second case, the robot should identify and avoid unstructured areas (higher vibration), reducing energy consumption. In this case, learning was based on information obtained by sensors. In either case, supervised learning algorithms have been capable of allowing the robots to navigate in a safe and efficient manner during the experimental tests