{"id":11,"date":"2021-02-03T08:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T08:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/embodiedmakinglearning.usn.no\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2025-09-18T09:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:45:12","slug":"create-your-website-with-blocks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/embodiedmakinglearning.usn.no\/?page_id=11","title":{"rendered":"Ongoing Research Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On this page we present the active projects that are now ongoing in our group, on the other pages you can Follow our Blog<\/a> or Get to Know us better<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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All researchers are documenting their Publications <\/a>so read them here<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maker-Centered Learning: Cultivating creativity in tomorrow\u2019s schools (MAKER)<\/strong> 4 years Project funded by the Research Council<\/strong> of Norway<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researchers: Lovise S\u00f8yland<\/a>, Brynjar Olafsson<\/a>, NN, Mariam Aljabaly<\/a> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The research is led by Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen<\/a>, Camilla Groth<\/a> and Marte S. Gulliksen<\/a> from USN.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Digital fabrication technologies have given rise to maker-centered learning, where the aim is to foster creativity through collaborative technology and artifact-mediated making processes. New digital instruments, practices, and materials for creative production and STEAM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) are already brought into several Norwegian schools in the form of makerspaces. For teachers there is now an urgent need for pedagogical methods and tools for implementing schools\u2019 maker projects in effective and conscious ways. In this project we will enhance knowledge on how deliberate teaching for creativity can be realized in school makerspaces. We will also generate knowledge on how maker-centered learning may be used to augment creative capabilities and digital competences and how teachers can best facilitate, and scaffold students\u2019 innovation processes. We will develop and implement new pedagogical practices in schools through researcher-teacher partnerships in Norwegian schools. In this way we can test and iterate these new practices and understandings while at the same time educating in-service teachers. Arts and crafts teachers, teacher educators and researchers come together in collaboration in this project. The project is Funded by the Research Council of Norway <\/a>and it is led by USN, with OsloMet and Helsinki University as partners. Creativity researchers and experts on maker centered learning from University of North Carolina and University of California contribute as experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Child drawing with analogue and digital materials. Photo by Ingrid Holmboe H\u00f8ybo <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The beach upside down<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Kari Carlsen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beach upside down is an art project that connects craftsmanship, aerodynamics, and nature’s fascinating alternations between the rhythms of the year and day, captured through the camera and taken by the wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kari Carlsen with her kite at the beach. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A particular area of interest for me is the meeting points between physics and aesthetics, concretised by building and flying kites. Playing with kites is flying aesthetics, mathematics and applied aerodynamics, knowledge of materials and craftsmanship. The flight depends on sensitive reading of the landscape and meteorology, perception of the modulations in the sound of the wind in trees and grass, movements in the branches both far away and near, and a micro topographical tactile attention directed to the prickling of sand against the calves before the kite is released from my hand. These are necessary sensory observations for a kite flyer. I have built many kites; from Japanese-inspired rice paper elegant low-wind kites to sturdy box kites with plastic and tape of three-meter size, sharp-flying delta kites for strong winds and lush snake kites and mini kites made of cigarette paper. As kite builder, I pay attention to the constructive properties of the materials. Which proportions and sizes give the wind good leeway? The weight is important, and kites of different construction have unlike behaviour in the air. In this project, with which I have been working on for a long time, I construct kites of above medium size, 90×120 cm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In-betweens \u2013 A study of embodiment as part of pedagogical interaction competence in teacher education <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Hilde Margrethe Bleg Hegna<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In my PhD project I explore embodiment as part of pedagogical interaction competence in teacher education. Within teacher education, the knowledge base is deficient when it comes to articulating, developing, training, guiding and assessing such competence. The project will contribute with increased knowledge about what is going on in the interactions between teacher educators and teacher students, and about their significance for students learning. Thus I am interested in both the interaction and the embodied and situated experience of interacting. The project is part of University of South-Eastern Norway’s R&D program \u201cYou will become a teacher\u2026\u201d My theoretical starting point is grounded in phenomenology and embodied phenomenological perspectives that involve an understanding of humans as intertwined with the world, and the body as center of experience (Husserl, 1989; Merleau-Ponty, 2012; Fuchs, 2016; De Jaegher, 2018; Rodemeyer, 2018). The study is case-based, I follow a group of teacher students and their teacher educators. I approach cases of teaching\/learning as wholes in context (contextual analysis), and the data material consists of various types of descriptions of lived experiences. The material is produced using several research methods; reflection notes, audio diaries, observation, focus group- and individual interviews. The research question for the PhD project is: What significance does embodiment in pedagogical interaction have for teacher students’ learning?  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significance of framework factors for arts and crafts education in primary school.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researchers: Kari Carlsen<\/a>, Anniken Randers-Pehrson<\/a> and \u00c5sta Rimstad<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This research project focuses on the position of arts and crafts in Norwegian primary and lower secondary school. We especially look at key framework factors and what significance these have for the teacher’s teaching and students’ learning in the subject. We see tendencies for group sizes to increase, workshops not being prioritized or downsized and for the area for arts and crafts teaching to be reduced. It is also documented that the teacher competence among teachers who teach the subject is low. In contrast to these tendencies, there is a call for subject specialization in the general public debate and a focus on practical creative work in schools, as the curricula renewal also requires. Based on this dilemma, we are in the process of conducting a nationwide survey among principals and teachers to map administrative, resource and pedagogical factors with significance for the teaching of Arts and Crafts. The research questions are: What framework factors influence the school’s arts and crafts teaching? In what ways do these affect the school’s arts and crafts education?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colour of Gaza<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Marie Skeie<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Children in Gaza, photo by Marie Skeie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Colors of Gaza <\/em>is a PhD research project by Marie Skeie that is being conducted in collaboration with Sanabel Kindergarten, Gaza. In this project she meets with a group of kindergarten children to work together to find colors from plants in the neighbourhood to dye fabric. They will explore different types of textiles and different ways of extracting and transferring the natural colors to textile. The natural dye fabric will be used to make a banner that can be visible in the neighborhood. Colors of Gaza<\/em> is part of a broader research project called How to facilitate children’s expressions through aesthetical practice in Palestine. <\/em>Thisproject is about children’s artistic expression in Palestine, especially in early childhood centers, and it is situated between art and pedagogy. This PhD project is associated with University of South-Eastern Norway’s co-operation with the University in Hebron and the Islamic University in Gaza. The project aims to look at how children be part of aesthetical processes by working with the surrounding landscape and textiles. It focuses on process-based and material-collective practice and includes children’s encounter with materials, experience, and knowledge close to children\u2019s everyday life through visual and aesthetic expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project period 2020-2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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COLLAGE !! Exploration of a didactic and multimodal approach to creative work with text and digital image collage.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researchers: Kirsten Linnea Kruse<\/a> and Karete Roksv\u00e5g<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This study is an empirical and interdisciplinary investigation of a learning design where teacher students create digital and multimodal collages. The project is performed in a Norwegian school context within the subjects of mother tongue (Norwegian) and Arts and crafts. The aim is to enhance the meaning potential of texts, in poetry and other genres as for example non-fiction, and to create a new aesthetic experience and understanding. The research question which is answered is as follows: What characterizes the reader`s and image creator`s multimodal and aesthetic product and ways of understanding in relation to poetry and digital collage, and what kind of learning potential is to find in such an approach? The combination of social semiotic, art theory and subject didactics represents a theoretical framework for the study. Key concepts used in the analysis of the empirical data are multimodal interplay, the co-creative reader, literary and visual metaphors and transparency as a symbolic device in collage. The analysis of student collages and reflective writing has shown that poetry in relation to the digital collage gives new opportunities to play, interpret and think through complex multimodal metaphors and materials. Such an approach to texts involves senses, reflection and the student\u2019s own experiences and makes the texts meaningful in a new way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keywords: <\/strong>collage, digital collage, poetry, non-fiction, didactics of literature and art, aesthetic learning, sosialsemiotics and multimodality, transparency, metaphors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embodied experiences in a separation processes \u2013 a performative multimodal study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Trine \u00d8rb\u00e6k<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Image of the Balanse performance with dancers Ida Uvaas and Anders Thoresen.
Photo by Per Albrigtsen, \u00d8stlands-Posten<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To understand the concept of intimacy, Maclaren suggest to explore intimacy in relation to separation, and as an overcoming of a separation, when people experience to \u201cfall away\u201d from others, themselves, and reality. I explore this theme through a performative multimodal methodology, using video, pictures, reflection notes, words, interviews and theoretical concepts, and through two dancers\u2019 and my (the choreographer) embodied experiences of ending intimate relationships. The research process began in 2010, when I was divorced. Through Dewey’s concept of aesthetic experience, Fuchs’ concept of emotion and Maclaren’s understanding of intimate relationships as theoretical concepts, I now make a narrative analysis of reflection notes, filmed movements, the documentary \u00abBalance\u00bb, video of the dance performance \u00abBalance\u00bb and a retro perspective interview with the dancers Ida Uvaas and Anders Thoresen. The tentative analysis shows what significance the body has for the development and termination of close relationships; how sharing bodily experiences is important for our presence in the world; how touching and being touched provides insight into the body’s awareness of bodily experiences and how to reflect over own choreography can contribute to what I describe as a bodily aesthetic experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learning culture in Makerspace <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Ingrid Holmboe H\u00f8ibo<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The strong introduction of touch screens and corresponding learning technology has had a major impact on how digital skills in the various subjects are practiced in the Nordic education system. In parallel with the development in the school, a movement called the maker movement has emerged in society in general (Hatch, 2013). The maker movement focuses on the connection between man and machine and problematizes a digital development that makes man a passive consumer of ready-made solutions (H\u00f8ibo & Lerpold, 2020) and promotes work with technology as material as a necessary concretization in order to be able to understand and learn about seemingly abstract digital phenomena (Papert, 1993).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This PhD project will investigate the maker movement and learning related to digital skills in the arts and crafts subject. The project is divided into three parts, where the first part is a survey of the view of learning in Makerspaces established in Norwegian schools. Data is collected through SRQ and qualitative interviews with the 16 registered creative workshops (NorwayMakers, 2020). Furthermore, part two will have a more ethnographic approach with case studies of selected maker spaces, qualitative interviews and visual observation. In part three, a similar study of selected creative workshops in Finnish schools (Helsinki) and American schools (Virginia) will form the basis for comparative studies. This part will bring knowledge about the learning culture in the creative movement internationally, but also make visible what is similar and what is special about the learning culture in the creative workshops in Norwegian schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatch, M. (2013). The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers<\/em>. McGraw-Hill.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

H\u00f8ibo, I. H., & Lerpold, M. H. (2020). Digitale ferdigheter som ferdigrett eller r\u00e5vare? Formakademisk, 13<\/em>(3). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7577\/formakademisk.3696<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NorwayMakers. (2020, September). Makerspaces i Norge<\/em>. Norway Makers. http:\/\/norwaymakers.org\/kart<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms : children, computers, and powerful ideas<\/em> (2nd ed. ed.). Basic Books.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Use of digital resources for pattern work in textile craft<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Gry Uhlin-Engstu<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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In connection with the national curriculum renewal in 2020 (LK20) the use of digital tools is more clearly included in the curriculum as a competence goal. This also applies in the subject arts and crafts, where using programming to create interactivity and visual expression is one of the competence goals after 7th grade. It is thus necessary that this competence is implemented in the primary school teacher education for teacher students who take electives arts and crafts for 1st – 7th grade and for teacher students in 5th – 10th grade. One occasion where it may be relevant to use programming to create visual expressions is when working with patterns in needlework, e.g. by a stitching technique such as knitting. In connection to this demand, I\u2019m carrying out a development project, where I as a arts and crafts teacher educator have commissioned teacher students to explore digital resources to create patterns, and to reflect on their findings and experiences from this exploration. I also encourage them to explore and develop digital learning resources for teaching in schools. The goal is that the students can develop competence in this area by engaging in an explorative process. In connection to this topic I\u2019m also in contact with a mathematics teacher, whom with we are developing ideas around programming \/ pattern formation and algorithmic thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to this, I have entered into a collaboration with Ingvild Birkeland from the Research group for aesthetic learning processes (ForEst). Together we have undertaken to do a study and write a report for SKUP (school development project in Den kulturelle skolesekken), with a focus on the adaptations to the new curricula (LK20). The background for the request is an R&D collaboration between DKS Oslo, OsloMet and Kulturtanken where the parties strengthen the knowledge base for their activities, especially in regards to the introduction of the new curricula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Making Matters?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Researcher: Marte S\u00f8reb\u00f8 Gulliksen<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The project thematizes creative processes and focuses in particular on which cognitive processes take place when a person works creatively in materials. Founded in theories of embodied cognition and an interdisciplinary link of phenomenology, sociocultural analyzes of creative processes, learning sciences and neuroscientific knowledge of cognition, the project aims to develop knowledge of creative processes. Empirical material is developed in my own creative process of working with raw wood. Thematically, the problem is limited to how the woodcarver activates cognitive skills to visualize future, three-dimensional shapes and how the individual’s understanding of space is activated and expanded in work with subtractive design in raw wood. The project is affiliated with USN’s faculty HIU’s teacher education programs. The project is a combined research project and artistic development project. The artistic work is called “Purkinje Series”, a series of wooden sculptures – sculptural bowls and chests – in aspen. Video from the exhibition “PURKINJE”<\/a> 09 \/ 9-08 \/ 10 2020 Foyer Gallery Notodden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

METHOD: Case methodology; autoetnographic narrative inquiry; translational theoretical study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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