Meric Karahalil defends his PhD thesis

The dissertation investigates how simulator-based maritime education and training (MET) is organised and enacted within a highly regulated professional field. It focuses on how curriculum practices emerge through the interaction of international regulatory frameworks, institutional arrangements, and local pedagogical decisions.

Rather than treating curriculum as a fixed structure defined by regulation, the study conceptualises curriculum as a practice that is interpreted, translated, and enacted across different levels of the education system. Particular attention is given to the role of simulation as a key pedagogical and technological component in maritime education.  

Analyses curriculum, assessment, and policy perspectives

The thesis consists of three empirical studies:

• Study 1 examines factors influencing curriculum practices in simulator-based MET, based on document analysis, interviews, and observations. The study develops a conceptual map that illustrates how curriculum emerges through multi-level interactions between policy, institutional structures, and teaching practices.
  
  
• Study 2 explores formative assessment practices in simulator-based training. Drawing on interviews and observations, it shows how assessment is embedded in briefing, simulation, and debriefing processes, and how instructors’ professional judgement plays a central role.
  
  
• Study 3 investigates stakeholder perspectives on the ongoing revision of the International Maritime Organization STCW Convention. The analysis highlights how policy is interpreted and negotiated, rather than directly determining educational practice  

Highlights the importance of interpretation, mediation, and professional judgement

The findings show that simulator-based education is not directly shaped by regulation alone. Instead, curriculum practices develop through processes of interpretation and mediation across different contexts.

The study demonstrates that:

• International regulatory frameworks establish boundaries and expectations, but do not prescribe practice in detail
• Institutional arrangements and resources shape how simulation is integrated into education
• Instructors play a key role in translating curriculum intentions into teaching and assessment practices

Overall, the thesis contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how policy and practice are connected in regulated professional education.

Methodological approach

The research adopts an interpretive and qualitative design. Empirical material includes:

• Document analysis of regulatory and institutional frameworks
• Semi-structured interviews with programme managers, instructors, students, and policy stakeholders
• Observations of simulator-based teaching across Norwegian maritime education institutions

The study focuses on Bachelor-level nautical programmes in Norway, where simulator-based training is extensively integrated into formal curricula  

Personalia

Meric Karahalil is currently working as an Emergency Response Service (ERS) Engineer at DNV, where he supports vessel emergencies and provides technical analysis in critical maritime situations.

He is also a researcher at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. He has a professional background as a maritime officer and captain, with extensive seagoing experience. His research focuses on maritime education and training, simulator-based learning, and curriculum development in regulated professional contexts.

Trial Lecture

Time: Monday, 2 June, 10:00
Place: Campus Haugesund, auditorium B
Topic of the trial lecture: “Navigating the Scientific Policy–Practice Nexus: Positioning Maritime Simulation”  

Link to Zoom: https://hvl.zoom.us/j/67108471984?pwd=n3ICZAYvjzt9WYCj9dJV7QP0x3D4Jy.1&from=addon  

Meeting ID: 671 0847 1984. Passcode: 316163

Public defence

Time: Monday, 2 June, 12.00
Place: Campus Haugesund, auditorium B

Chair

TBA

Committee

• First opponent: Associate Professor Astrid Camilla Wiig, Univsersity of Sourthern-Eastern Norway
• Second opponent: Professor Charlott Sellberg, University of Gothenburg
• Committee chair: Associate Professor Joakim Trygg Månsson, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Supervisors

• Professor Margareta Lützhöft, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Co-supervisor: Associate Professor Joel Scanlan, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Co-supervisor: Professor Tae-Eun Kim, UiT The Arctic University of Norway