The process

The teaching is based on lectures, class discussions, group work and cooperative learning, and emphasises increasing the students' sense of the scope and limitations of the theories in relation to the subject area.

All in all, I emphasise that the students must learn to read, analyse and argue critically with consistent use of logic and concepts. In this sense, form, method and approach are more important than the subject itself.

Dynamic syllabus list 

The syllabus list is dynamic and approx. 15-20% of it is replaced each year.

The purpose and course descriptions set a framework and are generic enough for me to be able to apply new research and integrate ideas, topics and texts from the students.

I explicitly invite them to make suggestions and tell them that I am open to revising the reading list if the proposed topics and texts are good and relevant. 

Active work on texts 

I use some of the texts in the research I am currently working on. I am interested in knowing how the students read them. Two general working questions for the texts are as follows: 

1. What can we use the text for? What insights does it bring? 

2. How far can conclusions be drawn with the research questions set, the methods and designs used, the results, and the strength of argumentation and logic? 

Insight into the teacher's research 

Other texts are my own research articles or book chapters, and here I involve the students in: 

• The actual research process and how the article came about. 

• Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of my articles. The students must read the articles as thoroughly as if they were doing a peer review.