Soft skills are becoming equally crucial as hard skills in today's labour market. In contrast to hard skills which are teachable typically through formal education, soft skills are non-technical and interpersonal, allowing individuals to be able to find and succeed in their studies, jobs, and professional life. Despite the increasing emphasis on soft skills, many universitystudents are either unaware of or neglect enhancing them. Soft skills deficiency among university students has become a significant concern for employers, educators, and policymakers, as it negatively affects students' academic performance and future employment prospects. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of the demand for soft skills and the possibility and availability of learning opportunities. The expected outcomes intend to provide insights about awareness of soft skills among students and pathways to reduce the soft skills gap through training provisions in higher education settings. Furthermore, it aims to find out how the young generation (mainly Generation Z) would perceive digitalisation and specifically gamification as a solution to facilitate soft skills training. This is a mixed method study, in which, an open survey was the data collection media. The survey was conducted during the spring semester of 2023 and analysed using visualisation and summarisation methods. Based on the outcome of 66 master’s and bachelor's students attending the digitalisation courses in two classes in Sweden, over 50% of the students perceived a lack of soft skills in their curricula. They were also positive toward the use of gamification as an effective digital strategy, recognising it as a powerful tool to facilitate training and developing soft skills as a part of formal learning in higher education. As a suggested approach, gamifying soft skills training potentially creates simulations that mimic real-world situations to allow students to practice and develop their soft skills in a safe and low-stakes training environment. This facilitates training soft skills for better communication and collaboration during their academic journey and after their graduation and to prepare students for successful careers.

This master thesis project was based on the development and evaluation of an open learning material in thermal imaging for automation applications. The outsourcer – FLIR Systems – wanted a three-day course covering all necessary topics for infrared cameras in automation applications. These topics include thermography, optics, detectors, networks, protocols, and more. The open learning material was designed to function as a three-day, self-paced, distance course, and it was based on theories of andragogy, self-directed learning and transformative learning. The master thesis process was essentially divided into two phases: the development phase and the evaluation phase. The method for the development phase was based on a literature study. The literature on creating open learning material included ways of compensating for the lack of social interaction in distance courses, such as a friendly, warm narrator using the pronoun “I”, encouraging phrases, and self-assessment questions (SAQs). An SAQ is a framing of question intended to guide the learner towards self-assessment of his or her learning and knowledge. The vital part of the SAQ is the response, where not only the correct answer is given, but feedback on the wrong choices too. The development of the open learning material was an iterative process where discussion with supervisors at FLIR Systems and KTH Royal Institute of Technology led to improvements of the material.

The evaluation phase consisted of two tests with test subjects. The first test was conducted by sending a sample unit of the material to test subjects around the world along with a questionnaire. The main objective was to test the tone and style of the material. There were variations in the result, but the majority found the material friendly and readable. The second test was an in-house test with three participants. Three sample units of the material was used, and the main objective was to test the usability of the material and the test subjects’ perceived learning process. The usability of the material varied with the three test subjects and depended on their technological prerequisites and reading comprehension in English. All test subjects responded positively to their perceived learning outcome.

The following conclusions were drawn: the open learning material has the potential to promote autonomous and self-directed learners and can be used as a basis for further development – such as web-based courses and teacher-led classes.

The open learning material as a whole and the results and analysis from the tests are included as appendices.

In the construction sector, education and knowledge transfer play a significant role in promoting sustainability. The impact of the training depends on its implementation and context. A careful evaluation of the use and effectiveness of training is essential to optimize results and provide the necessary knowledge and skills to address sustainability challenges. Unfortunately, a lack of balance between environmental, economic and social aspects in sustainability education can limit the individual's opportunities to effectively deal with sustainability issues in practice. In order to successfully promote sustainability in the construction sector, a deeper understanding of the implementation of education and the integration of knowledge into the work of employees is required. The study aims to investigate how a digital internal training in sustainable development at a large Swedish construction company can be designed and implemented to create opportunities for developed professional practice in the construction industry. Based on this, a qualitative and quantitative data collection method has been implemented to address the study's questions, and various sources have also been used to conduct a literature study. A thematic analysis of the study's qualitative data resulted in a total of twelve themes after interviews with selected individuals with various positions at the construction company were conducted. The results show that there are shortcomings with the construction company's digital sustainability training, which contributes to the fact that the employees do not get the opportunity to develop the desired knowledge, abilities and attitudes in order to achieve the purpose of the training and accomplish sustainable business. A number of central aspects that influence the success and relevance of the training for both the employees and the company as a whole have been identified, which provides valuable insights for future training strategies. These aspects include a lack of social interaction where a community of inquiry is not promoted, outdated content that does not have clear connections to practical sustainability work and a lack of follow-up steps. This resulted in an improvement proposal with parameters that can be addressed and implemented within the training to meet the needs of the construction company, satisfy the needs of employees and achieve high customer satisfaction.

The aim of this study was to get insight into how the pupils in years 7 and 8 understand equivalent fractions, reducing and raising, and into how they interpret the connections between raising and multiplication and between reducing and division. The aim was also to investigate pupils' knowledge of fractional aspects with a focus on fraction as a number that has its own value on the number line. The study was based on theoretical models of how fractions can be understood, theories of learning and previous research into similar issues. The approach chosen was multi-method research, which includes quantitative methods in the collection and analysis of questionnaires and qualitative methods in the collection and analysis of interviews with pupils. Both the pupils' solutions and answers to the questions in the questionnaire and the interviews they provided gave very useful qualitative information to analyse. The analysis answered my questions, and I obtained an insight into how the pupils in years 7 and 8 understand equivalent fractions, reducing and raising as concepts and calculation methods. Through the pupils' solutions and answers, I gleaned an insight into the way in which the pupils think and see mathematics, specifically in fractions. The study indicated that pupils have sufficient knowledge of fractions as a part of a whole, while shortfalls in knowledge were identified in some pupils not mastering the concept of fractions or what numerators and denominators represent. The study also showed that some pupils have insufficient knowledge of equivalent fractions and the fact that fractions can be written in an infinite number of ways without this changing the value. In addition, they had difficulty with raising and reducing. Understanding all these concepts is necessary for pupils to operate effectively with fractions. The areas where they lacked knowledge led them to use incorrect strategies when dealing with fractions in the data. Incorrect strategies were identified pupils using their old knowledge of natural numbers and trying to adapt the answers to the new situation.

There has been a growing interest in how gamification, a concept in which game elements are implemented in digital non-game environments, can be used in education and to create motivation and engagement in e-learning platforms, for example in the case of a digital study plan. This research has attempted to answer how gamification can be used in digital study plans to increase the sense of motivation and engagement among university students, and help to give them guidance in their studies. Working with the e-learning platform Kollin, gamified elements were developed onto one of their complete study plans in a university mathematics course. Two gamification frameworks were used throughout this research, one from Huotari and Hamari and one from Lee & Hammer which has been named the “CES” framework. Students at the Royal Institute of Technology who used either of the study plans, were asked to partake in a survey about the study plan. Answers from open-ended questions provided intricate results which were analyzed thematically based on the CES framework’s cognitive-, emotional- and social factors for motivational aspects in gamification. The results showed that students had a positive attitude to how some gamified implementations helped by providing guidance, for example through increasing the material’s structure and clarity. Furthermore, the results showed how quick and positive feedback as well as higher level of interactivity helped change the engagement in the use of the study plan. Integrating gamification has also shown to be an effective way of increasing university students’ motivation, through for example clarifying the user’s progres.. Some of the services implemented such as automatic selection of assignments, automatic assignment correction, and a leaderboard, were found to require more further well thought out technical implementations to not risk creating frustration or demotivation.

The purpose of this study has been to form an idea of and gain an understanding of what motivates and helps students in primary school to study mathematics. We have also been interested in finding out which factors influence their interest in mathematics and what role the parents have in the motivation to study mathematics. The study is based on a survey of 34 students with parents and interviews with four teachers. The results show that teachers and parents have a great influence on students' motivation and knowledge acquisition in mathematics. Based on the form of teaching in the classroom and parental involvement, students can be better motivated in their mathematics studies. The results from the study show that self-confidence is a decisive factor for the achievement in mathematics among primary school students. As parents and teachers work with the children's self-confidence in the subject of mathematics, it contributes to motivation to continue to calculate mathematics tasks, which in turn leads to development and better knowledge acquisition. What we also saw as a development potential, which can contribute to better motivation and increase knowledge acquisition among students, is cooperation between school and home. This means that increased cooperation between teachers and parents indicates to the children that both parties are on the same page and shows the importance of the school to the children. Something that emerged in the survey that there is a shortage today and both teachers and parents want to work on and develop.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has recently adopted the Saudi Teaching Competencies Standard (STCS). This paper tries to answer how these competencies are achieved, how they are maintained, and what support exists to support teaching CS competently in the KSA. This paper presents the results of an investigation of teacher awareness of, and attitudes to, the STCS in the Kingdom. Through the study reported here, we address an urgent need in the Kingdom to understand teacher preparedness in terms of CS teaching competencies. The study draws on interviews with ten CS teachers in five different cities in the KSA. A thematic coding analysis approach was used. This study explores the CS teaching competencies held by teachers in three areas of CS teaching, focusing on connection to society, professional practice and professional development. The results of the study highlight the CS teaching competencies that CS teachers feel they currently grasp well in the KSA. By enhancing awareness of what teachers currently do well we contribute to the adjustment and improvement of the STCS and help to build a program which addresses the current in-service training needs of CS teachers. The outcomes also help to raise awareness of the challenges of implementing the Computer Education curriculum in KSA schools.

Microplastics take hundreds to thousands of years to degrade in nature, and pose a threat to the environment. A photocatalytical degradation method have been developed to take advantage of solar light to degrade microplastics, however it takes several months to degrade microplastics with the process. The purpose of this study is to enhance the degradation rate of microplastics by synthesizing a material where photocatalysis is combined with Fenton reaction. A material with zinc oxide nanorods coated with tin oxide and decorated with iron particles (𝑍𝑛𝑂/𝑆𝑛𝑂2/𝐹𝑒0) was synthesized and used to degrade methylene blue, polystyrene and polypropylene. The result show that the degradation rate with a 𝑍𝑛𝑂/𝑆𝑛𝑂2/𝐹𝑒0 – sample is faster than with a 𝑍𝑛𝑂 – sample, and that it can be used to degrade polystyrene and polypropylene.Students’ view on researchers can affect the development of their interest and attitude towards science. Study visits to laboratories have been used to increase students’ interest and give them new experiences. The purpose of this study is to investigate what and how high school students learn during a study visit to a nanotechnology laboratory, and how the study visit affects high school students’ interest and motivation for research and learning. A study visit with 5 stations was organized, and students were given a questionnaire about what they learned during the study visit. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the students’ answers. The result shows that the study visit increased students’ interest in research, and the importance of designing stations so that they are connected to students’ previous knowledge and are within their proximal development zone.

This degree project examines the feasibility of implementing a community of practice within the contract education course ”Sustainable Transport Systems” offered at KTH Royal Institute of Sweden in collaboration with Scania. This degree project aims to investigate if it would be possible to increase participation in the course by creating study circles led by circle leaders who have completed the course. Four interviews were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis, leading to the identification of four themes. A beta test was then conducted with 15 Scania employees who had yet to take the course, in which they participated in two condensed modules led by a circle leader. Results suggest a potential for implementing a community of practice, as circle leaders and employees saw value in the format and appreciated the opportunities for discussion and reflection on sustainability. The proposed concept is that the course serves as an introduction to a community of practice focusing on sustainability at Scania, where an attitude towards sustainability is developed and concrete improvement proposals for sustainability work are created through the course’s projects.

The project intended to develop laboratory elements that promote computer logical thinking in high school students, extract insights into how the use of the AI tool specifically affects their computer logical thinking, as well as which key computer logical abilities the students use and how this affects their problem-solving ability. The research process began with a comprehensive review of existing literature to identify effective methods to promote computational thinking and create two laboratory sessions. Afterwards, labs are carried out where ChatGPT is integrated as a tool in the students' learning. The study used case studies as a qualitative research design with collection methods such as observation, audio recordings, student solutions and subsequent interviews. Furthermore, thematic analysis was used as a method for analyzing the data, where the data logical thinking key skills made up the different themes. One of the main observations from the studies is that although ChatGPT can offer direct assistants in the problem-solving process, there is a risk that students' active engagement in the fundamental key skills of computational thinking may decrease. This insight underscores the importance of finding a balanced use of AI technologies in education, to ensure that these tools contribute to enhancing students' critical thinking and problem solving rather than impairing them. Furthermore, the results indicate that the more computational thinking key skills the students exhibit, the greater the probability that they will arrive at a correct solution. The results of this survey provide a valuable perspective for educators and teachers on how to design their computer science education to better prepare students for the technological challenges of the future. By focusing on developing a solid foundation in computational thinking, the education system can effectively equip future generations with the tools and skills required to navigate an increasingly digitized world.

This thesis aims to explore the doctoral co-supervisor’s experiences at the beginning of the supervisory career. The specific role of the novice co-supervisor remains largely underexplored. Therefore, the overarching research question guiding the thesis is: How do novice doctoral co-supervisors in Swedish universities perceive their initial years of their doctoral supervision careers? As doctoral supervisors operate on an international stage, doctoral supervision in Sweden can be seen as an example. The thesis consists of four papers. It isbased on a survey of 192 co-supervisors at 14 universities, 5 focus groups fromone university, 25 in-depth interviews from two universities, and various legal sources. The papers are connected through a sociological conceptual framework,‘local sociology’, which describes how identities are formed. First, the thesis explores the collective identity manifested in legislation, local guidelines and role expectations where the co-supervisor is relatively invisible. Despite this, a collective identity emerges, positioning the co-supervisor as responsible yet loyal. Following this, the reflective individual identity is also revealed, shaped by feedback from others. Here, a clear ambivalence between the role ofa successful researcher and a good supervisor becomes evident. Novice co-supervisors strive for smooth, supportive relationships and may therefore adopt the identity of mediator. In summary, becoming a co-supervisor is a significant challenge. The insights from this research can help develop future support systems for the novices. This may be beneficial to them and their PhD students.

This paper explores the formation of a reflective individual identity among novice doctoral co-supervisors. The focus is on the perceived feedback in defining the boundaries of their co-supervisory role. Grounded in the theoretical framework of ‘local sociology’, the study draws on data from in-depth interviewsinvolving 25 co-supervisors from two research-intensive universities in Sweden.The transcribed in-depth interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Firstly, the study illustrates that others’ feedback, whether affirming or corrective, may be pivotal in the development of a reflective individual cosupervisor identity. Secondly, the findings indicate that novice co-supervisors predominantly obtain feedback from their spouses, partners, colleagues at other departments than their own, and former supervisors, while receiving comparatively less feedback from their current supervisory teams. Moreover,some novice co-supervisors reported that they had no feedback at all on their supervision practice. To conclude, these insights suggest that institutions could better support the professional development of novice doctoral co-supervisors by addressing the support structure for novices, developing guidelines, and encouraging discussions about co-supervision practice, ultimately enhancing thequality of doctoral education.

This chapter analyses ‘trust’ within a collaboration between Sweden and Mozambique on doctoral supervision training at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique.

The case study uses Simmel’s concept of trust as a lens for analysis. Drawing on individual semi-structured interviews with project members from Sweden and Mozambique, in their different roles and responsibilities, we identify a continuum of experiences from distrust and doubt to trust. This case study provides a more nuanced understanding of trust conceptually within a capacity-building context. Furthermore, it presents how trust is built in the development of doctoral supervision training for the future – through faith.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how novice doctoral cosupervisorspromote doctoral students’ well-being. This paper aims to contributeto a deeper understanding how novice doctoral co-supervisors form a nurturingsupervisor identity when involving with doctoral students who reported wellbeingchallenges. Study design/methodology/approach: The qualitative study, based on25 in-depth interviews with novice co-supervisors from two Swedish researchintensiveuniversities was conducted. The interviews were analysed usingreflexive thematic analysis. One of the topics they emphasised was thesupervision of doctoral students who were unwell, a topic we explored further. Findings: The study revealed that co-supervisors were substantially involvedin promoting PhD students’ well-being. They used a range of well-beingpromotion strategies. The co-supervisors promoted well-being by, for example,breaking social isolation; being available as a first contact for doctoral students;and mediating between main supervisor and student in tense situations. Practical implications: Recommendations arising include guidelines forPhD well-being promotion, developing supervisor training, and raising awarenessof the impact of co-supervisors’ support.Originality/value: The study provided valuable insights into co-supervisoryidentity and highlighted how co-supervision can be developed to meet futurechallenges.

There is a widespread interest in doctoral supervision, yet novice doctoral co-supervisors’ experiences remain understudied. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how supervision culture and practice are experienced by novices. This thematic analysis is based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with 23 novice co-supervisors from two Swedish research-intensive universities. The study reveals three dimensions related to the challenging experience of the supervision culture, namely closedness, dependence and competition. Moreover, the analysis proves that co-supervisors’ practices are embedded within the ‘hidden curriculum’, here defined as the unplanned and implicit support outside formal meetings and activities. Novice co-supervisors bridge the gap between main supervisors and doctoral students and make the path to the doctoral degree smoother when engaging in emotional, intellectual, practical and mediation support. This study has practical implications and suggests improvements for co-supervision that would also benefit the doctoral students.

Swedish law requires all doctoral students to be co-supervised. Individualsseeking to become primary supervisors are required to complete doctoral supervisiontraining programs to ensure they are equipped with necessary competencies to guidedoctoral students. This chapter uses interviews, surveys, and documents to explore cosupervision and the experiences of co-supervisors, providing insights and comparingto global practices. We provide a historical overview of co-supervison in Sweden,covering its development over the past 70 years. We then analyse different types ofsupervision in terms of involvement and formality. Next then describe the contextualsetting by examining supervision guidelines, supervisors’ role expectations, and workallocation. We then explore the definition, application, experience, and regulationof co-supervison in Sweden. Drawing from this analysis, we showcase successfulinstances of co-supervison in Sweden and address the associated challenges. Thischapter offers a thorough examination of co-supervision practices, encompassingtheir historical origins, present implementation, and prospective advancements.

Technology is a relevant subject to our daily life. Social development is affected by technology and therefore it is extremely important that people learn the technology subject to be aware of this substance. To teach the technology substance requires the teacher to have good experiences of the subject and has good knowledge and abilities to raise students' interest. According to our experiences from the VFU (internship) we noticed that some students have no interest in learning technology, or they think that this subject is not so important compared to other subjects. Because of this, we decided to choose this matter to research deeper in this study. The purpose of this study is to research challenges that teachers face in teaching of technology and how teachers work to stimulate students in high school. Two questions answered through this study which are: What views do teachers and students have on challenges in the technology subject? How can students be motivated in the technology subject? This study was based on data collected from interviews with four teachers and five students from different schools to get good results. In addition to the results of the interviews, the results of previous research in this context were adopted to support this study. In summary, the results of this study show that challenges can be classified into three categories which are: subject content, teachers, and students. Challenges in subject content are: How the teacher connects the teaching to reality, how teachers combine theory with practice in the teaching and how the teacher shows the importance of this subject through practical exercises. Challenges in the category of teachers are resources in teaching of technology, teachers' different backgrounds and skills. Challenges in the students' category are the number of students in the classroom, newly arrived students, and the diversity of content. The results show also that students can be motivated by planning the curriculum according to students' previous experiences, background, knowledge, and language. Using concrete examples from daily life in teaching, practical exercises should be about models or products that lead the students to feel that their work is useful and valuable. Teachers should regularly attend courses in teaching of technology to be always up to date. According to the results, knowledgeable teachers have a great ability to motivate students in the subject.

Climate change is the "biggest threat modern humans have ever faced". The implications of the crisis are imminent and grave. As part of COP26, leaders from all over the world agreed to the Glasgow Climate Pact with the goal of limiting the increased rise of global temperature by 1.5 degrees. With less than 8 years left until the 2030 UN deadline in which the climate effects become irreversible, how do we prepare learners for what might be an inevitable reality? How do we equip computing students with crucial technical, ethical, and leadership skills to mitigate its effect? More importantly, how do people in positions of power, departmental and institutional, be involved? In 2019, we formed an internal working group as part of ITiCSE conference to examine how computing institutions, departments, and faculty members dealt with, if at all, the climate emergency within CS education. Our efforts included conducting a literature review, interviewing CSEd climate experts, leading a world cafe session, and collating and publishing resources from various sources for the benefit of educators interested in incorporating climate change in the curriculum. And yet, there are still struggles reported with adopting these solutions, particularly in light of the global pandemic. This panel will serve as a public forum to express institutional, departmental, and individual challenges associated with tackling the climate crisis and share successful strategies, ideas, and experiences to support the CS community. The discussions will centre over five themes previously identified in the world cafe. 

This work aims to develop a proposal for educational material in the form of a programming-oriented Physics and Mathematics lab. The target group is mainly students from the second semester in the Technical Preparatory Year program (KTH), but also students of equivalent knowledge level (for example, students in the upper secondary school- natural science program). The lab was designed to create opportunity for students to:1) apply critical thinking, 2) demonstrate collaboration, 3) increase subject understanding. The proposed educational material comprises computational physics, where a non linear differential equation derived from a mathematical pendulum is solved using numerical methods. The exercises in the lab were formulated with critical thinking in mind and pair programming was used as the context for collaboration. In this paper 1) and 2) were investigated in an educational setting with students from the second semester of the Technical Preporatory Year (KTH). The conversations of four student groups were recorded and a content analysis was performed on the transcriptions of the audio recordings. A pattern matching method was used to strengthen the conclusions. Based on the results of the research project, we found that the theoretical proposition that the construction of the laboratory work has contributed to the collaboration and application of critical thinking by the students,has been strengthened.

This study, which is conducted in collaboration with K-ULF, designs and evaluates a laboratory exercise for high school students enrolled in the programming 1 course (or any similar courses), with a focus on stimulating acquisition of computational thinking concepts. A literature overview was performed to identify a relevant framework for designing the programming laboratory moment. The chosen framework, which is the result of the literature overview, emphasized the application of different steps, including defining computational thinking, identifying related concepts, providing examples of techniques representing these concepts, and conducting evaluation. The study is conducted in the form of a case study, wherein the laboratory was conducted with agroup of 20 students. Two Python tasks, Task A (without chatGPT) and Task B (with chatGPT) were designed to stimulate computational thinking concepts and were solved by the students inpairs. During the laboratory, the students' discussions were audio recorded, and they also provided written explanations of their problem-solving methods. The data, comprising audio recordings and written materials, were analyzed using specific techniques and patterns identified within the framework. The study employed a pattern matching method to draw conclusions based on the analyzed data. The results indicated that students solving Task A demonstrated emergence of all computational thinking concepts (indications). On the other hand, students who worked on task B showed emergence of computational thinking indicators mainly through their recorded audio discussions but not in their written solutions.

The aim of this thesis is to execute digital tools in mathematics teaching. The study focuses its attention on how teachers choose the type of the digital tools and carry out mathematics teaching, especially in the subject of geometry. As a future teacher, it will be interesting to investigate the teachers’ views concerning the effect of digitizing on their teaching and students’ learning, as well as the teacher's choice of teaching methods and the design of the teaching within that method, will depend on the lessons of geometry where the use of digital technology is the focus in the classroom. The empirical materials were collected through interviews with seven teachers from three different schools. The data were analyzed with a focus on the ways by which teachers employ digital tools to support and work with mathematical content.

The theoretical frameworks in our study are the SAMR model (SAMR is an acronym that stands for four English concepts Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) that describes how digital tools are used at different stages in teaching and Drijver's orchestration type to identify different teaching methods and describe their characteristics. The results based on the interviews show that most teachers meet requirements for reaching step three in the SAMR model. The study also shows an overview of different teaching methods in mathematics teaching where digital technology is used. The results also show that the teachers utilize several types of orchestration in the work with the subject of geometry in their teaching. In total, this study shows that teachers use up to five different types of orchestration.

Generally, all teachers have positive opinions concerning the employment of digital technology in mathematics education, and the utilities of digitization that they spotlight include assisting and supporting students' mathematical knowledge as well as developing their understanding of geometric concepts.

This degree project investigates teachers’ perceptions of sketch-drawing techniques in secondary schools. This study aims to examine how teachers perceive teaching methods linked to sketch-drawing techniques within technics classes in secondary schools. The purpose of the study is to answer the following questions:1. How do teachers in technic class teach sketch-drawing techniques in secondary schools, grades 7-9? 2. How do the teachers experience and perceive the teaching? To find out which perceptions teachers have about sketch-drawing techniques, five questions were asked to the teachers who teach technics classes in grades 7-9. The purpose of the study was not to analyze teachers´ knowledge rather it was to analyze the technics teachers’ perceptions, descriptions, views, and experiences when they teach different sketch-drawing techniques in secondary classes. Six different technic class teachers who work at different schools were interviewed, and a phenomenographic analysis model was implemented to process the collected data from the interviews. In addition, a qualitative interview is used with the interviewees. According to the teachers' descriptions, most teachers teach sketching and hand drawing, but fewer teachers teach both hand and digital drawing. All the teachers agree that hand and digital drawing must be combined in teaching to achieve the learning outcomes based on the central content for grades 7–9. According to the teachers, it is important to arouse the students' technical interest by letting them use different methods for sketching and drawing techniques. Finally, it also appears that the teachers have common perceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of both techniques. They point out, among other things, whether the students experience similar difficulties in teaching and how this affects the students' learning.

Assessment and grading are essential to measure and follow up students’ learning. It is an essential part of the teacher’s role to assess and grade student’s demonstrated knowledge. This is expected to be done in relation to the knowledge requirements. The knowledge requirements describe what is considered acceptable knowledge of students’ learning and is characterized by the so-called value words. The knowledge requirements therefore need to be interpreted by the teacher in order for grades to be set based on equity for all students. This study examines teachers’ interpretation of the knowledge requirements and how teachers use their interpretation in assessment. The study intends to answer the following questions:

How do technology teachers perceive the knowledge requirements and how do they interpret the value words of the knowledge requirements? And how do teachers use their interpretation of the knowledge requirements in assessment and grading? And what difficulties do teachers experience with assessment and grading in the subject of technology?

To answer the research questions, five technology teachers in upper secondary school were interviewed. A qualitative analysis method called constant comparative method has been used to analyze the data collected from the interviews. This study is limited to the value words of the knowledge requirement which describes the level of student’s reasoning ability. The concerned value words are: ‘‘simple and to some extent’’ informed reasoning for grade E, ‘‘well developed and relatively well’’ informed reasoning for grade C and ‘‘well developed and well’’ informed reasoning for grade A (Skolverket, 2018). The results show that technology teachers feel that the knowledge requirements in technology are difficult to interpret. Despite this, the teachers interpret the value words for grades E and C alike while there were differences in how teachers interpret the value word for grade A. The results also show that science subjects have a great influence on assessment and grading in technology as teachers base their assessment of students’ knowledge on the National Agency for Education’s material for science subjects simply because teachers believe the National Agency for Education’s material in science is clearer and easier to relate to in assessment practice.

While research indicates that teachers’ continuing professional development (TCPD) is highly significant for the successful implementation of effective classroom instruction, few research studies to date have explored the role of TCPD in Ghana. This paper aims to map the pathways of TCPD for in-service teachers in Ghana while exploring the motivations and coping strategies of these adult learners. The study employs a cross-sectional survey design in which 45 students enrolled in an MA Education programme were trained to collect data from 352 in-service teachers in 310 schools using a semi-structured questionnaire as the data collection instrument. The data from the study were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results from the study show that subject matter, knowledge of curriculum, and assessment knowledge were the three most important factors behind the teachers’ motivation to participate in CPD. Moreover, the analysis of the coping strategies of the in-service teachers suggests that there was little or no institutional support for them. In addition to this, despite the significant role mentorship plays in ensuring effective teaching and learning, the overwhelming majority of the teachers saw mentoring and exchange programmes as one of the least important forms of CPD opportunities available. Recommendations from the study indicate that teachers’ professional autonomy and the disparity between the professional values and skills demanded in 21st-century education cannot be underestimated and that more research is required on how to design CPD programmes that will provide Ghanaian in-service teachers with the creative and innovative skills they require. 

Students’ ability to solve problems that require higher order thinking skills is not just necessary but also a sufficient condition in our quest for training students who have the skills and competencies to compete effectively both at the national and international levels. Achieving SDG4 is underpinned by examining how UNESCO’s sustainable competencies with emphasis on systems thinking, anticipatory, normative, strategic, critical thinking, self-awareness, and integrated problem-solving competencies are integrated or understood within the classroom context. Despite the integration of problem-solving into the Swedish school curriculum, students’ performance in this area has not been as expected. This study, therefore, examines the problem-solving attitudes of Swedish students and its implications for teacher training and development. Using a survey design and the Problem-Solving Attitude Inventory (PSAI) data was collected from 432 (primary, lower and upper secondary) students. Descriptive and inferential (ANOVA) statistics analyses were conducted to examine the problem-solving attitudes among the different grade levels. The results show that two of the constructs (problem-solving tendency, personal control) were statistically significant., F(2, 429)=5.007, p=0.007 and F(2,429)=3.071, p=0.047 respectively. The constructs (problem-solving confidence and avoidance style) did not show any statistically significant difference, F(2, 429) = 1.609, p = 0.201 and F(2, 429) = 0.484, p = 0.616 respectively between school levels. The results show that primary school students ascribed more positively to the items in the four constructs as compared to their lower and upper secondary peers. Personal control was the main contributing construct and had a direct influence on the other constructs. The ANOVA also showed a significant difference between gender and problem-solving attitudes with males ascribing more positively to all the four constructs except personal control. The results provide critical implications for teacher training and development. The conceptual framework shows that there is a need for teacher training programmes to equip teachers on how to change or influence students' self-control characteristics. We suggest the use of contextual and challenging activities to help enhance students’ personal.-control construct.

The collaboration between teachers, researchers, and educators has proven essential inadvancing teacher professional development and improving pupils’ outcomes. This study inves-tigates the effect of co-creating instructional materials and lesson plans on pupils’ mathematicsproblem-solving skills by employing the principles of co-creation and design-based research (DBR)to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understandingof the outcomes. A sample of 530 pupils from six primary schools was used, and data were collectedusing problem assessment sheets for primary 1, 2, and 3 pupils. The assessment tools measuredpupils’ problem-solving understanding and competencies across numbers and algebra, measurementand geometry, and data strands. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were applied. Thefindings revealed that pupils’ performance improved across all three strands due to the co-creationprocess, with the most significant improvements observed among female pupils and those from ruralschools. The factorial ANOVA results showed a significant interaction effect between class level andschool location in the geometry and measurement and data strands, with F (2, 518) = 15.15, p < 0.001,and F (2, 518) = 12.28, p < 0.001, respectively. However, the interaction effect of the three independentvariables on pupils’ performance in the numbers and algebra strand, F (2, 518) = 1.073, p = 0.342, wasnot significant. The study concludes that co-creation between teachers, researchers, and educatorsholds substantial potential for enhancing the teaching and learning of problem solving in schoolsand provides an excellent opportunity for teachers, educators, and researchers to harness their skillsand competencies to improve mathematics teaching and learning.

This study explores Swedish mathematics teachers teaching and assessing practices as different hybrid teaching methods were implemented. Data were collected from 51 teachers in the Stockholm region using an open-ended questionnaire. Teachers experienced a developmental leap involving both pedagogical adaptation and the use of technological tools when adapting to hybrid teaching. Quality dialogues, structure and learner autonomy, as well as the integrity of assessment practices were issues of major concern, as most students experienced online and hybrid learning for the first time with limited preparation.

These adaptation processes led to an increase in transactional distance, which in turn affected students’ autonomy and achievement. The results also show that the reliance on summative assessment became the new normal practice inconsistent with the Swedish way of teaching and assessing student learning. To enjoy the full advantages of hybrid teaching, there is a need to put measures in place to reduce the transactional distance to help improve students’ autonomy and achievement.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many universities across the world to implement online teaching and learning as an emergency education strategy to mitigate learning loss. How successful was the implementation? What lessons could institutions learn going forward? Several studies have been conducted on the topic, but none seems to have adequately described the experience of University of Ghana students. To fill this gap, this study investigated the challenges that the University of Ghana students faced in emergency remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic closure of schools. It also sought to determine ways in which the challenges could be addressed. The study was a descriptive survey in which 265 undergraduate and postgraduate students, 142 (53.6%) females and 123 (46.4%) males, with a majority of the respondents (79.2%) between the ages of 20-25 years completed a semi-structured survey instrument. The results indicated that the five most common challenges faced by the students were fiscal (high Internet data cost, 94.3%), technological (slow Internet connectivity, 90.6%; concerns about the quality of online learning, 87.2%; weak technical support for online learning, 81.9%) and human (students' lack of motivation to learn online, 80%). The results further showed that three effective ways to address the challenges are fiscal (reducing the cost of Internet data), human (making online learning and assessment more flexible for students) and technical (improving Internet connectivity). The authors recommend that the Ghana government and University of Ghana authorities upgrade the information technology and Internet infrastructure to remove or reduce the online learning bottlenecks.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in universities converting to distance education. This change has resulted in an increase of attempts to deceive on digital distance examinations. The aim of this study is to investigate how math teachers within a technical faculty experience students' deceit and  how this experience together with previous research can be used to prevent and counteract students' will to deceive. In order to investigate the teachers' experience, nine semi-structure dinterviews were performed with teachers that have been examiner in first cycle mathematics courses on a technical faculty. An inductive thematic analysis was applied to analyze the content from the transcriptions, which resulted in six themes. These themes were named the following: Types of deceiving, Reasons for deceiving, Construction of assessment, View of Different measures, Progress of courses and Reasons for changelessness, Everything based on the interviewed teachers perception. The goal of the study was to create a guide that will act as a template for teachers when planning their assessments. Teachers can, with the help of the guide, get more suggestions on how to construct different assessments to minimize students rationalizing deceit. The content that is presented in the guide is based on the perspective of Cultivating Community of Practice (CCPA). The guide has the following headers: Oral assessment, Written assessment and lastly Continuous assessment. Under each headline there is a description of the respective type of assessment followed by pros and cons with that type of assessment. Finally, practical applications of the recommendations are presented in the Appendix. Results from the thematic analysis were discussed further with the help of previous research and from this discussion the guide was constructed. Teachers' perceptions on students' deceit in firstcycle mathematics courses was compared with previous research based on the themes from the thematic analysis.

This study is conducted as an assignment from Saab in Järfälla, Sweden. Saab wanted help to reduce the challenges in the customer training since the instructors had expressed they needed help to improve it. The purpose of this study is to map the challenging situations that an instructor at Saab can experience during the customer training, and analyse how the challenges could be reduced. The main focus is put on organisational culture, pedagogic competence, and specialist knowledge.

The theoretical background describes the following theories: adult teaching, competence, and organisational culture. The development of the competence is discussed and the importance of how to use the right competence is stated. The organisational culture is discussed and what an organisation can do in order to strengthen the culture is presented. Theories for adult teaching are also presented.

A qualitative approach, in the form of focus group interviews, are used to collect data. Four focus group interviews are analysed using thematic analysis where the different themes and codes are found using the theory.

The results indicate that the different challenges that the instructors are facing in the customer training are linked and that they influence the organisation as a whole. An example of what Saab could do in order to reduce the challenges in the customer training is presented and discussed based on relevant theories. The things that Saab may do to reduce the challenges, according to this study, are: improve the communication, work as a team and try to create a strong organisational culture.

The purpose of the study is to study the behavioral changes in participants in the citizen science project

"Växtkalendern". The purpose is also to study how the citizen science project "Växtkalendern" can influence the gap between awareness and action in terms of climate change issues, so-called action gap, among the participants. The study is conducted based on an abductive approach, where the empiric material influences the literature study and vice-versa. The relevant empirical was collected through a survey sent out to all the participants in the project "Växtkalendern". In addition, interviews and discussions with specialists in the field of citizen science research have been conducted.

The results shows that the citizen science project

"Växtkalendern" has potential to influence participants. The survey revealed that the participants felt that the opportunity to assist research was clearly the most important reason for participation. Using the theoretical standing points and the empirical material, the citizen science project ability to create behavioral changes in the participants in terms of climate change issues was analyzed. The study shows that the gap between awareness and action can be reduced with the help of citizen science as participants experienced increased awareness and a changing behavior through participation in the project "Växtkalendern".

Here, we present a module to introduce student peer review of laboratoryreports to engineering students. Our findings show that students werepositive and felt that they had learnt quite a lot from this experience.The most important part of the module was the classification scheme.The scheme was constructed to mimic the way an expert would arguewhen making a fair judgement of a laboratory report. Hence, our resultsmay suggest that the success of the module design comes from activelyengaging students in work that is more related to ‘arguing like anexpert’ than to only supply feedback to peers, which in such a casewould implicate a somewhat new direction for feedback research. Forpractitioners, our study suggests that important issues to consider in thedesign are (i) a clear and understandable evaluation framework, (ii)anonymity in the peer-review process and (iii) a small external motivation.

This chapter investigates how recent developments in European higher education resemble the current state of the most popular sport on earth: football. It begins by showing how both football and higher education, as organisational fields, have emerged as deeply embedded entities within national and/or local contexts, with only weak links to the transnational environment. It continues, however, by further showing that with global marketisation processes gradually coming to the fore, both fields have become subject to convergence pressures, including de-contextualisation as a result of the rise of global markets. 

Computerisation and digitalisation are shaping the world in fundamental and unpredictable ways, which highlights the importance of computing education research (CER). As part of understanding the roots of CER, it is crucial to investigate the evolution of CER as a research discipline. In this paper we present a case study of a Finnish CER conference called Koli Calling, which was launched in 2001, and which has become a central publication venue of CER. We use data from 2001 to 2020, and investigate the evolution of Koli Calling's scholarly communities and zoom in on it's publication habits and internalisation process. We explore the narrative of the development and scholarly agenda behind changes in the conference submission categories from the perspective of some of the conference chairs over the years. We then take a qualitative perspective, analysing the conference publications based on a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. The outcomes include classification of important research clusters of authors in the community of conference contributors. Interestingly, we find traces of important events in the historical development of CER. In particular, we find clusters emerging from specific research capacity building initiatives and we can trace how these connect research spanning the world CER community from Finland to Sweden and then further to the USA, Australia and New Zealand. This paper makes a strategic contribution to the evolution of CER as a research discipline, from the perspective of one central event and publication venue, providing a broad perspective on the role of the conference in connecting research clusters and establishing an international research community. This work contributes insights to researchers in one specific CER community and how they shape the future of computing education

IEEE/ASEE Frontiers in Education turned 50 at the 2020 virtual conference in Uppsala, Sweden. This paper presents an historical retrospective on the first 50 years of the conference from a scientometric perspective. That is to say, we explore the evolution of the conference in terms of prolific authors, communities of co-authorship, clusters of topics, and internationalization, as the conference transcended its largely provincial US roots to become a truly international forum through which to explore the frontiers of educational research and practice. The paper demonstrates the significance of FIE for a core of 30% repeat authors, many of whom have been members of the community and regular contributors for more than 20 years. It also demonstrates that internal citation rates are low, and that the co-authoring networks remain strongly dominated by clusters around highly prolific authors from a few well known US institutions. We conclude that FIE has truly come of age as an international venue for publishing high quality research and practice papers, while at the same time urging members of the community to be aware of prior work published at FIE, and to consider using it more actively as a foundation for future advances in the field.

Natural science is of great importance to economics, people's lives and health as well as our environment. In order to obtain both broad, general knowledge and specialized, deep knowledge, students need to study science already in primary school. In order to make students more interested in science, teaching needs to be designed in a way that arouses students' curiosity. This can be achieved, for example, by finding a good mix between practical laboratory work and theoretical sessions.This is a study of how chemistry teachers view laboratory teaching and how their view can be related to the current syllabus in chemistry. The result shows that teachers value laboratory work, but also how laboratory work does not achieve the necessary quality when teachers lack the conditions, as they perceive it, to carry out good laboratory work. In addition, it shows that teachers think that the syllabus does not attach the same level of importance as before to laboratory exercises to achieve the teaching objectives.The study is based on qualitative interviews with eight science teachers at high school level in Stockholm County.

This thesis investigates the ability of a lab exercise in House of Science (Vetenskapens Hus),Stockholm, to create bridges between upper-secondary school students’ knowledge, university mathematics and practical application of that knowledge, thus increasing their motivation and interest to learn more mathematics and physics. The topic of the lab exercise is Fourier analysis and its practical application in Digital Sound Processing (DSP). The lab exercise deals with mathematics, physics and IT-technology thus making the activity interdisciplinary.

An important part of the work is also to improve this lab exercise based on the results of this study. The result is based on qualitative data from interviews, questionnaires filled by students and their teachers and also on literature studies. Some data is also collected through an iterative process of improving the lab exercise.

This report starts with justification for conducting this work, setting the goals and objectives and formulating main questions. Then the methods, which were used in order to answer these questions, are described. The middle part of the report summarizes literature and research studies in education, interest and motivation of students and also summarizes a scientific basis for the content of the school program in Fourier analysis. Next, the development process of the school program is described. This is followed by a presentationof the results of testing the school program with upper secondary school students with regard to how their interest and motivation are affected by it. The report ends with a discussion of these results and its credibility.

The result shows that the final version of the lab exercise, that is modified within the framework of this study, wakes students’ interest and motivation towards the topic of the exercise. The result also shows that some complex concepts (both new and those which are learned in school) become clearer for the students after the exercise which could potentiallylead to an increase in their motivation for learning the mathematics and physics in general. The problem is that the lab exercise was tested on too few classes for being able to generalize the result over the whole target group of the upper-secondary school students.

In Sweden, the development has gone from a fact-based environmental education to teachingon sustainable development that will not only deal with facts, but also values, feelings and the challenges facing the world. The complexity of teaching about sustainable development combined with what teachers are expected to include in their subjects puts great pressure on them, because many lack or believe they lack knowledge about sustainable development and how to teach about it. This contributes to teachers teaching about sustainable development to a lesser extent than expected from the global goals and curriculum.

With that as a basis, this study aims to reduce that gap by developing an education material that can be used across subjects in high school. Important didactic aspects and knowledge aspects derived from interviews with active high school teachers and researchers in polymer technology. From the interviews with the teachers, it emerged that the students should be given the opportunity to discuss, see different perspectives, and that the teachers should include areas that the students care about and can relate to. The most central that emerged in the interviews with the researchers were the conflicts that revolves around plastic, such as how waste management is to be handled, distribution of land use and how responsibility for littering should be distributed. This, together with didactic research and current science onplastic, resulted in three exercises with conflicts of interest as a pervasive theme where students are given the opportunity to develop several important skills needed to achieve theglobal goals.

Gender equality is a central topic and it is regulated through the Swedish parliament regulations, laws against discrimination and equality laws. Swedish parliament adopted goals for Swedish language policy, which says that language usage that conserves gender roles and obscuring women in, for example, the authorities' texts and in the language used in media, workplaces and schools should be counteracted. Gender equality is also found in the in the curriculum of the elementary school and it should permeate all of the school’s activities. According to Skolverket curriculum the school also has a responsibility to prevent traditional gender patterns. The purpose of this study is to determine whether two textbooks written for the course Technology in elementary school lives up to the requirements of gender equality as stipulated in the curriculum and by the Swedish law regulations. Based on gender and sociology theory, two textbooks have been analysed. The method used in the analysis of the two selected textbooks is text analysis, in the form of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative discourse analysis, to distinguish and look at different parts of the text and examine different phenomena such as interpretation of messages, intentions or meaning structures. The textbooks are analysed both by means of comparing how often women and men are mentioned in the texts, as well as by evaluating the adjectives and participles by which women and men are described.

The analysis shows that men are more frequently mentioned in the texts than women are. Moreover, positive adjectives and participles are more commonly associated with the male gender. The analysis also shows that men are usually linked to the public sector by association to their professional titles, where the personal names were mostly associated with well-known scientists and inventors, who historically were mostly men. Since the men were represented more in the texts more active participles were also found associated with men. In some cases, the women in the books are much more associated to their home and family roles than their professional titles. This study concludes that the reviewed textbooks cannot be said to meet the gender equality requirements in the curriculum for the elementary school. Men are in focus and the books confirm prejudice that exists in the society against women and men. However, these books do not need to be dismissed. Teachers can use these to show and discuss the relationship between women and men in today’s society with their students. This way norms can become more developed and contribute to a more permissive climate in the future.

BADGE: Global competence for sustainable internationalisation in engineering education

This paper presents a new Erasmus+ funded project, Becoming a digital global engineer (BADGE2020). The project is a three-year collaboration between language and communication teachers at14 technical universities and engineering departments in 12 countries, with partners representingindustry, consultants, educational organizations and students. The rationale behind the project isthe recognition of two facts: the ever-increasing need for global competence among engineeringgraduates and professionals (Parkinson 2009, OECD 2018), and the need to boost and adjustcommunication and language for specific purposes (LSP) teaching to better support sustainableinternationalisation, acknowledging multiculturality and multilingualism.The project was initiated from within a larger network of language and communication teachers attechnical universities in Europe (GELS 2020), established in 2015 to “enhance future engineers’language skills in order to prepare them for the increasingly challenging demands of a globalisedmarket”, and is divided into 8 intellectual outputs: communication course for future engineers,sustainable writing skills for engineers, e-communication skills, global competence andentrepreneurship, podcasting and video casting architecture, soft skills for engineering students,and global competence through IT and serious games.Working in 8 transnational teams, we will develop learning material ranging from course syllabiand exercises, to handbooks and pods, to be made freely available for download and localmodification as open educational resources. Furthermore, the material will be connected to asystem of digital badges that can be used as a supplement to official degree diplomas.

References

BAGDE (2020) The Badge Project www.thebadgeproject.eu, accessed 2020-03-25

GELS (2020) The GELS network www.clic.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/GELS, accessed 2020-03-25

OECD (2018) Preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world. The OECD PISAglobal competence framework www.oecd.org/education/Global-competency-for-an-inclusiveworld.pdf, accessed 2020-03-25

Parkinson, A. (2009) “The Rationale for Developing Global Competence” Online Journal forGlobal Engineering Education: Vol. 4: Iss. 2, Article 2.digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=ojgee, accessed 2020-03-25

Note on authorship

As equal authors and in alphabetical order: Katja Auffret (IMT Mines Albi-Carmaux, École Mines-Télécom,France), Teresa Geslin (Université de Lorraine, France), Ivana Jurković (Veleučilište u Bjelovaru, Croatia), BjörnKjellgren (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden), Freddi Maria (Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy), SaulePetroniene (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania), Jamie Rinder (KTH Royal Institute of Technology,Sweden), David Tual (Cambridge University, United Kingdom).

This chapter investigates the gender differences in managerial practices across three Nordic countries: Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It analyses two aspects: (1) perceptions regarding competition, and (2) motivations for undertaking academic work. The chapter is based on an empirical dataset which was compiled from national surveys (conducted in 2015 and 2016) of senior academic staff (professors, associate professors, and academic leaders), which aimed to assess the perceived effects of recent government-led reforms which focused on performance management and managerial practices.

The ANNA tool developed in the scope of the project "Increasing Gender Diversity in STEM" is an online tool that allows high school students to match their own personality, views, and expectations to those of engineering students and professional engineers. Not only does it provide easy access to role models, but it also increases awareness of what it means to be an engineer and picks up on some stereotypes associated with studying technology at the university. This EU funded Erasmus+ project helped the partners to study the gender difference in self-perception about the engineering degree. In the meantime, the data collection gives the opportunity to take a look at how students perceive their university and their degree.

This study explored the feasibility of integrating pellet production to the combined heat and power plant Bristaverket, owned by the energy company Stockholm Exergi, with the aim of achieving a more energy and resource efficient process. The study was divided into three parts: development of a technical process, evaluation of techno-economic performance, and examination of organizational learning opportunities. A limitation of the study was to only consider the process at Bristaverket. The technical process was developed following a general modeling design process, utilizing MATLAB as software. Economic performance was assessed through investment and sensitivity analysis. Organizational learning opportunities were identified through interviews and thematic analysis using the 4I-framework. The proposed technical process involved transferring heat from Bristaverket to a 4 MW water-heated belt dryer. The annual pellet production amounted to 50.4 kilotons with 85% plant operation, and the specific energy consumption was 717 kWh/tpellet. The pellets achieved the classification I3 for industrial use and the specific production cost was 2,218 SEK/tpellet. The investment analysis was executed for three scenarios: a future scenario, a 2020 scenario and a 2023 scenario. The future scenario yielded a net present value (NPV) of 270 MSEK, an investment return rate (IRR) of 74%, and a payback time (PBT) of 1.4 years. For the 2020 scenario and 2023 scenario, the NPV was -1 MSEK and 88 MSEK, the IRR was 8% and 32%, and the PBT was 9.5 years and 3.3 years respectively. The investment was sensitive to changes in operational costs, foremost changes in pellet and wood chip prices. The study's techno-economic findings could contribute to organizational learning at Stockholm Exergi during meetings, through questions, at the final presentation, and through conversations between colleagues. Suggestions for enhancing organizational learning included establishing routines for knowledge sharing and discussions during and after thesis projects.

Today’s research, as well as current Swedish governance documents, stress the high importance of developing students’ abstract, individual and critical thinking in mathematics education. The needs for such quality thinking however stand in stark contrast to the ‘traditional mathematics education’, which cannot be expected to develop such thinking. This study suggests an evolutionary instead of revolutionary approach in leaving the old paradigm of ‘traditional education’ behind, since project support for such a transformation project is claimed to be lacking on central level while the feasibility of such a paradigm shift on individual (teacher or even school) level is claimed to be very low in today’s time-pressured reality. By investigating teacher actions which generate occurrences of activated, exposed and elicited student thinking, this study purports to suggest alternative ways forward. A series of semi-structured classroom observations, complemented with questionnaires and interviews, has therefore been carried out of 18 mathematics teachers in upper secondary level in Sweden. The study is based on empowerment theory (as well as an adaptation from the industry of an applied empowerment model), a triangulation mixed-method design was adopted and a thematic analysis, underpinned by a latent theoretical approach from an epistemologically constructionist perspective as described by Braun and Clarke (2006), was used. The study identified several occurrences of the aforementioned student thinking, as well as their corresponding teacher actions and proposes a way for organizing the actions as well as their outcome into an overarching model.