There is something about Mary… and Ted! : Training in mixed-sex groups makes you work harder. A study about the effort when training with the opposite sex.

In many sport associations, regardless of level, women and men rarely practice together. Previous studies indicate that work groups are generally more efficient when there is an even distribution between the sexes. Could that also be the case in sports? This study aims to investigate whether the sex composition of a training group affects the effort and performance of the participants. Eleven volunteers participated in the crossover study consisting of three different 150-meter sprint conditions; individually, single-sex group and mixed-sex group. Sprint times, heart rate and RPE were recorded during all three trials. The result of this study suggests that there might be practical benefits in regards to physical performance and effort to exercise in a training group consisting of both sexes instead of training only with the same-sex or individually. The understanding could be useful in areas such as; training optimisation for both athletes and in patient- and rehabilitation groups, increasing efficiency in work environments, in schools and sports clubs striving for both athletic success and gender equality.

Facilitation of learning in specialist nursing training in the PICU : the supervisors´ concerns in the learning situation

With the aim to unfold nurses’ concerns of the supervision of the student in the clinical caring situation of the vulnerable child, clinical nurses situated supervision of postgraduate nursing students in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) are explored. A qualitative approach, interpretive phenomenology, with participant observations and narrative interviews, was used. Two qualitative variations of patterns of meaning for the nurses’ clinical facilitation were disclosed in this study. Learning by doing theme supports the students learning by doing through performing skills and embracing routines. The reflecting theme supports thinking and awareness of the situation. As the supervisor often serves as a role model for the student this might have an immediate impact on how the student applies nursing care in the beginning of his or her career. If the clinical supervisor narrows the perspective and hinders room for learning the student will bring less knowledge from the clinical education than expected, which might result in reduced nursing quality.

Knowledge and writing in school mathematics : a communicational approach

This thesis is about young students’ writing in school mathematics and the ways in which this writing is designed, interpreted and understood. Students’ communication can act as a source from which teachers can make inferences regarding students’ mathematical knowledge and understanding. In mathematics education previous research indicates that teachers assume that the process of interpreting and judging students’ writing is unproblematic. The relationship between what students’ write, and what they know or understand, is theoretical as well as empirical. In an era of increased focus on assessment and measurement in education it is necessary for teachers to know more about the relationship between communication and achievement. To add to this knowledge, the thesis has adopted a broad approach, and the thesis consists of four studies. The aim of these studies is to reach a deep understanding of writing in school mathematics. Such an understanding is dependent on examining different aspects of writing. The four studies together examine how the concept of communication is described in authoritative texts, how students’ writing is viewed by teachers and how students make use of different communicational resources in their writing. The results of the four studies indicate that students’ writing is more complex than is acknowledged by teachers and authoritative texts in mathematics education. Results point to a sophistication in students’ approach to the merging of the two functions of writing, writing for oneself and writing for others. Results also suggest that students attend, to various extents, to questions regarding how, what and for whom they are writing in school mathematics. The relationship between writing and achievement is dependent on students’ ability to have their writing reflect their knowledge and on teachers’ thorough knowledge of the different features of writing and their awareness of its complexity. From a communicational perspective the ability to communicate [in writing] in mathematics can and should be distinguished from other mathematical abilities. By acknowledging that mathematical communication integrates mathematical language and natural language, teachers have an opportunity to turn writing in mathematics into an object of learning. This offers teachers the potential to add to their assessment literacy and offers students the potential to develop their communicational ability in order to write in a way that better reflects their mathematical knowledge.

Teaching Mathematics in English to Swedish Speaking Students : The Use of Second Language Teaching Practices in the Teaching of Mathematics in English to Swedish Speaking Students in Lower Secondary School

Over 20,000 Swedish lower high school students are currently learning mathematics in English but little research has been conducted in this area. This study looks into the question of how much second language learner training teachers teaching mathematics in English to Swedish speaking students have acquired and how many of those teachers are using effective teaching practices for second language learners. The study confirms earlier findings that report few teachers receive training in second language learning but indicates that some of the teaching practices shown to be effective with second language learners are being used in some Swedish schools