News

  • 2024-11-04

    Reading for the sake of reading rare in school

    Teachers across the Nordic countries are happy to include literature in their teaching. But what they want their pupils to learn from the literature differs between the countries. This is one of the findings of a doctoral thesis by Anna Nissen at Karlstad University.

    "I hope my research offers teachers new insights, helping them identify areas for improvement in their teaching as well as what they are already doing successfully. I also hope that my thesis can give those in power and debaters a slightly more nuanced picture of what teaching actually looks like in the classroom, says Anna Nissen."

  • 2024-11-04

    New research about the relationship between place and media strengthens degree programme at Karlstad University

    – Our research makes a valuable contribution to the students’ work in designing places for tourism, where we demonstrate the importance of working with place-based digital development in harmony with places and people, says Lotta Braunerhielm, docent in human geography at Karlstad University.

    Geomedia research looks at the relationship between places and media and how they affect each other. The tourism industry, and tourism in general, has in recent years been heavily impacted by digitalisation and development has been primarily technology-driven. To gain a better understanding of the digital development between places and people, Lotta Braunerhielm and Fredrik Hoppstadius, senior lecturer in human geography at Karlstad University, have carried out a literature study covering 2,480 publications.

  • 2024-10-31

    Words from our senior management: Together for change – how collaboration can strengthen research, education and society

    During the spring, I had the benefit of working with a national evaluation for the Swedish Higher Education Authority, with a focus on collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and the surrounding community. By analysing self-evaluations from 37 HEIs, I can confirm that collaboration is a powerful tool.

    Academia carries a vision of creating value and contributing towards a positive societal transformation. This vision is in line with the Higher Education Ordinance from 2021, which stipulates that “the mandate of higher education institutions shall include collaboration for mutual exchanges with the surrounding community, as well as ensuring that the knowledge and expertise found at the higher education institution bring benefit to society.” However, in our daily work, not everything we do needs to have immediate social relevance or a direct connection to external stakeholders.

  • 2024-10-30

    The administrator – a professional role with potentially unlimited character

    Behind administration, we find the administrators. A professional group that David Regin Öborn, new doctor in working life science at Karlstad Business School, has focused on in his research. And the starting point was an explosive outburst during a meeting.

    David Regin Öborn, you have a personal background as an administrator – what inspired you to pursue reach in this area?

    – Partly, a curiosity about this group, as the type of administrative service work that these administrators can be classified under is quite poorly researched. I think there is a tendency today to write and talk a lot about administration and administrators, but we don’t often talk with the administrators themselves, in the form of research.

  • 2024-10-28

    Dangerous technology in children’s literature

    New technology is something threatening and often dangerous. At least that is the picture presented if you read modern children’s literature.

    – This is contradictory. Technology is becoming an increasingly integral part of everyday life, including in literature. But at the same time, there is often a concern or a hidden threat in technology, says Jakob Olsson, researcher at Karlstad University.

    Jakob Olsson has studied 249 books, published between 2000 and 2019. And his findings show how technology is becoming an increasingly natural element in literature, but also that the adult world often wants to problematise and depict new technology as dangerous. 

    – It is clear that a negative image is portrayed. The problematising narratives clearly outweigh the positives and often tend to lean towards extremes, says Jakob.

  • 2024-10-24

    The secret life of molecules unveiled

    Research on organic solar cells has been conducted for a long time. Recent advancements in understanding their molecular structures are now paving the way for the development of highly efficient solar cells.

    – By using atomic force microscopy-infrared spectroscopy, AFM-IR, we’ve been able to create clearer images of the morphology or structure of the material, says Ishita Jalan, postdoc in physical chemistry and main author of a recently published scientific article. This structure and how it can be controlled determines the effect of the solar cell. In this way, these new findings can contribute to more efficient organic solar cells.

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