This thesis presents the contribution to research that my doctoral education led to. My starting point was a large scale qualitative research project (here after called the VR-project) which reviewed the implementation of national tests in the third grade on the subject of mathematics. The VR-project investigated how the test affected the pupils with a special focus on pupils in need of special support. An urge to look further into issues concerning the support, the pupil in need and the test was revealed in he initial VR-project. These issues therefore constitutes the problem area of this thesis. The VR-project studied a total of 22 classrooms in two different municipalities' during 2010- 2012. The methodology used for this project was inspired by ethnography and discourse analysis. The raw data consisted of test instructions, video observations of the actual test subjects, interviews from teachers and pupils about the test, the support that was given throughout the testing as well as the observations and interviews of the pupils requiring special assistance. Activated discourses and positions of the participants were demarcated. The results revealed that a traditional testing discourse, a caring discourse and a competitive discourse are activated during the tests. The testing discourse is stable and traditional. Much of what was shown and said in classrooms, routines and rules regarding the test were repeated in all the schools and in all the classrooms. The discourse on support is affected by ambiguity, which is revealed especially when issues of pupils’ equity is put against the tests equality. This is connected to the teachers restricted agency to give support due to the teacher position as a test taker. The positions in need that are available to students are not the same in pupils, teachers and steering documents. The situation is especially troublesome for pupils that do not manage Swedish good enough to take the test and for pupils in need of special support. Some of the conclusions from this thesis is that the national test format: Disciplines not only the pupil, but also the teacher, the classroom and the school at large. Results indicate that the test: Activates a focus on achievementLeads attention away from learning Activates issues of accountability Influences pupils and teachers with stakes involved Besides evaluating knowledge, the test disciplines not only the pupil, but also the teacher, the classroom and the school at large. Discussing the national test as an arena for equity might be a way towards attaining equality in education for all pupils. / Nationella prov i matematik – vad gör testandet med eleverna?

Utgångspunkten för det här examensarbetet är några av de synpunkter som Skolinspektionens har i sin kvalitetsgranskning av teknikämnet 2014. Undersökningen ställer frågorna; vad tycker eleverna om teknikundervisningen, hur ser eleverna på teknikämnets utformning? I examensarbetet har en enkätstudie genomförts i en förortsskola i Stockholm. Enkäten har gått ut till 125 elever i årskurs 9.  Examensarbetet fokuserar på arbetsområdena som eleverna anser att de kan använda i sin vardag. Enkäten omfattar även bakgrundsfrågor med elevernas värderingar av den aktuella skolan, undervisningen i stort och teknikundervisningen.  Resultaten visar att eleverna uppfattar teknikundervisningen som varken intressant eller ointressant. Undervisningen är heller inte användbar i vardagen. Engagerade elever är också de elever som värdesätter teknikundervisningen mest. Dessa elever ser också mest nytta av undervisningen. Nyttan de ser är av relativt komplex teknisk natur. Det är också komplexa tekniska områden de skulle vilja arbeta med i undervisningen. / Based on some of the objections of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate quality audit of the subject technology in 2014 this research puts some questions; What do the students think about the technology subject, what do the students think the subject should teach?   The research was conducted as a survey in a suburban school in Stockholm, presented to 125 students in grade 9.  The research is focused on objects that the students they have worked with and the objects they want to work with, and where the objects can be used in the students' everyday lives. The questionnaire also includes background questions with the students' assessments of the current school teaching in general and the teaching in technology.  The results show that students perceive a technology education that is neither interesting nor uninteresting. The technology teaching is not useful in their everyday life. Students who value technology education the most also see the most benefits from the subjet. The benefits they see are of relatively complex technical nature. It is also complex technological objects or areas they would like to work with.

The perspective on health among school pupils needs to be extended. School is animportant arena for the promoting of health among youth, primarily from a healthpromoting perspective and a proactive perspective. A holistic approach has gatheredsome ground in the policy documents for the nine year compulsory school in Sweden, butin what way, and what effect does it have on the governing authorities and on schoollevel?The aim of the study is to investigate the coherence between national, municipal andlocal levels regarding the view on health among pupils. In order to do this, the guidelinesfor pupil health in the municipality of Örebro and operational plans for seven F9 schoolsin the municipality of Örebro will be studied and compared to the government bill”Health, learning and sense of security”. In order to obtain a theoretical understanding ofthe course of events between the different organizational levels, intervention theory hasbeen used as an explanatory model.Through analysis of the municipal guidelines for youth and pupil health, shows that thedocument very much resembles the government bill, which becomes apparent through thesame abstract formulations used. The content of the operational plans, particularly thequestion of preventing ill-health, therefore generally stays on an abstract level as well.Consequently, no concrete measures are taken on school level.From what the government bill emphasizes, the strongest reflection in the operationalplans is the point of quality control in the pupil health work and the participation ofparents. The operational plans are influenced by documents that describe how the pupilhealth work is to be organized, but there is still no policy document available for pupilhealth on local school level that includes health promoting and preventive measures. Thusthe schools lack the tools needed to tackle ill-health from a holistic point of view.However, several measures are available when it comes to reactive measures such asbullying and abusive behaviour. / Det finns ett behov av en utvidgad syn på elevhälsa som uppmärksammar fler aspekter avhälsa. Skolan är en viktig arena för arbetet med barn och ungdomars hälsa, inte minstutifrån ett hälsofrämjande och förebyggande perspektiv. I de dokument som styr skolanhar ett helhetsperspektiv på elevers hälsa fått ett allt större utrymme men på vilket sättoch vad innebär det, från de styrande organen för skolan och ner till personalen som skabemöta eleverna?Syftet med studien är att undersöka överensstämmelsen mellan en nationell och enkommunal och en lokal nivå vad gäller elevhälsa. Konkret innebär det att granska Örebrokommuns riktlinjer för barn- och elevhälsa och sju verksamhetsplaner för F9-skolor iÖrebro kommun utifrån regeringspropositionen ”Hälsa, lärande och trygghet”. För att fåen sammanhängande teoretisk beskrivning av skeendet mellan de olika organisatoriskanivåerna har en interventionsteori används som förklaringsmodell.Det som framkommit genom analys av det kommunala dokumentet är att det i stort ärväldigt likt propositionen, vilket bland annat innebär att det som formulerats i abstraktaordalag i propositionen sällan formuleras mer konkret i kommunens riktlinjer. Det somblir skrivet i verksamhetsplanerna, i synnerhet det som rör att förebygga psykisk ohälsa,blir därför också i vissa fall bara till abstrakta målformuleringar som aldrig tar form ikonkreta åtgärder eller insatser.Det som starkast avspeglas i verksamhetsplanerna utifrån det som framhålls ipropositionen är vikten av att kvalitetssäkra elevhälsoarbetet och att arbeta med eleversoch föräldrars delaktighet. Till stor del formas verksamhetsplanerna utifrån dokumentsom konkret beskriver hur arbetet med elevhälsa ska bedrivas, dock finns det inte någotelevhälsodokument på lokal nivå som generellt beskriver ett förebyggande ochhälsofrämjande arbete. Således har skolorna få verktyg för att angripa ohälsa ur etthelhetsperspektiv. Däremot finns det ett flertal specifika åtgärder till redan befintligproblematik, likt mobbning och kränkande behandling.

In a society where the labour market is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive and more differentiated, education has assumed greater importance for the capitalist states integrative functions as for the competitiveness in the global economy. As a consequence, the educational system has become a key governing resource for the state to meet and manage different kinds of social changes and problems. Against this background the thesis raises the main question - “what kind of societal problems are the educational reforms studied here considered to be the solution of?” The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the changes of the formation of knowledge in Swedish upper secondary curriculum between the 1960s and 2010s. In what way attained these changes in view of knowledge legitimacy in relation to the socioeconomic context? And what do these changes mean in terms of the attribution of the positioning of upper secondary school pupils and teachers?   This thesis draws on a “classical” theoretical framework of curriculum theory (i.e. the frame-factor theory) this means that the analytical focus is directed at the relationship between the content of the curriculum and the social context. With theoretical and methodological inspiration from critical realism and critical discourse analysis (CDA) the thesis argue for an alternative way to theoretical and empirical examined this relationship. Three historical reform periods are used to explore the discursive changes in the formation of knowledge in the Swedish upper secondary education reforms.   The results show how changes in socioeconomic conditions, such as economic crisis, over time have acted as important triggers for governing mechanisms embedded in the control of the educational system. These changes and mechanisms, in turn, have resulted in some major discursive knowledge shifts between the reforms studied, from the 1960s combination of an economic-rational and an objective-subject knowledge discourse, through the deregulated goal-rational and socio-cultural oriented knowledge discourse of the 1990s towards the 2010s knowledge discourses that are characterized by an increased focus on learning outcomes and measurability. Against the background of these discursive shifts, the analysis also points to some underlying continuities in terms of a general “reform imperative”, based on a number of overarching values ​​such as efficiency and rationality. The result show how this imperative was embedded in all three educational reforms and has ruled the order of discourses about what was deemed to be legitimate curriculum knowledge, a professional teacher and a desirable pupil.

Aim of the study to evaluate adolescent health and factors influencing it in boarding schools of Vilnius city. Objectives to evaluate adolescent health; to estimate the prevalence of behavior and psychosocial environmental factors influencing health; to identify and evaluate the peculiarities of health services provided to adolescents. Methods. An anonymous survey of 191 pupils aged 11-18 and interview method of health care specialists in two boarding schools were applied in the study. State of pupils’ health was analysing medical records. Results were compared between two boarding schools. SPSS statistics software was used for date analyze. Values were considered significant, when p<0.05. Results. Most of disorders reported were attributed to respiratory diseases. Almost half of adolescents from both institutions reported facing health problems. 36.1 % of adolescents were reported not being involved in extra curricular physical activities, 42.9 % indicated being smoking, 27.7 % frequent alcohol abuse. 42.8 % of adolescents reported that their interaction with teachers was not satisfactory. 59.7 % of adolescents experienced bullying; one in every two pupils felt not being safe. The analysis of inter-institutional comparison points to the significant differences in smoking, alcohol abuse and bullying prevalence. Adolescents lack knowledge regarding stress coping and readiness to live on their own. Data gathered from adolescents demonstrated general satisfaction with... [to full text]

Lietuva vis labiau įsitraukia į daugiamatę pasaulio raidą: pasinaudodama integracijos pranašumais ji siekia ilgalaikio konkurencingumo pasaulio ir Europos erdvėje. Šalyje nėra gausių gamtinių išteklių, ji nepasižymi išskirtine geografine padėtimi, todėl žmogiškieji ištekliai tampa pagrindine valstybės vertybe. Sparčiai didėjantis žmogiškųjų išteklių poreikis – vienas dabartinio laikmečio iššūkių, kurį sukelia besiplečiančios rinkos ekonominiai dėsniai, gamybos dinamiškumas, jos struktūriniai pokyčiai, naujos technologijos, stiprėjanti konkurencija ir aukštos kvalifikacijos specialistų stoka. Šiandieninis darbo pasaulis kelia iš esmės naujus reikalavimus žmogui jo karjeros kelyje. Šiuolaikiniam individui būtina karjeros kompetencija, kurią laiduoja aukšti specialieji profesiniai bei bendrieji: bendradarbiavimo bei veikimo socialinėje aplinkoje, darbo pasaulio pažinimo, sprendimų priėmimo, veiklos planavimo ir kiti gebėjimai. Dabartinėje, sparčiai besikeičiančioje, aplinkoje kiekvienam visuomenės nariui vis svarbesnė tampa galimybė mokytis ir tęsti savo žinių ir įgūdžių lavinimą visą gyvenimą. Nuošalėje atsiduria asmenys pradžioje, dažniausiai nenorintys, o vėliau ir nesugebantys prisitaikyti prie nuolat kintančių ir sudėtingėjančių gyvenimo sąlygų. Visuomenė vis labiau skirstosi į tuos, kurie turi rinkos poreikius atitinkančius įgūdžius ir kvalifikaciją, ir tuos, kurie jos neturi. Tikėtina, kad jauni žmonės, įgiję tik pagrindinį išsilavinimą, tačiau neįgiję darbinės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The greatest treasure of every country in the world is its scholastic frame quality and youth education. The efficiency of educational system is expressed through the number of inceptives in proportion to the number of students who have achieved a certain education degree. It is essential for a student to undergo success in each part of an educational chain and develop correspondent competence. There is an objective in our country to warrant compulsory primary education and apprenticeship up to 16 years of age. Recently, persons from 18 to 24 years without secondary education and who do not proceed to study are being taken into particular consideration. The weak link in Lithuanian educational system is vocational training schools. Each year approximately 7 thousand apprentices of these schools terminate their learning agreements before acquiring vocation. Therefore the aim of this investigation is to discover the reasons which prevent students from acquiring their chosen profession. The first part covers theoretical aspects of ineffectual learning, taking scientists’ researches into consideration, the extent of an unsuccessful learning and prime reasons for an early retreat from the educational system. The second section renders the reasons and assumptions for leaving vocational schools on the grounds of a particular vocational school activity analysis and unsuccessful students’ questionnaire information. The results identify difficulties of psychological, educational... [to full text]

Ancrée dans le domaine de la didactique des mathématiques, notre thèse cible le « travail de l’erreur » effectué par trois enseignants dans leur première année de carrière. Libérés des contraintes associées au système de formation initiale, ces sujets assument pleinement leur nouveau rôle au sein de la classe ordinaire. Ils se chargent, entre autres, de l’enseignement de l’arithmétique et, plus précisément, de la division euclidienne. Parmi leurs responsabilités se trouvent le repérage et l’intervention sur les procédures erronées. Le « travail de l’erreur » constitue l’expression spécifique désignant cette double tâche (Portugais 1995). À partir d’un dispositif de recherche combinant les méthodes d’observation et d’entrevue, nous documentons des séances d’enseignement afin de dégager les situations où nos maîtres du primaire identifient des erreurs dans les procédures algorithmiques des élèves et déploient, subséquemment, des stratégies d’intervention. Nous montrons comment ces deux activités sont coordonnées en décrivant les choix, décisions et actions mises en œuvre par nos sujets. Il nous est alors possible d’exposer l’organisation de la conduite de ces jeunes enseignants en fonction du traitement effectif de l’erreur arithmétique. En prenant appui sur la théorie de champs conceptuels (Vergnaud 1991), nous révélons l’implicite des connaissances mobilisées par nos sujets et mettons en relief les mécanismes cognitifs qui sous-tendent cette activité professionnelle. Nous pouvons ainsi témoigner, du moins en partie, du travail de conceptualisation réalisé in situ. Ce travail analytique permet de proposer l’existence d’un schème du travail de l’erreur chez ces maîtres débutants, mais aussi de spécifier sa nature et son fonctionnement. En explorant le versant cognitif de l’activité enseignante, notre thèse aborde une nouvelle perspective associée au thème du repérage et de l’intervention sur l’erreur de calcul de divisions en colonne. / Rooted in the Didactic of Mathematics’ field, this thesis looks into the practice of three new teachers. Free from the constraints and pressures associated with the teacher training context, these subjects take on a new role in their first year on the job. Among all of the affiliated responsibilities are those related to the teaching of arithmetic and, more specifically, the long division algorithm. “Le travail de l’erreur” is the expression used by Portugais (1995) to design error management by the teacher. It includes the diagnosis of errors and the strategies unfurled to help the pupil remedy his/her mistakes. This double task is the object of this study. Combining research methods of observation and interview, we aim to describe error management in a regular elementary class setting. We delineate situations where our subjects identify and intervene on errors made by students during the arithmetic procedure. We examine how these two activities are coordinated, by documenting the novice teachers choices, decisions and actions. We focus on the organization of their conduct throughout the different situations. A theoretical framework based on the “conceptual field theory” or “théorie des champs conceptuels” (Vergnaud, 1991) enables us to reveal the implicit teaching knowledge comprised in the behavior adopted by the young professionals. This analysis reveals the dynamics of piagetian assimilation/ accommodation mechanisms. It also gives us evidence of the conceptualizing process underlying teacher conduct. We utilize the concept of “scheme” to better understand this cognitive activity. We propose the existence of “le schème du travail de l’erreur” and aim to specify his nature and function. This allows us to describe the conceptual structure, which shapes and organizes the novice’s ability to manage errors in their pupil’s calculation of written divisions.

Biometric identification systems have several distinct advantages over other authentication technologies, such as passwords, in reliably recognising individuals. Iris based recognition is one such biometric recognition system. Unlike other biometrics such as fingerprints or face images, the distinct aspect of the iris comes from its randomly distributed features. The patterns of these randomly distributed features on the iris have been proved to be fixed in a person's lifetime, and are stable over time for healthy eyes except for the distortions caused by the constriction and dilation of the pupil. The distortion of the iris pattern caused by pupillary activity, which is mainly due changes in ambient lighting conditions, can be significant. One important question that arises from this is: How closely do two different iris images of the same person, taken at different times using different cameras, in different environments, and under different lighting conditions, agree with each other? It is also problematic for iris recognition systems to correctly identify a person when his/her pupil size is very different from the person's iris images, used at the time of constructing the system's data-base. To date, researchers in the field of iris recognition have made attempts to address this problem, with varying degrees of success. However, there is still a need to conduct in-depth investigations into this matter in order to arrive at more reliable solutions. It is therefore necessary to study the behaviour of iris surface deformation caused by the change of lighting conditions. In this thesis, a study of the physiological behaviour of pupil size variation under different normal indoor lighting conditions (100 lux ~ 1,200 lux) and brightness levels is presented. The thesis also presents the results of applying Elastic Graph Matching (EGM) tracking techniques to study the mechanisms of iris surface deformation. A study of the pupil size variation under different normal indoor lighting conditions was conducted. The study showed that the behaviour of the pupil size can be significantly different from one person to another under the same lighting conditions. There was no evidence from this study to show that the exact pupil sizes of an individual can be determined at a given illumination level. However, the range of pupil sizes can be estimated for a range of specific lighting conditions. The range of average pupil sizes under normal indoor lighting found was between 3 mm and 4 mm. One of the advantages of using EGM for iris surface deformation tracking is that it incorporates the benefit of the use of Gabor wavelets to encode the iris features for tracking. The tracking results showed that the radial stretch of the iris surface is nonlinear. However, the amount of extension of iris surface at any point on the iris during the stretch is approximately linear. The analyses of the tracking results also showed that the behaviour of iris surface deformation is different from one person to another. This implies that a generalised iris surface deformation model cannot be established for personal identification. However, a deformation model can be established for every individual based on their analysis result, which can be useful for personal verification using the iris. Therefore, analysis of the tracking results of each individual was used to model iris surface deformations for that individual. The model was able to estimate the movement of a point on the iris surface at a particular pupil size. This makes it possible to estimate and construct the 2D deformed iris image of a desired pupil size from a given iris image of another different pupil size. The estimated deformed iris images were compared with their actual images for similarity, using an intensitybased (zero mean normalised cross-correlation). The result shows that 86% of the comparisons have over 65% similarity between the estimated and actual iris image. Preliminary tests of the estimated deformed iris images using an open-source iris recognition algorithm have showed an improved personal verification performance. The studies presented in this thesis were conducted using a very small sample of iris images and therefore should not be generalised, before further investigations are conducted.

<p>Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka former och frekvens av IKT i ett kommunikativt syfte i skolan.</p><p>I bakgrunden presenteras att kommunikation med datorerna sätter sin prägel på människors liv och Internet påverkar i hög grad den dagliga tillvaron. Hur tillgången till datorer är i svenska hem och skola samt vilken betydelse datorns placering i har arbetssituationen belyses.</p><p>I den teoretiska bakgrunden beskrivs vad kommunikation och information är, att vi alltid kommunicerar men det är skillnad på de medel som används. Här belyses även datorns betydelse för kommunikation inom informations- och kommunikationstekniken (IKT). Här exemplifieras vidare datorn i ett pedagogiskt syfte och dess användning inom skolan samt att kringmiljön är viktig.</p><p>Studien är huvudsakligen baserad på en kvantitativ metodinriktning i form av en enkätundersökning där lärare och elever vid tre skolor i sex olika klasser svarar på frågor kring datorns nyttjande både inom skolan och i hemmet.</p><p>Resultatet visar att både elever och lärare är frekventa användare av datorer och kommunicerar via IKT i olika former. Båda grupperna är positiva till att i ökad grad kommunicera via IKT. Däremot tyder resultatet på att eleverna inte erbjuds eller tillåts att använda datorer och kommunicera via IKT i den utsträckning som kan uppfattas som rimlig både utifrån ett läroplansperspektiv och utifrån elevers förutsättningar och önskan.</p><p>Generellt sett är dock elever nöjda med det arbetssätt läraren använder sig av i undervisningen, eftersom eleven inte vet av något annat. Datorn är fysiskt placerad centralt i lärares arbetsmiljö i skolan men det gäller dock inte för eleverna som inte kan utnyttja samma arbetsformer.</p><p>En pedagogisk implikation av denna studie är att datorernas placering – det vill säga brist på central placering – leder till brister i möjligheter att utnyttja de moderna kommunikationsformer som är en del av elevernas vardag. Eleverna söker information och surfar på nätet hemma men sällan eller aldrig i skolan. En avgörande faktor är också lärarnas inställning till tillämpandet av IKT i undervisningen.</p> / <p>The object with this study is to examine the forms and frequency of the use of ICT for communicative purposes within the educational system.</p><p>In the background the fact is established that communication with computers shape peoples lives and that the Internet have a great influence on every day life. The accessibility to computers in Swedish homes and schools and the significance of the placement of the computer within the works situation is also illustrated.</p><p>The theoretical background gives a description of what communication and Information is, that we always communicate, but also that the means differ in doing so. Here is also the significance of the computer for communication within ICT emphasized. The computer is exemplifyed for an educational purpose, it’s use in school and the importance of the pedagogical environment is also stressed.</p><p>The study is mainly based on a quantitative method in forms of an inquiry where teachers and pupils at there different schools in six different grades answers questions about computer usage both in school and at home.</p><p>The result signifyes that both pupils and teachers are frequent users of computers and that they communicate through different modes of ICT. Both categories are positive to an increased use of ICT as a method of communication. The result, however, points out that pupils are not granted the possibility or are not allowed to make use of computers and to communicate through ICT to that extent which seems reasonable form a curricular perspective and the requirements and wishes of the pupils.</p><p>In general, however, are the pupils content with the working methods that the teachers are making use of in their tuition, (probably) since they know of no other method. The computer is physically centrally placed in the teachers working environment in school, but that is not the case for the pupils who are able to make use of the same working methods themselves.</p><p>An educational implication of this study is that the placement of the computers – that is the lack of central placement – causes difficulties in making use of modern means of communication, which is an integrated part of the pupils’ everyday life. The pupils search for information on the Internet at home but rarely or never while in school. A decisive element is also the attitude of the teachers to the application of ICT in the daily pedagogical activity.</p>

No description available.