The purpose of the dissertation is to study, describe and analyses which comparative measurement activities preschool children construct and use, and how they solve problems and communicate when they use the comparative measurement activities whilst playing with Lego (“the Lego play”). The measurement activities chosen are length/height, quantity and time.

The empirical material is based on data from two preschool classes with children aged 2 – 5 year, It was collected through participant observation (video captures) of the children’s Lego play. The theoretical starting points in this study are grounded in childhood sociology and the sociocultural perspective. The study assumes the childhood sociology perspective by viewing the children as competent and active in creating meaning as well as controlling and influencing their own and others’ social environment. The sociocultural perspective gives prominence to development and learning, and its related tools and concepts are used to analyses the results of the study. That is, the Lego play is studied in a social context from the child’s perspective, and the sociocultural perspective describes and analyses the child’s use of mathematics and the acquisition of knowledge in the Lego play in a sociocultural context.

The results show that children measuring length/height and quantity explored a store of measurement tools in order to make comparisons, and adapted these to the context in question. These were own body, other body, artefacts, numbers and counting. The measurements were used individually and with others, and the solving of the own or shared problems constituted a large share of the time spent constructing models during Lego play. By contrast, the time concept was used mainly as a tool when the children played with their finished Lego models. Thus, a time perspective was added to the child’s finished model, which inspired thoughts and reflections about time used in the Lego play. The children used the time concepts of the present, the past and the future, and also considered the concept of velocity in the context of the timescale. The children’s communication had a large impact on the Lego play, and they expressed their ideas verbally, physically and through action. The children’s use of mathematics was prominent and meaningful during the Lego play.

I legoleken använder förskolebarn mätning på många olika sätt. De växlar mellan olika mätredskap och måttenheter, beroende på kontext och önskat mätresultat. Genom mätningar löser barnen problem i legoleken. Mätresultatet kommuniceras genom att visa, förklara och argumentera med matematiska begrepp.

Introduction The aim of this study was to explore how women of working age who have had a mild stroke resulting in cognitive impairment experience and manage their everyday lives. Method Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The participants consisted of 10 women of working age who had sustained cognitive impairment after a mild stroke. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results Three main categories appeared: The everyday is affected by the symptoms, Living strategies, and The social environment effects and changes. Participants feel insecure about their abilities and capabilities, experience anxiety and fear in relation to work, and find it hard to live up to demands and expectations. They are required to plan their daily activities in a new way and to prioritise chores that benefit the family, rather than follow their own interests and social activities. In order to cope with everyday life, they need to allocate chores to other family members. Conclusions The constant impact of fatigue and cognitive impairments affects everyday life. The women said that they had to learn to continuously manage their limitations through their experience of everyday life, something that can be facilitated with occupational therapy.

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Various features of scientific discourse have been characterized in the science education literature, and challenges students face in appropriating these features have been explored. Using the framework of conceptual metaphor, this paper sought to identify explicit and implicit metaphors in pedagogical texts dealing with the concept of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics, an abstract and challenging domain for learners. Three university-level textbooks were analyzed from a conceptual metaphor perspective, and a range of explicit and implicit metaphors were identified. Explicit metaphors identified include entropy as disorder, thermodynamics processes as movements along a path, and energetic exchange as financial transactions among others. Implicit metaphors include application and elaboration of the generic Location Event Structure metaphor, application of the Object Event Structure metaphor, and others. The similarities and differences between explicit and implicit metaphors found in the textbooks are also described. Two key pedagogical implications are discussed: that the selection of explicit instructional metaphors can be guided by consistency with implicit metaphors; and that the range of implicit metaphors found in pedagogical texts implies that a multiple instructional metaphor strategy is warranted. The depth of the phenomenon of conceptual metaphor and its implications for future research are also discussed

Children's conceptions are an important part of their conceptualisation in science, something that is emphasized in constructivism, in this thesis a social constructivist view of learning constitutes the theoretical framework. The overall purpose is to contribute to the knowledge development within science education. This was done by investigating 4-13-year-old children’s conceptions of phenomena in natural science within four areas: heat, mixing, the human body and what is living/non-living. The following two research questions are addressed: What conceptions do children express in drawings and in conversations about natural science phenomena? What methodological possibilities and challenges are there in using drawings as a starting point and as a meaning-making tool for capturing children's conceptions? A multimodal method including drawings, conversations and children's activities was used in the data collection, which is in line with a social semiotic perspective.

The thesis consists of four studies. The results of the first two studies show that children's conceptions about mixing were somewhat more developed than shown in previous studies, while their conceptions about heat were in line with what was previously reported.

The third study shows that the children know more organs in the human body and, unlike in previous research, show an ability to draw connections between the organs. In the fourth study, a majority of the children talk about death as the opposite to life and some draw that what does not live should have lived before, such as dinosaurs. Children who are aware of microscopic objects classify them as living. Additionally, the explanations show inconsistency in their reasoning about plants as living or no-living things.

Methodologically the results in the studies show that the children's drawings in combination with their explanations are valuable tools for capturing their conceptions. The drawings also serve as a tool for presenting and sharing different reasoning. Furthermore, children's drawing techniques are discussed in connection with problems that they faced alongside the scientific task. In the study of the human body, these problems deal with the difficulty of transferring the three-dimensional inside of the human body to two dimensions. Another difficulty was that the body's organs, skeleton, muscles and tissues are on top of each other. Here the children used X-ray drawing to show what is hidden. Children of different ages often solved these technical problems in a very creative way in combination with their oral/written comments. In addition to the significance of the drawings, the difference between contextualized and decontextualized tasks during data-collection is discussed. Further, different dimensions of science, such as structural and processual knowledge, are discussed. The four areas studied are also on different abstraction levels which affect the children's conceptions and representations in their drawings. In conclusion, learning in science involves different dimensions of both structural and processual knowledge. The multimodal method helped the children focus, structure and express their thoughts.

This paper presents a study of children’s ideas of the body’s internal structure. Children between four and 13 years (N = 170) individually produced drawings. During each drawing session the children explained their drawings to a facilitator and added written labels either by them- selves or, if they were too young to write, with the facilitator’s help. The results provide an updated comprehensive picture of children in differ- ent age groups and their views on the internal structure of the body. The type and numbers of organs drawn are similar to those documented in previous studies. However, in comparison to recent studies, the children drew more organs, the brain was indicated almost as often as the heart, and the Valentine heart was frequently used as a symbol. In contrast with previous research, children drew connections between organs. This result calls for caution regarding conclusions made from decontextua- lized questions. The importance of providing children with the opportu- nity to clarify their drawings is emphasised since it otherwise becomes a question of the researcher’s interpretation. The connections they draw, and explanations they give to their drawings, have interesting implica- tions for understanding children’s ideas, and hence both for teaching and learning and for science education research.

The importance of living a healthy life in an everyday context is promoted in schools and preschools. The discussion often focuses on what food is healthy, and that one should eat enough but not too much. The connection between food and beverages and their role in the body is seldom discussed. Students’ ideas about how the human body functions have been investigated in several studies but few have focused on young children. In this study, we investigate young children’s conceptions related to this topic and how their ideas develop. Seventy-nine pre- and primary school children, aged 4-11, participated in individual focus interviews wherein the children were asked to draw and explain their understanding. Our results confirm several findings observed by other workers. However, in contrast with earlier studies, 10 of seventeen 4-5 year-old children indicated the stomach, and more than half of those children described how food can be utilized in the body to extract energy. Furthermore, the brain was among the most commonly mentioned organs cross all age groups. Interestingly, the level of expertise varied and did not covariate with age. For example, five of eight of the 4 year-old children draw 5-8 organs, while a single 10 year-old child could only mention three. Similarly, two of thirteen 7-year old children provided an almost completely correct description of the digestive tract and its function, while most of the older children expressed a much less developed understanding. The results reflect the wide range of different conceptual ideas that teachers confront in a day-to-day classroom context.

Understanding of the concept ‘life’ and what characterise ‘living things’ is important as a foundation for learning in biology. In a more general view, this understanding can make children develop awareness, respect and responsibility for life as members of a society and in decision making for sustainable development. The present pilot study aim to investigate 5-6 year old pre-school children’s reasoning and representations about living and nonliving things. In cognitive developmental research, the concept of life is well investigated but, questions still remain regarding how children reason around and represent these concepts. Previous research has found that children have difficulties in including plants as living things. Moreover, it is found that young children include e.g. the sun, clouds and rocks as living things. The methods that have been used are often quantitative and use picture-cards with different objects for the children to categorize. In the present pilot study a modified methodology was applied. Children’s drawings of what they consider as living and non-living were collected and picture-cards were used as point of departure for reasoning. In interviews the children were encouraged to explain and express their ideas. The drawings and the cards mainly worked as a meaning making tool for the children. Results from the study will be presented and discussed. 

How do engineering students embrace interaction design? We presented two groups of chemical engineering students with an interaction design brief with the task of producing a concept prototype of an interactive artefact. Through interaction analysis of video material we analyse how the students gesture and use concepts adhering to interaction. The students frequently use gestures to enhance idea-generation. Sketches are used sparsely and other design materials were almost not used at all.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze learning taking place in a collaborative design exercise involving engineering students. The students per-form a time-constrained, open-ended, complex interaction design task, an “in-teractionary”. A multimodal learning perspective is used. We have performed detailed analyses of video recordings of the engineering students, including classifying aspects of interaction. Our results show that the engineering stu-dents carry out and articulate their design work using a technology-centred approach and focus more on the function of their designs than on aspects of interaction. The engineering students mainly make use of ephemeral com-munication strategies (gestures and speech) rather than sketching in physical materials. We conclude that the interactionary may be an educational format that can help engineering students learn the messiness of design work. We fur-ther identify several constraints to the engineering students’ design learning and propose useful interventions that a teacher could make during an interac-tionary. We especially emphasize interventions that help engineering students retain aspects of human-centered design throughout the design process. This study partially replicates a previous study which involved interaction design students.

Detta kapitel bygger på analyser av det tekniska innehållet i böckerna om Pettson och Findus. Utgångspunkten är att skönlitterära barnböcker kan bidra med viktiga perspektiv på teknik och därför kan ses som betydelsefulla för teknikundervisningen. Genom att skönlitterära berättelser skildrar tekniken i ett sammanhang och individers upplevelser av den, kan de bidra med fördjupning av en mängd olika aspekter av teknik liksom öppna upp för diskussioner om tekniken samt vilken inverkan eller syfte den har eller har haft genom historien. Analyserna visar att teknikens mångskiftande karaktär lyfts fram i berättelserna om Pettson och Findus och exempel på aspekter är: den odödliga tekniken, att det är användaren som bestämmer teknikens funktion samt tekniken som resultat av ”gör-det-självarens” kreativa lösningar.

The aim of this study is to examine, from a didactic perspective, messages conveyed about technology (view of technology) in a selection of Swedish children’s books containing elements of technology education, and to explore how these views of technology relate to nature and futures perspectives. The analysis is based on children’s books by six Swedish authors: Selma Lagerlöf, Otto Witt, Elsa Beskow, Karl-Aage Schwartzkopf, Sven Wernström and Sven Nordqvist. These books contain depictions of technology, but also depict issues and problems relevant in the field of technology education. The study has three analytical perspectives: the identification of technologies represented in the books; interpretation of the views of technology transmitted in the stories in relation to nature and futures perspectives; and identification of shared and divergent themes in the stories. The analysis shows that in general, the books present technology in diverse ways. Various facets of technology appear in the material and these are categorized into six themes: technology as metaphor or analogy; as anthropomorphic; as autonomous; technology as a result of a creative driving force; masculine technology; and technology as enduring. There are also different views of technology and its impact on individuals as well as society. The dominant view of nature in the books is weak anthropocentric and a majority of the stories convey the image of an effective future society in which technology solves human problems. A conclusion is that the technology landscapes in children’s fiction could contribute to broadening technology education. The ambivalent messages in these books reveal technology’s multifaceted nature and its complexity. The messages in children’s literature could also make it possible to problematize the nature of technology in ways that  textbooks seldom can. Children’s fiction could thereby be jumping boards for creative discussions about the nature of technology, and technology’s effects on individuals, society and nature in past and present time.

A starting point for this chapter is that children’s literature can be a source of reflection and can encourage children to think critically about technology. In contrast to many textbooks and non-fiction books, fictional stories reflect the complexities and contradictions inherent in technology and at the same time reveal its less obvious and concealed aspects and messages. By using books with a strong story line, which are of interest to children, technology can be presented as part of the world around them. Children’s literature can thus be seen as a mediator of values and attitudes, which makes it an interesting subject matter for Design and Technology education. This chapter involves an exploration of critical aspects of technology found within a selection of children’s books. The stories originate from different historical and cultural contexts, and the basis for the selection is that it represents a variety of critiques and aspects of technology found in children’s literature. The conclusion of the analysis is that children’s literature can contribute to making technology and the nature of technology more comprehensible and visible to pupils. The ambiguous messages in the books reveal the multifaceted and complex nature of technology and make it possible to problematise it in ways textbooks seldom can. As the stories form the basis for critical discussion about the nature of technology, they could also help to broaden perspectives, thereby acting as a pedagogic tool in fulfilling the aims of Design and Technology education.

The technology that mediates our lives today is complex. If we are to understand our modern technological world, technology education needs to place more emphasis on discussions and reflections about technology. A starting point for this chapter is that children’s literature can be understood as a mediator of views and values about technology, which makes it an interesting subject matter for technology education. Children’s fiction places technology in a context and could therefore serve as a pedagogical tool for broadening and expanding technology education. This chapter is an exploration of different views of technology found within a selection of children’s books: an anti-consumeristic view of technology, technology as a servant to humans, a nostalgic view of technology, and technology as a vehicle for adventure. The books are all examples of stories which depict technology itself but also issues and problems relevant to the field of technology education. In general, the books present technology in a diverse way, and the messages in the stories reveal its multifaceted nature. This chapter concludes that fictional stories can make it possible to problematize the nature of technology in ways that textbooks seldom can. Children’s fiction could therefore serve as a platform for open-ended enquiries and dialogues about the nature of technology and the effects of technology on individuals, society, and nature in the past and the present.

The aim of this study is to explore the nature of technology education in a Sámi school, in order to identify the potential of indigenous Sámi knowledge for broadening the horizons of technological literacy. This paper presents the findings from the initial analysis of the empirical material. The purpose was to identify which specific artefacts play a central role in technology education in a Sámi school, and how the artefacts are implemented in technology education to convey technological knowledge. The participants (teachers and pupils) were all from the same Sámi School in Northern Sweden. The method employed was participatory observation and empirical material consists of field notes, recorded conversations, photographs and children’s drawings. The findings show that technology education is strongly connected to specific artefacts that are important in Sámi culture. Technology Education is grounded in a holistic view of knowledge and to a large extent integrated with other school subjects. The knowledge system embedded in technology teaching is collective and related to both artefacts and activities. Myths and storytelling are frequently used to contextualise the technological content, and the historical aspect of technology is largely present since connections between older and newer technological solutions are made. Technological knowledge, activities and specific artefacts are not only attributed a practical value, but also given a symbolic value, since a common knowledge base in Technology contributes to strengthening the children’s cultural identity.

This chapter is about technology and children’s literature. The aim of this study was to take a journey through the technology landscapes of a selection of Swedish children’s literature, written during the last century (Axell,C. Technology landscapes in children’s literature. A didactic journey fromNils Holgersson to Pettson and Findus. Dissertation. Linköping University,Linköping, 2015). The empirical material was based on catalogues used by school libraries to order new books, and some of the chosen books are still frequently borrowed from Swedish libraries. The selection was justified by the fact that they not only contain depictions of technology but also depict issues and problems considered relevant today in the field of technology education. Examples of these issues include reflections about the nature of technology,discussions about its advantages and disadvantages or the way technology is described in a social and historical context. The analysis of the stories showed that they not only contained depictions of technology but also depicted issues and problems relevant in the field of technology education. The ambivalent messages in the books revealed the multifaceted nature of technology as well as its complexity in ways that textbooks seldom do. A conclusion from the analysis was that children’s fiction could be a starting point for creative discussions about the nature of technology and technology’s effects on individuals, society and nature in the past, present and future.

Utgångspunkten för detta kapitel är att skönlitterära barnböcker kan vidga och fördjupa det didaktiska perspektivet i förskolans aktiviteter i teknik. I artikeln tar jag upp vad teknik är och varför skönlitterära barnböcker är användbara i förskolans teknikundervisning samt ger förslag på hur barnlitteraturen kan användas i aktiviteter som rör teknik..

Syftet med denna översikt är att ge exempel på forskning om  teknikundervisningen för yngre barn från olika delar av världen samt att sätta forskningsresultaten i relation till den svenska reviderade läroplanen för förskolan från 2010. Forskningsöversikten gör på intet sätt anspråk på att vara heltäckande, utan har snarare som intention att ge exempel på återkommande teman inom den befintliga forskningen. Jag vill också klargöra att den inte inkluderar forskning som rör IKT (informations- och kommunikationsteknik) eller digitala medier i förskolan.

Översikten bygger på vetenskapliga artiklar och konferenspresentationer författade av ledande forskare på området, varav en majoritet är från USA, Australien och Storbritannien. Även om undervisningen och utvecklingen av teknikämnet skiftar från land till land, kan ändå vissa gemensamma mönster urskiljas (de Vries, 2006). Vissa av artiklarna handlar om teknikundervisningen inom primary school education, då barnen i många länder börjar skolan vid 5 års ålder. Innehållet i artiklarna kan därför betraktas som intressanta utifrån ett svenskt föreskolperspektiv. Viktigt att notera är också att i den nya skollagen (2010:800) används begreppen utbildning och undervisning även när det handlar om förskolan, trots att den svenska förskolan inte är obligatorisk. I skollagen definieras begreppen på följande sätt:

• undervisning: sådana målstyrda processer som under ledning av lärare eller förskollärare syftar till utveckling och lärande genom inhämtande och utvecklande av kunskaper och värden, och
• utbildning: den verksamhet inom vilken undervisning sker utifrån bestämda mål. (SFS 2010:800, 1 kap. Inledande bestämmelser, 3§ Definitioner)

Däremot används genomgående begreppet verksamhet istället för undervisning i läroplanen för förskolan. Jag har dock valt att använda undervisningsbegreppet i redogörelserna för de olika forskningsresultaten, eftersom det är detta begrepp som används i de internationella artiklarna.

I översikten har jag tematiserat forskningen utifrån några huvudområden, vilka också utgör rubriker. Många gånger går dock de ämnen som tas upp för diskussion i varandra, vilket gör att vissa teman kan vara återkommande under flera rubriker. Med syfte att påvisa temats relevans utifrån ett svenskt förskoleperspektiv, inleder jag varje presentation av ett tema med ett citat från den svenska läroplanen för förskolan.

Artiklarna som finns representerade i översikten spänner över en tidsperiod på tjugo år (1992-2012). Motivet till urvalet är att jag velat undersöka om det finns några återkommande teman över tid. Eftersom forskningen om teknikundervisningen i förskolan än så länge är så begränsad till sin omfattning, skulle dessutom en översikt med enbart den allra senaste forskningen ge en tämligen begränsad bild av forskningsläget.

Forskningsöversikten avslutas med en sammanfattande diskussion, förslag på vidare forskning samt några avslutande reflektioner.

Boken ger dig som blivande eller yrkesverksam lärare inom förskola och grundskola F–6:

• kunskap och allmänbildning inom teknikämnet
• en metod för hur du med barnlitteraturen som utgångspunkt kan skapa  intresse och förståelse för teknik
• underlag för samtal i enlighet med kursplanens intentioner om hur teknik påverkar oss människor, vårt samhälle och vår miljö.

Med utgångspunkt i skönlitterära barnböcker – som exempelvis böckerna om Mamma Mu, Pettson och Findus samt Kalle och chokladfabriken – visas här konkret hur du kan föra diskussioner som väcker nyfikenhet, fördjupar förståelsen samt främjar det kritiska tänkandet.

Critical thinking is fundamental to 21st century learning and has thus become an important part of the technology curricula in many countries. Critical thinking draws on the ability to examine, analyse, interpret and evaluate, as well as asking questions and participating in discussions about risks and benefits of different technological solutions. An important task for teachers is to support young children in developing these skills. Students on a Swedish primary school teacher education programme were given an assignment inspired by the concept of ‘disruptive technologies’ (Barlex, Givens & Steeg, 2016; Manyika, Chui, Bughin, Dobbs, Bisson & Marrs, 2013), choosing from one of nine disruptive technologies and searching for information. The list was created on the grounds that these are technologies that are likely to have a significant effect on the students’ lives in a not too distant future. Based on the information found, the students were to critically analyse the technology they had chosen. This case study was performed through a thematic analysis of 120 assignment texts. The analysis showed that some of the suggested technologies were chosen more often than others. Autonomous cars came top, although robots in elderly care were the most frequently chosen technology among female students. The students performed well in the searching and collecting process. They found information about pros and cons for their chosen disruptive technology. However, the analysis also showed that the students had difficulty evaluating and problematising the information they had found. In their conclusions they did not change their original point of view. Even though they found more negative aspects of a new technology, they accentuated the positives.

Technology is a field with strong connections to the female/male dichotomy and children's gender stereotyping starts as early as the age of two (Berner, 2004; Nisbet, Pendergast & Reynolds, 1998; Turja, Endepohls-Ulpe & Chatoney, 2009). According to the Swedish Curriculum for the Preschool, the preschool should strive to ensure that children ”develop their ability to identify technology in everyday life, and explore how simple technology works” (Lpfö98/2010, p. 10). The preschool also has a goal to actively counteract traditional gender roles and patterns (Lpfö98/2010, p. 4). An important part of children's activities in preschool relates to picture books. A government investigation states that the preschool, through its activities (among them ”reading aloud”) is an arena where societal norms can either be preserved or challenged (SOU 2006:75). Books about cars, airplanes, boats etc. often serve as an introduction to human applications of technology. Based on these, children start to identify and categorize the technologies they encounter in everyday life.

The aim of this study is consequently to investigate the technological content from a gender perspective in a selection of picture books, more specifically; how do the books content preserve or challenge preschool children's view of technology and gender? Preschools use books from libraries in their daily activities, therefore the empirical material in this study is derived from the library section ”facts for youngsters”. A thematic analysis was employed to discover the dominant themes within the books. The result of the study shows that there is a focus on how separate artefacts function but no detailed explanation on how these artefacts are connected or what kind of implications they have in a societal context. There also seems to be an emphasis on traditionally masculine coded technology. This study will serve as a basis for a comparative study between two preschools, one where gender and technology is a prioritised goal and one where it is not.

Picture books are a frequent element of daily preschool activities (Damber, Nilsson & Ohlsson, 2013; Simonsson, 2004; SOU 2006:75). They are important pedagogical tools that can help children acquire an understanding of the everyday technology they come in contact with, as well as the human application of technology (Axell, 2015; Axell & Boström, 2015). These are skills that are emphasised in the Swedish preschool curriculum. In the curriculum it is also stated that the preschool should counteract traditional gender patterns and gender roles (Skolverket, 2010). However, an investigation of a selection of picture books aimed at preschool children shows that the books content is somewhat problematic. Many of the picture books provide a focus on the function of separate artefacts without any sort of context or explanation of their implications in a societal context. There also tends to be an emphasis on traditional masculine-coded technology in the books. Building and making and working with machines is depicted as a male activity. The male stereotype is essentially connected with different kinds of vehicles like cars, airplanes, motorbikes, tractors etc. (Axell & Boström, 2015; See also Holbrok, 2008). Based on these previous findings, the aim of this pilot study was to obtain an initial concept about how children’s literature may influence preschool children’s view on technological artefacts. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with four five-year-olds, two girls and two boys. Through a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) three overarching themes were identified: The relationship between design and function, anthropomorphic animals as users of artefacts, and gender and artefacts. Some of the key findings were that the 5-year-olds did not know what “technology” is, but had good knowledge about tools. Additionally, they did not genderise any of the artefacts included in the study.

Technology is a field with strong connections to the female/male dichotomy. Children start to stereotype everyday life regarding this dichotomy as early as the age of two. The preschool, through its activities—among them reading aloud from picture books—is an arena where societal norms can be either preserved or challenged. Books about different artefacts, e.g. cars, airplanes and boats, often serve as an introduction for children about the human application of technology and may influence how they identify and categorise the technology they encounter in everyday life. The aim of this study was to investigate the technological content in a selection of picture books from a gender perspective. Since preschools in Sweden often use books from libraries in their daily activities, the empirical material was derived from the library sections Facts for youngsters and Technology for youngsters, aimed at children aged 1–3 and 3–6. A thematic analysis was used to discover the dominant themes within the books. The results show that there is a focus on how separate artefacts function but no detailed explanation of how these artefacts are connected or what kind of implications they have in a societal context. There also seems to be an emphasis on traditionally masculine coded technology.

Children's fiction in school libraries have played and still play a role in mediating representations of technology and attitudes towards technology to schoolchildren. In early 20th century Sweden, elementary education, including textbooks and literature that were used in teaching, accounted for the main mediation of technological knowledge to schoolchildren. An investigation of children's literature for schools is therefore important in order to understand what was considered worth knowing about technology at the time. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse the representations of technology and attitudes towards technology that were mediated through two children's fiction books in Swedish elementary school libraries in the 1910s. We have limited the analysis of empirical material to the books Technical Stories for Young and Old (Tekniska sagor for stora och smAyen, 1914) and Technical Stories of the War for Young and Old (Krigets tekniska sagor for stora och smAyen, 1915) by the Swedish inventor, author and technology educator Otto Witt. Gauging Witt's influence on the schoolchildren and educators of his time is very difficult, but in this first English-language article on his "technical stories" one can conclude that he was in many ways unique and probably fairly well-read in the schools of early 20th century Sweden and onward. He was also a particularly perceptive forerunner of today's technology and science educators in his use of anthropomorphism as an educational tool.

In the early 1900s Sweden saw an unprecedented societal transformation through ongoing industrialisation, urbanisation, democratisation and new technologies. In 1906-1907 the celebrated Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf published a book subsequently read by thousands of elementary school children, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Although Lagerlöf’s book was mainly seen as a novel, she was commissioned to write it as a textbook in geography for the Swedish elementary school. One of the aims on the part of the commissioner – the Swedish Association of Elementary School Teachers – was for the book to induce Swedish nationalist sentiment and boost the feeling of a national identity in schoolchildren. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse how various representations of technology were utilised to create the sense of a Swedish national identity in The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. A hermeneutic method is employed to analyse the book in relation to the historical context of early 20th century Sweden. It is concluded that technology and human settlements are natural elements of the various landscapes of Sweden, thereby making them as much a part of building a national identity around the physical environment as woods, plains, lakes, animals and plants. The message of the book seems to be that technology is interwoven with society and nature in the formation of modern Sweden. It is impossible to describe the nation and impart nationalism in children without also incorporating technology; it is a human creation and as much a force in shaping the nation as other human endeavours and nature.

The aim of this article is to investigate images of technology and how technology is linked to sustainable development in Swedish children’s literature. Our perspective is that such images represent values that are conveyed to the young generation. We have chosen to study books by four Swedish authors, Elsa Beskow, Inger Sandberg, Jan Lööf and Sven Nordqvist, all of them still read by many children, parents and teachers, both in and out of school. In the examined books, technology is portrayed in several modes: as a servant to man, as a deterministic force, as a loyal and equal companion to man, and as a natural phenomenon in a nostalgic world. Technologies that have a leading role in the stories examined are placed in different kind of contexts, more or less social, more or less utopian or idyllic. In all four authors’ writings there is an optimistic faith in children’s ability.

In the United Nations report Our common future sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Technology is seen as a kind of enabling force in that endeavour; new technologies are to be the solution to conflicts between growing economic activities and reductions in the use of natural resources. Sustainable development can, however, also be expressed as a set of traditional values that, in a country like Sweden, have been a part of everyday life for many generations. Education for sustainable development has been a goal in the Swedish national curriculum since 1994, not the least in the subject Technology. The teaching can evidently be inspired by both the international discussion on the future world and by the long tradition of how to live locally.

The aim of this paper is to investigate images of technology and how technology is linked to sustainable development in children’s literature. Our perspective is that such images represent values that are conveyed to the young generation. We have chosen to study books by four Swedish authors, Elsa Beskow, Inger Sandberg, Jan Lööf and Sven Nordqvist, all of them still read by many children, parents and teachers alike, both in and out of school. Technology is in the examined books portrayed in several modes: as a servant to man, as a deterministic force, as a loyal and “equal” companion to man and as a natural phenomenon in a nostalgic world. Technologies that have a leading role in the examined stories are placed in different kind of contexts, more or less social, more or less utopian or idyllic. In all four author’s writings there is an optimistic faith in children’s ability to choose the right path. Children are the ones who must take responsibility for the future and overcome the problems the current adult generation have created. From a gender perspective, the message in the majority of the stories is clear: men are the source of technological development.

In 2017, the Swedish government decided on a new national strategy for digitalisation of the school system. The strategy resulted in a revision of the curricula for Swedish preschool in order to strengthen digitalisation. Although programming is not explicitly mentioned in the curriculum, programming and robots have become a more common feature of preschool teaching. There are intervention studies showing that children can develop programming skills and conceptions. However, studies of programming from a technology education perspective are rare, and there is a need for further research. This study aims to investigate how programming in a preschool context and what the teachers and children do. This study focuses on the interaction between children, teachers and technology. The programming activities in preschool are not a separate activity, but part of a wider context, hence we adapt a sociocultural perspective. The empirical data consist of two group interviews with preschool teachers and one video-recorded programming activity with children aged 4-5 years and their teachers. The data material was analysed using a thematic content analysis to inductively search for patterns in the actions and methods used by teachers and children. This study shows that four aspects of programming were communicated: instructions, sequences, bugs, and language. Moreover, the relationship between humans and the technological artefacts was characterized in three different ways: technology as I) anthropomorphic, II) gender coded, and III) autonomous or non-autonomous. Thus, the programming activities and robot were incorporated in a wider context. Technology (the robot) became a tool to achieve several learning objectives. The technology was not the main focus; the overall message constructed in this teaching setting is that the human controls and uses the technology to achieve specific purposes.

   Skola i normer granskar hur normer för hur man ska vara och bete sig upprepas och utmanas av elever och lärare i skolan, på lärarutbildningen och i skolans värdegrundsarbete. Författarna fokuserar på sexualitet, men diskuterar också ålder, kön, klass och nationalitet.En genomgående tanke i boken är att föreställningar om normalitet skapar det som inte ryms innanför normens gränser, de Andra eller det Andra . De leder till utestängningar där det annorlunda definieras bort som något främmade och avlägset. Samtidigt uppstår alltid motsägelser, både i skolans vardagliga praktik och i dess styrdokument, som skapar möjligheter till motstånd.Skola i normer riktar sig främst till lärarstudenter och lärarutbildare, men också till alla som intresserar sig för hur makthierarkier och motstånd skapas i skolan. Bokens författare är alla lärarutbildare. Lena Martinsson är professor i genusvetenskap vid Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper, Göteborgs universitet. Hon är också verksam som lärarutbildare.Eva Reimers är professor i pedagogiskt arbete och verksam vid Institutionen för samhälls- och välfärdsstudier, Linköpings universitet. Hon är också verksam som lärarutbildare.

This article examines the tactical (counter) politics of inclusive and norm-critical approaches in Swedish sex education, focusing on the enactment of this critical agenda in sex education practices and how teachers interpret and negotiate the possibilities and pitfalls of this kind of work. The analysis draws on participant observation in sex education practices and in-service teacher training, as well as interviews with educators. Three recurrent strategies lie at the centre of the analysis: the sensitive use of language to achieve inclusion; the organisation and incorporation of sensitive content to resist stigmatisation; and the use of different modalities to produce a specific knowledge order. The analysis shows how these strategies are grounded in norm-critical ideals, which become partly inflicted with tensions and discomforts when acted out in practice. The analysis further shows how an inclusive and norm-critical agenda runs the risk of becoming static, in the sense of providing students with the results of critique rather than engaging them in it.

I flera jämförande internationella studier hamnar de finska eleverna i toppen. Hur bedrivs kemiundervisningen i finlandssvenska klassrum? Rapporten består av sex kapitel där författarna bl.a. tar upp följande frågor: Vad kännetecknar undervisningspraktiken i en finlandssvensk klass? Vilka texter används i klassrummet? Vad betraktas som viktig respektive mindre viktig kunskap? I ett av kapitlen analyseras vilka frågor läraren ställer till eleverna och vilken feedback som ges. I studien ingick fyra lärare, och i det avslutande kapitlet analyseras deras provkonstruktion och bedömningsarbete.Texterna vänder sig till alla som är intresserade av bedömningsfrågor, kunskapsfrågor, lärande och undervisning. Forskningsprojektet är finansierat av Vetenskapsrådet.

A central aspect of learning chemistry is learning to relate observations of phenomena to models of the sub-microscopic level of matter, and hence being able to explain the observable phenomena. However, research shows that students have difficulties discerning and comprehending the meaning of the sub-micro level and its models, and that practical work in its traditional form fails to help students to discern the relation between observations and models. Consequently, there is a strong call for new teaching activities to address these issues. This paper emerges from a growing number of studies showing that learning is supported when students are set to cooperatively create their own multimodal representations of science phenomena. In this paper, we explore the approach of letting students create their own stop-motion animation as a means to explain observations during practical work. The students work of producing a phenomenon in the laboratory and creating an animation was recorded (audio-video) to capture students verbal and non-verbal interactions and use of resources. Data was analysed using a thematic content analysis with a deductive approach aimed at identifying the aspects of chemistry content that are being reasoned. The analysis showed that the task enabled students to engage in reasoning concerning both the observations and the sub-micro-level models, and how they relate to each other. The task also enabled students to reason about features of the representation that are needed to make sense of both the observational and sub-microscopic aspects of a phenomenon, as well as reflecting upon the meaning of a model.

Följande rapport är en utvärdering av projekt Skogen som klassrum som har bedrivits gemensamt av Naturskyddsföreningen och Naturskoleföreningen under 2009-2012. Projektet har bestått av en fortbildning i utomhuspedagogik för pedagoger kallad Skogen som klassrum samt aktiviteter på lokal, regional och nationell nivå för att uppmärksamma värdet av undervisning i skogen och behovet av att tillgängliggöra och bevara skogar nära skolor och bostäder.

Projektet har lyft frågor och startat processer som har förbättrat förutsättningarna för att tusentals lärare och elever ska ha möjlighet att vistas i och lära känna skogen under skoltid. Utvärderingen visar att även en förhållandevis kort fortbildning som Skogen som klassrum bidrar till en utökad och fördjupad undervisning i naturen. Samtidigt kan fortbildningens upplägg med undervisning i och om närliggande skogsområden ha en positiv inverkan på lärarnas möjlighet att uppfylla målen i skolans styrdokument. En fortbildning som Skogen som klassrum kan på detta sätt vara en viktig del i arbetet för lärande för hållbar utveckling.

Det finns ett stort intresse för en fortsättning av projektet. Många aktörer inomSkogen som klassrum uttrycker att projektet har varit lärorikt och roligt och man ser det positiva i att integrera frågor kring skogens biologiska och sociala värden med skogens möjligheter som pedagogisk resurs i olika skolämnen. För att undervisning i naturen ska bli en naturlig del av skolans verksamhet i alla Sveriges kommuner krävs fortsatt arbete för att myndigheter och politiker ska ge stöd till utomhuspedagogisk verksamhet. Dessutom måste naturområden nära skolor bevaras och göras lättillgängliga. I längden kan undervisning i naturen leda till ett ökat intresse för växter och djur och att vara ute i naturen på fritiden. Detta kan i sin tur leda vidare till ett ökat intresse för att bevara natur och ett engagemang för samhällets hållbara utveckling.

Den här avhandlingen handlar om ungdomars erfarenheter och upplevelser av delaktighet i det som enligt skolans mål skall vara ´en skola för alla´. Vi har under tre terminer varit deltagande observatörer och intervjuat ungdomar på en skola (år 6-9) som vi kallar Vegaskolan. Studien beskriver möten i tid och rum mellan olika livsvärldar, mellan ungdomarna sinsemellan, mellan ungdomar och vuxna och mellan vuxna. Här framträder också relationen mellan ungdomar och det innehåll som skolan arbetar med. Dessa möten får konsekvenser för delaktighet och utanförskap, ungdomarnas självbilder, lärandet och vilket stöd som de erbjuds.

Vår ambition har varit att se delaktighet ur ungdomars perspektiv med syftet att förstå de processer som reser hinder och skapar möjligheter för delaktighet. Vår utgångspunkt har varit ungdomarnas syn på sitt vardagsliv i skolan. De har berättat om sina minnen från förskola och skola, sin nutid och sina tankar om framtiden, gjort val av vad de sett som relevant att delge oss och hur de velat framställa sina erfarenheter. I sina reflektioner har de bidragit med analyser av skolan och det som skett där. De har i jämförelse med skolpersonal i flera avseenden en annorlunda erfarenhet av skolan samt en helhetsbild av sin egen tid där.

De vuxna kommer bara i mycket begränsad utsträckning till tals i denna studie. De syns genom ungdomarnas och våra beskrivningar av vad de säger och gör. Detta kan tyckas ge en ensidig bild men vi menar att det mesta som skrivs om skolan utgår från ett vuxenperspektiv och att den bilden behöver kompletteras med andra perspektiv.

Vi har valt att göra fältstudien på en skola, som vi utifrån mötet med ungdomarna och vuxna där upplevde som ”det goda exemplet”. Vi bedömde att vi i denna miljö skulle kunna upptäcka mer av möjligheter till delaktighet, men också vilka hindren är även under relativt goda förhållanden. Avhandlingen har möjliggjorts av skolverket som har finansierat den som projektarbete under tre år.

Utgångspunkten för denna studie ar ett projekt som startade våren 2001. Syftet med projektet ar att identifiera och belysa möjligheter och hinder för delaktighet for barn och ungdomar i behov av stod i en skola för alia. Denna studie ar en del av detta projekt och inriktad pa att identifiera delaktighet i skolan som rum. Med rum menar vi både den fysiska miljön och de ramar som bildar villkor för skolan. Vi genomförde förstudier i form av deltagande observationer på flera olika skolor för ungdomar mellan 13 och 16 år, och valde sedan ut en skola, i studien kallas den Z-Skolan.

I Inledning har vi utgått fran delaktighet som begrepp, men också studier av delaktighet i skolan och skolan som ett diskursivt faIt. Vi har sökt svar på våra frågor genom att studera dokument på nationell- och kommunalniva, men främst de dokument som lärarna på Z-Skolan producerat. Vi har arbetat med deltagande observationer i skolans vardag, och vi har intervjuat ungdomar på grundskolan år 8 och 9.

I första delen av analysen har vi inspirerats av bland annat Grounded Theory och fått fram ternan kring delaktighet. Dessa teman är organisation, möten och lärande. Med dessa teman som utgångspunkt har vi sedan gått vidare i ett andra analyssteg diU: vi använt SOU 2000: 1 och det dynamiska medborgarskapet som utgångspunkt. För att uppnå delaktighet, enligt det dynamiska medborgarskapet, måste deltagande och inflytande men också jämlikhet och insyn vara identifierbara.

Vi har funnit att delaktighet finns för manga ungdomar i många situationer pa Z-Skolan, men det finns också inslag av utanförskap och ickedelaktighet. Möjlighetema till delaktighet, men också hindren finner vi både inom organisationen och den fysiska miljön, men inte minst genom vuxnas förhållningssatt och respekt mot ungdomarna och deras kultur. Om delaktighet ses som en rättighet eller en praktik för fostran till demokratiska medborgare får det olika konsekvenser för ungdomars skolvardag.

Abstract: The Swedish preschool curriculum emphasizes children’s learning through play. This means that children’s learning in everyday practice is accomplished through a complex mixture of teacher-led activities and activities the children themselves initiate. When learning is viewed as situated and constituted through social interaction (Lave & Wenger, 1991), almost all social events have learning potential. Consequently, from an educational and a curriculum point of view it is important to raise the question of how children’s learning can be made visible, and determine what kind of learning children’s own initiated (play) activities imply. The focus of the paper is on children’s (aged 3-5 years) “communities of practice” at the computer during “free play” period in two various Swedish preschools settings. Events of peer interaction are analyzed in detail to illustrate what kind of learning activities are going on at the computer, and to discuss these events of potential learning in relation to the curriculum goals and the educational practice. From a curriculum point of view, the analyses show that the children’s activities at the computer involve a variety of events that might provides for learning that can be viewed as goal-oriented. From the children’s point of view, the project of socialization seems to be the most prominent goal. A crucial point for educational success, however, is to understand not only what the object of learning is, rather what motivates children’s play apprenticeship in their own “communities of practice”. 

This paper examines the turn-by-turn organization of social actions during educational activities at a multilingual preschool in Sweden. Specifically, it focuses on instructional exchanges within two commonplace activities: sharing time and Spanish group. The study builds on earlier research arguing that interactional routines facilitate childrens participation in social activities, and therefore promote language learning. Several instances of interactional trouble are identified and discussed in terms of the teachers elaboration of some routine features of these activities, resulting in a mismatch between the teachers local aims and the childrens projections of relevant next actions. The analysis further highlights a range of interactional means through which the participants act to come to terms with the trouble. These findings are discussed in terms of the participants local concerns as well as the childrens orientations to the routine features of preschool activities. Some educational implications are finally proposed on the basis of these findings.

En central fråga under rundabordssamtalen var om det fanns några tips på examinationsförfaranden som skulle vara särskilt stimulerande för lärandet. Det praktiska råden var dock få och istället lyftes lärarens roll och kompetens fram som vägvisare för den kunskap som studenterna förväntades tillägna sig.Vid sidan av ‘nytta’ visade sig även kriterier ‘framtidens krav’ vara centralt

In this study we examine the development of teachers’ subject-specific knowledge in technology during a design based research project. In the project a researcher collaborated with two primary school teachers in exploring their students’ learning of technology. Throughout the whole project, the teacher-researcher group worked in an iterative and systematic way to explore the students’ learning. The data draws from the groups’ meetings during the whole project. In order to study the potential learning that was taking place among the teacher team during the course of the teaching project, Practical epistemology analysis (PEA) was used. During the project the teachers’ expanding knowledge was based on needs of relations between their understanding of the object of learning (i.e. the capability that the students should develop) and their previous teaching experiences, technical terms and real life examples. An important factor explaining the development of the teachers’ knowledge base was the discussion in the group focusing on different aspects, starting with formulating an object of learning, constructing the pre-test, identifying critical aspects and planning and revising lessons. Our study shows that it is possible for primary school teachers to significantly increase their knowledge base in technology and technology education through design-based teaching.