Universität Wien

490180 SE Seminar on Research Methods: Professional Accountability, Evaluation and Practitioner Research (2024S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 49 - Lehrer*innenbildung
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German, English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 05.04. 14:00 - 20:15 Digital
  • Saturday 06.04. 10:00 - 16:15 Digital
  • Friday 03.05. 14:00 - 20:15 Digital
  • Saturday 04.05. 10:00 - 13:15 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Title: The Professional Identity of the Teacher as Researcher.

Can a teacher be also a researcher? This course aims at providing students with theoretical and practical tools to develop and reinforce their professional identities, to operate as research practitioners, and to tackle real school life’s challenges. Students will also learn about how to use educational big data and artificial intelligence in their work (e.g. lessons' preparation, evaluation, assesment etc.).

By adopting Systems Thinking entailing participatory and action-oriented educational research, the course focuses on the agency of the teacher-as-researcher.

Under the supervision of the lecturer, students will learn the four basic phases of Action-Research and how to ideate, design and plan a research project. The topic of the research project will be chosen by the students with the supervision of the lecturer. Students will work individually and in groups to reflect on their professional identities and social responsibilities.

Specific topics of the course are:
- Introduction to Systems Thinking and Action-Research: history and theory.
- Participatory research.
- Action-Research design.
- Teachers and the educational big data
- Teachers and AI
- Systems Thinking for the analysis of the classroom and school environments
- The professional identity and responsibility of the teacher-as-researcher.
- The role of the teacher in modern society.
- Case studies and simulations.

Students will acquire the following skills:
- Designing Action-Research projects.
- Recognizing and using basic systemic and participatory research terminology, concepts and tools.
- Understanding the main factors that define the professional identity of the teacher.
- Developing awareness about the role of teachers in modern society.
- Developing the professional and ethical attitude of the teacher-as-researcher.
- Making proper use of educational big data and AI in the work and research

The teaching method is highly interactive and participatory. Learning activities are:
- Lectures with media support on relevant theoretical concepts and empirical themes.
- Plenary discussions of concrete examples, case studies and methodological procedures.
- Research assignments and written elaboration.
- Brief presentation of selected work assignments.
- Literature research and review.
- Continuous work in small groups.
- Guided work.

The main language of the course is English.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students are expected to attend lectures and actively participate to discussions, case studies, research tasks and exercises. Moreover, students will have to hand in a few assignments and to develop a research project during the entire course.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The students’ work will be evaluated on a scale from 0 to 100 points distributed as following:
- Attendance and participation to the classes, class work and groupwork : 20 points.
- One written report (first assignment): 30 points.
- Final project (second assignment): 50 points.

The final grading:
- 1 (sehr gut): 89-100 points
- 2 (gut): 76-88 points
- 3 (befriedigend): 63-75 points
- 4 (genügend): 50-62 points
- (nicht genügend): 0-49 points

For the final project, students will have to apply and show proficiency regarding terminology and concepts used during the course. A few options for the topics of the final projects will be suggested during the course.

Examination topics

Examination is based on attendance and participation to the classes, class work and groupwork, plus the first and second assignment. The two assignments will be handed in in written form. Students are required to be familiar with all the content and material presented during the course. Supporting learning material such as presentations, papers, documents, videos, slides, and reference literature will be available on Moodle. Oral examination is possible if requested by the students in case they are not satisfied with the final grade.

Reading list

- Alhadeff-Jones, M. (2012). Transformative learning and the challenges of complexity. The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice, 178-194.
- Attia, M., & Edge, J. (2017). Be (com) ing a reflexive researcher: a developmental approach to research methodology. Open Review of Educational Research, 4(1), 33-45.
- Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2015). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. Teachers College Press.
- Day, C. (2018). Professional identity matters: Agency, emotions, and resilience. In Research on teacher identity (pp. 61-70). Springer, Cham.
- Hine, G. S. (2013). The importance of action research in teacher education programs. Issues in Educational Research, 23 (2), 151-163.
- Ison, R. L. (2008). Systems thinking and practice for action research. In: Reason, Peter W. and Bradbury,Hilary eds. The Sage Handbook of Action Research Participative Inquiry and Practice (2nd edition). London, UK:Sage Publications, pp. 139–158.
- Kincheloe, J. L. (2011). The knowledges of teacher education: Developing a critical complex epistemology. In Key works in critical pedagogy (pp. 227-243). Brill Sense.
- Knight, P. (2002). A systemic approach to professional development: learning as practice, Teaching and Teacher Education, 18 (3): 229-241.
- Menter, I., Elliot, D., Hulme, M., Lewin, J., & Lowden, K. (2011). A guide to practitioner research in education. Sage.
- Mertler, C. A. (2009). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom. Sage.
- Nieveen, N., & Folmer, E. (2013). Formative evaluation in educational design research. Design Research, 153, 152-169.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 04.04.2024 10:47