Det har skett några studier av läroböcker för matematik i Sverige och andra länder. Studierna fokuserar på olika områden i läroböckerna och visar att i vissa områden sker det ingen utveckling alls och i andra verkar det hända mycket. Då det har skett en utveckling i den digitala världen syftar denna studie till att visa hur användningen av digitala verktyg utvecklas över tid i läroböcker. Undersökningen kollar på antalet gånger och i vilka sammanhang digitala verktyg nämns eller används inom taluppfattning/aritmetik och algebra för kurs 1b. För att undersöka detta har två lärobokserier som har böcker publicerade innan och efter 2011 valts ut. Läroböckerna undersöks med hjälp av en kvantitativ och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Studien visar att det sker en utveckling i hur ofta digitala verktyg nämns och används och att sammanhangen ofta är densamma. Det sker också störst utveckling mellan utgåvorna när det är förändringar i kursplanerna jämfört med om det släpps en nyutgåva baserat på kommentarer från lärare. / Through the years there have been some studies on mathematics textbooks in Sweden. The studies have different focus when they study the textbooks. Earlier studies show that depending on what you study they finds that there are none to some change in the textbooks. Because there has been a development in the digital world this study focuses on the development of use of digital tools in the textbooks for mathematic in Sweden. This study uses content analysis to analyse how often digital tools is mentioned or used in number sense/arithmetic and algebra for course 1b in Swedish upper secondary school. The results show that there is a development in how often digital tools are used in the textbooks but that the context often stay the same. The biggest different is also to be found when a new syllabus is introduced compared to when a new edition is based on teacher comments.

The aim of this licentiate thesis is to contribute to understanding of upper secondary teaching and learning of protein synthesis with a focus on domain-specific language. It is based on two studies, designated Studies I and II. Study I addressed upper secondary students’ understanding of protein synthesis through their usage of domain-specific concepts. Data collected through semi-structured group interviews show that students can better reason about core concepts than peripheral concepts, and they compartmentalise the concepts into five clusters. Study II focused on chemistry and biology textbooks’ presentation of protein synthesis through domain-specific concept usage and effects of context on these presentations. The textbooks were analysed using a content analysis approach involving data mining techniques implemented by a computer-generated algorithm. The results reveal that chemistry textbooks focus more on peripheral concepts and generally tend to identify fewer relationships among more concepts than biology textbooks, which emphasise core concepts and tend to highlight more relationships among fewer concepts. Jointly, Studies I and II reveal four facets of teaching and learning protein synthesis: ‘mechanistic or conceptual descriptions’, ‘compartmentalisation’, ‘mRNA as a core concept’ and ‘canonical representation’. By acknowledging the results reported herein, teaching can improve the facilitation and reduce the hindrance in learning protein synthesis through the awareness of the domain-specific language usage. / Proteins are crucial to life: no proteins – no life. Every picosecond, thousands of proteins are constructed in each cell in what is referred to as protein synthesis. Due to its importance for understanding the mechanism for life, protein synthesis is globally regarded as a cornerstone of molecular life sciences and education in the field. Like any area of expertise, the molecular life sciences share a domain-specific language. However, research on teaching and learning protein synthesis through this domain-specific language is scarce. The aim of this licentiate thesis is thereby to contribute to understanding of upper secondary teaching and learning of protein synthesis with a focus on domain-specific language. The thesis is based on two studies: Study I addressed students’ understanding where the results show that students can better reason about core concepts than peripheral concepts, and they compartmentalise the concepts into five clusters. Study II focused on chemistry and biology textbooks’ presentation and effects of context on these presentations. The results reveal that chemistry textbooks focus more on peripheral concepts and generally tend to identify fewer relationships among more concepts than biology textbooks, which emphasise core concepts and tend to highlight more relationships among fewer concepts. Jointly, Studies I and II reveal four facets of teaching and learning protein synthesis. By acknowledging the results reported herein, teaching can improve the facilitation and reduce the hindrance in learning protein synthesis through the awareness of the domain-specific language usage.

The syllabus for English 5 through 7 in Sweden states that students should learn to understand and write different types of text, one being academic papers. Therefore, teachers are required to guide students in their academic writing process as they transition to formal written English.  Through this study, we aim to investigate the best practices of formative feedback from instructors on L2 academic writing and see the attitudes of students and teachers when it comes to given and received feedback. Moreover, we also aim to connect the results that are found through research to the Swedish national curriculum. This will be done through educational databases such as the Malmö university library database and ERIC. We have found a total of ten empirical studies that touch upon the two aforementioned aims. Research in the field of formative feedback displays how students have a healthier attitude towards oral communication as they may directly communicate with the instructor at the cost of time. In contrast, instructors disagree by claiming that it is not as efficient as written feedback where they may take on a larger number of students in a shorter amount of time whilst providing more accurate responses. Teachers ought to be aware that while efficiency is important, it is not as vital as student progression in academic writing. Also, it would be interesting to examine the attitudes and levels of comfort of students in regards to peer reviewing and self-feedback with a focus on L2 learners.

Despite teachers already using Information and Communications Technology as a tool in their English teaching, the corona pandemic and the subsequent transition to online teaching presented teachers with the challenge of using ICT for all of their teaching. Teaching a language which is not the students’ mother tongue makes online teaching an even greater challenge. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to increase the knowledge surrounding the use of ICT in online English teaching in an effort to support teachers in the future. The experiences of ten English teachers were obtained through the use of semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis revealed a mixture of positive and negative experiences from the teachers, in terms of personal feelings, the actual process of online teaching and professional competence. The need for extra support for teachers in various areas of online teaching is discussed. Further research is needed to provide more detailed information in order to learn how teachers can be better supported in their role as an online educator, or in the use of ICT in a physical classroom.

This study aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ perspectives on distance education in the Swedish context. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has fuelled the need to investigate teachers’ experiences in the transition from face-to-face to online teaching. Five EFL teachers were interviewed to collect qualitative data, which was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that the participants had both positive and negative experiences of distance education. Their overall experience has shown that there have been affordances and limitations of distance education. The affordances of distance education, according to the participants, are that: (1) it enabled the teachers to focus more on students as individuals, (2) it made recording the lessons easier, which has made the participants’ work more manageable, and (3) it increased the quality of private conversations with individual students. The results also showed that according to the participating teachers, social interaction with the students and assessment practices were negatively affected by distance education. Overall, the participants’ experience of teaching trough distance education has been challenging. However, integrating technology in their lessons has enabled creative planning.

The aim of this study is to know where swedish upper-secondary school students stand on issuesconcerning democratic values that have been set by the National Agency for Education. To answerthis, students with different variables will be compared, for example ethnicity and gender. Themethod used in this study is quantitative. Surveys were arranged and sent out to four different uppersecondary schools in Sweden in the region of Västernorrland. The questionnaires consisted of 2 parts,the first part was about the background variables and the second part was the questions, a total of 21questions were asked. 130 students participated in the survey. Previous research has shown that girlshave a more positive attitude towards democratic values than boys, and that students with parentsborn in Sweden who attend university preparatory programs have a better attitude on democraticvalues than foreign-born and vocational preparation programs. The results that this study showedwere in the same line as the previous surveys. However, due to lower responses and uneven numbersin the variables, further research is needed. / <p>Betygsdatum: 210510</p>

Undervisningen i samhällskunskap på gymnasieskolan ska enligt anvisningarna i ämnesplanen bedrivas ”med utgångspunkt i samhällsfrågor”. Vad innebär det? I denna licentiatuppsats diskuteras ämnet samhällskunskap och dess potential, analyserat utifrån samhällsfrågor som didaktiskt begrepp. Studien är en sammanläggning av tre artiklar som bygger på tre studier. I den första studien analyseras begreppet samhällsfrågor i styrdokument över tid. Den andra studien bygger på en enkät som 74 gymnasielärare i samhällskunskap besvarat. Den tredje studien är slutligen en intervjustudie med sju av de lärare som medverkat i enkätstudien. Studiens design medger en successiv förflyttning av fokus från struktur till aktör. När analysen riktas mot samhällsfrågor som didaktiskt begrepp framträder samhällskunskapsämnet som ett ämne som är öppet för det oväntade och som låter såväl aktuella händelser som elevers genuina frågor forma ämnet. I uppsatsen diskuteras argument för att undervisning som sker med utgångspunkt i samhällsfrågor kan motverka ett instrumentellt förhållningssätt till ämnet. Göran Morén är verksam som lärarutbildare vid Högskolan Dalarna. Han har tidigare erfarenhet som samhällskunskapslärare i gymnasieskola. Sedan 2013 har han ingått i forskarskolan Skolnära, ett samarbete mellan Karlstads universitet och Högskolan Dalarna. / This licentiate thesis examines and discusses the potential of the subject social studies by way of an analysis of the concept social issues. It comprises three articles which are based on three separate studies. The first was a discourse analysis on the concept of social issues in steering documents for social studies in upper secondary school from the 1960’s until the current curriculum. The second was a questionnaire in which 74 social studies teachers answered questions regarding their understanding and teaching of social studies, specifically in relation to the concept of social issues. The third study was based on interviews with seven teachers who had completed the questionnaire. The study allows for a shift in focus between structure and agency. Whereas the structure dominates the analysis in the first article the teachers, with agency, gradually move into the foreground in the other articles. With a social-constructionist perspective, phenomena like a school subject and teaching practice are seen as formed by both structure, such as discourse, and agents, in this case professional teachers. The text analysis shows that social issues as a didactical concept is shifting in its meaning and didactical function for the subject depending on the discourse. It is argued that social issues, in the current steering documents, are downplayed in relation to concepts like “core content” and “knowledge requirements”. The questionnaire that followed showed that teachers had an understanding of social issues that challenged the logic of the previous discourse analysis. They seemed to find it possible to combine “teaching with social issues as the point of departure” with the predefined content and knowledge requirements of the subject syllabus. Based on the results of the final interview study the third article argues that the subject social studies, when seen through the lens of social issues, is one that is open, strives beyond the limitations of  core content and calls for  authentic, sometimes controversial content. The conclusion of the licentiate thesis is that the concept of social issues carries the potential to create a subject that is meaningful for students and that challenges the risk of school becoming instrumental.

In accordance with the governing documents of the Swedish upper secondary school, critical thinking must be promoted in all subjects. A great responsibility rests on the teachers to include this in their teaching. However, there is no clear definition of what is meant by critical thinking, which previous research has shown creates problems in the promotion of it. This study investigates how teachers in the Swedish upper secondary school (1) perceive and understand the concept of critical thinking, (2) implement it in their teaching and (3) answer to challenges they encounter in promoting it. Data were collected through a questionnaire and interviews. Thereafter, the data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results show that teachers highly value critical thinking and see it as an essential part of participation in society. It was also found that the teachers have different ways of implementing and encouraging critical thinking in the classroom but that dialogic methods are a common denominator. Moreover, the results show that students' lack of language skills as well as teachers' uncertainty about the concept of critical thinking impact the prerequisites of the promotion of critical thinking. On this basis, it is recommended that teachers work on their own definition and concept understanding of critical thinking for challenges that arise in their own teaching. Due to the size and design of this study, more research is needed to better understand English teachers' experiences with critical thinking in Swedish upper secondary education.

The study’s purpose is to examine teachers’ perceptions of genre pedagogy and mentor texts toteach writing in upper-secondary school. Previously many English teachers in Sweden usedprocess pedagogy to teach writing, an approach that encourages students to create drafts andrevise their texts accordingly. The study finds that even though this approach is still active inupper-secondary schools in Sweden, teachers feel that providing time for revisions isimpossible. Further, the study finds that teachers have started to provide their students withmodel texts that can give students a hands-on model for writing their own texts. The use ofmodel texts in genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach will be examined in this study. Thestudy has been conducted using interviews with teachers in upper-secondary schools in Sweden.The interviews were semi-structured and constructed using themes to simplify the analysis ofthe results. The results from the study show that the interviewed teachers of upper-secondaryschools in Sweden believe that students benefit from being provided with models in for writing.The teachers also believe that the students are benefited from seeing the structure of the modeltext, which can encourage students to structure their own writing similarly. The teachersinterviewed in the study perceive genre pedagogy and mentor texts approach to supportstudents’ development as successful communicators in the English written language.

This essay provides perspectives from four teachers with over eighty years combinedexperience on their choices of content of communications in English 7. The reason forconducting this study is that in English 7, which is the last English course in Swedish uppersecondaryschool, the teacher may face a diverse group of students with different programgoals, which may lead to different content needs. The aim of the study is to explore thisquestion, considering factors that affect choices in the course and what social domain it will besituated in.Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with four experienced teachers andanalyzed using qualitative content analysis. The study reveals that one strategy for solving theabove-mentioned problem is student influence, which, in short, means that the teacher lets thestudents pick content that matches the requirements in the content of communications. Otherfindings reveal that relationships with other teachers can affect the communication content incross-subject work, the teachers second subject and personal interests affect have differentamounts of influence, what method the teacher choose in course units and what part of thecurriculum the teachers consider a priority. This essay is useful for several purposes,policymakers will be able to see how teacher reason and practice particular parts of policydocuments, teachers will be able to ask themselves the same questions and reflect on whataffects their own teaching, and teaching students will be able to see how they can include theirpassion or knowledge into subject matter.