Förlagets sammanfattning:
Praktiknära forskning har som mål att förena den vetenskapliga kunskapsprocessen med praktiskt utvecklingsarbete. Den skolnära forskningen är ett exempel på en sådan process, där vetenskaplig kunskap möter lärares erfarenheter för att på så vis stärka måluppfyllelsen i skolan. Det kan handla om lärare som beforskar sin egen praktik, men begreppet hänvisar även till forskning som bedrivs i nära samverkan med skolpraktiken. Sådan forskning tar sin utgångspunkt i lärarens frågor och behov. Ett annat kännetecken är närheten till undervisningen och faktiska situationer i klassrummet där lärare och elever är aktiva.
Den här boken erbjuder en översikt av och handledning i olika skolnära forskningsmetoder. Exempel på metoder som tas upp är: Learning study, följeforskning, skuggning och medvandrare. Metoderna är beprövade i olika empiriska sammanhang och exempel ges både från skola, förskola och fritidshem
Skolnära forskningsmetoder vänder sig till studenter på olika lärarutbildningsprogram samt till verksamma lärare och skolledare inom skola, fritidshem och förskola. Även forskare bör finna boken relevant.
The way relationships between symbols and thoughts are created is a general problem in learning, mainly described as "how students' learn to mean". This general problem raises some basic questions concerning how students' relate understanding to words used in learning. The present research provides an alternative perspective on the relationship between thought and language derived from the phenomenographic tradition and from the later philosophy of Wittgenstein. The general aim of the thesis is to analyse, describe and discuss aspects of learning and understanding concerning the relationship between thought and language. In the empirical investigation twenty-seven students from two institutes of higher education, a school of nursing and a teacher training college, participated. Qualitative interviewing was the instrument used both to stimulate students' reflection on their expressed conceptions of a particular problem presented and to document their reflection. Contextual analysis was the method used. The results of the empirical analyses are presented in related descriptive categories focusing on to three aspects of learning and understanding concerning relationships between words used and conceptions of a problem; 1) the character of relationships experienced 2) the different qualities in the process of students reflecting on relationships 3) the change of conceptions The theoretical investigation concerns, on the one hand the principle differences between understanding objects of knowledge and understanding language meaning in relation to learning and on the other hand the relationship between thought and language in theories of language meaning and understanding in the philosophy of language. One of the main conclusions drawn is that the proposed identity between thought and language within the theory of representationalism, well represented in social constructivism and individual constructivism, can not be presupposed in an educational perspective on learning as it focuses too much on learning to understand language meaning more than learning to understand objects of knowledge.
In considering students' thinking, thephenomenographic tradition has paid considerableattention to conceptions of various phenomena withinthe context of learning. However, this research hasnot explicitly examined the relation betweenwords used and their meaning in the processes of understanding and learning. The present study concernsthe character of the relationships between verbalexpressions and thoughts about phenomena referred to.In order to understand these relationships more fully,an empirical study was carried out. Twenty-sevenstudents from two institutes of higher education, acollege of health science and a college of education,participated. Qualitative interviews were used to bothstimulate students' thinking about the conceptionsthey expressed of a particular problem and to documenttheir thinking. Contextual analysis was used toexamine this data. The results of the analysis arepresented in three related descriptive categories. Thecategories represent three different aspects ofrelationships between words used and thoughts aboutphenomena referred to and three different developmentsof these relationships. Finally, conclusions are drawnand are discussed in relation to research onunderstanding and learning and two major traditions inthe philosophy of language.
The article describes qualitative variation in micro processes of learning, focusing the dynamic interplay between conceptions, expressions and meanings of expressions in students’ learning in higher education. The intentional-expressive approach employed is an alternative approach to the function of language use in learning processes. In the empirical investigation, a dialogue model was used that both stimulates and documents students’ ways of processing meaning. Results were grouped into three descriptive categories: vague, stabilising and developing ways of processing. Educational implications include, firstly, two distinct types of vague constitution of meaning in learning: one connected to fragmentary relationships between expressions and meanings, and another that triggers and creates close relationships and changes in relationships. Secondly, the categories display different unexplored ways of processing, related to deep and surface approaches in students’ learning.
Denna artikel har har blivit nominerad till EARLI publication award. Vinnare utses i Amsterdam den 25 augusti.
This article has been nominated to the EARLI publication award. The winner will be announced in Amsterdam on the 25th of August.
The article investigates the interplay between the meaning given to certain key expressions and pupils’ understanding of science subject matter, in a qualitative study of learning. The intentional-expressive approach to the epistemological role of language use served as a theoretical frame, within the wider context of phenomenographic research on learning. Data were collected using a particular dialogue structure. Micro-process analysis was employed to examine the data. Two descriptive categories emerged: 1) Exploring the function of meaning, and 2) Inventory of meaning. Pupils who explored the function of meaning related their explanations, both to other expressions, and to their personal understanding of the physical problem. Pupils who made inventories of meaning mostly directed attention towards expressions as words. Emphasis was on correct reproduction of scientific terminology. Inventory of meaning was most common in the dialogues with the fourteen-year-olds, while exploring the function of meaning dominated in dialogues with the ten-year-olds.
Earlier research shows an arrest in reading and writing development among 9–12-year-old students with severe speech and physical impairment, SSPI. This article explores what five students with SSPI who have reached beyond beginner’s phase without arrest in their literacy development have experienced as significant for their reading and writing development. The research design was explorative and case based. It contained researcher–participant longitudinal dialogues focusing on the students’ experiences of literacy learning. Computer assisted email interviews were used. A semi-structured interview manual guided each dialogue. With the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and assistive technology devices, the participants could read and write (with alphabetical print in Swedish) independently. The analysis revealed four themes of great importance for the students’ development of alphabetical print literacy skills: assistive technology use in writing and reading, continuity in long-term pedagogical relationships, mutual persistence in communication, and visions of nearer goals and future work life. The results are discussed in relation to the theoretical frameworks of self-efficacy and the capability approach.