DESIGN OF A PEDAGOGICAL ARTEFACT FOR DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS TO ASSESS THEORETICAL STRENGTH

Making a theoretical contribution can be viewed as one of the most important and confusing objectives for a doctoral researcher. Focusing on the literature review process, this paper highlights the need to develop a pedagogical artefact that will enable a new doctoral researcher to assess the theoretical strength of the literature they survey and review, while also facilitating the development of a concept-centric matrix for their chosen research topic. In this paper we present a conceptual data model design underpinning the structure of our proposed pedagogical artifact. We support new doctoral researchers through promoting a two step literature review process of [1] categorising the literature and [2] developing a theoretical framework to guide making a theoretical contribution. The artefact‟s conceptual data model design captures the most important aspects that demand the attention of a new doctoral researcher

Methodological “Learning-by-Doing” for Action Design Research

This study shares the direct experiences of designing and implementing methodological “learning-by-doing” for Action Design Research (ADR) within a 5-credit module that condenses the realities of completing a full ADR project without compromising the rigour of the approach. The module is described in detail, along with the specifics of its implementation over two years and the key learnings from doing so. Adopting a confessional writing approach, documented experiences from those involved (both designers and students) provide a rich data source, analysed using autonomous and communicative reflexivity. The underlying contribution of this paper is that it provides insights into the learning of ADR, the doing of ADR, and the outcomes of a technique that simultaneously combines both. As a result, ADR educators and researchers can draw on these insights to further their teaching, learning, and research endeavours. Finally, key insights such as forced pragmatism and the challenge of problematisation add to our understanding of conducting ADR while avoiding issues such as methodological slurring

Creating new stories for praxis: navigations, narrations, neonarratives

This paper considers differing understandings about the role and praxis of studio-based research in the visual arts. This is my attempt to unpack this nexus and place it in a context of credibility for our field. Jill Kinnear (2000) makes the point that visual research deals with and intensifies elements of research and language that have always been part of the practice of an artist. Presented is a way to conceptualise and explain what we can do as researchers in the visual arts. I am recontextualizing notions of research, looking at the resemblances, the self-resemblances and the differences between traditional and visual research methods as a logic of necessity. I am investigating how we can decode and recode what we do in the language of appropriation and bricolage. In mapping the processes and territories, I am interested in the use of autobiography as a way to incorporate a deep sense of the intricate relationships of the meaning and actions of artistic practice and its embeddedness in cultural influences, personal experience and aspirations (Hawke 1996:35). This is a study that explores possible parameters for visual research, questioning in what sense is it the best way to understand our relationship with traditional research fields

Triggering physics lecturers' reflections on the instructional affordance of their use of representations: a design-based study

There is growing awareness in the physics education research community about the importance of using representations in physics teaching and the need for lecturers to reflect on their practice. This research study adopted a design-based research approach in an attempt to design a reliable, valid and practically useful artefact (framework/strategy) that could be used to trigger introductory physics lecturers’ reflections on their instructional use of representations. The artefact, which was instantiated with physics lecturers, comprised an observation protocol, an accompanying definitions key, a communication platform, and an instrument to assess the outcome (the levels of reflection). The video-data of lecturer practice were analysed using a priori codes to generate profiles of teaching practice. The resulting profiles were used to trigger individual video-stimulated reflection. The levels of reflection were assessed using a purpose-designed ‘Expectations of Reflection’ taxonomy. Thereafter a set of design guidelines and design principles were generated to guide further similar design-based educational studies. The process was validated via interview data but, while it was deemed a valid and reliable solution to the research problem, there were varying levels of perceived value of the artefact among the participating lecturers

Literature Reviews and the Review Process: An Editor-in-Chief’s Perspective

As an editor-in-chief, I perceive we are approaching a crisis point with literature reviews and the reviewing process. The quality of literature reviews in submitted research is dropping, while there are more submissions with an expectation of faster reviews. The impact is that appropriate sources are not being cited and limited reviewer resources are being stressed on reviewing literature reviews. This paper reviews the literature on literature reviews and discusses how to perform them. I categorize literature review issues into five categories and make recommendations on how to correct literature review issues

The Impact of the Design Teams Approach on Preservice Teachers’ TPACK in the Vietnamese Context

This study aimed to examine the impact of the design teams approach on preservice teachers’ technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). Using a mixed-method design, the researcher implemented the investigation among 62 teacher candidates whose major was Primary English Teaching at a university of foreign language studies in Central Vietnam. All of the participants attended a course named “Technology in Education”, which was adapted based on Johnson’s design teams approach model (2014). The data were collected using pre- and post-TPACK Survey, a TPACK Rubric (TIAI) and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that this design teams approach had a significant impact on the participants’ TPACK, particularly its technology-related knowledge domains (TK, TPK, TCK, TPACK). The result was also confirmed by the teacher candidates’ positive responses about their perceptions towards this instructional approach

Exploring lecturers’ reflections on the use of moodle to teach physical science modules at a South African university .

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Interventions using digital tools to improve students’ engagement and learning outcomes in higher business education

The papers of this thesis are not available in Munin. Paper 1: Bertheussen, B. A.: "Cultivating spreadsheet usage in a finance course through learning and assessment innovations". Available in International Journal of Innovation in Education 2015, 3(1). Paper 2: Bertheussen, B. A., Myrland, Ø.: "Relation between academic performance and students’ engagement in digital learning activities". Available in Journal of Education for Business 2016, 91(3), 1–7. Paper 3: Bertheussen, B. A.: "Er handelshøyskolene innelåst i historiske pedagogiske spor?". Available in Magma 2013, 16(5),40–48. Paper 4: Bertheussen, B. A. "Ruteark eller regneark. Kognitive utfordringer med å løse finansoppgaver på papier og PC". Available in Uniped 2012, 35(3):87–101. Paper 5: Bertheussen, B. A.: "Validating a Digital Assessment Practice". (Manuscript). Paper 6: Bertheussen, B. A. "Power to business professors. Automatic grading of problem-solving tasks". Available in Journal of Accounting Education 2014, 32(1):76–87. Paper 7: Bertheussen, B. A.: "Automatisk formativ feedback kan gi god motivasjon og læring". Available in Uniped 2014, 37(4):59–71. Paper 8: Bertheussen, B. A. "Revitalizing plenary finance lectures". Available in Beta 2013, 27(1):78–92. The purpose of the present study was to develop interventions using digital tools to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. The empirical context was an undergraduate finance course wherein digital learning and assessment interventions were important features of the course design. When designing the interventions, the development activities were underpinned by pedagogical principles based on cognitive and sociocultural learning perspectives. Special emphasis was placed on integrating spreadsheet usage into all learning and assessment activities and constructively aligning course targets, assessment tasks and learning activities with the overall goal to foster an active and engaging learning environment. In addition, rooted in a pragmatic research paradigm, the methodology utilised includes many similarities with interventionist action research, which has gained a foothold in qualitative management accounting research. This interventionist research project includes two main contributions. The first is its impact on practice by designing and developing interventions to solve complex problems in an authentic classroom setting. Consequently, six practical educational interventions are discussed in this dissertation. The second contribution is theory building, which advances our knowledge regarding the characteristics of the interventions and the process of designing and developing them. Consequently, a total of eight refereed scientific articles have been produced during this research and development project. As outlined in this study, the development of the digital formative feedback intervention, is in line with research stating that, in higher education, traditional paper-based feedback is being supplemented with and in some cases replaced by innovative use of ICT. Moreover, software algorithms can effectively provide detailed and helpful individual formative feedback to students regarding their learning processes and outcomes. This study strongly supports the claim that it is problematic to use technology to enhance learning without recognition through assessments. The digital summative assessment intervention reported is regarded as a precondition for establishing a spreadsheet user-culture in the subject, especially as it served as an ‘icebreaker’ for other learning interventions that were integrated into the course design. The intervention processes discussed have been through several iterations and their stepwise development and implementation have emerged through negotiating, compromising and resolving tension between the practitioner researcher, students and institution. The resulting compromises resolved tensions which sometimes resulted from limited physical resources. As the students valued the outcome from engaging in the digital learning and assessment interventions, they had a flexible attitude and deployed their private infrastructure (laptops) within the learning environment. Consequently, a vital part of the institution’s infrastructure was transformed from a fixed asset (number of PCs available in a data lab) to a flexible asset in the theatres. This compromise that was negotiated between the institution, the practitioner researcher and the students was essential for the digital educational interventions to work and progress. The overall theoretical research findings from this study are presented in the form of a tentative framework, which can help bridge the gap between the intervention practice and theory. A central conjecture in the framework is that tool usage that is integrated into interventions can be influential on learning activity and engagement and consequently on students’ learning outcomes. Moreover, the framework supports the notion of ICT as a mediating cultural tool that provides a new type of affordance that can extend the mind and promote an active and engaging learning environment. In particular, integrating a spreadsheet tool in learning of management accounting subjects can offer opportunities for learners to rapidly construct financial models, enable simulations using the completed models and stimulate subject reflections based on the functions of the models and their results. The practical outcome of this study has been emphasised through the development of artefacts that aim to support practitioners intending to integrate spreadsheet usage within their subject teaching and learning. By publishing and sharing the artefacts, the current research project is capable of informing future development and implementation decisions by guiding practitioners in similar pedagogical contexts

Questions on evaluation in the artistic field.

The Book 2 – EVALUATION discusses and identifies questions, challenges and potentials relating to processes and procedures of evaluation in Design-Driven Doctoral Research. The Book 2 examines the concept of ‘evaluation’ on the basis of DDDr by addressing and reflecting on presentations and experiences identified at the CA2RE+ Milano and CA2RE+ Hamburg. It primarily builds on presentations and discussions from the third and fourth CA2RE+ intensive study programmes, focusing on ‘Comparison’ and ‘Reflection’. It also builds on the diagnostics of the first CA2RE+ book. It moreover discusses ‘Evaluation’ from a more comprehensive academic perspective, with similarities and references to how other research fields within the humanities, the social and technical sciences evaluate research to ensure quality and relevance