GUPEA

Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive

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  • Quality aspects in online learning environments Student perspectives on conditions for experiencing quality within a teacher program at university level in Sweden
    (2026-02-11) Pia, Eklund; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande
    Aim: This Master thesis study aim is to highlight the quality aspects from a student point of view, the demands and expectations of being a student in a higher education online based environment. By asking students to reflect on their online learning environment, important aspects from a student point of view will be explored, the student perspective and the student experience of quality aspects when creating and facilitating a high-quality learning environment engaging the students in the teaching and learning process throughout the course will be the focus. Also, the community created in the online environment based on the aspects stated by the students will be analyzed taking into consideration the subject learning and the social interaction taking place. Theory: The theoretical framework chosen for this study is Communities of Practice in E-learning CoPE (Chikh & Berkani, 2010). CoPE offers a structure designed to create and share knowledge in a systematic way, while working in an online course environment. In the study, the CoPE will be used as a framework for understanding important aspects from a student point of view when studying in an online course community, along with analyzing the student´s role as a member of the online community. Method: The method used to process the data collected from an online survey is thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Thematic analysis offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach, not wedded to a specific theoretical framework. However, the connection to a particular theoretic framework is important, to create clarity and put the assumptions of the nature of the data collected in relation to a theory where the data is validated. In the case of the study this theoretical framework is Communities of Practice in E-learning CoPE (Chikh & Berkani, 2010). Results: The results of the study conducted show, considering relevant research in the field, that students in a course in an online learning environment contribute much to the outcome of experienced quality of the learning process, by taking active part in social interaction activities thereby building 3 subject knowledge along with a shared learning experience. Aspects put forward by the students included the importance of communication and of belonging and being part of a solid facilitated structure. Working together and sharing knowledge lay the foundation for subject learning and social learning interaction thereby deepening the meaningfulness, the motivation and the ability for students to reach the learning outcomes. Discussion: This limited study, based on a small group of online university students, is in line with research in the field (Kostiainen et al., 2025), which suggests it may be applied on a broader scale. CoPE emphasizes active roles for learners which requires a framework supporting safety, exploration and flexibility in online environments (Conrad & Openo, 2018). As global participation in online education grows, a systematic design of high-quality environments becomes essential for student belonging and engagement (Kostianien et al., 2025). Conclusions: The study highlights that students significantly influence the perceived quality of online learning by actively engaging in social interaction and shared knowledge building processes. High quality within online education requires transparent communication and a course design which incorporates the student voices being put at the center of the learning process. When student engagement is aligned with subject learning, sustainable high-quality online education can be developed, which becomes increasingly important as digital learning continues to evolve.
  • Exploring interdependencies between accreditation and university teachers’ quality work
    (2026-02-11) Larsson, Johan; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande
    Purpose: The overall purpose of the thesis is to investigate how accreditation of education interrelates with quality of teaching and learning in higher education from a teacher perspective. The research question of the thesis is: How do experienced business schoolteachers relate to quality in higher education and what interdependence between accreditation, quality in teaching and student learning do experienced business schoolteachers apprehend? Theory: The study approaches teachers’ perception of quality and accreditation through the lens of teachers’ narratives and sensemaking. The analytical work attends to theories of learning and empirical studies of quality grounded in studies of evaluation and accreditation of higher education connected to the concept of constructive alignment. Method: The study is designed as an exploratory qualitative study, and the data collection methods consists of five in-depth semi-structured reflexive interviews with experienced university teachers. The interviews collected have been analysed using a thematic analysis of quality, accreditation, teaching and learning. Results: The result show that the perceived value of accreditation among the respondents varies. While the individual views of the respondents differ in terms of attitudes to accreditation most have an overall positive view to accreditation as such. The experienced teachers all have their own view on what is quality and whether that is supported or even hindered by systematic quality work, such as accreditation. Some positive effects on learning were indicated but the largest impact seems to be indirect effects that accreditation gives you through intended learning outcomes in syllabuses, strengthening of the schools’ brand that attracts faculty and or students, and better possibilities to partner with other accredited institutions. The study also shows that a quality culture could develop partly with the help of accreditation.
  • How to Guide the Novice: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Psychiatric Nurse Preceptors´ Supervising Behaviors and Strategies for Integrating Theory and Practice in Clinical Nursing Education
    (2026-02-11) Kullenberg, Helena; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande
    Purpose: To increase knowledge about supervision as a situated form of teaching in higher education by investigating psychiatric nurse preceptors' self-reported supervisory behaviors and strategies for integrating theory and practice in clinical nursing education. Theory: The frameworks of Situated Learning and From Novice to Expert enabled a view of supervision as both a socially situated practice shaped by participation in the clinical environment and an individual, experience-based development, influenced by how preceptors report guiding and supporting students in connecting theory and practice as they become professional nurses. Method: The study used a mixed-methods approach. A total of 110 nurses working in psychiatric care and experienced in supervising nursing students completed a survey with both closed- and open-ended questions. Statistical and thematic analyses were performed separately and then combined and interpreted within the theoretical framework. Results: The findings of this study showed that psychiatric nurse preceptors consistently reported supervisory behaviors that support students’ valid participation in practice, especially modeling and creating a safe learning environment, which aligns with the early stages of the novice–expert journey. However, their descriptions of supervision highlighted reflective dialogue and scaffolding as key strategies to help students connect theory and practice. Group differences indicate that clinical experience and pedagogical training confer distinct forms of supervisory confidence, with pedagogical competence enabling strategies that may rely less on clinical expertise. Overall, supervision appears to be a context-dependent practice shaped by both clinical knowledge and pedagogical insight, but these dimensions of the preceptor role do not necessarily evolve in parallel. Therefore, creating conditions that enable preceptors to assume the pedagogical role seems central to realizing the full potential of supervision as a situated learning practice.
  • Framing community engagement in African Universities: A Comparative Study of UCT, AAU and LUANAR
    (2026-02-11) Matusse, Anselmo Marcos; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande; University of Gothenburg/Department of education, communication and learning; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för pedagogik, kommunikation och lärande
    Purpose: In this thesis, I examine how universities, as institutions, and researchers/lecturers frame community engagement within distinct institutional, socio-cultural, and postcolonial contexts, namely, the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of Addis Ababa (AAU), and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). Theory: I draw on the framing theory developed by Erving Goffman in the 1970s to understand how researchers and universities frame community engagement by attending to their issue framing, relationship framing and interaction framing. Method: To examine those frames, I conducted semi-structured interviews with three people with extensive experience in teaching, research and management: one from UCT, and one each from AAU and LUANAR. I also examined policies on community engagement from the three universities comparing how the three universities and their respective researchers/lecturers frame community engagement. Results: I showed how the framing of community engagement is deeply connected to the socio-historical conditions of the university where it is conceptualised. Institutionally, UCT frames community engagement as a means of ensuring public good and social justice in post-apartheid South Africa; hence, politics is at the core of community engagement. Whereas for AAU and LUANAR, community engagement is framed in a more technical language as “service” or “Corporate social responsibility”, and issues of social justice and politics are nearly non-existent. When examining individual researchers’ framing of community engagement, a much more complex picture emerges. For AAU’s interviewee, community engagement is framed as a depoliticising exercise whereby academic freedom is being corroded, and universities are less engaged with society. Community engagement is a form of critique of the current university and politics in Ethiopia. In contrast, for UCT’s interviewees, community engagement still emerged as a public good that needs to address social injustices in South Africa. The implementation of community engagement initiatives relies heavily on individual researchers and lecturers, which further burdens them. For LUANAR’s interviewee, community engagement emerged as connected to the social impact of research and teaching. It continued the depoliticised and technical institutional framing of the university.
  • Journalistik på olika villkor. En kvalitativ studie om etnicitetens betydelse för journalisters yrkesutövning
    (2026-02-11) Härsjö, Alva; Hallberg, Saga; Sandström, Saga; University of Gothenburg/Department of Journalism, Media and Communication; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för journalistik, medier och kommunikation; University of Gothenburg/Department of Journalism, Media and Communication; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för journalistik, medier och kommunikation
    The purpose of this study is to examine what experiences can be found regarding the importance of ethnicity in the journalistic professional practices of Swedish journalists with a non-Nordic ethnicity and how that might be expressed. The questions this study aims to answer are: How do Swedish journalists with a non-Nordic ethnicity in Sweden experience that their ethnicity can be of importance for how they are treated at their workplace and how can that be expressed? How do Swedish journalists with a non-Nordic ethnicity in Sweden experience that their ethnicity can be of importance for how they are treated when working in the field and how can that be expressed? How do Swedish journalist with a non-Nordic ethnicity in Sweden experience that their ethnicity can be of importance for their work practice in other ways than described in question 1 and 2? The study is a qualitative interview-study where semi-structured interviews with nine journalists of a non-Nordic ethnicity from newsrooms around Sweden were completed. The journalists answered questions based on themes in an interview guide that were formed with inspiration from earlier studies. The themes are: autonomy, impartiality, information gathering, discriminating comments, recruitment, and advancement. Based on the theory of structural racism and Critical race theory, as well as earlier studies, the respondents’ answers were analyzed and patterns were identified. We concluded that Swedish journalists with a non-Nordic ethnicity can experience that their ethnicity is of importance in their professional practice. That applies to each theme, where the results show that journalists of non-Nordic ethnicity can experience that their impartiality is questioned. They can also experience difficulties when requesting information from authorities and be exposed to more discriminatory comments than ethnically Nordic colleagues. We found that a perception regarding that the newsrooms do not work hard enough to increase the ethnic diversity can be found among journalists, and in cases where newsrooms do work with diversity it is to create an illusion of inclusivity and diversity, rather than to represent a larger part of the population.