PHUV9430 Presenting Arts-Based Research Course description

Language: English (and Norwegian, dependent on the language of participants).

Approved by the Academic Affairs Committee 27.04.2020.

This PhD-course is open for candidates at the PhD Programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education, PhD candidates from other relevant programmes, and academic employees.

The course presents arts-based research (ABR) and processes related to ABR that are relevant in traditional qualitative research as well. Accepting knowledge as also being tacit, and the arts as important fields of understanding, today’s educational research often include aesthetical and arts-based processes. ABR is an umbrella term covering different research methodologies that draw their inspiration, concepts, processes or representational forms from the arts. To satisfy the expected transparency in research, processes involving arts-based media also need to be discussed and made explicit, whether one considers oneself to be an artist or not.

In this basic course, methodologies such as aesthetically based research, a/r/tography, practice-led research and artistic research will be presented and discussed, as will onto-epistemological issues related to ABR in general and the different methodologies. Furthermore, the students will participate in a limited number of mandatory workshops investigating core elements of ABR, (e.g. embodiment, empathy and material, formal and relational sensitivity). There will also be optional workshops exploring writing processes in ABR, related to narrative, poetical, fictional and essayistic genres. A seminar presenting and discussing the participants’ projects constitutes the course exam.

PhD-level.

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

Knowledge

The candidate:

• has in-dept knowledge concerning core elements of ABR
• can evaluate the expediency and application of certain methodological and analytical approaches within the umbrella term ABR
• has knowledge of certain ontological, epistemological and ethical issues related to ABR

Skills

The candidate:

• can critically analyse relationships between theories of knowledge and ABR and challenge established research practices
• can use relevant techniques to enhance and elicit their own embodiment, empathy and/or sensitivity in research
• can formulate problems, plan, carry out and critically discuss relevant ABR processes in their own research

General competence

The candidate:

• can identify and discuss some relationships and conflicts between other scientific theories and certain theories in ABR, related to his/her field of research
• can give well-structured presentations and participate in debates assessing ABR processes and projects

The first part of the course is a seminar given over two subsequent days. The working methods include lectures, discussions, as well as practical workshops. Candidates are expected to actively participate in all the teaching activities.

The second part of the course is primarily related to the student presentations, which constitute the exam in this course.

Preparations for the course

Students are encouraged to enter OsloMet’s learning platform and attain knowledge of parts of the reading list prior to the course to be able to participate actively in discussions.

Course Requirements

Coursework requirement are:

• Mandatory attendance on the two days of lectures, discussions, and practical workshops. Up to 50 % absence from other students’ oral presentations can be accepted in certain cases, after application.

In this course students learn how to create data driven, interactive content for web and mobile using free open source web technology. The course includes cartography, statistics, source criticism, applied mathematics, programming and visualization. The course is suited for web journalism and other kinds of web content creation.

Language of instruction is English.

None

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student knows:

• cartography
• correct use of different types of graphs
• How to search public databases
• data sources and source criticism
• basic statistical methods

Skills:

The student can:

• Find and refine data while maintaining the integrity of the dataset
• Use mathematics and programming to visualize data
• Produce user-friendly interactive maps and charts to communicate a message efficiently

General skills:

The student can

• Analyze data from various sources
• Produce digital stories for multiple platforms
• Analyze works within the field
• Communicate fact based and quantitative sources in a visual form.