In this introduction, the editors outline the ideas of using comics in education, as well as make a short introduction of the different chapters included here. As comics have developed throughout the twentieth century, so have the methods of studying them and using them for educational practice. Thus, the scholarly focus of studying comics and their readers has often veered in different directions and taken different approaches, and the collection aims to gather some of these approaches—whether within the literary, social, and educational sciences. In this way, the collection demonstrates the breadth of comics research conducted across the globe, as well as the varied practices of using comics in the classroom for different purposes.

This edited collection analyses the use of comics in primary and secondary education. The editors and contributors draw together global research to examine how comics can be used for critical inquiry within schools, and how they can be used within specific disciplines. As comics are beginning to be recognised more widely as an important resource for teaching, with a huge breadth of topics and styles, this interdisciplinary book unites a variety of research to analyse how learning is 'done' with and through comics. The book will be of interest to educational practitioners and school teachers, as well as students and scholars of comic studies, education and social sciences more broadly.

K-ULF, ”Kompensatorisk undervisning för lärande och forskning”, är KTHs del i den nationella försöksverksamheten ULF, eller ULF-avtal (”Utbildning, Lärande, Forskning”), som en del av Uppsala-noden. K-ULF-projektet startade våren 2020. Projektets organisation bygger på mötesplatser för lärare, lärarstudenter, lärarutbildare och forskare, där de tillsammans kan arbeta på lika villkor. Mötesplatserna som finns inom K-ULF är: Vetenskapens Hus (VH), en strategisk styrgrupp och en didaktisk arbetsgrupp. Dessa mötesplatser utgör grunden för ett systematiskt utvecklingsarbete för lärarprofessionen (Olsson & Brunner Cederlund, 2021). I linje med det nationella målet med ULF är K-ULFs syfte att ”utveckla och pröva hållbara samverkansmodeller mellan akademi och skola vad gäller forskning, skolverksamhet och lärarutbildning ge-nom att tydligare forskningsintegrera utbildningen och verksamhetsförlagd utbildning, och att studenters examensarbete (självständiga arbete) kan länkas till praktiknära forskning och skolutveckling utifrån veten-skaplig grund” (Institutionen för lärande, KTH, 2022). Benämningen ”Kompensatorisk undervisning för lärande och forskning” antyder också att man tar sig an skolans s.k. kompensatoriska uppdrag, nämligen att skapa förutsättningar för att alla elever ges goda förutsättningar att nå de nationella kunskapskraven. K-ULFs verksamhet har sedan 2020 växt och drivs nu av KTH i samarbete med Vetenskapens Hus och fem kommuner (huvudmän): Stockholms stad, Haninge kommun, Lidingö stad, Nynäshamns kommun och Värmdö kommun.

Denna rapport är en utvärdering av K-ULF projektets första fas (juni 2020–2022). Utvärderingen fokuserar K-ULF-projektets samverkans-modell utifrån deltagarnas perspektiv: huvudmän, rektorer, lärare, lärarstudenter, universitetslärare och forskare. Syftet med utvärderingen är att undersöka hur K-ULF har bidragit till att uppnå målen för ULFs försöksverksamhet, från deltagarnas perspektiv. I rapporten fokuseras:

• hur K-ULF bidrar till att uppnå målen för ULFs försöksverk-samhet – den hållbara samverkansmodellen – från deltagarnas perspektiv,
• den praktiknära forskningen inom K-ULF,
• K-ULFs uppskattade impact på lärare och elever på deltagande skolor,
• rekommendationer om prioriteringar i nästa fas.

För att få reda på deltagarnas perspektiv ombads samtliga deltagare i projektet att besvara en kvalitativ enkät. Enkäten var uppdelad i tre om-råden som rör K-ULF-projektet: syfte, organisation och innehåll. Totalt 25 deltagare besvarade enkäten och svar erhölls från samtliga grupper eller roller inom projektet, med en jämn fördelning mellan dem.

Resultatet visar att K-ULF-projektets organisation upplevs som mycket positiv av deltagarna och här nämns ord som funktionell och genomtänkt och att organisationen ger stora möjligheter till kunskapsutbyte. De re-gelbundna mötena i den didaktiska arbetsgruppen och i den strategiska styrgruppen utgör viktiga delar i organisationen. Dessa regelbundna mö-ten ger projektet kontinuitet i form av samarbete vilket utgör en god för-utsättning för att hålla fokus och styrfart i projektet. Idén om att skapa mötesplatser verkar således fylla sin funktion. Samarbetet upplevs väl-fungerande med ett stort engagemang och kontakten mellan organisationens olika delar fungerar mycket bra. Kommunikationen mellan deltagarna upplevs som positiv och man upplever att man får stöd, hjälp och feedback från olika arbetsgrupper. Kollegialt stöd lyfts fram som särskilt värdefullt och då framför allt om man är kollegor och har samma roll i projektet. Vidare känns innehållet intressant och innehållet sprids även vidare till andra lärare och huvudmän som inte deltar i projektet. Ibland kan det som kommuniceras upplevas som svårt att förstå och det nämns i detta sammanhang som ett ”forskarspråk”. Samtidigt uttrycks att ”forskarspråket” utgör en viktig del i kunskapsutvecklingen.

En svårighet i organisationen är en brist på engagemang från skolledningen som det upplevs av en del deltagare. Här nämns två förklaringar: 1) rektorer som slutar och 2) att K-ULF behöver få en tydligare plats i huvudmännens organisation, vilket verkar vara lättare hos mindre huvudmän och en större utmaning hos större huvudmän. Ytterligare en aspekt som lyfts bland deltagarna handlar om att det förefaller finnas otydligheter avseende uppdrag, roll och arbetsfördelning; här önskas en diskussion om forskares roll i projekten och vad man förväntas bidra med.

När det gäller den praktiknära forskningen så upplever deltagarna att K-ULF har utgått från lärarnas frågeställningar men att betydelsen av forskningen ofta är mer personlig. Flera av skollärarna vittnar om kon-kreta men fortfarande ganska personliga implikationer som att komma ”ur gamla hjulspår” och få ”nya idéer”. Å andra sidan finns också ett par kritiska synpunkter som just berörde att inte allas röster blev hörda. Här ifrågasätts huruvida enskilda lärares önskemål verkligen kan sägas spegla större frågeställningar som berör fler. I detta sammanhang ifrågasätts också om examensarbeten kan sägas vara forskning. Även om examensarbeten kanske inte formellt kan anses vara ”akademisk” forskning, så har i alla fall många av de lärare som deltagit i studien uttryckt att examensarbetena har bidragit med att:

• kunna förstå och se undervisningen i nytt ljus,
• få tankar om hur de kan utveckla undervisningen,
• kunna eller i alla fall velat diskutera dessa tankar vidare (McIntyre, 2005).

Resultaten pekar alltså på att examensarbetena kan vara ett fruktbart sätt att utföra praktiknära forskning i lärares vardagliga miljö, förutsatt att de får inflytande över arbetenas problemställningar. Problemet ver-kar snarare ha varit att inte alla delar av skolorganisationen (ännu) tagit del av möjligheten att inom K-ULF delta i praktiknära forskning. 

När det gäller impact och rekommendationer baseras de på resultat från vår enkätundersökning samt den ganska omfattande dokumentation som finns om K-ULF genom tidigare ULF-utvärderingar, forskningsrap-porter och konferenspaper. I korthet visar resultatet att deltagarna som besvarat enkäten önskar behålla strukturen och en långsiktig satsning med stabil finansiering och ett långsiktigt förhållningssätt även för den forskning som är knuten till projektet. K-ULFs impact har varit stark inom KTH och på huvudmannanivå i kommunerna och projektet har integrerats väl i KTHs lärarutbildning och ämnesdidaktiska forskning. Ge-nom styrgruppen och arbetsgruppen har också huvudmännens utbildningschefer och lärare involverats på ett tydligt sätt. 

Det finns också utvecklingsmöjligheter, och denna sammanfattning fokuserar på två sådana. Den första handlar om att skapa förutsättningar för ett större engagemang och en bättre förankring hos huvudmän och rektorer. I detta sammanhang nämns även att det behövs någon form av strategi för att informera och involvera deltagare som kommer in i en senare fas i projektet för att på så vis förankra och skapa goda förutsättningar. Den andra utvecklingsmöjligheten handlar om examensarbetenas utformning där det finns önskemål om mer delaktighet när det gäller hur skolornas ledning kan involveras i att identifiera kunskapsbehov som är relaterade till skolornas systematiska kvalitets- och utvecklings-arbete. Här lyfts en utmaning i att föra samman forskningsfokus som överensstämmer med skolornas kvalitets- och utvecklingsarbete med lärarnas behov och forskarnas intressen. Vidare behöver förutsättningarna för att locka studenter att skriva examensarbeten inom teknikämnet och naturvetenskapliga ämnen ses över då det fram till idag endast skrivits inom ämnesområdet matematik. 

Det finns flera delar i organisationen som fungerar mycket väl och som deltagarna önskar ha kvar i nästa fas. Deltagarna önskar behålla: 

• strukturen och en långsiktig satsning på samverkansmodellen med stabil finansiering,
• det verksamhetsnära perspektivet med det praktiknära samarbetet,
• de regelbundna mötena och att dessa även fortsättningsvis ska präglas av jämbördigt deltagande,
• ett fortsatt samarbete med lärarutbildning där K-ULF fortsätter utgöra en del av VFU-kurserna och examensarbeten,
• att skolorna även fortsättningsvis ges möjlighet till ett fortsatt samarbete och att den täta kontakten mellan KTH och VFU-skolor behålls.

Sammanfattningsvis är de flesta deltagare väldigt positiva till K-ULF som helhet. Deltagarnas inställning är i stort att K-ULF-projektet har ut-gått från skollärarnas dagliga behov i sina klassrum, och att de ingående projekt som initierats är grundade i verkliga behov och därför är praktiknära.

Denna systematiska litteraturstudie presenterar fyra olika perspektiv på hur kroppen kan integreras i fysikundervisningen. Dessa är det fysiska, fenomenologiska, ekologiska och sociokulturella perspektivet. Syftet med studien är att utifrån ämnesdidaktisk forskning problematisera och diskutera hur kroppen kan användas som redskap i fysikundervisningen i årskurs 4–6. De frågeställningar som utgåtts från är hur kroppen kan användas som en naturlig del i fysikundervisningen för att gynna elevernas lärande. Den andra frågeställningen är vilka utmaningar som redogörs för att använda kroppen som redskap i fysikundervisningen. Användningen av kroppen visade sig bidra till en ökad förståelse för undervisningens innehåll och ett ökat engagemang hos eleverna. De elever med goda förkunskaper gynnades inte lika mycket som de eleverna med begränsade förkunskaper. Detta är något lärare kan ha i åtanke för att anpassa undervisningen efter elevernas behov. Vad gäller utmaningar anses undervisningstiden begränsa lärarnas möjligheter att ge eleverna en likvärdig undervisning.

Participating without attending. Compulsory schooling in change. Compulsory schooling in Sweden was introduced in 1842. However, its meaning has changed over time, both in terms of who it applies to, how long it applies and how it can or should be implemented. During the 2000s, compulsory schooling has become synonymous with the obligation to be present in school and attend class. There are stu-dents who for medical, mental and social reasons can not go to school and fulfill their school obligation. In order to ensure that these students receive the education they are entitled to, a new chapter was introduced in 2020 in the Swedish Education Act, enabling distance learning. The purpose of the article is to learn more about how the educational policy framework of school attendance and everyone’s right to education can affect the meaning of compulsory schooling, and how this discursive change can have consequences for students, schools, and society. To achieve this, government policy texts on distance education and school attendance published in 2017-2021 are analyzed. The consequences that are perceived to follow from teaching beyond the school area are also discussed here. One consequence that is highlighted is that the school’s democracy mission ends up in danger. The analysis is inspired by Carol Lee Bacchi’s approach WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be)

All children in Sweden have the right to attend school from the year they reach the age of six. But are all children obliged to be there? Sweden have had compulsory schooling since the end of the 19th century. This means that there is an obligation to be in the school and attend its activities. A changed governance of the school during the last decades of the 20th century, from centralized to decentralized, opened up for the possibility of local school practices to define how the compulsory schooling should be interpreted and applied. In this article we scrutinize whether this has opened for potential inequalities regarding compulsory schooling in Sweden. In doing this we analyze law and policy documents that in different ways prescribe how deviations from school duties, so-called school absence, should be handled and by whom. The purpose of the article is to elucidate the effects of state-formulated guidelines regarding the management of school absence in Swedish compulsory school. Inspired by Carol Lee Bacchis’ WPR (What´s the Problem Represented to be) analysis, we interrogate how departures from compulsory schooling are portrayed as a problem and what meaning are ascribed to compulsory schooling - not least from an equality perspective.

The aim of this case study was to explore the nature of technology education in a Sámi school setting and to examine how knowledge about traditional cultural artefacts can contribute to broadening the horizons of technological literacy. The participants (teacher and pupils) in the study were all from the same Sámi primary school in Northern Sweden, and the activities connected to the artefacts took place with year 2 and 3 pupils. The method employed was participatory observation, and field notes, recorded conversations, photographs and children’s drawings were analysed using a qualitative content analysis.

The findings show that technology education in this school was connected to specific artefacts that are important in Sámi culture. Using these traditional cultural artefacts as a starting point, the pupils were given the opportunity to see that technology is more than modern high-tech; it is an age-old tradition of problem-solving, modification and adaptation to fulfil human needs. Technology education in this school was grounded in a holistic view of knowledge and was largely integrated with other school subjects. Myths and storytelling were frequently used to contextualise the technological content, and the historical aspect of technology was clear since connections between older and newer technological solutions were frequently made. The knowledge system embedded in the technology teaching can be described as collective and related to both artefacts and activities. Technological knowledge, activities and specific artefacts were not only attributed a practical value, they were also given a symbolic value, since a common knowledge base in technology contributes to strengthening the children’s cultural identity.

This study confirms that artefacts can play an important role in technology education and that an understanding of the relationship between technology and culture can be regarded as a critical part of technological literacy. A cultural context, in combination with a holistic perspective on learning, gives artefacts meaning and provides a context within which they are used. Including indigenous technological knowledge can thus not only prevent a marginalisation of indigenous knowledge, it can also provide opportunities to broaden pupils’ perspectives of what technology is, how it evolves, and the driving forces behind technological change

Although digital technology is an important part of young peoples lives, previous research implies that they have a limited understanding of what programming is and its connection to the digital devices they encounter every day. In order to create conditions for meaningful teaching in and about programming in technology education, more knowledge about younger students pre-understanding and experiences is needed. In the light of this, the aim of this case study was to explore young pupils descriptions of the concept programming, in connection with being introduced to programming as a teaching content in technology education. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with 16 children in year 1 (7-year-olds) in a primary school in Sweden. In their descriptions of programming as an activity, the pupils mainly used technological descriptions-a theory of artificial mind perspective. However, when they talked about the objects with which they associated programming, psychological descriptions-a theory of mind perspective-were more clearly present. Then, a less pronounced distinction between humans and machines was made. Anthropomorphic references were used, such as when the pupils referenced childrens culture such as movies and television programs. However, the term programming was difficult for many of the pupils to grasp. They also had difficulty in finding a function for programming, as well as explanations and arguments for why they learn programming in school. The results of this study indicate that these 7-year-old pupils perceive programming as something complex. This at the same time as they describe how programmed and programmed artefacts (including AI devices) are highly present in their everyday lives, in their leisure environments, and in school. This mirrors how technology has become an intelligent and active agent, rather than a mere tool in their lives-an aspect that teachers may forget to take advantage of.

The overall aim of the school subject technology is to develop pupils’ understanding of technological solutions in everyday life. A starting point for this study is that it is important for teachers in technology to have knowledge of pupils’ prior conceptions of the subject content since these can both support and hinder their learning. In a previous study we found that when pupils (age 7) talk about digital technology and programming, they often refer to out-of-school experiences such as films, television programmes and books. Typically, their descriptions include robots with some form of intelligence. Hence, it seems like children’s culture may have an impact on the conceptions they bring to the technology classroom. In light of this, it is vital that technology teachers have knowledge about how robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are portrayed in children’s culture, and how pupils perceive these portrayals. However, knowledge about these aspects of technology in children’s culture is limited.The purpose of this study is to investigate how artifacts with artificial intelligence are portrayed in television programmes and literature aimed at children. This study is the first step in a larger study aiming to examine younger pupils’ conceptions and ideas about artificial intelligence. A novice conception of artificial intelligence can be described as an understanding of what a programmed device may, or may not, “understand” in relation to a human, which includes discerning th edifferences between the artificial and the human mind. Consequently, as a theoretical framework for investigating how artificial intelligence is portrayed in children’s culture, the concepts of Theoryof Mind (ToM) and Theory of Artificial Mind (ToAM), are used. The empirical material presented in this paper, i.e. four children’s books and a popular children’s television programme, was analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis. The results show that the portrayal of AI is ambiguous. The structure and function of the robot has elements of both human and machine, and the view of the human fictional characters of the robot is sometimes that of a machine, sometimes of a human. In addition, the whole empirical material includes portrayals of AI as a threat as well as a saviour. As regards implications, there is a risk that without real-life experiences of robots, the representations children’s books and other media convey can lead to ambivalent feelings towards real robots.

Recently arrived pupils are part of the school population at schools in Sweden as well as in other European countries. In Sweden these pupils might receive study guidance support in their first language in various school subjects including science. My dissertation aims to provide insights into Swedish study guidance practices for recently arrived pupils, with a focus on science study guidance, by investigating interactions between recently arrived Turkish-speaking pupils (grades 3–9) and their tutors. My theoretical framework draws on an approach to interactions from sociocultural theory: in particular, the theoretical concepts of meaning-making and scaffolding. The data are based on observations of interactions between the pupils and their tutor from 14 study guidance sessions in seven Swedish cities. The multimodal analysis method is used to analyze video recordings of interactions. I found three different ways that tutors used scaffolding to assist their pupils’ meaning-making of science content: translations, reformulations, and questions and answers. Science content was translated, reformulated, and investigated through questions and answers through interactions in Turkish and Swedish. The tutors used Turkish and Swedish as well as other multimodal resources in study guidance interactions as a way to increase the opportunities for pupils to make meaning around various phenomena and concepts in science. The pupils showed evidence of their meaning-making by, for example, associating the science content with their personal experiences in their homeland, by recalling previous knowledge, or by joining in scientific discussions using their first language. However, not every attempt at scaffolding using translations, reformulations, and questions and answers led to successful acquisition of the desired science content. In some cases, the pupils’ opportunities to gain access to more advanced scientific discussions about scientific texts in Swedish were limited, because the discussion between pupil and tutor addressed a simplified scientific content. In some other cases, tutors made incorrect translations, reformulations and questions and answers in respect of the scientific content, something that could make the pupil’s meaning-making about science challenging.    

Labwork is usually seen as an essential element in engineering and science education. One, of the many purposes, with labwork is to strengthen, develop and deepen students' understanding of real phenomena (i.e., objects and events) and the connection between real phenomena and theoretical models and theories. Another main purpose of lab work is to develop students' abilities to collaborate in experiments and empirically investigate and describe technical systems, natural and technical objects, and natural and artificial phenomena.

In connection with distance learning, it is in general a challenge to design labwork ina good way so that the intended learning outcomes mentioned previously are achieved. This does not only apply specifically to the situation with “forced distance teaching” that has arisen in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, but generally applies to all kinds of “off campus” teaching and learning.

I have carried out a comprehensive exploratory review of what is reported in the science and engineering education research literature regarding laboratory work conducted as distance labs or as home labs. In my paper I will present initial results from my literature review. I have found that there is, indeed, a quite substantial literature describing remote labs and online labs. However, with few exceptions, the literature is mainly focused on the technical aspects of remote labwork and less on the pedagogical aspects. In addition to various forms of "online" labs and remotely controlled labs, I will highlight different forms of home labs and labs with low-cost equipment as an interesting option.

Laborationer ses vanligtvis som ett väsentligt inslag i teknisk- och naturvetenskaplig utbildning. Ett av de många syftena med laborationer är att stärka, utveckla och fördjupa studenternas förståelse av verkliga fenomen (det vill säga objekt och händelser) och sambandet mellan verkliga fenomen och teoretiska modeller och teorier. Ett annat huvudsyfte med laborationer är att utveckla studenternas förmåga att samarbeta i experiment och empiriskt undersöka och beskriva tekniska system, naturliga och tekniska föremål och naturliga och artificiella fenomen.

I samband med distansutbildning är det generellt en utmaning att utforma laborationer på ett bra sätt så att de avsedda lärandemålen uppnås. Detta gäller inte bara specifikt situationen med ”påtivingad” distansundervisning som uppstod i samband med COVID-19-pandemin, utan det gäller i allmänhet alla typer av av undervisning "off campus".

I denna artikel beskrivs preliminära resultat från en litteraturstudie i syfte att få en översikt av vad som rapporteras i den ämnesdidaktiska forskningslitteraturen om laborationer som utförs som distanslaboratorier eller som hemlaboratorier inom naturvetenskapliga och tekniska utbildningar. Det finns en rätt omfattande litteratur som beskriver fjärrlaboratorier och onlinelaboratorier. Men, med få undantag är litteraturen främst inriktad på de tekniska aspekterna av att fjärrstyra laborationer och mindre på den pedagogiska utformningen och studenternas lärande. Förutom olika former av ”onlinelaboratorier” och fjärrstyrda laborationer lyfts olika former av hemlaborationer och laborationer med digital utrustning som kan införskaffas till en så låg kostnad att studenterna själva kan äga eller låna den som intressanta alternativ för framtiden.

There is a growing interest in engineering education that the curriculum should include collaborative design projects. Collaboration and collaborative learning imply a shared activity, a shared purpose, a joint problem-solving space, and mutual interdependence to achieve intended learning outcomes. The focus, in this study, is on engineering students’ collaborative group practices. The context is a design project in the fifth semester of the problem-based Architecture and Design programme at Aalborg University. Students’ collaborative work in the preparation for an upcoming status seminar was video recorded in situ. In our earlier studies video ethnography, conversation analysis and embodied interaction analysis have been used to explore what interactional work the student teams did and what kind of resources they used to collaborate and complete the design task on a momentmoment basis. In this paper we report from a one-hour period where a group of four engineering students do final designs in preparation for the status seminar. Using recorded multi-perspective videos, we have analysed students’ fine-grained patterns of social interaction within this group. We found that the interaction and collaboration was very dynamic and fluid. It was observed that students seamlessly switched from working individually to working collaboratively. In collaborative work students frequently changed constellations and would not only work as a whole group, but also would break into subgroups of two or three students to do some work. Our results point to the need to investigate group practices and individual and collaborative learning in design project groups and other collaborative learning environments in more detail and the results challenge a naïve individualcollaborative- binary.

CONTEXT: There is a growing interest in engineering education that the curriculum should include collaborative design projects. The problem-based and project-based learning context of this study is a design project in the fifth semester of the problem-based Architecture and Design programme at Aalborg University. The students had the task to design a real office building in collaborative groups of five to six students. PURPOSE: Collaboration and collaborative learning imply a shared activity, a shared purpose, and a mutual interdependence to achieve the intended learning outcomes. In earlier studies we have highlighted the cognitive importance of tools and the use of a wealth of bodily and material resources in students’ collaborative interactional work in the design project. In this study, we focus on students’ collaborative group practices in the design project. The fine-grained details of collaborative work in engineering students design projects are currently underresearched. METHODOLOGY: The preparation for an upcoming status seminar was video recorded in situ. Video ethnography, conversation analysis and embodied interaction analysis were used to explore what interactional work the student teams did and what kind of resources they used to collaborate and complete the design task. Complete six hours sessions of five groups were recorded using multiple video cameras (two to five cameras per group). OUTCOMES: The fine-grained patterns of social interaction within groups were found to be complex and dynamic. In the video recordings it was observed that students often changed constellations and break into subgroups of one, two or three students to do some work and to congregate later as a whole group. Thus, we found that the patterns of collaboration in groups practical day-to-day work were not static but displayed a myriad of different patterns. CONCLUSION: Our results challenge a naïve individual-collaborative binary and point to the need to investigate group practices and individual and collaborative learning in design project groups and other collaborative learning environments in more detail. Physical settings in active learning environments should make fluid collaboration patterns in students’ collaborative work feasible and it should be encouraged by instructors.

The use of “digital tools” have usually played an important role in the transformation to “emergency remote teaching” during the pandemic. However, even before the pandemic there has been a strong pressure that education should become more “digital”. Nevertheless, we see several problems associated with the present discourse related to “digitalisation” of education. 1) It often unclear what is meant with “digital education”, 2) very narrow view of “digital tools” too mainly be tools for information and communication neglecting other uses of digital technology, 3) unbalanced focus on “digital tools” there other tools are either neglected or seen as inherently inferior and “old-fashioned”, 4) conflation between “digital” and “distance”, 5) adherence to either a technological determinism or a pedagogical determinism (technology is a neutral tool). Engineering students’ courses of action have been videorecorded in design projects and in electronics labs at two universities. It can bee seen that students’ use a wealth of bodily-material resources that are an integral and seamless part of students’ interactions. They use bodily resources, concrete materials, “low-tech” inscriptions as well as “high-tech” (“digital”) inscription devices. Our results challenge that by hand – by computer and analogue tools – digital tools should be seen as dichotomies. Our empirical evidence suggests that students should be trained to not only be trained to work with “digital” tools but with a multitude of tools and resources. We, thus, advocate that a postdigital perspective should be taken in education where the digital makes up part of an integrated totality

Programming is increasingly being taught in schools in Sweden and around the world. Programming has been taught and assessed for a long time both in upper secondary schools and in universities, but in the lower grades, programming as part of technology education is still rather new. Therefore, there is a need for assessment criteria for programming in compulsory school. The aim of this chapter is to examine the criteria that individual teachers use when they grade and assess students in tasks related to programming. This study uses Q methodology. The informants, 28 programming teachers, were asked to sort and rank criteria regarding the assessment of programming according to their own subjective beliefs. The results were analysed using factor analysis to find groups of similar informants. The results reveal two teacher groups, where one puts greater emphasis on process criteria while the other primarily emphasises product criteria. Moreover, both groups place high value on students’ ability to explain the program, which can be interpreted as a combination of product and process where the student uses the knowledge they have acquired and turns it into their own knowledge. At the end of the chapter, formative assessment is discussed, based on the results relating to process criteria, and how teachers can use these criteria to help students progress

In schools around the world the part of technology education related to programming is increasing. There is a lot to learn about teacher’s assessment and grading of students in assignments that are related to technology, particularly in programming. Simon (2012) analyzed introductory programming exams and found that a large percentage of the marks were awarded for the product and the coding skills of the student and less for other skills such as design, debugging, testing, or explaining and documenting.To be able to give formative support teachers should also be able to assess the process in the classroom;students tinkering, creating, debugging, persevering, and collaborating. The aim of this paper is therefore to examine teachers’ individual criteria, explicit, tacit and subjective criteria, when they grade and assess students in technology tasks related to programming. We interviewed 6 teachers in Sweden, representing lower secondary school, upper secondary school and university (teacher and engineering education). A Repertory Grid Technique interview combined with a Comparative Judgement gradingwas used to examine teachers’ individual criteria in assessment. The expected outcomes from themethods are captured criteria that are implicit and based on teachers’ experience, sometimes seen as teachers’ gut feelings. Two types of criteria were found; product criteria assessing the program and process criteria assessing the ongoing process. We compared these criteria with an instrument measuring the development of creativity designed for Art education. We claim that the use of process criteria will help the teacher and the students in developing programming skills.

In this chapter, we review some of the most commonly invoked educational challenges of working with children who are bilingual or multilingual and point to their moorings in a normative, strictly monolingual perspective – a monolingual bias. We then move on to present an alternative, and radically social, understanding of childhood multilingualism firmly based in the growing body of CA-oriented studies of bi- and multilingual interaction in early childhood education settings. Drawing on data from different educational contexts, we examine the manifold ways that participants make use of language alternation, showing how the availability of more than one language can be used productively, as a resource that supports learning. We round off the chapter by highlighting some implications for educators who work with multilingual children. Although the extracts provided in the text are taken from settings where both teacher and children share more than one language, the affordances we discuss will be of relevance to educators who do not have access to children’s first language.

This compilation thesis explores how the double aspect of visual literacy is enacted in secondary schools’ social science classrooms when interactive data visualizations are employed. The aim is to map what characterizes ‘reading’ interactive data visualizations and ‘writing’ knowledge visualizations, as well as implications for a didactic design supporting students’ visual literacy. The interactive visualization introduced by this thesis is the visual analytics application Statistics eXplorer, which offers support in analyzing vast amounts of data. Such information-rich interfaces provide possibilities for students to find correlations and draw conclusions, but they also generate complexities regarding interactive and multimodal texts and require modes other than the written when insights are to be demonstrated. The thesis is positioned under the umbrella of actor–network theory, thereby a socio-material perspective guides the study of interactions between actors (students, teachers, lesson plans, visualizations, written texts, etc.) Applying design-based research, an intervention is designed and conducted in seven social science classrooms comprised of four teachers and 152 students. The empirical material consists of zoomed-in webcam recordings capturing the students’ faces, voices, and gestures as well as the activities on the screens. It also includes wide-angle captures, field notes, and one focus group. Material discursive analysis guides the analytical work. The findings reveal a reading characterized as intense, performative, collaborative, and dynamic. The reading process is distinguished by searches for a starting point, a production of reading direction, and a continuously changing reading surface. The writing of knowledge visualizations is characterized by exploring, gathering, and inserting visuals as carriers of information. Furthermore, by identifying critical issues in the classrooms a didactic design framework is constructed, which demonstrates how teachers can support the development of students’ visual literacy. 

This paper aims to explore how visual literacy emerges when visual analytics and students enact in social science secondary classrooms. Interacting with visual technology likely demands new forms of literacy as various dimensions of complexity emerge in such learning activities, where reading become a way to impose order and relevance on what is displayed. However, there is a lack of research how these visual processes emerge. By applying a socio-material semiotic approach, the interactions between teachers, students and a visual analytics application are followed. The paper clarifies what might strengthen or weaken the socio-material relations at work in emerging visual literacy. This design-based study was conducted in five classes in three secondary schools in Sweden, with 97 students. The visual analytics application introduced was Statistics eXplorer. Each class were followed two to three lessons by a video recording program that captured both the students and the actions at the computer screen. The socio-material analyses show that the enactments between the visual analytics and the students were both strengthened and weakened by different social as well as material forces. The actions were directed by visual properties as movement, highlighting and color. Connecting to the students these often produced a quick vision or a "locked" vision. The paper argues for close didactic alignment and deeper knowledge of how the visual interface attracts human (students’) attention and how students’ visual literacy ablilites may emerge in that relation.

This paper investigates the potential aspects of visual literacy that might appear when visual analytics and students interact in social science secondary classrooms. Interacting with visual technology likely demands new forms of literacy as various dimensions of complexity emerge in such learning activities where reading imposes order and relevance on what is displayed. However, only a few studies have evaluated how these visual processes emerge. Applying a socio-material semiotic approach, this paper examines the interactions between teachers, students and a visual analytics application, clarifying what strengthens or weakens the socio-material relations at work in emerging visual literacy. Methodologically, a design-based research approach is chosen. Notably, it is the early stages of the designed-based research cycle that are applied. Interventions were designed and conducted in five classes in three secondary schools in Sweden (97 students). The visual analytics application introduced was Statistics eXplorer. For each class, two to three lessons were video recorded to capture how the students interacted with the application. The socio-material analyses show that the interactions between the visual analytics and the students were both strengthened and weakened by different social as well as material forces. The actions were directed by visual properties such as movement, highlighting, and color, properties that often resulted in quick vision or locked vision. This paper argues that there needs to be a close didactic alignment and deeper knowledge of how visual interfaces attract students’ attention and how students’ visual literacy emerges in that relationship.

Hur kan en framtida digital utbildningspraktik främja elevers utveckling av kunskaper, förmågor och bildning i Hans Roslings anda? Elevers möjligheter att bidra till samhälleliga utmaningar som klimatförändringar, fattigdomsbekämpning och förbättrade levnadsvillkor behöver stärkas. I VISE-projektet arbetar lärare och forskare gemensamt för att skapa insikter i hur interaktiva datavisualiseringar kan bistå elever att analysera viktig fakta, skapa förståelse om vår värld och visuellt presentera dessa kunskaper.

In this study, a visual analytics application is put into practice in Swedish secondary school social science classrooms. The application offers support to analyse vast amounts of data through interactive data visualizations. Previous studies have demonstrated that the visual interactive interface challenges the traditional practice in school, where students usually demonstrate their knowledge by means of written texts. Thus, this study examines what happens if students work with more malleable, adaptable, or fluid modes when attempting to express their conclusions from work with interactive data visualizations. It aims to detect patterns in how knowledge visualizations are produced and arranged multimodally. Inspired by design-based research, the study conducted two classroom interventions followed by video captures. It employed a socio-material semiotic approach, which enables the study of interactions between both social and material actors. Three patterns emerged when students’ insights were translated into knowledge visualizations – exploring, gathering, and inserting. It became obvious how different actors taking part of such a digital multimodal writing activity affect and change every actor/everyone/everything, which in turn transfers, relocalizes, reformulates, and re-presents the communicated message. Knowing how knowledge visualizations are produced might strengthen students’ visual abilities when transforming insights multimodally.

Swedish school’s commission to promote equal treatment and counteract discrimination is extensive and entails active work on fundamental values in everyday activities. This article presents resultsfrom an action-oriented ethnographic study in which we, together with teachers and students at the language introduction-programme in upper secondary school, reviewed and developed methods of working with fundamental values in education. Using theories of intersectionality, critical multiculturalism, and critical pedagogy, we query the possibilities to fully include students of different backgrounds. Our analysis shows how the students were approached from a deficit model and that gender and sexuality were used as ethnic markers between Swedishness and non-Swedishness. Further, the potential in starting from students’ experiences and seeing the possibilities with an anti-racist, critical perspective on ethnicity is highlighted. Thus, we propose that teaching on fundamental values in language introduction needs to break with the idea of an imagined normative Swedishness and switch from a monocultural to an intercultural perspective in order to increase students’ opportunities for participation and inclusion.

This dissertation examines how technology learning is made possible through teacher-led construction activities in preschool. The dissertation also examines how the preschool teachers’ role and the design of the construction activities were affected by different historical and societal structures as well as the collaboration between research and practice.

The dissertation is based on an action research study that was carried out with a group of preschool teachers in two preschool units. In order to develop the preschool practice, the group carried out three different construction activities that were videotaped and analyzed.

The results of the dissertation indicate that the preschool teachers used a number of different technology didactic tools to support the children in their technology learning. At the same time, the results show that some children were given much more input in the problem-solving process that took place during the activities, while other children did not have that much of an opportunity for such influence. Both the children's ability to come up with suggestions for solutions and the preschool teachers' confirmation of the children played an important role in this process. The results also indicate that the preschool teachers' assumptions about technology, about the children, about the preschool and about their own role in the activities influenced their actions. The study shows that the design of the activities may be influenced by the history of construction activities in preschool, as well as the gender coding of the technology.

In summary, this study indicates that taking on the role of the active and guiding adult in a construction activity is just the first step in creating activities that are as inclusive as possible. The preschool teacher also needs to reflect on how the staging of these activities facilitates or limits children's different actions. It is also important to understand how different choices (e.g., activities, tools, materials) affect the activities that are staged.

The dissertation also shows that there may be tension between the researcher and the participants in an action research project in preschool. There may be power structures between researchers and participants that are not entirely easy to handle.

Even though construction tasks have a long history as an activity in the Swedish preschool, technology as a content matter (e.g., construction) is relatively new. Hence, preschool teachers are generally unsure of the content of technology and how to handle it from a teaching perspective. Thus, there is need for deeper understanding of how construction tasks in preschool can be enacted and what kind of premises are offered to the children. To investigate this, we took our stance in activity theory and the concepts of mediating artifacts, rules and division of labour. This helped us discern what type of instructional practices that were enacted by preschool teachers when working with construction tasks. Activity theory in combination with thematic analysis helped us distinguish four general didactic actions that the teachers used to bring about the construction task-to engage, to guide, to coordinate, to show. These four strategies were then formulated into specific technology didactic actions through the perspectives of technology as product, process and concepts.

As has been pointed out in previous research, teacher-led learning plays an important role in developing preschool children's technological skills and technological self-esteem. What is missing in research are more detailed analysis of how the children’s and teachers’ actions and interactions shape the learning process. In order to study this within the field of construction, an action research project was conducted, where construction activities were developed, implemented and revised in an iterative procedure. Data from the second cycle were analyzed for this article using graphic transcriptions and multimodal analysis, with a focus on action, interaction and experience from a pragmatist perspective. Our findings show that children who quickly and decisively engage with the material, the teachers and their peers in suggesting which material to use and/or how the material can be used, end up in a central role in the design process. These children (or their actions) often get legitimized by the teachers. Thus, in order to give children access to equal opportunities in the construction activities, it is important for teachers to understand how the children’s construction-focused actions become constitutive and what their role in that process is.

Didactics as a theoretical basis and as a research field in relation to teaching exists within many disciplines (e.g., natural sciences and preschool education) but not for leisuretime pedagogy. Despite this, teacher students in School Age Educare Centers (SAEC) must fulfil one of the nationally established goals which explicitly demands knowledge in didactics and subject didactics within the field of leisure-time pedagogy. In addition. the research is quite invisible. This study highlights how didactics has been explicitly dealt with in both scientific articles and research-based literature aimed at SAEC. The purpose of the literature review is as follows: a) identify and describe focus and orientation (both subject-wise and didactically) in the years 2000–2021, b) compare, discuss and problematize the results, and furthermore, c) point out future research orientations. The method is a systematic literature review (SLR) with a qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The results show that the interest in and awareness of the concept of didactics have developed over the past ten years, and that the vast majority of texts are based on a qualitative approach with discussing, argumentative and reflective analyses. A small number of studies are based on empirical data. In terms of content, the studies capture some of the traditional didactic concepts such as the teacher, leadership, andsubject didactics, but also different theoretical points of departure. The use of the concept of didactics in the SAEC indicates that the area needs to be developed, that the concept of didactics is used in relation to activities in SAEC, and that it is used as an interpretive framework for empirical material. The study certainly demonstrates the awareness of various didactic aspects, but there is a lack of studies that incorporate the didactic complexity

This article scrutinises the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (EURODAC) as a research object for social science. EURODAC serves as an important part of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) infrastructure by registering digitalised fingerprints of asylum seekers, which facilitates the allocation of responsibility following the Dublin Regulation. In this article, we explore the role of EURODAC from its implementation in 2003 until April 2021 through a scoping review that maps and analyses existing social science research in the field. In total, 254 scholarly publications-identified in Scopus, Academic Search Complete, and Web of Science-were reviewed. The article seeks to answer three research questions: What is the accumulated knowledge within social science research on EURODAC? What gaps and trends exist in this research? What are the possible implications of this knowledge, gaps, and trends for other areas of the CEAS such as asylum evaluations and reception of asylum seekers? Based on a qualitative thematic analysis, our review shows that research on EURODAC can be divided into three broad categories: research that focuses on the reconfiguration of borders; research that focuses on migration governance and resistance; and research that emphasises fundamental rights and discrimination. In our final discussion, we highlight the lack of ethnographic studies, of gender and intersectional perspectives, and of in-depth studies on national legal frameworks including asylum evaluations and reception practices across the EU. The article concludes that social science needs to address the socio-political underpinnings of EURODAC and acknowledges its centrality to all areas of the CEAS.

Europe’s migration and security challenges have prompted the European Union (EU) to develop and enhance multiple large-scale information technology systems (IT systems). Policy and legal developments in this area are evolving rapidly. The European Commission has proposed amending the legal bases for Eurodac and the Schengen Information System (SIS II), and is expected to propose amending the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2018. In addition, four new systems are planned: the Entry-Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), the European Criminal Records Information System for Third-Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN), and, most crucially, an IT system that seeks to ensure interoperability across existing and planned systems.

Such systems provide invaluable support to border management efforts, but also have wide-ranging fundamental rights implications. The persons affected – including both regular travellers and persons who may be in situations of vulnerability – typically do not fully understand the implications of the use of such systems.

This study qualitatively examines synchronous online encounters in Swedish teacher education, learning from the distance and hybrid mode triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, conceptualized as emergency remote teaching. The separation of bodies in such online teacher education challenges participants’ sensory involvement and how they can be “present” to one another. The aim of this study is to scrutinize body-sensory dimensions of presence to enlighten online encounters in teacher training in circumstances of emergency remote teaching, as well as in contemporary and future online teacher education, generally. Online encounters were documented by video recordings during online seminars and lectures, and by diary entries and focus groups with eight teacher educators and their students. With inspiration from a posthumanist problematization of communication and post-qualitative methodology, the analytical process puts the concepts alterity and attunement to work with the data. Results show that online teaching encounters provides an altered body-sensory situation to which participants sensorily attune in different ways, bringing both positive, and troublesome affects. Different sensory attunements further involve exploiting some body-sensory dimensions (i.e. vision) when others are concealed. When performing teacher training of all levels through emergency remote teaching/online teacher education, awareness of how the material setting of online encounters affects the body and thus the didactic conditions for building meaningful relationships in the study environment, is important. Since the lived body has a key role in teachers’ professional becoming, the study suggests a critical, creative consideration of its full sensory, along with further, qualitative expansion of online teacher education.

Det finns i dagsläget många nyanlända barn i grundskolan i Europa. I Sverige är dock forskningen om dessa elevers lärande begränsad. Syftet med denna forskningsstudie är att undersöka hur en studiehandledare använder olika meningsskapande strategier kring vattnets krets- lopp i naturorienterande undervisning (NO) under studiehandledningssituationer för att stödja en nyanländ turkisk elevs meningsskapande. Data samlades genom videoinspelning av en turkisk nyanländ elev i interaktion med sin studiehandledare under en timmes studie- handledning kring vattnets kretslopp. Analys av data visade att studie- handledaren stödjer eleven genom översättningsaktiviteter, omformuleringar och frågor, vilket gav eleven möjlighet att skapa meningar i det ämnesspecifika språket och innehållet. Att som studiehandledare förväntas kunna ge stöd i alla ämnen på två språk är en svår uppgift, och i studien observerades flera utmaningar. Exempelvis var det ibland svårt för studiehandledaren att översätta mellan de två språken eller att använda naturvetenskapliga begrepp i sina omformuleringar. När eleven ställde frågor handlade dessa ofta om naturvetenskapliga fenomen medan studiehandledarens frågor snarare tog upp enskilda svenska ord.

Recently, educational institutions, especially in Europe, have received a growing number of newly-arrived pupils (Eurydice, 2019), which has attracted researchers to assess the educational attainment of these pupils. This research project hence aims to investigate meaning-making processes in the subject of Science where the learning process of newlyarrived Turkish pupils is scaffolded by their study-guidance teachers during studyguidance sessions. To outline the theoretical perspective of the research, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory on meaning-making and scaffolding is adopted. Data was collected through the observation of newly-arrived Turkish pupils and their study guidanceteachers during the study-guidance sessions. A piece of dialogue between a studyguidance teacher and a newly-arrived pupil has been presented to indicate the challenges which arise during scaffolded interactions.

In this study, we aim to investigate activities using models in a design project in three technology classrooms. Activities that use models are important for students’ development of knowledge and skills connected to the design process. Nevertheless, few empirical studies have thus far examined how models and modelling are used in a classroom environment when students and teachers are involved in a design project. In order to meet our aim, we video-recorded eight lessons from three different technology classrooms (students aged 13–15), where the students were involved in diferent problem-solving activities using models and modelling. The three projects had diferent specifcations, and the students’ degrees of freedom thereby varied. The video recordings were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in seven activities being identifed where the teachers and students talked about models and modelling in order to solve the problem. The results also revealed three diferent dimensions of models: material, structure and function. These dimensions are present in almost all activities that use models. In a project with a high degree of freedom, all three dimensions of models are present. On the contrary, in a project with a lower freedom, only one of the dimensions is present, resulting in a lower degree of complexity for the students. The study emphasizes that the presumptions and openness of a design project in technology education can provide diferent possibilities for students learning in relation to models and modelling.

This study aims to investigate affordances of models and modelling in design projects in technology education. To learn more about affordances when working with models and modelling, four Swedish technology teachers were interviewed using a narrative approach. Despite a small number of informants data were rich, containing detailed descriptions of sequences where students used models and modelling in ways not planned by the teachers. By using a qualitative, generic inductive approach, the narrative interviews revealed seven different affordances of models and modelling in the projects: Seeing different solutions; Finding possibilities and limitations in solutions; Representing an idea, structure or function; Communicating solutions with drawings; Making problems and solutions visible; Trial and error and learning from mistakes and finally Taking inspirations from each other’s solutions. Some conclusions and implications of the study are that when the students can see and use a wide variety of materials when modelling, they are more creative in finding solutions to design problems. The use of conceptual design in schools, leading to students performing trial and error using models to solve problems, might also be connected to the importance of a variety of materials. In the study, teachers describe how their students used models, trying different solutions, representing ideas, and trying, failing and trying again. All these modelling activities are important parts of a design process and might prove that the doing itself is a process of reflection.

In this study we investigate how 11 Swedish technology teachers perceive model functions in technology education. The main reason for investigating model functions in technology is an identified lack of knowledge about, and research studies into, a conscious use of models when teaching technology, even though models are part of technology education in many countries. In order to answer the research question of how technology teachers perceive model functions in technology education, we have used directed content analysis where Nia and de Vries (J Technol Des Educ 27:627–653, 2017) model functions constituted a framework. The teachers connect model functions to two teaching contexts: Design process and Explain and facilitate understanding of technological solutions. Model functions are understood as parts of the design process which relate to technology/engineering knowledge, a prescriptive way of understanding models. Models are also used to explain and clarify specific technological situations or functions when teaching technology closely related to a scientific, descriptive way of using models. Five of Nia and de Vries model functions are identified in this empirical study. This strengthens the importance of addressing model functions in technological education.

Although psychological states have been widely examined as social objects indiscursive psychology (DP), little is known about the interactional organisationof perception. This chapter is about joint sensorial activities in driver training.Specifically, we explore how neophyte drivers are being trained in identifyingand analysing kinetic information—including the car’s vibration, movementand direction—when performing routine car control operations. Throughmultimodal conversation analysis of four video-recorded examples, wedemonstrate how driving instructors gesturally enact sensations to invite theirstudents to “feel” the car’s kinetic status, how they jointly produce coordinatedsensory activities and how the sensoriality of the event is intersubjectivelyestablished through “feel enquiries”. Treating sensory perception asembedded—and embodied—in practical social activity, highlights the benefitsof including corporeality in future DP enquiry.