UV9122 – Ethnography and interaction analysis in the educational sciences

Course content

The course is offered in collaboration with the research groups "Living and Learning in the Digital Age" (LiDA), "Knowledge, Learning and Governance: Studies in higher education and work" (HEDWORK), Challenges of Sustainability in Educational Research (COSER).

Responsible: Hans Christian Arnseth

Course teachers: Monika Nerland, Anniken Furberg

Ethnographic and interaction analytic methods have been widely used in educational research and are currently gaining increased importance as researchers attempt to understand educational processes across social and organizational contexts. The spread and expansion of digital technologies add to the complexity of processes of learning and work, and to the way relationships are established and maintained in space and time. Ethnographic methods, interaction analysis and virtual ethnography, especially, allow us to capture both the complexity of these processes and the way they unfold along different timescales (e.g. societal, cultural, interactional and individual).

Researching how educational phenomena such as learning, identity and competence are developed, constituted and made visible in social practices represent important research interests in the educational sciences. This course will focus on the use of ethnographic and interaction analytic methods across a variety of contexts. Ethnography and interaction analysis both focus on producing and analyzing close descriptions and observations of situated practices and their complex relations to the overall cultural frameworks within which they occur (Watson, 2013). In accordance with this approach, to analyze how people think and learn, we need to combine detailed analysis of the temporal ordering of practices with analysis of broader characteristics of historical, institutional and personal contexts.

Ethnography and interaction analysis are well suited to examine the finer details of the temporal and structural organization of social life. These methods enable us to make sense of the ways that humans and non-humans connect and together produce knowledge, practices, identities and relationships - that is the meanings and orderliness of the primary analytic objects in the educational sciences. In the course, we will also provide students with tools to study practices in virtual spaces. Social interactions and activities situated in virtual environments represent challenges for contemporary research. Due to emerging technologies, researchers engage with different ways of collecting and working with empirical material, such as using heterogeneous data (text and audiovisual data) in their analysis. Many researchers combine analysis of what take place in front of the screen with data from digital platforms, environments and tools.

Learning outcome

After completing the course the students will be able to:

• Understand the most common techniques for data collection: participant observation across real and virtual settings/spaces, shadowing, ethnography of objects and audio-video records.
• Identify and understand recent theoretical debates and use analytical concepts with data.
• Summarize and review relevant research using ethnographic and interaction analytic methods.
• Understand how to prepare data for analysis and use concepts to analyze data.

Admission to the course

PhD candidates at the Faculty of Educational Sciences will be given priority, but it is also possible for others to apply for the course. The candidates should be enrolled in a relevant PhD programme.

If there are more applicants than the 15 admission places available, a selection will be made based on an assessment of the relevance of the course for the candidate’s research plan and qualifications in the relation to the objectives of the course. The course leaders will carry out the selection process.

Candidates admitted to the PhD Programme at the Faculty of Educational Sciences should apply through Studentweb

Other applicants may apply using this application form

The course registration for spring semester 2024 opens December 1, 2023.

For information about the registration deadline, please check the semester webpage for this course.  

If you have questions concerning admission, please contact Olga Mukhina.

Recommended previous knowledge

A basic course in qualitative research methodology and research design or equivalent.

Teaching

The course takes place over three days with two separate physical meetings. The first meeting will consist of two days and the second meeting will consist of one day.

During the first two days, we will have lectures. In addition, groups of three students will present reviews of research articles focusing particularly on how the authors analyze their data and ground their empirical claims. Finally, the first two days will consist of data sessions where students introduce and get feedback on transcripts of data.

During the final meeting, we will have one lecture. Thereafter students will present the first draft of their paper, which should contain an analysis of their data. The first draft of the paper should be prepared in advance of the last meeting.

You will find the schedule and the reading list on the semester webpage for this course.

Examination

3 credit points for course participation and submitted paper (6-8 pages, Times New Roman 12, line spacing 1,5). In addition to submitting a paper, participants are required to present a review of an article and present data in a joint data session. 80% attendance is required.

You will find the deadline for paper submission on the semester webpage for this course.

Papers are to be submitted electronically in Canvas.

Language of examination

Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

English is preferable.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.