Summer School “Doing Qualitative Education Research in/of/through Algorithmic Environments”

From September 18 to 20, the Chair of Transformation of Governance in Education and Society hosted a 3-day international summer school at Helmut Schmidt University. The aim of the event was to introduce young researchers to different methodological perspectives on how qualitative educational research can address increasingly datafied and algorithmized environments and make them both the object and the tool of their research. For that, 26 participants from more than 10 different countries had the opportunity to attend various inputs and to engage in conversation with each other.

The summer school kick-off on Monday morning served in particular to get to know each other and to present the individual research projects. For this purpose, the doctoral and post-doctoral students first had time to present their own project and then to elaborate on common challenges in thematic focus groups. The presentation of the group work showed that the increasing datafication of the educational landscape opens up new fields of tension and actor constellations, for the exploration of which the relational orientation of qualitative educational research unfolds particularly great potential.

Impressions of project presentations and focus groups

The second part of the event consisted of 6 expert inputs on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, which opened up different approaches to the methodological examination of algorithmic educational environments:

  • Hermeneutic analysis of classroom interaction, including educational technology
    Dr. Sieglinde Jornitz, DIPF ǀ Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
  • Analyzing digital education platforms – The IUDE Framework   
    Prof. Dr. Mathias Decuypere, KU Leuven, Belgium
  • Smartphone-based analysis in educational settings        
    Prof. Dr. Fritjof Sahlström, University of Helsinki, Finland
  • (Digital) Network Ethnography in Policy Analysis            
    Dr. Anna Hogan, University of Queensland, Australia
  • Participatory and design-based research in/through algorithmic environments  
    Prof. Dr. Erik Grönvall, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Researching data visualizations in education     
    Prof. Dr. Helene Ratner, Aarhus University, Denmark
Impressions of expert inputs

Following the presentations, the participants had the opportunity to pose their individual questions to the experts in coaching sessions. In small discussion groups, the experts were available for two hours and, by that, contributed to the success of the summer school beyond their lectures.

Finally, on the last morning of the summer school, the participants addressed specific methodological challenges in so-called “peer-to-peer sessions”:

  1. How to build a strong research design?
    (Moderation: Mathias Decuypere & Carlos Ortegon Banoy)
  2. Disentangling the concept jungle and developing solid conceptual frameworks     
    (Moderation: Ina Sander & Lucas Joecks)
  3. Data management and dealing with fading/fluid data   
    (Moderation: Annina Förschler & Anja Loft-Akhoondi)
Impressions of Peer-to-Peer sessions

The summer school was rounded off by a diverse social program, including a guided walking tour through St. Pauli, sports activities, and social dinners during the conference days. We would especially like to thank the participants and experts for their contributions and the exciting exchange!

Sports program and dinner
HSU

Letzte Änderung: 5. October 2023