Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

This thesis is about teaching and learning in way finding and map reading. The aim of the study is to investigate children’s ability to perceive the relationship between objects in the nature and map symbols in order to make a positioning. The aim is also to investigate what teaching might facilitate this ability. The study sets out to identify critical features related to the object of learning, that might constitute learning obstacles or problems, and then to discuss possible teaching methods to overcome these problems.

The method used is a school based physical education intervention study de-rived from Learning Study principles. In a Learning Study, teachers collaborate in an iterative process to explore their students learning. The students’ ways of perceiving the object of learning is analysed through a phenomenographic ap-proach and the variation theory is used for planning and analysing the studied lessons. Three lessons were videotaped and field notes were taken along with some interviews. The sample consisted of three groups of ten-year-old pupils (n=53) and six teachers.

Four critical features of the learning object were identified in the study: a) to perceive objects in nature and understand how these can be represented on the map: b) to perceive objects in nature to make a positioning on the map: c) to perceive objects in nature and its location to make a positioning in relation to the previous positioning and d) to perceive relationships between objects in nature and symbols on the map and take these into account when describing position.

The study shows how children’s ability to perceive objects in the nature and map symbols to make a positioning can be improved when they have the possi-bility to discern the critical features in different ways. In conclusion, that what was taught seemed to be reflected in what the pupils learned. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that it is not sufficient merely to name the critical features to the pupils, instead they must be possible to be discerned by the pupils in order for learning to take place. A final reflection is that the theoretical framework used, variation theory, is a powerful tool for analysing lessons that contributed to the analysis of teaching and learning.