Teaching starts Autumn

Learning outcomes After completing this course, students are supposed to Philosophy of science (one third): - have acquired a fundamental comprehension of the language of science, various scientific methods, scientific explanations, arguments, and theories of verification Educational science (two thirds): - have acquired a fundamental knowledge of educational science, both as an independent content subject and as a scientific discipline and a university subject - have acquired insight into different schools of thought in educational science and be capable of evaluating ethical issues and identify the understanding of educational science that underlies these issues.

Course contents This course consists of a common part and a subject specific part. The common part, philosophy of science, makes up one third, and the specific part, educational science, makes up two thirds: Philosophy of science (one third)focuses on basic concepts in modern research, central scientific methods, scientific explanations and arguments. Various theories of knowledge and ways of understanding reality will be part of the course too, and different aspects of the relationship between science and society. The approach to the content is mainly critical, in the sense that importance is attached to various basic attitudes in philosophy of science and the reasons given for these attitudes. Educational science (two thirds)is divided into two main themes: 1. The historical and philosophical background of educational science. What constitutes the self-understanding and the fundamental issues of educational science. This theme focuses on two topics: first an introduction to educational science as a form of knowledge. Secondly, a presentation of educational science as a scientific discipline and a university subject in Norway and in Europe. The subject specific part of the course relates issues from the common part to the educational scientific discipline. It provides insight into the meaning that various issues in theories of science have, and have had, in pedagogy as a science. 2. The pedagogical research area with emphasis on scientific and methodological issues. This topic takes as its starting point four or five different research cases based on various theories of science and various methods, representing different trends in educational science from the Enlightenment to this day. At least one of the cases shall be drawn from research in special education. The research cases shall, among other things, represent different approaches to educational science: experimental and empirically founded, historical-philosophical, and critical, social-oriented ones.

Teaching methods Lectures, study of literature and work in study groups.

Examination requirement General part: Short assignment and a multiple-choice test (must be passed before taking the examination). Specific part: Compulsory participation in study groups. Compulsory written group assignments connected with the themes presented in the tuition must be approved.

Assessment methods and criteria Individual home paper on a set subject within a period of five days. The theme is based on the part of the course that deals with educational science. Graded assessment.

Name of lecturer/contact person Velibor Bobo Kovac.

Mode of delivery Face-to-face