Studien syftar till att undersöka hur förskollärare uppfattar att matematik kan integreras med lek samt hur de planerar och genomför detta arbete. Studien utgår från variationsteorin där de centrala begrepp som lyfts är lärandeobjekt, kritiska aspekter och variationsmönster. Vi använder en fenomenografisk ansats för att synliggöra förskollärarnas olika uppfattningar om matematik. Variationsteorin och den fenomenografiska ansatsen används för att analysera vårt resultat. Studien utgår från kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer då vi ansåg att intervjuer skulle bidra till att vi får inblick i hur förskollärarna uppfattar detta ämne. Åtta förskollärare som arbetar med de yngsta barnen (1–3 år) intervjuades. Förskollärarna har varierande erfarenhet av förskolläraryrket, och arbetar i en och samma kommun. I resultatet framgår att leken är ett verktyg för matematikundervisning, där benämnandet av begrepp har stor betydelse. Förskollärare behöver ta vara på såväl spontana som planerade lärtillfällen, där utgångspunkten är barnens intressen. Barnen behöver finna matematik som lustfyllt samt att de behöver få uppleva och utforska matematik med kroppen. Den matematik som läggs in i leken måste vara relevant, för att skapa ett transdisciplinärt lärande. / This study aims to investigate how preschool teachers perceive that mathematics can be integrated with play and how they plan and implement this work. The study is based on variation theory where the central concepts highlighted are learning objects, critical aspects and variation patterns. We use a phenomenographic approach to highlight the preschool teachers' different perceptions of mathematics. The variation theory and the phenomenographic approach are used to analyze our results. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews because we felt that interviews would help us gain insight into how preschool teachers perceive this topic. Eight preschool teachers working with toddlers (1–3 years) were interviewed. The preschool teachers have varying experience of the preschool teaching profession, and work in the same municipality. The results show that play is a tool for teaching mathematics, where the naming of concepts is of great importance. Preschool teachers need to take advantage of both spontaneous and planned learning opportunities, where the starting point is the children's interests. Children need to find mathematics enjoyable, and they need to experience and explore mathematics with their bodies. The mathematics included in the play must be relevant, to create transdisciplinary learning.

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Language learning takes place in the context of social relationships. Yet, we know little about the mechanisms that link social interaction to word learning. This dissertation focuses on two aspects of that relationship, social contingency and eye gaze, and asks whether these cues may be a critical ingredient in the well established link between social support and language learning. Specifically, we investigate how toddlers learn novel verbs in one of three conditions. In one, training on four new words was conducted using live interaction. In the second, children were trained on the same words using a contingent screen condition (video-chat). Finally, in the third, they were taught the same words in a video condition that did not maintain social contingency (yoked video). Results suggest that children exposed to novel verbs via contingent screen condition learned these words to the same degree as children in the live condition and far exceeded their peers who were exposed to non-contingent video only. Analysis of looking patterns during training further suggests that children in contingent interactions rely on eye gaze during social interactions, which predicts language learning. Taken together, this dissertation begins to operationally define social cues and to illuminate the mechanism that links social interaction and language acquisition. It also speaks to the literature on learning through screen media as the first study to examine word learning through video chat technology. / Psychology

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Teaching outdoors with the youngest children in preschool is a topic that is not often raised in preschools' skills development. The youngest children in preschool are often seen as only in need of care and the teaching comes when they are older. The purpose of the study is to visualize preschool teachers' views on outdoor education with the youngest children in preschool. The youngest children are competent and need to be prioritized just as much as the older ones. The theoretical basis of the study is sociocultural theory through the concepts that are typical of the theory and is the basis for how the results are presented and analyzed. The sociocultural theory places great emphasis on social interaction and the role of the educator in teaching, which the respondents' answers also highlight as important. To answer the questions in the study, a qualitative, semi-structured interview and thematic analysis were used. The results show that the respondents point out that the pedagogue's commitment and knowledge are of great importance for the children's opportunities for education. In addition, the importance of the environment for the children's education is highlighted, especially if the children are to be able to influence the teaching. / Undervisning utomhus med de yngsta barnen på förskolan är ett ämne som inte lyfts ofta i förskolors kompetensutveckling. De yngsta barnen på förskolan ses ofta som enbart i behov av omsorg och undervisningen kommer sedan när de är äldre. Studies syfte är att synliggöra förskollärares syn på undervisning utomhus med de yngsta barnen på förskolan. De yngsta barnen är kompetenta och behöver prioriteras lika mycket som de äldre. Den teoretiska grunden i studien är sociokulturell teori genom de begrepp som är typiska för teorin och ligger till grund för hur resultatet presenteras och analyseras. Den sociokulturella teorin lägger stor vikt vid socialt samspel och pedagogens roll i undervisningen, vilket respondenternas svar också belyser som viktigt. För att besvara frågeställningarna i studien användes en kvalitativ, semistrukturerad intervju och tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att respondenterna påpekar att pedagogens engagemang och kunskaper har stor betydelse för barnens möjligheter till undervisning. Utöver det lyfts miljöns betydelse för barnens undervisning, särskilt om barnen ska kunna ha inflytande över undervisningen.

I denna studie har vi undersökt fyra förskolepedagogers förhållningssätt, normer och tankar kring genus samt om deras uppfattning stämmer överens med deras agerande i den praktiska verksamheten. Syftet med denna studie var att få mer kunskap om hur genusmedvetenheten kan se ut på förskolan idag samt att ta reda på om alla barn ges samma förutsättningar i vår studerade leksituation; bygg och konstruktionsleken. En framträdande frågeställning har varit att få fatt vilka normer som råder bland pedagogerna och hur de tar sig uttryck i verksamheten. Som teoretisk ansats har vi använt oss utav feministisk poststrukturalism och data har vi samlat in genom observationer av verksamheten samt intervjuer med pedagogerna. Resultatet visar på att det finns en motsättning mellan pedagogernas egna uppfattningar om sitt förhållningssätt och deras agerande i det praktiska arbetet. I resultatet framkom även att pedagogerna såg sig själva som genusneutrala, trots detta framträdde en viss könstraditionell syn på föreställningen kring barns agerande och fysiska uttryck. Gällande alla barns likvärdiga förutsättningar visar ett av våra huvudresultat på en tydlig diskriminering gentemot de yngsta barnen på förskolan. / In this study, we have investigated four preschool teachers attitudes, norms and own ideas about gender and if their perceptions match their behaviour in practical operations. The purpose of this study was to gain more knowledge about how gender-awareness can appear at Swedish preschools today and to find out if all preschool children are given the same opportunities in our studied play situation, building and construction-play. A prominent issue has been to get hold of which norms that is manifested among the preschool teachers and how they appear. We have used feminist post-structuralism as a theoretical approach and the data were collected through observations of preschool activities and interviews with the preschool teachers. The results tell us that there exists a contradiction between the preschool teachers own perceptions about their attitudes and their behavior in the practical work. The results also revealed that the preschool teachers perceived themselves as gender neutral, nevertheless they appeared a certain gender traditional view of performance on children's behavior and physical expression. One of our main results revealed a clear discrimination against the youngest children at the preschool, which means that all children doesn’t get equal opportunities to play at the preschool.

Master of Science / Department of Human Ecology / Bronwyn Fees / With obesity on the rise in young children, the need to examine interventions to increase activity levels, a factor in obesity, in childhood is apparent. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between toddlers wearing a costume prop and their type and intensity of movement as well as their level of social participation. It was hypothesized that intensity of movement and types of movement would increase when the child wore a cape compared to no cape. A total of fifty-four subjects between the ages of 24 and 36 months participated in the study, structured into an intervention group (n = 27) and a control group (n = 27). Toddlers in the control group were observed for 20 minutes during free play inside the classroom wearing a specifically designed data collection garment (which looked like a “vest”) to record movement and sound. Participants in the intervention group were observed with the same data collection garment and the costume prop “cape” for 20 minutes during morning free-play period inside. The toddlers‟ behaviors were coded as outlined by Brown, Pfeiffer, McIver, Dowda, Joao, Almeida, and Pate‟s (2006) Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children-Preschool (OSRAC-P), modified to capture the unique movements of toddlers for the present study. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were utilized to examine the effect of a costume prop on intensity of activity, types of gross motor movement, and forms of social play. Results revealed the intervention group exhibited significantly greater engagement in onlooker, solitary, and parallel play (p < .001) than the control group. No significant differences in the levels of intensity or types of activity exhibited between the two groups. Implications for further research on physical activity and stimulating physical activity in the classroom are discussed

Syftet med studien är att synliggöra matematiken i den fria leken inom de matematiska aktiviteterna mätning, lokalisering och konstruktion. Studien skedde inomhus i förskolan på två yngreavdelningar, 1-3 år. En kvalitativ forskningsmetod valdes, och genomfördes med hjälp av ostrukturerade observationer. I resultatet kan man se prov på att yngre barn använder sig både av ett utforskande tillvägagångssätt och även av problemlösning inom de matematiska aktiviteterna som studien avsåg. / The purpose of this study is to examine the mathematical activities, measurement, localization, and construction during free play. The study was performed inside a preschool, in two toddler groups, 1-3 years old. A qualitative research study was chosen and performed with the help of unstructured observations.  The study shows that toddlers use both an exploring approach as well as a problem-solving approach within the mathematical activities that the study intended.

We explored the role that exogenous and endogenous competitors for attention play in infants’ abilities to encode and retain information over a 6‐month period. Sixty‐six children visited the laboratory at 15 months, and 32 returned for a second visit at 21 months. Children observed models of conventional‐ relation and enabling‐relation action sequences. Half the children were distracted by a “Mister Monkey” mechanical toy during the conventional‐relation sequence, while the other half was distracted during the enabling‐relation sequence. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire indexed endogenous factors at both ages. Immediate postmodel production of target actions indexed encoding efficiency, and 6‐month production of target actions indexed long‐term recall. The exogenous distracter impacted encoding efficiency (i.e., immediate recall), but not long‐term recall. Endogenous factors (i.e., temperament) were primarily associated with long‐term recall. Of special interest was our finding that endogenous factors, especially surgency, moderated the effect of the exogenous distracter. It appears that when learning conventional‐relation sequences in the presence of exogenous distracters, surgency mobilizes attentional resources toward the learning objective; however, when learning enabling‐relation sequences under the same conditions, surgency either boosts the saliency of the distracters or boosts children’s susceptibility to them.