Synthesizing Research on Teaching Quality (SYNTEQ)

SYNTEQ study builds upon the comprehensive data collection accumulated by the QUINT Centre.

Aim

The key objective of SYNTEQ is to make significant advancement in our understanding of teaching quality by

synthesizing analyses based on a large corpus of video data from lower secondary classrooms in the Nordic countries (substantive and theoretical objective),
constructing a new platform for integrative analyses and instrument development (methodological objective), and
testing out an innovative infrastructure for collaborative research with video-based data (research infrastructure objective).

Design

A model of programmatic research stages (Hill et al., 2013) in studies of teaching quality is proposed as an innovative methodological framework for SYNTEQ. It will produce added value to extant research in this area by strengthening

the integration of qualitative and quantitative video data / student surveys,
the reuse of video data in secondary analyses / syntheses and collaborative research, thereby creating
new potentials for conceptual validation, instrument development of observation manuals, and
empirical expansion and theory development.

Research questions

The research team behind SYNTEQ represents a broad scope of theoretical/methodological perspectives, disciplines and fields of expertise relevant when studying teaching quality addressing the following main research questions:

How can synthesizing analyses of a large corpus of video data from lower secondary schools in the Nordic countries advance theory development in this area?
To what extent does a new methodological platform of programmatic research, integrative analyses and instrument development support the objectives in (1)?
What are the design elements of a research infrastructure for video studies that is effective and safe for large-scale secondary analyses?

Link to QUINT ambition

SYNTEQ study builds upon the comprehensive data collection accumulated by the QUINT Centre, especially, LISA Nordic study, which is the largest data collection of its kind in Northern Europe. SYNTEQ will use this existing data and reanalyse it in terms of conceptual frameworks, theoretical methods and methodologies. The project is directly linked to QUINT ambition as the key objective of SYNTEQ is to make significant advancement in our understanding of teaching quality.