First Nordic Workshop on Phenomenography in Computing Education Research, 1st NoPhICER

The interest for interpretative, or non-positivist, research inComputing Education Research (CER) has increased - almost exploded - in recent years.

The use of phenomenography (Marton and Booth, 1997), with its emphasis on both the learner (or the teacher) and the object of learning (or object of teaching), has become particularly successful among the interpretative approaches in research on Computing Education. It is an approach that lets us go beyond causal explanations of social phenomena to understand and develop teaching and learning of computer science in the complex environments of the universities of today. Phenomenographic work have in the recent years been presented at most international conferences in CER; articles based on phenomenographic research are published in leading journals within the field. Many projects stem, in one way or another, from the Nordic countries. The phenomenographic researcher in CER, doing interpretative research is however often working alone, or as a part of a small team, in a setting dominated by positivist research. The possibilities to discuss subtle, or complex, research problems with peers are thus limited.

For reasons as these, UpCERG and CeTUSS, Uppsala University, Sweden, hereby invite to the First Nordic Workshop on Phenomenography in Computing Education Research. The aim of the workshop is to discuss on-going work that use phenomenography in CER and current issues and problems in phenomenography that are relevant for Computing Education Research. The workshop is thus intended as an event where the CER community develops its perspective on phenomenography, but also where phenomenography is developed to be useful for CER.

Åke Ingerman, Chalmers University of Technology and Pang Ming Fai, Hong Kong University, will lead key-note discussions:

• Åke Ingerman: "Phenomenography as a research approach - distinctive qualities and limitations".

• Pang Ming Fai: "Phenomenography and Domain-specific Generic Capabilities"

The workshop will take place May 31, 9. 30 - 17.00 in Uppsala.

If you wish to attend, there are two options:

1. Submit a two page proposal. On the first page, which should be publishable on the web, we ask you to state (aspects of) your current research interest in relation to phenomenography. Please, point out some particular issues that you wish to discuss during the workshop. On the second page, which is for the programme committee, we ask you to comment on your proposal, for example by explaining how you wish to discuss this issue during the workshop. Participants are encouraged to submit discussions concerning on-going projects related to the workshop theme, research questions, methodological problems or new ideas to projects. Proposals that focus on presentations of results will not be accepted.

2. Submit one page intended for the programme committee, where you describe your interest in and previous experience of phenomenography in CER.

Submit your proposal to Anders Berglund <Anders.Berglund@it.uu.se> at the latest on May 11.

Participants are expected to present and/or chair discussions based on their submission. An active participation in discussions is anticipated. No formal proceedings are printed, but abstracts from the proposals are published on the web. The workshop participants can jointly agree on
further publications from the event.

There is no fee for the event; lunch and coffee is financed by CeTUSS (Centrum för TeknikUtbildning i Studenternas Sammanhang), Uppsala University. Travel costs, as well as possible costs for lodging is cared for the by the participants. However, participants from Swedish universities can apply for a grant from CeTUSS for covering travel costs. There is a block booking for hotel rooms valid until May 14. Please contact Anders Berglund for further details.

The workshop is organized by UpCERG and CeTUSS, Uppsala University in collaboration with the COMPSER group, Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland. The conference is chaired by Anders Berglund, UpCERG and COMPSER. Other participants in the programme committee are Lauri Malmi, COMPSER; Arnold Pears, UpCERG; Raymond Lister, UTS Sydney, Australia; Michael Thuné, UpCERG.

Please contact Anders Berglund, <Anders.Berglund@it.uu.se> for further information.