JU student awarded Best Thesis in mathematics
Emilia Lennartsson, who graduated in 2020 from the primary teacher program with a focus on grade F-3 at the School of Education and Communication (HLK) at Jönköping University (JU), has written one of Sweden's best master’s thesis. She has therefore been awarded the Göran Emanuelsson Prize for Best Master’s Thesis in Mathematics Didactics.
In her work, Emilia Lennartsson investigated the possibilities of following a person’s gaze (eye-tracking) so that more can be learnt about how someone makes a mathematical calculation. The title of Emilia’s degree project is ‘Eye-tracking and Mathematics - An Eye-tracking Investigation into the Use of the Prioritization Rules’.
The jury’s reasoning:
The master’s thesis ‘Eye-tracking and Mathematics - An Eye-tracking Investigation into the Use of the Prioritization Rules’ uses an innovative and unusual method for studying students' mathematics learning. By examining how the gaze is fixed, the study contributes knowledge about how students handle priority rules in calculations. Although the technology presents challenges, the contribution has interesting didactic implications for mathematics teachers and raises new mathematics didactic questions.
Emilia Lennartsson when she graduated from HLK in 2020.
Today, Emilia lives in Borås and works as a second-grade teacher at a school in Borås.
“It feels very surreal that I have received this scholarship because it was delayed due to the pandemic. Once I found out that I would get it, I was very surprised and happy”, says Emilia Lennartsson.
The work was presented at a ceremony on September 22 at Umeå University in connection with LUMA - a conference for teacher educators in mathematics.
The prize has been awarded since 2007 but has recently been postponed due to the pandemic. The prize winners are appointed by the National Center for Mathematics Education at the University of Gothenburg. The Göran Emanuelsson scholarship is awarded for the best degree project with a focus on learning and teaching mathematics within teacher education. The prize is awarded in the form of a travel grant.
