Course content

This is a course in research methods and analyses for PhD candidates with texts situated in various educational contexts as their object of research. The course aims to provide an overview over relevant approaches to texts in contexts, and to give the candidates practical training and experience in text analysis. Overarching perspectives from the humanities, such as the understanding and interpretation of texts in light of various social and cultural contexts, will form a background for the analytical work. During the course, students will be introduced to various text theoretical perspectives and analytical methods that may help researchers from different academic backgrounds to approach the content, form and structure of a wide variety of text-based data. Thus, the course will also provide a good basis for different kinds of subject specific educational studies. Academic content will be introduced and illustrated through relevant examples from different strands of text studies. Discussions of various types of data and relevant analytical approaches will be central activities in the course, as will practical text analyses. The course is based on a broad concept of text, which includes various modalities (e.g. written, oral and digital).

Examples of relevant text material are:

• Student texts (from various school subjects and from students with different language and culture backgrounds)
• Text responses (verbal and written, digital and paper-based)
• Conversations/dialogues about different learning contexts in different subjects (e.g. assessment, guidance, planning, group and classroom conversations)
• Learning resources (e.g. textbooks, different types of online resources)
• Educational policy documents related to specific learning contexts
• Texts in different ways related to the field of education, such as children's and young people's leisure time texts and text-based forms of communication of various kinds (e.g. social media)

Candidates may also focus on texts in process, for example by studying students' language and text development over time, or the development of texts through different stages of a writing process.

The course has a flexible design. The content and activities will be adapted to the candidates' PhD projects and data. The course will be given in Norwegian, as it is expected that most of the participants' data are collected within the Norwegian school system.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

Candidates

• have extensive knowledge on various texts as an empirical basis for educational research in their field
• can assess the usefulness of various analytical tools linked to their own empiric data
• can contribute to the development of new knowledge on different textual approaches, anchored in theories of language, text and communication

Skills

Candidates

• are able to use, discuss, assess, and adapt different analytical approaches to empirical data from relevant disciplines
• are able to conduct transparent analyses of different types of texts
• are able to discuss the results of qualitative text analyses in a critical manner, also in light of educational policies and discussions

General competencies

Candidates

• have an extensive understanding of how different texts can be used in teaching and learning contexts, and in relevant societal contexts
• have insight into how various theoretical and analytical approaches to texts can reveal strengths and weaknesses in teaching practices and learning contexts
• can assess the need for, and take an active approach in, the use of textual analyses in academic- and educational contexts

Learning methods and activities

Lectures

• Workshops based on examples from relevant research on education, and from the students' own empirical work
• Text seminars with students presenting readings, and participating in discussions

Compulsory work

• Presentations of analyses based on students' empirical data
• Active contribution in workshops
• Selection and presentation of relevant literature adapted to own projects; annotations of readings

Compulsory assignments

• 80 % attendance
• Presentation - students' evidence
• Presentation in workshop
• Annotations of readings

Further on evaluation

Individual paper.

Text submitted for assessment in the required academic coursework may be included in the thesis in revised form.

For a retake of a failed exam, the candidate can submit a revised version of a previously submitted text in the course. If the submission is a revised version of a previously submitted text, this must be clarified in the text.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Master's degree or equivalent. Active PhD students are ranked first upon admission. The course will be adapted to the candidates' own PhD projects. To benefit fully from the course, the participants must have some relevant textual material. However, they can be in an early stage of their PhD program. Admission restrictions*: The course is limited to a of maximum 25 students, where 6 spots are reserved for applicants from other institutions affiliated with NorTED (www.nor-ted.com). If there are less than 5 applicants, the Department of Teacher Education reserves the right to cancel the course. * Applicants will be ranked based on the criteria presented here, along with the deadline for applications: https://www.ntnu.edu/ilu/phd-courses