FACULTY OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY | Course
PhD summer school: Building theory in STEM education research
Wednesday 20 August, 09:00 - Friday 22 August, 17:00
OR:C527, 5:th floor in the Orkan Library, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10, Malmö -
PhD summer school: Theorising in STEM Education
Are you a PhD student with an interest in STEM education? Are you interested in learning more about contributing to theory through your research? This summer school might be right for you!
The three-day-course (2 ECTS points) is free of charge, funded by Malmö University’s Committee for Research Education and NAFA’s Center for Excellence in Science Education (CESE-NAFA).
It will take place August 20-22, 2025 at Malmö University.
The course brings together international PhD students from multiple disciplines in, and related to, science education to develop and deploy the framing of their research projects with robust theory and methodology.
Objectives
To broaden Phd students’ perspectives on how different theoretical frameworks shape and are shaped by ontological underpinnings of knowledge production. To prepare PhD students to make their own theory contributions.
Course content
Theory and theorising
- Why should we theorise in STEM education research?
- How do our ways of knowing inform theoretical frames - and the converse?
Explaining with theory
- What are explanatory frames, and how do we select them?
- How are limits to the explanatory power of theory identified?
Methoding theory
- How does theory inform our choice of method and method inform theory?
- In what ways does theory constrain, expand & create epistemological possibilities?
Contributing to theory (topic is addressed at the ESERA conference ‘25)
- How does experience contribute to theory and when does it?
- What are alternatives to thinking with theory?
- How can we go beyond thinking with theory and what tools might we use?
Application
We encourage your application by May 19 for early action, but will continue to accept them until spaces are filled.
Capstone project at the 2025 ESERA conference
The summer school is intentionally planned in conjunction with the ESERA 2025 conference in Copenhagen 25-29 August, and participants have the option of continuing their engagement during the conference. Using the conference venue as a field teachers and participants will investigate and look for theory contributions in conference presentations. Afterwards there may be an opportunity to develop this analysis into a peer reviewed publication.
Organiser
Dr. KT Doerr, Assistant Professor at Malmö University’s Center for Academic Learning.
KT contributes to theory by uncovering marginalising effects of science culture on underrepresented minorities. They do this by deploying a range of theoretical perspectives including feminist, posthuman, and intersectional. KT has published in, among others, Science Education, Gender and Education, and Cultural Studies of Science Education.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact KT: katherine.doerr@mau.se
Teachers
Dr. Katerina Günter, is a postdoc at Umeå University, Sweden. With a background spanning science, gender studies, and science education, their work is on social and environmental justice in and through education. Grounded in critical and regenerative pedagogies, as well as sociocultural, feminist, positioning and discourse theories, Katerina contributes to theory on materialities and emotions in engineering, transcultural experiences in PhD training, and science learning for regenerative futures. Katerina’s research has been published in, among others, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, and Journal of Research in Science Teaching.
Dr. Kevin Nguyen, Assistant Professor at Sonoma State University, California, USA teaches in an interdisciplinary liberal arts and sciences program. His current teaching and theorizing centers Asian American studies and decolonial studies. Kevin contributes to theory using both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore how people learn and engage in science and engineering outside of school. He has also explored higher education issues such as active learning in STEM classrooms or the funding outcomes of STEM PhD students. Kevin has published in, among others, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Studies in Higher Education, and International Journal of STEM Education.
Dr. Tatiane Russo-Tait, Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, USA, teaches at the Dpt. of Cellular Biology. Tati leads the Advancing Critical Consciousness, Equity and Social Justice in STEM (ACCESS) Lab. ACCESS lab members engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that contributes to theory by employing critical frameworks to examine systems of power and expand epistemic boundaries in STEM. The ACCESS lab's research aims to support future and current scientists, instructors, and administrators to advance equity and justice-centered reform efforts in postsecondary STEM education. Tati has published in, among others, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and CBE-Life Sciences Education.