Investigative Modes in Research of Data Use in Education

• In Event: Data Use in Education: Alluring Attributes and Productive Processes

Abstract

This paper presents a study of how data use in education is understood in research in different countries. The aim of the study is to investigate the characteristics and existing research on data use in education published in English, German and Scandinavian languages, and to identify distinct and typical features of this body of research across regions these languages represent.

By the use of data local authorities, school leaders and teachers in most of the modern world are expected to initiate concrete actions to improve student achievement (Fuller, 2008). This development can be considered as part of an overarching and contemporary global policy message communicated through similar concepts (e.g. accountability, evidence), and tends to lead to developments directed towards achieving the same goals. Yet local, regional and national variations more often characterize the field of education (Hall et al. 2015; Hopmann, 2015). For example, accountability in the USA is described as high-stakes owing to use of incentives related to student performance data, while European and Scandinavian countries are often recognized as low-stakes owing to a lack of such incentives (Hatch, 2013). Variations in curriculum development between countries have been described as reflecting long-standing traditions in approaches to schooling in terms of curriculum versus didaktik (Hopmann, 2015; Lundgren, 2006). Consequently, it is argued here that differences in educational systems and education research between contexts, can be understood as reflections of varying traditions and values of schooling.


The literature review draws on well-known procedures defined in the literature on research synthesis. The study shares similarities with systematic mapping and narrative analysis in which different elements from individual studies are configured into a new, macro-conceptual and theoretical understanding (Gough et al. 2012, Greenhalgh et al. 2005).

Searches in ERIC and in the Fachinformationssystem Bildung for English- and German-language literature identified over 6000 studies, while the searches in Norart, Idunn, BibliotekDK and DIVA identified over 4000 studies. In a process of screening, the body of relevant English, German and Scandinavian studies included for analysis was reduced to a total corpus of studies of 129. 

The analysis of the 129 studies show that in all contexts, the studies primarily investigate structures and systems around data use. While the Anglophone studies are mainly empirical and often concerned with implementation and effectiveness in terms of data use, the studies published in German and Scandinavian languages focus more heavily on discussions and analytical reflections upon the developments of data use in education. The literature study shows how the research are more oriented towards the structures of governance and management than the processes of teaching and learning. Consequently, this could explain the identified lack of research on the core activities of the prime concept that data use is meant to support –student learning and development.

The study has identified six investigative modes that can contribute to creating a more nuanced understanding of research on data use in education: (1) implementation studies; (2) explorative studies; (3) overview studies; (4) discussion studies; (5) methodological studies; and (6) system-critical studies.

Authors

• Tine Sophie Proitz, University of Southeast Norway

• Sølvi Mausethagen, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University

• Guri Skedsmo, University of Oslo