Aim
There is a growing consensus among researchers that teaching quality is of greater importance to student learning than practically any other factor. However, assessing the relative contribution of different instructional factors has proven to be challenging, both methodologically and theoretically. The challenges concern sample requirements, integration of different types of data, cultural bias, and analytical focus. The LISA Nordic study investigates the potential of an elaborated conceptual framework to provide a deeper understanding of the Nordic school as a teaching and learning environment.
The specific research aims guiding the study are:
- To develop and validate analytical instruments for measuring teaching quality within a Nordic context.
- To understand in what ways different instructional practices in language arts, mathematics, and social science contribute to student learning.
- To integrate observational data with student evaluations of teacher practice in order to contribute to the theory development of teaching quality.
- To build a comparative empirical understanding of contextual similarities and differences in Nordic schools.
Design
LISA Nordic is a large-scale observation study, drawing on videotaped lessons from more than 150 different classrooms in all the five Nordic countries, survey data of student perceptions of the teaching quality, and copies of students’ work in each classroom. Four consecutive lessons in each of the three different school subjects (language arts, mathematics, and social science) are video recorded.
The analyses include both cross-comparative and aggregated statistical analyses of different instructional features as well as correlational analyses of observational data and survey data.
This project is part of Theme 1 ‘Studying Teaching Quality’ within QUINT.