PHUV9360 Action Research: Epistemology, Methodology and Ethics in Action Research Projects Course description

Target group

The target group is PhD students and academic staff who want to carry out a critical analysis of own data material. The course is relevant for PhD students and researchers who conduct research on almost any issue, including questions related to the welfare state, environmental issues, migration, extremism and radicalization, and any topics that are taught at school and are discussed in classrooms.

Admission requirements

The course is open for PhD students admitted to the PhD Program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education, as well as other applicants, including academic staff. The admission requirement is a five-year master¿s degree (three years + two years), or equivalent qualification in either teacher education, educational science, social sciences or humaniora.

In case of a large number of applicants, PhD students enrolled in the PhD program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education will be prioritized, then students enrolled in other relevant PhD programmes at OsloMet as well as other universities, then other academic employees at the Faculty of Teacher Education and International studies and the Centre for the Study of Professions, then staff of the rest of OsloMet as well as other universities.

Those applicants who are not enrolled in the PhD Program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education will have to send a summary of max. one A4 sheet with relevant information about their own PhD project or other project/sphere of interest containing the topic, methodology, theoretical approach, how far they are in their PhD work and why this particular subject is relevant for their project.

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On completion of the course, the candidate will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The candidate

• has in-depth knowledge of epistemological and methodological perspectives on Action Research projects
• has in-depth knowledge of the role of the researcher in action research projects

Skills

The candidate:

• has gained methodological competence in understanding and engaging in Action Research at a sufficiently high level to develop knowledge in his/her field of study.
• can give academically competent written presentations of a relevant topic within action research

General competence

The candidate:

• can identify and establish constructive connections between theories, empirical data, and practices based on developed methodological competence in Action Research
• has sufficient ethical competence to identify relevant ethical challenges in his/her research process.

Organised tuition is given in the form of lectures and seminars. Candidates are expected to actively participate in all the teaching activities. Candidates will receive academic supervision on writing essays.

Students are expected to read the syllabus before the course to be able to participate actively in discussions.

The candidate writes an individual essay of between 4000 - 6000 words. It can be written in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English. The essay must be related to relevant themes in the course syllabus. The theme of the essay shall be approved by the course coordinator in advance. The essay must be submitted within six weeks after the course.

New and postponed examination

If an essay cannot be passed, the candidate must submit one revised version within a given deadline.

The learning outcomes serve as criteria for assessments. The grades are "pass" or "fail".

The essay will be assessed by the course coordinator and a member of the academic staff involved in the PhD program.