This report contains results and reflections from the NVIVO course in April 2018 at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Course trainer was Rachel K. Shanks, Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
The main goal of my Phd-project is to explore whether and how content oriented training in school subjects, plays a part in enhancing student social learning and sense of belonging in class. The national core curriculum of Norway is currently under revision. Beginning fall 2019 schools will have new subject curricula, and start the process of developing their own local curricula. During this time, I will be conducting qualitative field research to explore students and teachers’ understanding of the new curricula. Prior to entering the field I will also be analyzing the new core and subject curricula in Norwegian (native language) and Science, attempting to answer the question: What are goals and strategies for enhancing social learning and students’ sense of belonging in the new national curriculum?
Analyzing policy documents using NVIVO 12 (PC)
For the report I have used NVIVO in my analysis of the national curriculum, and since a prior policy process informs the development of that curriculum, I focus on how key concepts are portrayed in relevant policy documents, and try to answer the following questions:
- How do official policy documents describe social learning and belonging (sosial læring og tilhørighet) in the context of the class (klassen)?
- How do official policy documents describe social learning and belonging (sosial læring og tilhørighet) in the context of training (undervisning)?
- In which contexts (klassen/undervisning) are social learning and belonging (sosial læring og tilhørighet) most referred in official policy documents?
The report concludes that NVIVO is a useful tool for analyzing policy documents, and that the documents support the use of social learning and belonging as relevant concepts of research in the context of class and training, as part of my PhD-project.
For a full description, please see the Project Report.