Kategoriarkiv: Action research (aktionsforskning)

Dags för DiDiDi seminarium!

Välkommen att delta i DiDiDi seminarium fredagen 19.9 kl 13-15. Temat är Second Life i undervisningen. Charlotta Hilli, doktorand, ÅA/PF och Andreas Sundstedt, IT-pedagog, Vasa övningsskola kommer att visa hur Second Life används i en gymnasiekurs i samhällskunskap.

Du kan delta i seminariet genom att komma till rum D405, Academill, Vasa, eller via webben genom att logga in som gäst till https://connect.vasa.abo.fi/dididi

Vi önskar att alla deltagare anmäler via länken anmälan, senast 17.9.2014

Välkommen!

Where the I meets the We

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This was my first time at CARN (Collaborative Action Research Network) and it is the best conference I have been to for several reasons. Those of you who attend conferences know how it works. Key-notes are important, you look through the program and chose a couple of sessions you want to listen to, run between sessions and end the day with a conference dinner. For those of you who know a lot of people it might be a nice way to catch up, but when you are a new researcher like myself, getting to know people at conferences is tricky. Simply because there is little interaction and a lot of one-way communication (key-notes, presentations) and a tight schedule.

During CARN2013 there has been the key-notes and presentations, but also symposiums and work-shops. But most importantly there has been a critical discussion in smaller groups after each key-note. For me as a newbie in the research field, I have been able to ask questions during these critical discussions and I have had the pleasure of listening to researchers wiser than me discuss different topics in connection to the key-notes. And through this I have made new acquaintances.

CARN2013 is without a doubt the conference where I know the most people, partly because I attended an action research course before the conference and where I met many fellow junior and senior researchers. I have actually made small-talk with Stephen Kemmis and Wilfred Carr, which might give an indication of how welcoming CARN people really are. On behalf of the junior researchers around the world I tell you that this week has been a great way to introduce PhD students to the field of research, and also to the community of researchers. Suddenly a life beyond the PhD thesis seems remotely possible with career options linked to these networks of people.

Charlotta Hilli is a PhD student in the project Didactical Dimensions in Digital learning

Changing the way you think, changing the way you act

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During the last week I’ve participated in an action research course called Researching Professional Practice: Opening Communicative Spaces led by Karin Rönnerman and Jane Wilkinson. Listening to prominent action researchers and discussing important aspects of the method has left me with many thoughts and questions that I have to ask myself while doing my study. We have talked to Björn Gustavsen, Stephen Kemmis, Doris Santos, Christine Edwards-Groves, Jane Wilkinson and Torbjörn Lund – their experience and stories have answered many of my questions and given me the confidence to go on with my own action research.

One significant point that has been made during the course is that changing your practice does take time and we need to change the way we think before we can change the way we act. For me it has been a challenge to design a course for my students that actually IS something different, and as we know different isn’t always better, but in my case I feel it is necessary. In my prezi I try to paint my picture at the moment and this picture is ever changing. And change should be allowed to take time. Experience might be a nicer word for mistakes, but these mistakes makes me question what I do and through dialogues with my students I can understand their view better and also make the necessary changes.

The dialogues with my students might also change their way of thinking about their own learning and motivation, something I had not thought about, but the point was raised after my presentation by a fellow course participant, Bente Norbye. In discussions with others we develop our own thinking and that is why action research can never be a quick fix so to speak and it usually has an impact on everyone that participates. Communication takes time, but for those who are willing to participate in the dialogues it can be a profound and lasting change both in the way we think and the way we act.

Charlotta Hilli is a history and social studies teacher and a newcomer in the action research field. I’m writing my thesis (Learning and motivation in Second Life. A qualitative study in Social studies) in connection to the project Didactical Dimensions in Digital learning, dididi.fi.