The object of this research was to investigate young children's mathematical spatial reasoning in a Montessori classroom. Spatial reasoning is an important part of children's mathematical learning and development; however, opportunities for rich spatial reasoning are not readily available in the classroom. Rather, there is a focus on numeracy at the expense of geometry where activities for spatial development are usually found. Montessori designed a sensory curriculum around children's development, yet spatial reasoning in a Montessori classroom has not been fully investigated. This was a qualitative study using some tools of ethnography. The theoretical framework was Radford's sensuous cognition (2013, 2014) which allowed for an understanding of human development as cultural with the body essential to that development. The data, captured by video, were the children's semiotic traces (Bartolini Bussi and Baccaglini-Frank (2015, p. 393) which are the visible productions of the children's spatial reasoning such as their movements, text, drawings, and speech. The analysis found that the children had ample opportunities for engaging in challenging mathematical problems which required their spatial reasoning. These engaging activities resulted in the children using a wide range of spatial skills as they reasoned mathematically. The children's movement, the main semiotic trace generated by the children, was crucial to their spatial reasoning. This investigation concluded the pedagogical practices created a rich and dynamic environment for the children's spatial development. Practices included the use of well-designed mathematical manipulatives, engagement in the manner of guided play, co-operative learning with peers of mixed ages, extensive time for activities, and assessment based on observations of individual children.

The question whether peer feedback can contribute to language development in an English second language (L2) classroom in a Swedish context is investigated through the use of a research synthesis. The syllabus for English 5-7, the document detailing the skills that should be developed and the content of English L2 upper secondary education in Sweden, suggests that peer feedback is an important feature in English L2 learning. Results of the current study indicated that peer feedback could have beneficial effects for pupils’ writing and language development. These results were supported by sociocultural theory. Furthermore, some of the issues regarding peer feedback, for instance that pupils mistrust their peers’ ability to give comments, could be circumvented through training pupils to give and incorporate peer feedback. Despite the fact that results indicated that peer feedback could be a valuable learning tool, results cannot with any certainty be generalized to a Swedish upper secondary context due to the fact that the primary research was conducted mostly at a small scale of approximately twenty to forty pupils, that all research was at university level, and that most of the research pertained to Asian pupils.

No description available.

I dagens samhälle har sociala medier stort inflytande på människor. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur unga kvinnor upplever att deras mentala hälsa påverkas till följd av användning av sociala medier. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med unga kvinnor mellan 20–35 år som är aktiva på Facebook och Instagram. Analysen visade på två centrala teman: positiva mentala effekter och negativa mentala effekter med subteman ökad stressnivå och beroendeframkallande. Deltagarna upplever att deras psykiska hälsa påverkas både positivt och negativt. Dock visar resultatet att det var övervägande negativt. Vilket är i linje med tidigare studier. Författarna resonerar att social gemenskap vid användning av sociala medier var en gemensam positiv faktor för deltagarna, medan minskad självkänsla var en gemensam negativ faktor. Vi kommer att diskutera resultat i enlighet med den sociokulturella teorin, då det diskuterades att sociala medier har en viktig roll gällande hur de påverkar unga kvinnors mentala hälsa utifrån samtida kultur.

This study analyzed how six Heritage language learners at the university level gained conscious awareness and control of the concept of modality as revealed in student verbalizations (Vygotsky, 1998) throughout five different written communicative events. This work took place in the only course designed for Heritage language learners at a large public suburban university in the Northeast part of the United States. Grammatical simplification in bilingual speakers is due to incomplete acquisition of Spanish, attrition or loss of an underused linguistic system (Lynch, 1999; Martínez Mira, 2009a, 2009b; Mikulski, 2010b; Montrul, 2007; Ocampo, 1990; Silva-Corvalán, 1990, 1994a, 1994b, 2003; Studerus, 1995). The result of the process of simplification is reduction or loss of forms and/or meanings. In this work, I investigated in which ways Gal’perin’s (1989) systemic-theoretical organized instruction promoted awareness, control and internalization of the concept of modality in three sets of data: definition, discourse and verbalization (Negueruela, 2003). In addition, I examined how the concept of modality emerged and proceeded. By focusing students’ attention in Negueruela’s (2003) Concept of Mood in Spanish orienting chart in a top down fashion, students were able to strengthen their theoretical understanding in practical activity while still accessing empirical knowledge, and eventually generalizing its use in new contexts across nominal, adjectival and adverbial clauses. At the definition level, Gal’perin’s Systemic-theoretical instruction promoted emergence and progress of their conceptual understanding from perceptual to semantic. At the discourse level, students’ theoretically based semantic understanding had a positive impact as revealed in student’s discourse progress throughout tasks. At the verbalization level, semantic, abstract and systematic verbalizations showed students’ emergence of awareness of the interrelated categories of modality. The conceptual category of anticipation was appropriately verbalized and contextualized 68% of the time. The absence of quality verbalizations referring to a specific conceptual category in some students lead me to conclude that students did not fully understand the meaning of some conceptual categories. On the contrary, their presence in any of the tasks showed emergence of conceptual meaning(s) in appropriate contexts, further appropriate recontextualization may provide full awareness and control.

During our studies to becom special teachers in mathematics development, we have developed an interest in students who show resistance to the subject of matehmatics or mathematics teaching. The purpose of the study is to investigate teaching that promotes learning for pupils in mathematics anxiety, to distinguish any challenges that the teachers might encounter in teaching and to make visible future collaboration between the teachers and the special education teachers to support learning for pupils with mathematics anxiety. This has been done through semi-structured interviews and observations of primary and middle school teachers. The method used was inspired by grounded theory. The results were analyzed using sociocultural theory. The entire study rests on a relational perspective, which sees the student in difficulties and not with difficulties. The conclusion drawn from the study was that the teachers agreed with research in the field about which teaching methods are beneficial for students in mathematics anxiety. They also agreed with the research about the challenges that can arise in working with these students. Several different examples of collaboration between the teachers and the special education teachers emerged during the interviews. However, several challenges were identified which prevent teachers from implementing these methods in everyday teaching. A challenge in this may, for example, be that the special teachers in mathematics development are few in the schools. Another challenge can be that the teachers request pedagogical guidance where didactic issues can be raised, but that forum is missing in many schools.

This degree project is a study investigating the views Swedish upper secondary English teachers have towards the use of video games as a medium through which to teach. The aim of the study was to gain insight into teachers’ views and what aspects they believed could encourage and/or inhibit the use of video games in the English foreign language (EFL) classroom. To achieve this aim, a sociocultural perspective was used along with a mixed method consisting of a survey study and semi-structured interviews. The survey was used to gain an idea of how teachers who have used video games in their classroom view the medium and the interviews were used to further analyse these views. The results show that in general teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of video games in the EFL classroom. The aspects of motivation and engagement were found to be important factors for successful learning with video games and the participating teachers generally agreed that video games can help students reach the overarching aims of the English subject. One of the greatest inhibitors found among the teachers was the logistical aspect. This included costs, time, and technological difficulties, and was something the teachers found both made the use of video games in the classroom difficult and which at times could make it ineffective. The aspect of assessment was also investigated, where it was found that most teachers did not believe video games could constitute a valid form of assessment in and of itself, but rather as an aid towards other forms of assessment.

Denna studie strävar efter en djupare förståelse av förskollärares syn på kemi i förskolans vardag. Genom att tillämpa sociokulturella teorin som en teoretisk ram och genomföra kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med verksamma förskollärare, belyser resultatanalysen deras syn på att förhålla sig till naturvetenskapens alla delar, inklusive kemi.Studien bidrar med insikter i hur kemi uppfattas av förskollärare, och en ökad förståelse för de praktiska och pedagogiska strategier som används för att förhålla sig till naturvetenskapens olika aspekter, särskilt kemi. Utmaningarna som framkommer utgörs av hinder som påverkar integrationen av kemi i förskolan och betonar vikten av förskollärarkompetens i en dynamisk pedagogisk kontext. Vid diskussionen om långsiktiga fördelar och nackdelar betonar förskollärarna kemiintegrationens potential att främja barnens problemlösningsförmågor, nyfikenhet och kreativitet. Samtidigt erkänns utmaningar såsom tidsbegränsningar och förväntningar från olika håll. Dessa insikter pekar på förskollärarnas medvetenhet kring läroplanen, men faktorer som påverkar deras praktiska integrering av kemi i förskolan är begränsad kompetens. I sin helhet ger studien en bild av förskollärares syn och arbete med kemi i förskolan. Den lyfter fram insikter kring utmaningar och möjligheter som påverkar kemiintegrationen, och understryker behovet av stödstrukturer och kompetensutveckling för förskollärare i deras strävan efter att skapa en gynnsam lärandemiljö för barnen. / This study aims to achieve a deeper understanding of preschool teachers' views on chemistry in the daily life of preschool. By applying sociocultural theory as a theoretical framework and conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews with active preschool teachers, the results analysis illuminates their views in engaging with all aspects of natural sciences, including chemistry. The study contributes insights into how chemistry is perceived by preschool teachers and enhances understanding of the practical and pedagogical strategies used to address various aspects of natural sciences, particularly chemistry. The challenges that emerge consist of barriers affecting the integration of chemistry in preschool, emphasizing the importance of preschool teacher competence in a dynamic educational context. In discussing long-term benefits and drawbacks, preschool teachers highlight the potential of integrating chemistry to enhance children's problem-solving abilities, curiosity, and creativity. Simultaneously, challenges such as time constraints and expectations from various sources are acknowledged. These insights indicate preschool teachers' awareness of the curriculum, but factors influencing their practical integration of chemistry in preschool include limited competence. In its entirety, the study paints a picture of preschool teachers' views and work with chemistry in preschool. It brings forth insights into challenges and opportunities influencing the integration of chemistry and underscores the need for support structures and professional development for preschool teachers in their efforts to create a conducive learning environment for children.

This thesis describes three (3) action research (AR) cycles I conducted in collaboration with my co-participants in Ghana's colleges of education. The focus of our collaboration was to nurture creative and innovative teaching strategies for education on HIV/AIDS and other emerging health issues. It has become necessary to engineer this bottom-up approach to learning and research because we see the current way of teaching and learning in Ghanaian schools as mere regurgitating of information and reproducing same in examination without meaningful change in behavior. This assertion was reiterated by Ghana's minister of education, Dr. Yao Osei Adutwum when he addressed delegates at the just ended United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2022. He says, "[y]ou can't memorize your way out of poverty but you can critically think and innovate out of poverty." My co-participants and I are of the view that many people will continue to die from HIV/AIDS if teachers continue to teach by encouraging students to memorize factsheets to reproduce in examinations. The action research described in this thesis seeks to empower teacher-educators in Ghanaian colleges of education with useful pedagogical and research tools. The long-term goal - beyond the timeframe of this thesis - is for them to train new teachers to be confident, bold and assertive to push cultural and systemic boundaries, to nurture equally assertive students to deal with health challenges (pandemics) which they may be confronted with. Methods used to gather data included focus group interviews, observations of lesson presentations and reflective notes (journals). The design of this research was, partially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings, however, still proved to be interesting. Among those findings were strong teacher educator participation and a significant improvement in teacher educators' understanding and employment of SCT teaching strategies suited to their HIV/AIDS and Other Tropical Diseases in Africa classes.

Grounded in sociocultural theory, peer feedback can help students engage in interaction and negotiation of meaning, which serve as a basis for the construction of knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978). It can also contribute to the development of self-regulation, as well as of reflection on one's own learning (Doolittle & Hicks, 2003). Its strategic incorporation into foreign language instruction can help students use the language they are in the process of acquiring to mediate language acquisition (Shrum & Glisan, 2005). Research shows that peer feedback can help students develop and advance their Zone of Proximal Development through their engagement in collaborative interaction with their peers (De Guerrero & Villamil, 1994, 2000; Donato, 2004; Lantolf, 2004; Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Liu & Hansen, 2005). Peer feedback can also help students improve their writing proficiency, including organization of their texts and awareness of the mechanics of the language necessary for successful communication of the intended message (Kinsler, 1990; Hu, 2005; Williams, 2005). Framed within a sociocultural perspective on foreign language learning and development, and following a manuscript approach, this dissertation consists of a series of studies that aim to explore: (a) whether participation in a peer feedback experience has a positive impact on students’ foreign language writing proficiency; (b) whether guidelines plus training in how to provide meaningful feedback have a different impact on students’ foreign language writing proficiency than guidelines alone; (c) around what themes students focus the feedback they provide to their peers; and (d) what students’ perceptions of the peer feedback experience are. The results of the first the study, which consisted of a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design, showed that students significantly improved their writing proficiency after participating in a peer feedback experience, regardless of training. Further the results of this study indicated that, on average, trained and untrained students provided written peer feedback focused mainly on global aspects rather than local aspects. The results of the second study, which consisted of a mixed methods approach, showed that, on average, students had high perceptions of the peer feedback experience and that they perceived that their partner's feedback had helped them improve the global aspects of their composition more than the local aspects. Students expressed that what they liked the most about the experience was getting a different perspective on their writing, and what they liked the least was that they felt they were not proficient enough in the foreign language to provide meaningful feedback to their peers. / Ph. D.