We examine pre-service teachers’ theoretical learning during one five-week training module, and their educators’ learning about better lecture design to foster student learning. The study is iterative: interventions (one per group) were implemented sequentially in student groups A–C, the results of the previous intervention serving as the baseline for the design developed for the next. These learn

This study aims to describe how the learning study model can be used to improve lesson design and childrens learning outcomes by enabling them to perceive and define the critical aspects of the object of learning, guided by variation theory. Three lesson designs were used with three groups of children (A = 24, B = 13, C = 14) from two schools. The results of the first design were analyzed before t

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore in what way gradually increasing teachers’ theory-based instruction affects the students’ learning outcomes, illustrated by the example of learning how to regulate body tension in the upper secondary school. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 72 students from four classes participated in the study. The way the students were offered to understa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a learning study with a complex object of learning – democracy. Design/methodology/approach – The study consists of four research lessons in four different classes in grade 6. In the study two teachers, 78 students and two researchers participated. In the first lesson (A) 21 students participated, in the second class (B) 17, in the third class (C)

The aim of this study is to, based on a theory of learning, compare in what ways two different cases of the use of self-monitoring videotapes for developing social skills in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) facilitates social behavior studied with a micro-level approach. Two verbal 15-year-old male students with ASD and cognitive disabilities were filmed for 20 min in three differen

This article reports a meta-analysis based on a multiple case study of the use of learning study (LS) to understand children's learning in Swedish preschool. The aim is to investigate whether and how the LS model can be developed, adjusted and used to meet contemporary demands placed upon preschool teachers for increased content focus and improved cognitive outcomes. The research questions are (1)

The main focus of this study is preschool teachers' own learning from a specific course aimed to develop their knowledge of how to use learning study (LS) in preschool. The study included 24 qualified and experienced preschool teachers who took part in the course. The course was funded by the Swedish National Agency for Education and the teachers were chosen by their municipal employers. An analys

Microfluidic flows feature typically fully three-dimensional velocity fields. However, often the optical access for measurements is limited. Astigmatism or defocus particle tracking velocimetry is a technique that enables the 3D position determination of individual particles by the analysis of astigmatic/defocused particle images. The classification and position determination of particles is a tas

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe pre-school children's learning during a learning study, and their teachers’ awareness of each child's learning possibilities in relation to what they actually learned. The paper's aims are twofold; first, to focus on how to design learning study in pre-school settings; and second, to study young children's (aged 4-5) learning. Design/methodology/ap

The point of departure in this study is that differences in solving second-degree equations result from differences in what is presented to the students in a learning situation. However, the specified aim is to describe what kind of differences seem to be crucial for learning, and what does seem fruitless. The study is carried out in an upper secondary school in Sweden. Data consist of video-recor

The aim of this study is to find out what teachers say their primary focus is when planning to teach an object of learning. The study is carried out in two different cultural contexts, Sweden and Hong Kong, and based on the framework of variation theory, which has a two-fold focus, namely both what teachers do and what students learn at school. Fifteen semi-structured open-ended interviews were co

The point of departure in this study is the question: do teachers who develop theoretical knowledge of the variation theory change the way(s) they offer their pupils the object of learning due to the theoretical framework. The aim of the study is to describe this development, i. e. to find if and how teachers developed theoretical knowledge when planning instruction, and in what way(s) this has an

The aim of this article is to analyse the aspects that teachers intend to focus on in teaching mathematics and the students' needs, i.e. what is critical for student learning. The article develops an argument for the importance of identifying the "critical aspects" as a basis for the teachers to promote student learning of Mathematics from preschool to upper secondary school. The article concludes

The aim of this study is to describe in what ways the object of learning changes shape during its way from the intended (planned), enacted (offered) and lived (discerned) object of learning. The study is based on variation theory, and learning study is used as a model. A total of three preschool teachers, 39 children aged 4-5 years and three researchers participated in the study. Three interventio

Preschool children's learning isthe subject of this study. Three children aged 4, 5 and 6 participated. The data consist of individual interviews with the children before and after the intervention and a videotaped intervention. Our results show that children seem to see a whole as something that is not cut into pieces, no matter what it looks like. They do not necessarily refer to the whole when

In this article a learning study is presented, and the object of learning is sedimentary rocks' formation and decomposition, a part of the rock-cycle. The study included 5 lessons in 5 different groups of 5th grade pupils. 85 students and 7 teachers participated in the study. The lessons were 40 minutes each and the teacher and location of all classes remained constant. 4 lessons were planned base

Although students' understanding of the concept of function has been studied by quite a number of researchers internationally, there has not been a lot of research on the subject in Sweden. This paper is an attempt to analyse what the students are offered to learn about the concept of function both in the classroom and in textbooks and what the students actually learn. The presentation is based on

The aim of this study is to describe in what ways variation can be used in learning situations for pupils with autism to evoke deep understanding of activities in natural settings. The combination of variation and structure was designed to make each pupil discern new aspects of their learning objects. The analysis of the six participants’ learning was based on the variation theory, and focused on

In this article an educational action research study, based on a phenomenographic approach, is reported in which unexpected results have been possible to gather thanks to the inductive design of the study. The aim is to describe the ways in which contrasts of critical aspects of a learning object affect the students' generative learning found by analysing three learning studies based on the theory