Sigve Nydal, Guro Solli Grønningsæter and Stian Sørland earned third prize in the Holberg Prize School Project competition 2020 with the project “Wellbeing and learning environment in large and small school classes”.
In this project the pupils investigate whether small school classes are characterized by a higher degree of wellbeing among the pupils and a better learning environment than large classes. The pupils argue that with more knowledge about this issue, we may achieve a better organization of schools, and thereby establish the best conditions to allow pupils to succeed in the educational system.
The Jury’s statement:
The project treats of a well-known question within school research, namely how the size of classes influences the pupils’ learning environment. This is a very well-conducted project, and the report is very well written and engaging to read even if it treats of a subject that has been afforded much attention in earlier research. The report is genuinely explorative, and the pupils take as their point of departure their own experiences with their school environment.
Existing research in the field is actively employed in the report’s discussion and analysis, and the report is throughout characterized by sound methodological reflections and choices. The pupils display a firm grasp of quantitative method and make good use of the data they have collected in their analysis. They present hypotheses for testing, some of which are falsified by the data. This is the case with the hypothesis that pupils in small classes experience more wellbeing and a better learning environment than pupils in larger classes. The pupils let the data speak for themselves, even when they contradict their hypotheses.
The jury emphasizes that this is a very good research report, which stands out in particular because of its high level of methodological reflection. The jury congratulates the pupils with a well-conducted research project.
The Research Project
Title:
Written by:
Stian Sørland, Guro Solli Grønningsæter and Sigve Nydal
Year:
The School Programme
The Holberg School Programme is an annual research competition for students in Norwegian upper secondary schools i the humanities, social sciences law and theology. Each year, around 1,000 students from 20 selected schools participate in the competition.
The Holberg School Programme Jury selects three research projects that are awarded prizes of NOK 30,000, NOK 20,000 and NOK 10,000 respectively.
The finalists are announced in mid May, and the award ceremony is held during the Holberg Week in early June each year.