Upcoming dissertations
This is where you will find the dates and time for the dissertation of our doctoral students.
Upcoming dissertation
ASSESS I
Elpis Grammatikopoulou, IPS
Paper and Digital Reading Assessments. Exploring aspects of validity using PIRLS and ePIRLS.
Date and time: february 25 13.00
Place: AK2 136 K-G Stukát, Hus A, Pedagogen, Västra hamngatan 25
The event will also be streamed as a Zoom webinar. Link to the webinar will be published 24 February
Dissertation Elpis Grammatikopoulou | University of Gothenburg
Reading literacy is increasingly assessed through digital formats, raising fundamental questions about the comparability and validity of reading scores across assessment modes and over time. Drawing on an argumentbased framework for validation, this dissertation examines the comparability and validity of paper-based and digital reading assessments by evaluating key inferences concerning generalisation across assessment modes and student subgroups, as well as extrapolation to later educational outcomes. The dissertation comprises three empirical studies and utilises international large-scale assessment data from PIRLS 2016 and its digital extension, ePIRLS, in combination with Swedish register data.
The findings show that paper-based and digital reading assessments share a strong common core of reading comprehension, but also exhibit systematic mode-related variation, indicating that the two formats are not fully equivalent. These differences vary across contexts and student groups and extend to their predictive relationships with later academic outcomes. Overall, the dissertation concludes that paper-based and digital reading assessments are similar but not interchangeable. Validity in digital reading assessment should therefore be understood as conditional on assessment mode, student population, and context, rather than assumed a priori. In this sense, the dissertation contributes to ongoing discussions about how reading literacy is conceptualised and assessed in an increasingly digital educational landscape.
Faculty Opponent: Professor Gustaf Skar, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Principal Supervisor: Docent Stefan Johansson, University of Gothenburg
Assistant Supervisor: Docent Rolf Strietholt, Technische Universität Dortmund
The public defence will be held in English. The publication is available at:
https://hdl.handle.net/2077/90568
Deborah Siebecke, IPS
Feeling Well, Doing Well? Analysis of the Relationship between Well-Being and Academic Resilience in Sweden
Date: 16 March
Time: 09:00
Location: AK2 155, Kjell Härnqvistsalen, Hus A, Pedagogen, Västra hamngata
The event will also be streamed as a Zoom webinar. Link to the webinar will be published 15 March
Disputation Deborah Siebecke | Göteborgs universitet
This dissertation, consisting of three published articles and an integrated essay, investigates student well-being and academic resilience in Sweden. Academic resilience refers to positive adaptation to adversity, and in the case of this work, to higher-than-expected academic achievement despite socioeconomic disadvantages. While the relationship between student wellbeing and achievement has been widely studied, its connection to academic resilience remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, the dissertation examines how well-being relates to academic resilience. Simply put, and as expressed in the title: Do students who feel well also do well academically, particularly under adverse conditions?
The dissertation distinguishes between material, social, and psychological dimensions of well-being through three studies, each focusing on one dimension and its relationship to academic resilience. Collectively, the studies reveal a complex interplay between well-being and academic outcomes and highlight important differences between resilient and nonresilient groups, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of well-being as a potential protective factor in the face of socioeconomic disadvantage.
Faculty Opponent: Andrés Sandoval-Hernández, Professor, University of Bath
Principal Supervisor: Kajsa Yang Hansen, Professor, University of Gothenburg
Assistant Supervisor: Maria Jarl, Docent, University of Gothenburg
The public defence will be held in English. The publication is available at:
Past dissertations
ASSESS I
Lena Asp
A student perspective of a mathematics classroom
Date: June 13th
Time: 09:00
Place: AK2 137, Pedagogen Hus A, Västra hamngatan 25
The dissertation will be broadcasted via Zoom webbinarium. Link will be published shortly before.
Disputation Lena Asp | Göteborgs universitet
High-quality teaching is assumed to provide students with learning opportunities that may mitigate educational inequities and narrow achievement gaps. However, empirical findings are mixed, while some studies report significant, positive relations between teaching quality and student learning outcomes, others do not. Measuring the multidimensional construct of teaching quality presents conceptual and methodological challenges. In the thesis, teaching quality is operationalised through aggregated student perceptions of mathematics teachers’ practices and instruction, yielding a valid and reliable measure.
This thesis comprises three empirical studies using secondary data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 for Grade 4. Study I examines the construct validity of the mixed-worded mathematics confidence scale and the linguistic equivalence across translated questionnaire items. Study II investigates the relationships between aspects of teaching quality and the two outcomes of mathematics confidence and mathematics achievement in Sweden, both at the student and classroom levels. Study III extends the analysis to include a cross-national comparison of four Nordic countries, investigating classroom composition effects while accounting for student background factors.
The findings showed that classroom management related positively to mathematics achievement, while instructional clarity was significantly related to mathematics confidence. There are indications that teaching quality may mitigate the negative influence of low SES on academic achievement. Classroom level composition effects were observed across the Nordic countries, with SES and home language as key factors for classroom-level mathematics achievement.
Opponent: Leonidas Kyriakides, professor, University of Cyprus
Supervisor: Alli Klapp, docent, University of Gothenburg
Assisting supervisor: Victoria Rolfe, senior researcher, University of Gothenburg
You can read the entire publication in the link below:
http://hdl.handle.net/2077/85610
Mari Lindström
Relationships with student achievement
Date: May 23
Time: 13:00
Place: Kjell Härnqvistsalen (AK2 155) Hus A, Pedagogen, Västra hamngatan 25
The dissertation is broadcasted via the following Zoom-link.
Disputation Mari Paloniemi Lindström |University of Gothenburg
Teacher competence is a widely-debated topic in the educational research. While it is acknowledged that the quality of teachers matters for student learning and performance, there is ongoing discussion about which aspects of quality matter most. This thesis explores how various aspects of teachers’ professional competence and working conditions relate to student achievement in the Swedish middle school context (grades 4-6). The thesis comprises three empirical studies and utilizes International large-scale assessment data (TIMSS and PIRLS) as well as register data to explore these relationships. Studies I and II investigate how different teacher qualifications, teachers’ reading specializations, reading comprehension activities, and cognitive activation strategies in grade 4 are associated with student performance in mathematics and reading in grade 4 and across multiple subjects in grade 6. Study III explores the influence of teachers’ working conditions and school climate on teacher job satisfaction and student achievement in grade 4.
The findings lend support to the importance of formal education level and teachers’ subject-specific specializations for student performance. The findings further suggest that teachers’ reading comprehension activities and their cognitive activation strategies in grade 4 may have positive long-term cross-subject influences. In addition, the thesis highlights the importance of a positive school climate for both teacher job satisfaction and student performance
Opponent: professor, Rolf Vegar Olsen, Oslo University (UiO)
Supervisor: docent Stefan Johansson, University of Gothenburg
Assisting supervisor: Senior researcher Linda Borger, University of Gothenburg