Academic poster as learning activity in Master's education for VET Teachers
A tool for developing competence in reseach, academic writing and dissemination?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/sjvd.6435Keywords:
VET teachers, master’s programs, master in vocational didactics, poster, research and development workAbstract
In Norway, master’s programs typically conclude with a written research-based project. This also applies to vocational education and training teacher (VET) education programs, such as those in vocational didactics or pedagogy. While these students are skilled communicators within their trades, many have limited experience with academic knowledge traditions. Although VET teachers are introduced to research and development work during their education and school practice, the master’s thesis presents new challenges in terms of research competence, academic writing, and dissemination. This study explores how poster as learning activity can support VET teachers’ development of these competencies within the context of their master’s projects. Designed as a qualitative, exploratory case study, the research draws on data from participant observation, student posters, related exam assignments, and digital questionnaires. The context of the study is a course within a master's program for VET teachers. A total of 48 master's students with backgrounds as VET teachers have participated in the study. The findings suggest that poster assignments can effectively support students’ development of research and writing skills, as well as their ability to communicate academic work, particularly when the task is intentionally designed for this purpose. In this case, students created and presented a project outline for their master thesis in poster format. The combination of creative, multimodal expression and clear task guidelines was perceived as motivating, even when facing complex theoretical and methodological decisions. The study implies that master’s students with VET teacher background benefits from learning activities that challenge them as researchers, writers, and disseminators.
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