Øystein Olav Skaar

• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Skaar, Caroline Miriam (2026). The Gentler Researcher: Examining Research Bias and Gender Stereotypes in Sikt AI Chat. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. 21(1), p. 32–50. doi: 10.18261/njdl.21.1.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Studies on large language models (LLMs) have shown that these technologies can reproduce stereotype-based biases present in their training data. In this paper, we hypothesized that an OpenAI-based model would more frequently attribute first authorship to women in masculine-typed research fields than to men in feminine-typed fields, an asymmetry consistent with gender-role beliefs. Across three studies, we analyzed how the model’s generative outputs reflect gendered associations. Study 1 replicated Fulgu and Capraro’s phrase-association paradigm, replicating the study’s findings that feminine-stereotyped phrases were more consistently linked to female characters, whereas masculine-stereotyped phrases were less reliably linked to male characters. The results suggest that the training data contains a stronger and more stable association between femininity and communal traits than between masculinity and agency. Study 2 examined 4,585 randomly generated hypothetical studies and identified a substantial skew toward female first authors (>82%), with male authors overrepresented primarily in engineering, technology, and theoretical contexts. Study 3 extended these findings across nine specified research fields, where the results of the first stage were consistent with Study 2. When prompted to classify rather than generate the gender of the first author, the model produced a lower overall proportion of women, but retained the same relative distribution across fields observed at the first stage. Taken together, the results indicate that the model’s outputs correspond more to feminine than masculine gender-role beliefs. While this tendency may appear to increase women’s representation in masculine-typed domains, it does not afford men equivalent visibility in feminine-typed domains. These results underscore how LLMs, as statistical systems shaped by training corpora and reinforcement learning, can reflect and reproduce cultural and historical asymmetries in gender representation, challenging assumptions of epistemic neutrality.

• Øen, Kristian; Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2024). Development of inclusive practice – the art of balancing emotional support and constructive feedback. Frontiers in Education. 9, p. 1–9. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1281334. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Inclusive education in the context of challenging behavior is one of the most demanding challenges for teachers. Good support systems help teachers become more positive about inclusion and gain greater confidence in realizing that they can succeed. Such support can be provided in the form of emotional support, internal or external guidance, courses, discussions or further education. As an alternative to a traditional individual-oriented approach to inclusion, this article argues that development of inclusive practice requires collaborative learning in the professional community, which again means that teachers have to make their own practice more transparent so that it can be explained, explored and challenged. This article is based on a qualitatively driven mixed-method case design, and the data come from interviews with and observations of 10 teachers, as well as a survey conducted at 16 schools in Western Norway. The findings show that many teachers struggle to find a balance between emotional support and asking exploratory questions about their schools' and their colleagues' practices. At the same time, it seems that schools that systematically ask each other critical questions have cultures that are more strongly characterized by a high degree of psychological safety and high professional standards.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk; Skaar, Øystein Olav; Jones, Lise Øen; Solstad, Stein Helge & Salhus, Øystein [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). PhD-supervisors experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study. Frontiers in Education. 9. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1436521. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the education sector, and this case study examined nearly three hundred PhD supervisors in Norway. The study was driven by the urgent need to better understand the professional, social, and existential conditions faced by doctoral supervisors during extended societal shutdowns. This explorative case study builds on a former study among PhD candidates and investigates the experiences of doctoral supervisors when remote work, digital teaching, and digital supervision suddenly replaced physical presence in the workplace, largely between March 12, 2020, and autumn 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A mixed-methods research approach, incorporating formative dialog research and case study design, was employed to bridge the conceptual and contextual understanding of this phenomenon. The primary data sources were a survey (N = 298, 53.7% women, 46.3% men, response rate 80.54%) and semi-structured interviews (with nine PhD supervisors). Supplementary data collection was based on formative dialog research. It included field dialog (four PhD supervision seminars), open survey responses (n = 1,438), one focus group (n = 5), an additional survey (n = 85), and document analysis of PhD policy documents and doctoral supervision seminar evaluations (n = 7). The survey data, interview data, focus group data, and supplementary data focus also retrospectively on the first year of the pandemic and were collected from August 2022 until October 2023. Results: The findings from the explorative case study revealed that the PhD supervisors faced numerous challenges during the pandemic, both professionally and personally. For PhD supervisors who extensively worked from home over a long period, the situation created new conditions that affected their job performance. These altered conditions hindered their research capacity, their ability to follow up with their PhD candidates, and their capacity to fulfill other job responsibilities. Although the PhD supervisors received some support during the pandemic, it seems that the incremental measures provided were insufficient. Discussion: The case study results indicate that it is more important than ever to understand the gap between the formulation, transformation, and realization arenas when distinguishing between incremental, semi-structural changes and fundamental changes in PhD regulations and guidelines brought on by societal crises. This highlights the need for better crisis preparedness at the doctoral level in the years to come.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Jones, Lise Øen; Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk; Skaar, Øystein Olav; Solstad, Stein Helge & Salhus, Øystein [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Doctoral Supervision in Challenging Times – some Experiences from the Pandemic (Part II), 16th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies. International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. ISSN 9788409629381. p. 6495–6507. doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2024. Full text in Research Archive
• Øen, Kristian; Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2023). Inclusion in the heat of the moment: Balancing participation and mastery. Frontiers in Education. 8, p. 1–14. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.967279. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Individual and social explanatory models provide different frameworks for teachers’ practice. This study addresses how teachers’ understanding of inclusion and challenging behaviors affects their work with an inclusive practice in school. The chosen research design can be characterized as a qualitatively driven mixed-method case design, and the data collection was based on an explorative sequential design. All teachers from two schools that both have a vision linked to being inclusive were invited to participate, and the first five teachers who signed up from each school were included in this study. The data are based on interviews with and observations of 10 teachers as well as a survey conducted at 16 schools in Western Norway distributed across eight different municipalities. Based on an inductive analysis, the findings show that physical participation in the classroom is central to teachers’ understanding of inclusion. At the same time, they emphasize the importance of social and academic mastery. The study, nevertheless, shows that classroom participation and coping can conflict with each other. This means that teachers must often balance different considerations related to both practical and ethical dilemmas. When they encounter challenging behavior, they are additionally forced to make assessments in stressful situations. It is also in these situations that the underlying and often unconscious explanatory models provide the greatest guidance for the teachers’ decisions. Nevertheless, decision-making in stressful situations seems to be an almost absent topic in both teacher training and the professional community in schools. The authors of this article, therefore, argue that decision-making in stressful situations seems to be underestimated in the work on developing inclusive practices.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2023). Digital kompetanse, vaksinemotstand, KI og pandemisk risikopersepsjon. In Krumsvik, Rune Johan (Eds.), Digital kompetanse i KI-samfunnet. Et blikk på hvordan kunstig intelligens preger livene våre. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202782030. p. 257–279. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2022). Alone or together: The role of gender and social context prior to Aha-experiences. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. ISSN 0036-5564. 64(3), p. 302–313. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12883. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Prior research indicates that boys show more interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) than girls do. Given that Aha- experiences yield positive affect and increase interest, the question arises whether there are gender differences in Aha-experiences that could help explain the gender differences in interest. Derived from social role theory, we hypothesized that men report having Aha-experiences alone, whereas women report having Aha-experiences together with others. In a retrospective survey study comprising three independent samples (N = 899), we conducted chi-square analyses to explore the relationship of gender, social context (alone; not alone), domain, and situational interest. Across all participants, we found that men were more probably alone and women more probably together with others when they had an Aha-experience. More fine-grained analyses revealed that the effect was especially pronounced when the Aha-experience increased situational interest within STEM or the personal domain. The study suggests that social context played a different role in the occurrence of Aha-experiences in men and women. We discuss the implications of our findings for STEM instruction at school.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Skaar, Øystein Olav; Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk; Solstad, Stein Helge & Høydal, Kjetil L (2022). Experiences of WNGER II Ph.D.Fellows During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Case Study. Frontiers in Education. 7. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.860828. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Since January 2020 there have been over 97 million reported cases and 2 million deaths worldwide from COVID-19 and it is not over yet. In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic is a slow-motion disaster and an ‘external intervention’ that suddenly began in early 2020 and has maintained its grip on the world. The pandemic has influenced the education sector strongly as well, and Ph.D. candidates enrolled in Ph.D. programs during COVID-19 (‘the Ph.D. corona generation’) at Western Norway Graduate School of Educational Research II (WNGER II) were examined in this case study. WNGER II is a research school consortium with seven universities and universities colleges, 97 Ph.D.-candidates, and 48 supervisors and was established in 2018 to complement the Ph.D.-programs and strengthen the Ph.D. education in Western Norway. A pilot phase (2016–2017) was used to identify and address specific challenges in Ph.D. education as experienced in the seven universities and university colleges in Western Norway. The pandemic has presented an urgent need for a better knowledge base to understand the professional, social, and existential conditions for doctoral fellows when society is shut down for an extended period. This explorative case study examined what the doctoral fellows experienced when home office, digital teaching, and digital supervision suddenly replaced physical presence in the workplace (more or less) from March 12, 2020 to November 30, 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-methods research, formative dialog research, and case study design was applied to try to bridge the conceptual and contextual understanding of this phenomenon. The main data sources were a survey (N = 62, 85% women, 15% men, response rate 70%) and semi-structured interviews (with six Ph.D. fellows). Supplementary data collection was based on formative dialog research and comprised field dialog (13 seminars, eight Ph.D. courses, three Ph.D. supervision seminars, and two Ph.D. gatherings, N = 26), one focus group (n = 11), 21 online observations, and document analysis of Ph.D. policy documents and course evaluations (N = 15). The explorative case study found that the WNGER II Ph.D. fellows are satisfied with the educational quality concerning digital teaching and supervision (micro-level) but have experienced several research-related and psycho-social challenges during the pandemic (meso-level). These changed frame factors have impeded their feasibility and doctoral progression. Even if the WNGER II Ph.D. fellows experienced support during the pandemic, it seems like it entailed incremental measures that have not been sufficient. The Ph.D. regulations were created before the pandemic under normal conditions for normal conditions, but it appears that no substantial adjustments have been made for these extraordinary pandemic conditions in which frame factors attached to data collection, publication delays, childcare responsibilities, social distancing, etc. have changed the premises for their feasibility. This has been particularly critical for these Ph.D. fellows, who have been in this slow-motion disaster for up to 20 months (55% of their 3-year scholarship). Therefore, results from the case study indicate it is more important than ever to understand the gap between formulation, -transformation, and realization arena when it comes to the distinction between incremental, semi-structural changes and fundamental changes in Ph.D. regulations and guidelines caused by societal crises. Even if time compensation has been offered, it seems like the overall Ph.D. guidelines, regulations, and assessment norms have remained unchanged in the transformation arena (meso-level), which might have given some unforeseen implications for some Ph.D.-candidates, which calls for better crisis preparedness on a doctoral level in the years to come.

• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2022). Paradigmekrig – den omstridde kombinasjonsforskinga. In Thuen, Harald; Myklestad, Synnøve & Vik, Stine (Ed.), Pedagogikkens idé og oppdrag. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245040883. p. 279–293. doi: 10.55669/oa010316. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ved slutten av det førre milleniet, og i kjølvatnet av det noverande, har kombinasjonsforsking (av engelsk mixed research) fått ei auka oppslutning innan pedagogisk forsking. Parallelt med denne prosessen har det vore ein pågåande diskusjon kring både praktiske og vitskapsteoretiske utfordringar knytt til bruken av ei slik tilnærming. Medan enkelte hevdar at kombinasjonsforsking er utenkjeleg, at ulike metodar og vitskapsteoretiske ståstadar ikkje kan foreinast, er det andre som meiner at det kan vere starten for eit nytt vitskapeleg paradigme. Dette kapittelet ser nærare på kva som ligg til grunn for desse syna, og tar utgangspunkt i problemstillinga, kva karakteriserer kombinasjonsforsking, og i kva grad kan tilnærminga seiast å vere eit paradigme i pedagogisk forsking? For å kunne svare på spørsmålet lyt ein avklare paradigmeomgrepet. Dertil vil det vere naudsynt å presentere eit vitskapsteoretisk oversyn av tilhøvet mellom den kontinentale og den britisk-amerikanske pedagogikken, mellom dei tonegivande og polariserande retningane ein gjerne omtalar som konstruktivisme og positivisme og dertil kvalitativ og kvantitativ forsking. Teksten posisjonerer seg innan det ein omtalar som dialektisk pluralisme, og formålet er såleis å presentere eit alternativ til pragmatismen som har vore det rådande forskingsparadigmet assosiert med kombinasjonsforsking.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2022). Infodemi og pandemisk risikopersepsjon. Tidsskrift for Norsk psykologforening (Psykologtidsskriftet). ISSN 0332-6470. 59(3), p. 192–197. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Subkulturer som finner fellesskap gjennom konspirasjonsteorier, kan forklare noe av den pågående vaksinemotstanden internasjonalt. For fremtidig kriseberedskap blir det viktig å kartlegge hvordan digitalt utenforskap spiller inn på dette bildet.

• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2020). Schooling, educational technology and teachers’ everyday practice in Norway. In Noblit, George W. (Eds.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780190264093. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.903. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2020). Motivation through insight: the phenomenological correlates of insight and spatial ability tasks. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. ISSN 2044-5911. 33(6-7), p. 631–643. doi: 10.1080/20445911.2020.1844721. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In an experiment (n = 430), grounded in an integrative fluency account of the phenomenology of the Aha-experience, we tested the assumption that problem solving through insight is distinct from other strategies of problem-solving in that the affective response invoked by Aha-experiences is more influential than other solution strategies on motivational processes. Results indicated that insight tasks, compared to non-insight tasks, had the strongest affective and motivational outcomes both during and after task solution. Moreover, for insight tasks, sudden insight was the strongest predictor of correct solutions. Interestingly, step-by-step and guessing strategies were positive and negative predictors, respectively, of correct solutions. Finally, only trial and error significantly predicted correct solutions for non-insight tasks. We argue that solution strategies are not mutually exclusive. However, some strategies are more frequently used and possibly more adapted to different types of tasks. The study supports the integrative fluency account and motivational outcomes of Aha-experiences.

• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2019). The phenomenology of aha-experiences. Motivation Science. ISSN 2333-8113. 6(1), p. 49–60. doi: 10.1037/mot0000138. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Aha-experience is the well-known hallmark of sudden insight. An integrative fluency account of the phenomenology of insight connects the four defining features of the Aha-experience: (1) A sudden insight leads to change in (2) processing fluency that increases (3) positive affect and (4) certainty that the insight is true. Several experimental studies have examined individual relationships between these defining features. However, no single study has examined the quantitative interrelationships of all components of the Aha-experience. In a retrospective study, we tested the fluency account of insight to further understand the Aha-experience. Bayesian statistics and structural equation modeling were used to the assess the theoretical model, with data comprising two independent samples (N = 638). Results indicated that sudden insight increases fluency, positive affect, and subjective certainty, although the three dimensions are better seen as underlying components of general metacognitive feelings. In addition, we assessed the relationship among Aha-experience, sense of agency, motivation, and coping. Results indicated that metacognitive feelings mediate the effect of sudden insight on immediate sense of agency and motivation and coping.

• Folgerø, Per Olav; Hodne, Lasse; Johansson, Christer; Andresen, Alf Edgar; Sætren, Lill Charlotte & Specht, Karsten [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2016). Effects of facial symmetry and gaze direction on perception of social attributes: A study in experimental art history. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 10:452(2016). doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00452. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article explores the possibility of testing hypotheses about art production in the past by collecting data in the present. We call this enterprise “experimental art history”. Why did medieval artists prefer to paint Christ with his face directed towards the beholder, while profane faces were noticeably more often painted in different degrees of profile? Is a preference for frontal faces motivated by deeper evolutionary and biological considerations? Head and gaze direction is a significant factor for detecting the intentions of others, and accurate detection of gaze direction depends on strong contrast between a dark iris and a bright sclera, a combination that is only found in humans among the primates. One uniquely human capacity is language acquisition, where the detection of shared or joint attention, for example through detection of gaze direction, contributes significantly to the ease of acquisition. The perceived face and gaze direction is also related to fundamental emotional reactions such as fear, aggression, empathy and sympathy. The fast-track modulator model presents a related fast and unconscious subcortical route that involves many central brain areas. Activity in this pathway mediates the affective valence of the stimulus. In particular, different sub-regions of the amygdala show specific activation as response to gaze direction, head orientation and the valence of facial expression. We present three experiments on the effects of face orientation and gaze direction on the judgments of social attributes. We observed that frontal faces with direct gaze were more highly associated with positive adjectives. Does this help to associate positive values to the Holy Face in a Western context? The formal result indicates that the Holy Face is perceived more positively than profiles with both direct and averted gaze. Two control studies, using a Brazilian and a Dutch database of photographs, showed a similar but weaker effect with a larger contrast between the gaze directions for profiles. Our findings indicate that many factors affect the impression of a face, and that eye contact in combination with face direction reinforce the general impression of portraits, rather than determine it.

• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2016). Forskingsbasert multimedialæring. In Krumsvik, Rune Johan (Eds.), Digital læring i skole og lærerutdanning. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215020495. p. 214–235. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Krumsvik, Rune Johan (2015). Multimedia discrepancies - plenary lectures as perceived by students. Uniped - Tidsskrift for universitets- og høgskolepedagogikk. ISSN 1500-4538. 38(1), p. 53–73. doi: 10.18261/ISSN1893-8981-2015-01-05. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Artikkelen ynskjer å skildre studentar i høgare utdanning sine haldningar til og oppfatningar av førelesing, og særskilt bruk av multimodale presentasjonsprogram (t.d. PowerPoint) og tradisjonell tavleundervising. Det vart utvikla to haldningsskalaar med fire påstandar, for å måle studentane sine oppfatningar av (1) undervisingsstruktur, (2) læringsutbytte, (3) motivasjon til å delta på undervising og (4) interaksjon mellom studentar og forelesar når ein av to undervisingsmedium vart brukt. Studentar (N = 174, 94,8% fullføringsrate) frå anten Universitetet i Bergen eller Norsk Lærarakademi (NLA) vart spurde om ta del i ein eksplorativ studie som tok i bruk eit personleg responssystem («clickers»). Studien gir indikasjonar på at mange studentar ynskjer meir bruk av komplekse multimodale presentasjonar, som inkluderer animasjonar og/eller videoar. Samstundes er positive haldningar til multimodale presentasjonsprogram avhengig av studenten sitt føretrekte undervisingsformat og studenten si oppfatning av forelesar sin digitale og didaktiske kompetanse.

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• Mølstad, Christina Niemi; Løfblad, Åse Wedø; Brønstad, Odin Thune; Sønsthagen, Sigrun; Laski, Alona & Bergseth, Kristin Kathinka Due [Show all 50 contributors for this article] (2026). Skroting av lærernormen – basert på forskning? doi: https:/www.utdanningsnytt.no/barnehage-klasseledelse-laerernorm/skroting-av-laerernormen-basert-pa-forskning/469012?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ54sJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe5-ESejbAANeW9iL_Yi5PFe-M92Cok76QgWJztVKEVMpy9_jpymhzgRro7ls_aem_NkB3gbl0zcVLQ8D6kE2ejQ. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Forslagene om å skrote lærernormen og fjerne øremerkede midler til toppbemanning i barnehage er på kollisjonskurs med profesjonsutøvernes fortellinger om knappe ressurser, og med forskningsbidrag i feltet.

• Løfblad, Åse Wedø; Buseth, Jill Tove; Mølstad, Christina Niemi; Vestby, Stian; Kjørven, Ole Kolbjørn & Markeng, Synnøve [Show all 38 contributors for this article] (2025). Støtte til lærerne fra lærerutdannere ved Universitetet i Innlandet. doi: https:/www.h-a.no/stotte-til-larerne-fra-larerutdannere-ved-universitetet-i-innlandet/o/5-139-1873013?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ557pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeTSA5OfTw61ApyWbm7JXXcExAT-H4uI9U7ndr8v2lF02OUZ0xBQLC61mOAGg_aem_B1VQaG05Q8KC3_Qx3F8fVw. Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2024). Artificial intelligence in higher education (symposium). Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2024). A Call for Bildung: Addressing the Challenges of a Digitalized Education. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. 19(2), p. 101–111. doi: 10.18261/NJDL.19.2.4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines the integration of technology in education, with a particular focus on the adoption of emerging technologies. It outlines the historical cycle of enthusiasm and skepticism associated with educational technologies, dating back to early proponents such as B.F. Skinner. The contention is that the current discourse is predominantly shaped by psychological perspectives, suggesting that Bildung—a tradition that encompasses more than just the concept of learning—could offer a complementary and more comprehensive view. The analysis includes two recent reports: one addressing the digitization of primary education, and the other discussing learning analytics and adaptive learning in Norway. These cases highlight the gap between the perceived and actual affordances of educational technologies. They also expose fragmented empirical evidence and a lack of theoretical grounding. The article further describes a practical Bildung-centered approach for understanding emergent technologies, using large language models as an example. It concludes by invoking dialectical pluralism as a bridge between different understandings of both technology and education.

• Stalheim, Odd Rune; Hembre, Oda Julie; Skaar, Øystein Olav & Michaelsen, Eloisa (2023). DigitalInnSights- To play or not to play? Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2022). Stipendiaters erfaringer under pandemien. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Nilsen, Gaute Rydland (2022). The Black Void: Students’ perceived learning outcome from remote teaching. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2022). Samarbeid om godt psykososialt barnehagemiljø. Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2021). Koronapandemien - og de beste blant oss. Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Skaar, Øystein Olav & Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk (2021). Når fysisk nærvær blir fjernvær. Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2020). Kappen i en doktorgrad. Full text in Research Archive
• Krumsvik, Rune Johan; Røkenes, Fredrik Mørk & Skaar, Øystein Olav (2020). Peer review. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2017). Gender differences in Aha-Experiences. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2016). Insight and Attitudes: Understanding the Aha-experience. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2015). Aha-experiences and interest in mathematics education. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav (2014). Den misforståtte digitale kompetansen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Om vi skal vere heilt ærlege treng elevane digital kompetanse. Og det er ikkje det same som at elevar skal bruke PC til ei kvar oppgåve.

• Skaar, Øystein & Krumsvik, Rune Johan (2013). Digital læring i førelesingar. Full text in Research Archive
• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Reber, Rolf (2019). Moments of Brilliance: Understanding the Aha-experience through Bayesian Statistics. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Regarded as the product of prolonged and sustained efforts, creativity is still often associated with the rare moments when a solution to a problem suddenly bursts into consciousness: the hallmark of sudden insight. The present thesis aims to provide evidence for a better understanding of the phenomenology connected with these moments, colloquially termed as the Aha-experience. Founded on an integrative fluency account, linking sudden insight to the ease with which information is processed, positive affect and subjective certainty in the newfound solution, the thesis delves into different aspects of educational, cognitive, personality and social psychology, providing diverse and new understanding of motivation and creativity associated with the Aha-experience. Paper I utilized the integrative fluency account to understand metacognitive feelings in relation to change in motivation and coping from Ahaexperiences. Paper II applied social role theory to help explain gender similarities and differences in Aha-experiences. Paper III examined elapsed time since last memorable Aha-experience to explore the relationship between Openness to Experience and the frequency of Aha-experiences. Based on a large, retrospective survey, utilizing multiple independent samples, the strength of the project is the overall coherence between the individual studies. The design allows drawing conclusions across the three papers, which is the main purpose of this dissertation. All three studies applied bfw, a Bayesian framework, developed in tandem with the ongoing PhD project. The framework provided several modules to conduct linear and non-linear, hierarchical analyses, and allowed the use of custom Bayesian models specifically devolved for the project. The goal of the framework was to easily estimate parameter values and the stability of estimates and conduct convergence diagnostics. In other words, to assess the certainty, and uncertainty, associated with the presented results. Thus, the development of bfw aided the process of gaining a deeper understanding of the phenomenology of insight. An important aspect of this thesis is to present the methodological considerations of the Bayesian approach. Paper I aimed to test the integrative fluency account and examine the relationship between Aha-experiences and motivation within a given domain. Results indicated that fluency, positive affect and subjective certainty are underlying facets of metacognitive feelings elicited by sudden insight. The study strengthens the hypothesis that fluency is marked hedonically and epistemically, and therefore generally conforms to the proposed fluency account. Moreover, the study links the Aha-experience with an increase of motivation and coping. Paper II explored the situational aspects of Aha-experiences. Prior research indicates that boys show more interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) than girls, where traditional STEM education is marked as highly competitive and individualoriented. We applied a social role theory perspective to explain the role of gender in interest. Social role theory argues that society’s division of labor between men and women forms social roles and gender stereotypes, and that an interaction of biological and social processes influences sex-differentiated dispositions and behaviors. Results indicated that men, compared to women, were more likely to be alone during the Aha-experience. The effect was most credible for participants who reported increased interest in personal and STEM domains. The study is consistent with previous findings that women, relative to men, find more interest from cooperation. The study concludes that biosocial influences have led, in part, women to adopt more communal roles and men more agentic roles. Paper III examined the relationship between personality traits and the frequency of Ahaexperiences. Openness to Experience appears to be the strongest predictor of creativity and creative self-efficacy, and the Aha-experience is a phenomenon associated with creativity. Results linked Openness to Experience to recollecting autobiographical memories, and it is argued that feelings in the fringe of consciousness serve as a retrieval function, mainly through metacognitive feelings associated with a specific insight. Furthermore, the relationship between Openness to Experience and frequency of Aha-experiences was dependent on elapsed time since the last memorable Aha-experience, indicating that the relationship depends on creative achievement in the form of Aha-experiences and not just creative aptitude. Paper III concludes that to understand the relationship between Openness to Experience and Aha-experiences, and creativity in general, it is essential to consider the effect of motivational processes. Drawn together, the current thesis suggests that understanding situational aspects, phenomenological dimensions and individual differences are crucial in order to understand the Aha-experience itself. The thesis discusses these implications and draws inferences based on the overall perception of the independent studies. In sum, the work presented herein states that the Aha-experiences are multifaceted and without the context in which the sudden insight occurred, the Aha-experience will remain a mythical phenomenon.

• Skaar, Øystein Olav & Krumsvik, Rune Johan (2013). The Multimedia Expanse. Universitetet i Bergen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study was to examine students' attitudes toward multimodal presentations (AtMP) and traditional lectures (AtTL). A literature review of current research on this topic suggests that students generally have more positive attitudes toward the former rather than the latter, but few of these studies has a focal point on different study programmes and students within hard and soft sciences. Similarly, media literacy and technology ambivalence is seldom seen in relation with students' perception of instructional mediums, and the distinction between methods and mediums seems to be mostly ignored. Set within a Norwegian context and observed through the lens of what Richard Mayer and his colleagues define as the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the current study intended to measure whether a relationship existed between students' attitudes toward the two instructional mediums, media literacy and four study programmes (psychology, dentistry, education and medicine). The study was quantitative in design addressing seven research questions. One hundred and sixty-five students, attending either the university or a university college in Bergen, completed a questionnaire presented during four separate plenary lectures. The attitude scales (AtMP and AtTL), serving as the main instruments in the study, were built upon four items measuring the students' perception of the lecture structure, learning outcome, motivation to attend lectures and interaction between students and lecturer when one of the two lecturing mediums were used. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied (correlation, one-way analysis of variance and regression). The results indicated a strong negative relationship between AtMP and AtTL, meaning positive attitudes toward one would likely signify negative attitudes toward the other. Medicine students differed significantly from all the other study programmes, favouring traditional lectures over multimodal presentations. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between students' perception of their lecturers' media literacy, didactic awareness and AtMP, though no such relationship was found with AtTL. Implications of this study suggested that many of the students wish for more complex multimodal presentations in their lectures; moreover, it should not be taken for granted that students are undivided positive toward indiscriminate use of PowerPoint or similar software. The discussion concludes that more research is needed on the actual use of multimodal presentations in Norwegian higher education.

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