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

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

Knowledge

The student:

• gains insight into the complex relations between assessment and learning in educating children and young adults according to the most relevant research conducted internationally and nationally
• understands and critically evaluates the mechanisms and research behind monitoring and assessing students’ oral and written skills
• can critically evaluate how assessment and learning are dependent on and intertwined with issues of feedback and motivation

Skills

The student:

• is able to critically evaluate the extent to which various forms of assessment are valid and reliable
• is able to discuss complex theoretical and methodological issues in their own thesis in light of the course content

General competence

The student:

• can critically discuss and evaluate complex issues related to assessment and learning at a level required in the international research field

The course consists of a six-days workshop (18 hours of seminars in total). All seminars will be based on flipped-classroom methodology where participants will learn about assessment as part of their teaching and will experiment with a variety of assessments that fit the needs of their contexts. The seminars will engage students in lectures, presentations, discussions, group/pair and individual work with mandatory participation.

Students are expected to participate actively in all days seeking and using feedback for their self-regulation, autonomy and self-development. Students are expected to read the syllabus before the course and work on the pre-recorded lectures, pre-assigned research articles or questions/tasks before the seminars and any other materials following the seminars (set as part of the flipped-classroom orientation of the course) to be able to participate actively in discussions during the seminars.

Students will be given the opportunity to participate by electronic means. The necessary equipment (headset and webcam) and a good and stable internet connection are necessary for those students joining through online means.

After the course, the students will submit an individual paper that outlines how they may conduct an analysis based on knowledge and skills from the course and own empirical material on topics of their own choice. Students will work closely with their supervisor(s) to develop each stage of their individual projects.

A paper of 5,000 words (+/-10% and excluding references and appendices) of 5 ECTs written in English, and related to one or more of the five areas of assessment in the course plan should be submitted after the course.

If a paper is not graded with "pass", the student must submit a revised version within a given deadline.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with APA style of referencing.

The paper will be assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

Professor Dina Tsagari (dina.tsagari@oslomet.no)

The course comprises five areas of assessment and learning concerning children and young adults in education. The course covers the following topical seminars:

National and international research on assessment and learning

This seminar takes a close look at the most prominent national and international research on (formative) assessment, and discusses their implications for policy, research and practice.

Assessment and oral skills

This seminar explores how research related to different oral practices discusses ways of monitoring and assessing oral skills. Students will discuss valid, reliable (and practical) ways for teachers to monitor and assess students’ oracy assessment and how this may impact on the realization of inclusive and adapted education.

Assessment and written skills

Participants will work with theoretical and empirical frameworks of assessing reading and writing, discuss challenges and issues for reading assessment and will conclude with possible future directions.

Assessment and feedback

Participants will be introduced to theoretical and empirical frameworks of feedback to support students’ learning and discuss affordances on how to provide embedded feedback in learning activities.

Assessment and motivation

In this seminar, participants will discuss the integration of assessment and motivation theories in the effort to promote learning.

Target Group

The target group is PhD candidates/students who plan to conduct Action Research projects and want to learn more about epistemology, methodology, and ethics related to their own work

Admission requirements

The requirements for admission include completing a five-year master's program (integrated or consisting of a three-year bachelor's program and a two-year master's program, in total 300 ECTS) in the fields of teacher education, other pedagogical disciplines, educational science, development studies, social sciences, or other relevant areas related to the PhD programme. The master's degree should include a substantial independent project equivalent to a master's thesis (minimum 30 ECTS). An internationally completed master's degree that corresponds to at least four years in the Norwegian education system may also be considered for admission (please check the grounds for enrollment on the website of the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills). https://hkdir.no/en/foreign-education/lists-and-databases/higher-education-entrancequalification-gsu

In case of a large number of applicants, PhD-students enrolled in the PhD programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education will be prioritized, then students in other PhD-programmes, then academic employees at the Faculty of Teacher Education and International Studies.

Applicants who are not enrolled in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at OsloMet must send a summary in English of maximum one A4 sheet with relevant information about their own project/area of interest, containing topic, methodology, theoretical approach, and why this course might be relevant for their project.