Browsing by master's degree program "Kasvatustieteiden maisteriohjelma"

Proficiency in English is necessary for university students to graduate and it is also useful in their future. Previous research has shown that students experience a wide range of emotions that can have an impact on their academic performance. Emotions and cognition are strongly connected and therefore can have an effect on academic performance. The aim of this Master’s Thesis was to study the variety of academic emotions and find out whether the type of the course influences them. In autumn 2020 students from several faculties at the University of Helsinki took part in this study. The data was collected through a questionnaire that measures academic emotions. A total of 76 students answered the questionnaire. The research material consisted of quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS software. The analyzes included an exploratory factor analysis that yielded six sum variables to describe the academic emotions experienced by students. Open-ended responses were analyzed using data-driven content analysis. The six sum variables describing emotions were named irritability, boredom, teacher support, dissatisfaction, enjoyment, and hope. University students experienced boredom and irritation the least, and support from the teacher and hope the strongest. When comparing Alms and lecture course participants, there was more variation in the boredom sum variable among lecture course participants. However, there were no statistical differences between the two groups. Open-ended answers showed more negative emotions, such as fear and anxiety. Based on the results of this study, academic emotions should be taken into consideration when teaching, for instance by supporting students’ positive emotions. The teacher can play an important role by providing support and encouragement. Understanding academic emotions may also benefit students, as it can affect academic achievements.

The purpose of this thesis is to review the quality of intervention studies training numeracy skills using technology in primary schools. To find the best methods to support children’s numeracy skills, it is worth paying attention to the quality of empirical intervention studies that examine the effectiveness of interventions by learning results. In this thesis the quality of intervention studies is reviewed by using categories that were made based on the EPHPP tool (e.g. Thomas et al., 2004): generalizability of results, research design, exposure to intervention, assessment tools, realization of intervention and effectiveness. The intervention studies were collected from psycINFO and Eric (ProQuest) databases. The PRISMA directions (Moher et al., 2009) were utilized in making the systematic literature review. All intervention studies had to be published five years before the final search day (1.12.2020) and they were written in English, peer reviewed, contained an abstract and the sample consisted of children aged from 6 to 12. In addition, the criteria included the following: 1) the article is an empirical intervention study containing practicing of numeracy skills; 2) the intervention is implemented for the most part using technology and it is based on either computer-assisted instruction, intelligent tutoring systems or gamification; 3) the effectiveness of a certain program is reviewed in the study; 4) the results of the intervention are reviewed by learning results; and 5) the article doesn’t consist of several separate sub-studies. There was a great deal of variation in the quality of the intervention studies, especially concerning the generalizability of results, research design, exposure to intervention and effectiveness. For instance, sample sizes, principles of forming groups, exposure times and measurement of effectiveness varied widely. In many studies there was a lack of information about the reliability and validity of assessment tools, implementers of the intervention and the methods to gather the sample. In addition, there was missing information about the relations between the intervention and other learning. In future studies it is recommended to make those kinds of choices that potentially influence the quality of interventions positively. It is also recommended to report all aspects clearly and comprehensively.

Objectives. The goal of this thesis is to examine what kind of mathematical identity the groups of third, fourth and fifth grade students have. In addition, the study aims to decipher, through drawings produced by students, what kind of positive methods teacher use in math lesson, and considers whether positive pedagogy has an effect on students’ mathematical identities. Methods. The research method for this thesis was a qualitative case study of pupils’ drawings and writings. The research material comprised of 44 drawings and 44 writings. The research group consisted of three school classes from Uusimaa. The teaching methods of the class teachers were largely in line with positive pedagogy. The drawings were analyzed through drawing analysis and the writings by using classifications. Results and conclusions. The mathematical identities of the data were defined into four different categories: positive mathematical identity, conflicting mathematical identity, neutral mathematical identity, and negative mathematical identity. In the studied groups, over half of the students had a positive mathematical identity. Negative mathematical identities occurred the least. The majority of students described positive means in teacher action. The postive means of teachers manifested themselves in three different ways: encouraging and positive precence, support for learning, and encouraging and positive words. Based on the data, the teachers had the most encouraging precence and support for learning. Although the various words of encouragement were not very much present, the students for the most part described their relationship with the teacher positively. The research findings the encourages the use of positive pedagogy because it has the potential to positively influence a learner’s mathematical identity. The research also shows that drawing research, especially with combined with students’ writings, is a good method of research in analyzing mathematical identity.

Aikaisempien tutkimusten perusteella lasten psyykkinen oireilu ja mielenterveyden haasteet ovat lisääntyneet kouluympäristössä. Tässä tutkimuksessa lapsen psyykkisellä oireilulla tarkoitetaan lapsen omaa psyykkistä häiriötä tai ulkoisten tekijöiden, aiheuttamaa reaktiota, jonka vuoksi oppilas ei syystä tai toisesta kykene, osaa tai halua toimia yleisesti asetettujen normien mukaisesti kouluympäristössä. Oppilaalla ei tarvitse olla erillistä diagnoosia, jotta oireilu voidaan katsoa psyykkiseksi oireiluksi. Aikaisemmassa tutkimuksessa on havaittu, ettei erityisopettajien tämänhetkinen koulutus ja resurssit vastaa työelämän vaatimuksia liittyen psyykkisesti oireilevien oppilaiden kohtaamiseen ja tukemiseen. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää alakoulussa työskentelevien laaja-alaisten erityisopettajien kokemuksia omista valmiuksista tunnistaa ja tukea psyykkisesti oireilevia oppilaita sekä kartoittaa millaista tukea erityisopettajat saavat psyykkisesti oireilevien oppilaiden kanssa työskentelyyn. Tämä tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen tutkimus, jonka tutkimusstrategiaksi valittiin fenomenologis-hermeneuttinen lähestymistapa, jossa pyritään syvällisesti ymmärtämään ja tulkitsemaan ihmisen kokemusta ja kokemusmaailmaa. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu seitsemän alakoulussa työskentelevien laaja-alaisten erityisopettajien teemahaastatteluista. Aineisto analysoitiin aineistolähtöisellä sisällönanalyysillä hyödyntäen Gioia- metodologiaa. Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan erityisopettajat tunnistivat oppilaan psyykkinen oireilun normaalista poikkeavana lapsen ulospäin ja sisäänpäin suuntauvana oireiluna. Psyykkisen oireilun ilmenemisessä painotettiin yksilöllisyyttä ja muutosten tunnistamisessa tärkeäksi koettiin hyvä oppilastuntemus. Erityisopettajat tunnistivat psyykkisen oireilun taustalla ympäristötekijöitä, neurologisia tekijöitä ja ikäkausiin liittyviä muutoksia. Työkokemus, haasteet, uuden oppiminen ja oppilaan asioiden edistämisen koettiin lisäävän voimavaroja ja työn antoisuutta. Toisaalta liialliset odotukset, resurssien puute ja käyttäytymisen haasteet koettiin uuvuttavana. Yleisesti erityisopettajan koulutus nähtiin hyödyllisenä, mutta sen ei koettu antavan riittävästi valmiuksia kohdata psyykkisesti oireilevia oppilaita. Erityisopettajat kokivat saavansa valmiuksia työkokemuksesta, työyhteisöltä sekä koulutuksista. Erityisopettajat mainitsivat saavansa tukea psyykkisesti oireilevien oppilaiden kanssa työskentelyssä oppilashuollosta, luokanopettajilta, erityisluokan opettajilta, mentoriopettajilta ja lähiesihenkilöiltä. Ammatillisen yhteistyön toimivuudesta huolimatta oppilashuollon koettiin olevan liian työllistetty. Suomessa ei ole tehty aikaisempaa tutkimusta, joka keskittyisi pelkästään alakoulussa työskentelevien erityisopettajien kokemuksiin oppilaiden psyykkisen oireilun tunnistamisesta ja tukemisesta. Tutkimus vahvistaa aikaisempia tutkimustuloksia siitä, ettei erityisopettajien koulutus ja saatavilla olevat resurssit vastaavat nykyisiin työelämän vaatimuksiin psyykkisesti oireilevien oppilaiden kanssa toimiessa. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksia ei voida yleistää koskemaan kaikkia alakoulussa työskenteleviä erityisopettajia, mutta tutkimus luo kuvaa erityisopettajien työn resursseista, koulutuksen tarpeista sekä työssäjaksamisesta psyykkisesti oireilevien oppilaiden kanssa työskennellessä. Lisäksi tutkimus vahvistaa käsityksiä koulun tukitoimien resurssien puutteellisuudesta sekä kuinka laajasti psyykkisesti oireileva oppilas vaikuttaa kouluympäristössä.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the views of elementary school teachers on teacher expertise and the effects of social change on expertise. The aim of this study has been to determine how experienced teachers perceive teacher’s role and the changes that have taken place, focusing on teachers’ professional growth and the development of expertise. The significance of teachers and schools in society is evident. Education has been on display in the social discourse recently, focusing on the challenges brought by social change. The demands placed on teaching can be seen to have increased, and teachers view the social changes as a challenge to the implementation of the teacher’s and school’s primary task. By examining the construction and changes of teacher expertise, information can be obtained about the work of teachers in the present day and the meeting of demands and resources, so that the teacher’s professional development can be supported. The research was conducted as a qualitative study, using theory-guided content analysis methods, aiming for phenomenological inference. The data was collected by performing semi-structured interviews for six elementary school teachers, each of whom had worked as a teacher for over ten years. The participants of this study saw teacher expertise being formed by expertise in education and training, which includes professionalism and humanity. Teachers emphasized the building of expertise on a foundation of knowledge and, increasingly, educational skills, where the significance of an individual teacher has grown. Social change was seen to bring challenges to education, which require increasingly more thinking and decision-making skills. Teachers emphasized the need to adapt to a diverse world in times of social change through professional ethics and pedagogical expertise. A special challenge for expertise seemed to rise from the limited opportunities to influence one’s work and its implementation.

Aims This study aims to explore teachers in Aland Islands,' perspectives on the relationship between students' physical activity and mental health, aiming to understand teachers' efforts to promote both aspects and raise awareness of their significance. In today's society, students tend to be increasingly sedentary, coinciding with a rise in mental health issues among them. Particularly in Aland Island,, alarming statistics have emerged in the past year, indicating higher rates of mental health challenges compared to the rest of Finland. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how teachers in Åland perceive this relationship and what measures they take to promote both physical activity and mental health among their students.To gain insights into this connection, the following research questions were formulated: What importance do teachers in Åland attribute to physical activity for students' mental health? What importance do teachers in Åland attribute to students' mental health for their physical activity? How do teachers work to increase students' physical activity and promote their mental health? How do teachers describe the relationship between students' physical activity and mental health? Methods This dissertation employed a qualitative research method with a narrative analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three active teachers in Åland for data collection. The collected material then generated three unique narratives serving as responses to the central research questions in the dissertation. Results Teachers emphasized the positive effects of physical activity on students' mental health, citing increased energy, joy, improved social interaction, concentration, and stress management. At the same time, the teachers said that students' mental health can influence their conditions, endurance, and motivation to engage in physical activity.Students facing mental health challenges might struggle to find motivation and energy to engage in physical activity. To promote both physical activity and mental health, schools in Åland participated in various events and break-time activities. Ultimately, the study participants were convinced that there was a connection between students' physical activity and their mental health, even though the extent of this connection could vary. This thesis raised awareness of the link between physical activity and mental health, providing insights into how teachers in Åland worked to support students' well-being. It also emphasized the need for additional resources and support, especially in the field of school psychology, to effectively address these challenges and promote students' health and well-being.

Paramedics meet critically injured patients and deliver advanced pre-hospital care. The profession requires comprehensive knowledge and education. A worry for patient safety and an increase in the popularity of learner-centered education has increased the use of simulation in paramedic education. Simulation enables students to safely practice on, for example, acute situations and teamwork. Despite that simulation is nowadays widely used in education of paramedics, and is viewed as an effective method for learning, there are few studies conducted in Finland of how students experience simulation. In previous international studies, it is shown that a higher satisfaction leads to an increase in engagement, learning, competence and finally better care for patients. Higher self-confidence can enhance critical thinking skills, leadershipskills and identification of knowledge gaps. The aim of this study is to explore and describe how paramedic students in a university of applied sciences experience satisfaction and self-confidence concerning simulation. Previousstudies of satisfaction and self-confidence and the model conducted by National League for Nursing and Pamela Jeffries is used as theoretical background for this study. The data was gathered via an electronic survey which was distributed to the paramedic students, a total of N = 92. The survey was answered by N = 29. A quantitative, descriptive method was used for this study and all group comparisons were measured with nonparametric tests. The results show that paramedic students are generally very satisfied with simulation. They also perceive high self-confidence. Some students experience disadvantages with fidelity in simulation and some experience levels of stress, but these do not have a negative effect on the overall level of satisfaction and self-confidence. The inexperienced students were more satisfied with the teacher than the experienced students. Work experience was significant with levels of satisfaction with debriefing. Debriefing seems to be an important factor which leads to students being satisfied with simulation.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and interpret primary school teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction. The aim was also to illuminate how job satisfaction appears in daily life for teachers and how important primary school teachers believe satisfaction with their work is. Job satisfaction is the most studied variable in organizations and job satisfaction usually refers to an individual’s general perception about their job. Problems have, however, accured in studies about job satisfaction since there is no general definition of it that everyone agrees on. Now job satisfaction is current in Finland since there was a teacher strike in 2022 and since studies have shown that many teachers in Finland are thinking about career turnover. Accordingly, I saw it as necessary to find out the perceptions that primary school teachers have of job satisfaction as a concept, its relevance in the workplace and what being satisfied with their job means to them. My study was a qualitative one with a phenomenographic approach. In phenomenography the focus lays on people’s perceptions of a concept and variances between the perceptions is an outset. Research data was collected through semi structured thematic interviews of primary school teachers who in fall 2022 worked in swedish-speaking schools in Finland (N=9). The interviews were transcribed. I analyzed my data through a phenomenographic analyzing model. The results showed that primary school teachers have varying perceptions of job satisfaction even though all teachers saw it as some sort of an attitude towards one’s job. Teachers connected the word to a.i.a. being satisfied, being content, sense a meaning, thriving or succeeding with/at one’s job. Job satisfaction was perceived appearing in many different ways at the workplace, a.i.a. in surveys, conversations with the supervisor, thoughts on colleagues, teaching, other job assignments and in private life. The teachers perceived that job satisfaction is a very important concept that should saturate all things at one’s work. Being satisfied with one’s job overall was considered to help you get through everyday life, manage your job and to simply be well.

From an ecological perspective, school can be seen as a protective factor for students with adverse home conditions. Although previous theory and research show that the school has potential for supporting students with adverse home conditions, research shows that there are challenges in how this works in practice. The aim of this research is to examine what methods school staff use to identify students with adverse home conditions, find out how school staff experience their role when meeting these students and how the multi-professional collaboration is implemented in schools when supporting students with adverse home conditions. This is a qualitative research. Semi-structured interview was used as a method. 1 principal, 1 special class teacher, 4 class teachers and 1 school counselor shared their experiences. The informants worked in Swedish-language schools in Southern Finland. Data from the interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. Being observant was perceived as a prerequisite for identifying students with adverse home conditions. According to the informants, it is easier to identify these students when students show changes in behavior, they become anxious and are acting out. It is more difficult to identify adverse home conditions in students who are quiet, calm, and independent. Respectful approach was experienced as important with both students and parents of students with adverse home conditions. Creating trust in students and parents was perceived as a prerequisite for successful collaboration and something the school should put effort into. There was a lot of local variation regarding how the informants experienced the multi-professional collaboration. The results of this study emphasize that the role of the teacher is significant for a student with adverse home conditions. The results of the study also show that a good contact with the home, which is based on mutual respect and trust, is significant when it comes to supporting students with adverse home conditions.

The use of smartphones in a school context involves two intertwined social realities, official and unofficial, that are often at odds with each other. In a formal context, school is about taking care of social educational responsibilities related to education and upbringing. On the other hand, school is also an important social world between young people, largely consisting of informal activities. Teachers best see the struggle between these opposing social realities and the importance of students' smartphones as part of it. The purpose of this Master's thesis is to describe, analyse and interpret teachers' experiences of smartphones and their different uses in the classroom environment. The study examines teachers' experiences of the formal and informal use of smartphones and the way schools approach the use of phones. In addition, teachers' different attitudes towards smartphone use will be examined. The thesis is qualitative in nature and its research material consists of interviews with six secondary school teachers. The study utilises phenomenographic research orientation, which makes it possible to study variation in teachers' perceptions. As a key result of the study, four types of attitudes were found in teacher interviews that reflect their different attitudes towards smartphones in the classroom. The types of attitudes were smartphone favourable, -unfavourable, -indifferent and -uncertain. Different attitudes were found towards the official and unofficial use of smartphones, the monitoring of smartphones and the future vision of smartphones. In addition, the material revealed different ways in which teachers relate to the general guidelines concerning smartphones in schools.