Browsing by Subject "oppimistulokset"

Previous research shows signs of gender inequality in comprehensive school, such as gender-based classifications and stereotypes. The assessments of learning outcomes have raised the issue of equality in education, as on the basis of them, girls succeeded over boys in most of the subjects. In addition, these assesments show that in home economics girls´ results were better than boys´ results. This study explores the teaching practices associated above-average learning outcomes of home economics, taking gender differences into account. The aim was to research which teaching practices, on the basis of home economics assessment data, were related to above-average learning outcomes, and which factors explained the differences from students´ and teachers´ perspective. The data is part of the national assessment of learning outcomes in home economics, which took place in 2014 (Venäläinen & Metsämuuronen, 2015). The student data consists of 3541 9th grade students and the teacher data of 163 home economics teachers. Quantitative data was analyzed by multivariate statistical methods: decision tree analysis, traditional explorative factor analysis, and linear regression analysis. As result, a good atmosphere in the classroom, sharing the grade criteria at the beginning of the course and taking the students' ideas and wishes into account were associated with the above-average learning outcomes of home economics. Based on factor analysis, the biggest influence on students' total competence had the diverse teacher (F4), who was characterized by the use of different teaching and assessment methods. The learning outcomes of boys and girls were partly influenced by different practices: boys' outcomes were also raised by a teacher who challenged their own perceptions and helped to reflect issues from the perspectives of their own life (F2). The girls' outcomes were raised by a very professional teacher (F5). To improve learning outcomes the teachers should, i. a., take the students' ideas and expectations into account and explain the criteria for the grade at the beginning of the course. Home economics education should be connected to both girls and boys everyday lives. In particular boys' learning motivation could be improved by bringing the everyday life of boys into the learning contents. Teacher education and in-service training should also ensure that teachers have up-to-date and versatile know-how for using teaching and assessment methods that take diverse learners into account.

The main purpose of the Master Thesis was to find out what kind of attitudes the pupils in the 9th grade of Finnish comprehensive school have towards music as a school subject and compare it to the attitudes of the principals at a school level. The theoretical context of the research is based on the former studies of the significance of music education in the comprehensive school, the connection between learning and attitudes and the motivational factors towards the study motivation of music. In addition to this, I have analysed the role of the evaluation and the assessment from the point of view of developing the educational system and what is the role of management and leadership in relation to the pupils' behaviour and attitudes. The data of the research is the Finnish National Board of Education's collected data of the assessment of the learning outcomes of arts education and it is nationally representative (N=5056 I phase and n=1570 II phase), both the Finnish-language and the Swedish-language pupil data. I have especially concentrated on the items of measuring the attitudes, the certain background variables and the questionnaire of the principals. The numerical data was analyzed using the multivariate statistical methods. The results of the research prove that in general the pupils and the principals think that music is quite significant as a school subject. The girls valued music on average more than the boys when comparing all the dimensions. The differences were systematic but the effect sizes were under 10 %. There were not statistically significant differences between the Finnish-language and the Swedish-language pupils. Comparing the grades of music in the 7th grade, the differences were growing linearly and the effect size was 15.7 %. There was a positive statistically significant correlation between the Significance of music and music as a hobby (Active interest in music, Informal interest in music, Taking part of music activities in the school) during free time. The strongest correlation were with the Active interest in music variable (r= 0.53, p= .000). Also the principals thought that music is important as a school subject considering the development of the pupil and the function of the school. The answers of the pupils were not clustering at a school level and there were no strong correlations between the attitudes of the pupils and the principals. A statistically nearly significant and a slight correlation (r= 0.21, p= .011) was found between the principals valuing the Significance of the music for school function and the pupils valuing the Benefits and hobbyism. The role of a well-motivated and active music teacher can be important from this point of view. The most important conclusion of the research was that the significance of music is a very personal individual level phenomenon. The results highlight also that in the pupils' opinion the most important thing about music lessons is to musical activity and learning as an experience.

In 2010 The Finnish National Board of Education made a follow-up assessment of the learning outcomes in arts education. The data of the research was collected during the assessment and it is nationally representative. In my Master's Thesis I examined the attitudes of the pupils towards crafts in school. The main purpose of the Thesis was to research a connection between the attitudes and the cognitive and skilled learning outcomes among the 9th grade pupils of the Finnish comprehensive school. The theoretical context of the Thesis was based on the National Core Curriculum for basic Education 2004 and crafts in it. Other relevant contents are crafts in the school, holistic craft, attitude and assessment. A total of 4792 pupils participated in the assessment at the first stage. At the second stage the number of participants was 1548 and at the third stage there were 661 participants. In this Thesis I have especially concentrated on the items of measuring the attitudes and the learning outcomes. At the first stage there were 18 claims concerning the attitudes and 10 questions were measuring the learning outcomes. At the second stage there were 15 claims concerning attitudes and 24 questions were measuring learning outcomes. At the third stage the pupils performed the production assignment of the crafts. The data of the Thesis was analysed with SPPS program using the Cluster analysis, the cross tabulation and the Analysis of Variance. As a result of the Cluster analysis three groups came out: those who had the most positive attitude, those who had a quite positive attitude and those who had the least positive attitude towards crafts. At the 1st stage 43,95 % of pupils had a most positive attitude, 39,96 % had quite positive attitude and 15,32 % had least positive attitude towards crafts. At the 2nd stage the results were 35,04 %, 44,62 %, 20,34 %. Generally it can be said that the pupils attitude towards craft is good. The results of the Thesis prove that there is a statistically high and a significant connection between attitudes and learning outcomes. The conclusion of the Thesis is that the attitudes towards crafts has a strong connection to learning outcomes in crafts. Connection between attitudes and learning outcomes has been searched in the long-term period in other school subjects. Research concerning the learning outcomes in art education (music, visual arts and crafts) has never been done either in Finland than internationally. The data, which has been used at this Thesis is therefore unique.

Previous studies have shown that using serious games in the classroom setting have a positive impact on students’ engagement and learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to plan and conduct a gamified intervention in a middle school history class where the test group was taught using a serious game and the observation group was taught with traditional learning methods. The research questions guided by the study are: What kind of development can be found in students’ school engagement and learning outcomes due to the implemented intervention? What kind of development did the teacher perceive in students’ school engagement and learning outcomes due to the intervention? This study was carried out using a mixed methods approach. The focus group that took part in the gamified intervention consisted of two groups of students from parallel grades (N=36) and the history teacher teaching both classes. The quantitative data was collected using a Schoolwork Engagement (EDA) scale. The collected data was analyzed using paired samples t-tests, univariated analysis and comparisons of means and frequencies. The qualitative data of the study consisted of teacher interviews, fact knowledge scales for students and open response questions for the test group students. The acquired material was analyzed using content analysis and factual analysis. The results of the analyzed quantitative data showed no statistical improvements or declines in the focus group’s school engagement or learning outcomes and the occurred alterations were entirely coincidental. However the paired samples t-tests showed a statistically significant decrease within one of the claims on the school engagement scale for the test group. These results can be explained by the size of the sample and with problems that arose from the serious game that was conducted. The qualitative data indicated that test group students evaluated their school engagement and learning outcomes in a more positive light than the qualitative data attested. The teacher perceived no developments in school engagement or learning outcomes between the test and observation group but she did notice a positive impact on certain individuals’ school engagement within the test group. The open response questions of students’ supported the teacher’s perceptions. The results are found to have consistency with the findings of previous studies.

In the recent years, digital learning material has been a topic of discussion in media, both for it to be used and against it. The interest to do this thesis began from my personal need to clear up whether I should use digital learning material in my teaching work. The aim of this thesis was to find out what sort of effects digital learning materials might have on motivation and learning outcomes. The aim of this study is to provide information which might be useful to those teachers who are thinking about using digital learning materials in teaching mathematics. The type of this research is a descriptive literature review. The literature of this thesis is based on studies made mainly in the 2010’s. These studies are focused on the effects of the use of digital learning materials on motivation and learning outcomes. Based on my literature review, most of the studies showed digital learning materials to have positive effects on the motivation and learning outcomes of students. For example, digital learning materials can satisfy basic psychological needs and provide flow-experiences. Also these studies found that students’ motivation increased during the use of digital learning materials. The improvement in learning outcomes was influenced by, for example, the elements of game-based-learning and receiving immediate feedback. However, certain studies conflicted with these results and showed that the use of digital learning materials had no effect on motivation or did not cause better learning outcomes.