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(2016)The purpose of the study was to examine the communication of Finnish anti-immigration politicians, especially their representations of immigrants. Previous studies have shown that the self-named "immigration critics" have played an important part in making stigmatizing and derogatory talk about immigrants seem more acceptable. The theoretical framework of this study was built on Smith's (2007a) model of stigma communication. Stigmatizing messages consist of marks to recognize and categorize people, labels to distinguish people as a separate social entity, cues of responsibility to imply blame, and implications of peril linking people to physical or social dangers. The aim of the study was to find out if these contents can be found in anti-immigration discourse. The data were drawn from six blogs written by True Finn candidates who got elected in 2011 Parliamentary election. The data also contains the Sour Election Manifesto (Nuiva vaalimanifesti) signed by them. The main method in analyzing the data was theory-driven qualitative content analysis. Methods of rhetorical discourse analysis were used as a complementary analysis in reviewing the strategies of this communication. The results show that the strongest mark was affixed to the groups that have the lowest positions in the prevailing ethnic hierarchy. Muslims and people of African origin were marked most strongly, but marking was for most part indirect. The marked were labeled as culturally backward and strongly separated from "us". Responsibility was linked with the immigration itself: it was implied that the labeled people had only left their country in search of an easy life. Prejudice was claimed to be caused by the immigrants' own actions. Presenting the immigrants as both physical and moral threat to the Finnish community was the most dominant stigma message and it was used to justify stigmatization. Immigrants were presented as a homogeneous mass (part of label), but there were also claims that they should be seen and judged only as individuals. This color-blindness makes it possible for the stigmatizers to never actually face their victims, because they are not seen as members of a stigmatized group on an interpersonal level. It is also very hard for the stigmatized to change the stigma in these circumstances. The model of stigma communication proved out to be an effective tool for qualitative interpretation in this context. Further study should investigate the receiving end of these stigma messages, in this case it could mean studying the comments or the readers of political anti-immigration blogs.
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(2019)The material that has been analyzed for this study consists of video recordings from Natur & Språk’s [Nature & Language’s] multilingual summer camps. The aim was to study the children’s interactions and conversations at the camps, focusing on their stances towards other languages. A further aim was to study the results in relation to the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014. The research questions focus on how the children in their conversations express their stances and positions towards other languages, and how this can be related to the views on language stated in the national core curriculum. The respondents were between 8 and13 years old and spoke either Swedish or Finnish while some were bilingual. The video recordings of the conversations between the children were transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis. The transcripts were additionally analyzed through a sociolinguistic perspective by studying the children’s stance. The theoretical framework of this study was based upon stance. As a result of the analysis, four main categories were found that represented the children’s varied ways of expressing their stances towards other languages, as well as other people’s language choices and backgrounds. The children categorized themselves and others in relation to languages and/or language groups. They showed expectations regarding their own and/or other’s competence. They expressed comments or whishes about language choice and showed orientation towards language learning. These results demonstrate that multilingual practices with language encounters create opportunities for children to challenge themselves and develop their language awareness, their stances and interests in other languages. In relation to this, parallels were drawn to the views on language stated in the National Core Curriculum, with its aims concerning language awareness and cultural diversity. Therefor this study can contribute with insight in regard to the potential that multilingual practices and activities have to offer in different educational contexts. This study is written in collaboration with the project Natur & Språk [Nature & Language], a collaboration between the Finnish Society for Nature and Environment, the Finnish Nature League and the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki.
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(2022)The purpose of this research is to study how the personnel of early childhood education and care (ECEC) describe the child and learning in the child’s individual ECEC plan and to analyse how well the children’s plans comply with the national core curriculum of ECEC. In 2016, ECEC in Finland changed from daycare to pedagogy when the national core curriculum of ECEC was published and became the national norm. Mansikka and Lundkvist’s (2019) review of the ECEC curriculum from 2005 and the curriculum from 2016 showed that the concept learning is more valued in ECEC today. A Finnish study from the beginning of 2000 indicated that the ECEC personnel had expectations of how the child should behave. A child was expected for example to be social, to follow rules and to play calmly in a way that is considered suitable for the child’s gender (Alasuutari, 2010.) Since the research mentioned above was made, the Finnish ECEC has developed a lot because of the new ECEC law and the national core curriculum. It is interesting to study what kind of impact this development has had on the view of children and learning. The research data consisted of children’s individual ECEC plans. The length of these plans was 1–3 pages and a total of 27 plans were collected. The plans were collected from daycare centers within the same organization. I made a qualitative content analysis of the research data. The analys proceeded in three parts and the research data was compressed in each part. When the first part was done, I had hundreds of words categorized into 18 categories. Finally, four categories of the child view and two categories of the learning view remained. The child view in the children’s individual plans and in the ECEC curriculum were mainly similar. One difference was found in the individual plans. In the children´s individual plans a desire for a compliant child was found. The child was expected to participate in activities and to be compliant in transitions for example when moving from indoors to outdoors. The impact of the physical environment on children's learning was not mentioned in the individual plans, but the ECEC curriculum highlighted the impact of the physical environment. The role of the adults in a child's learning was emphasized in both types of documents, but the child’s role seemed to be forgotten in the children´s individual plans. In the ECEC curriculum the concepts learning and development are used as two separate concepts while the two concepts are used as synonyms in the children’s plans. This study indicates that the two concepts have different meanings. They are used separate in theory but are used as synonyms in practice
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(2020)Purpose. Around 3-15% of all pupils have dyslexia. According to the core curriculum, student assessment should be conducted in a comprehensive way, considering students’ individual difficulties. However, assessment instructions might be considered vague. Earlier studies have also shown that teachers may perceive assessment as complicated, particularly when it comes to students with special needs. The purpose of the study is to describe, analyze and interpret how secondary school teachers experience assessment and grading of pupils with dyslexia. The purpose is also to explore how pupils are enabled to show their knowledge in an adequate way. Furthermore, teachers’ perceptions of assessment fairness with regard to pupils with dyslexia are discussed. Methods. The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. The material consists of eight semi-structured, individual interviews with teachers working in two Swedish-speaking secondary schools i Finland. The collected material was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers expressed a genuine will to support pupils with dyslexia and they stated that they could assess pupils in a flexible way. Cooperation with special education teachers was perceived as important. The versatility of the core curriculum was regarded as an advantage for students with dyslexia. The most used accommodations were oral responses, extended time and test writing in a small group. Double assessment, prioritized content and adapted tests were also used, but teachers had different approaches. A student’s positive lesson activity could lead to a better grade. Language teachers struggled with the assessment of misspelled words. IT software was not widely used. The teachers stated that they did their best to take students’ difficulties into consideration when giving them grades, and they normally also thought their assessment was fair. The study shows that teachers do their very best to assess students with dyslexia, but there are differences in procedures between teachers, which might lead to unequal assessment.
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(2023)The article deals with feelings of belonging and non-belonging in first-year university students. The research material was collected using the empathy based method and analyzed using narrative analysis. Based on the analysis, six different narratives of belonging and non-belonging were identified. The narratives are built on both individual psychological and socially constructed experiences of belonging. Individual psychological dimensions were emphasized in the narratives describing positive experiences of belonging. Personality traits, like introversion, appeared to be very compatible for distance learning in the corona era. Social contexts, where the mentioned feelings of belonging were experienced somewhere other than in studies, appeared to be beneficial for studies. Remote meetings were usually perceived to mitigate the otherwise impossible social situation. Personality, especially the individual's resilience, also played a key role in the narrative of non-belonging. A personal incompatibility with the pandemic restrictions is to challenge personal validity. Remote meetings seem partly unreal and the narratives were plagued by doubt as to whether learning actually took place. The separation from concrete places and face-to-face encounters left the student detached from university as an institution and higher education studies in the narratives. The narratives of belonging and non-belonging are multidimensional and are defined through various intersecting, mutually defining categories.
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(2015)Goals. Juvenile delinquency has inspired many different theories on the causes of crime. At this moment, there is enough evidence to believe that there are at least two subgroups of juveniles, with different developmental pathways to criminal involvement. In the field of criminology there has been concern on the pattern of criminal offending which has lead to hypothesis regarding offence specialization versus versatility. Majority of research conducted to this day suggest that juveniles are versatile offenders who engage in all types of criminal or antisocial behaviors. However, the developmental view anticipate different pattern of offending for different subgroups of delinquent youths. This study focuses on individual differences in crime according to Big Five personality traits. The Big Five has been used in several studies of crime and personality and the relationship between them has been well documented. However, little is known how personality traits are related to different types of crime. The purpose of this study is to explore how personality traits are related to different types of crime and furthermore are there differences in offence specialization versus versatility according to personality traits. Methods. This study employs the data from the nationwide survey on youth crime and victimization conducted by the National Research Institute of Legal Policy. A total of 4855 ninth grade students completed a self-report survey questionnaire. The BFI-S (Big Five inventory short) personality instrument was used to measure personality traits. This study investigates personality traits in relation to four crime types: 1) property offences, 2) theft, 3) violence and 4) alcohol and drug use. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore whether the versatility hypothesis of criminal acts holds true according to personality traits. Results and conclusions. Conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion were found to be associated with crime among students, which was in line with the previous research. In addition, the result suggested that personality traits are differently linked to different types of crime. Risk for engaging in alcohol and drug use was characterized by high extraversion and low conscientiousness whereas low agreeableness was found to increase the risk for violent offending. Theoretically the results of this study are interpreted as a counter evidence for versatility hypothesis on the nature of juvenile delinquency, even though no direct evidence for the offence specialization was found. Still, juvenile delinquency might not be as versatile behavior as it has been considered but moreover, individuals with different personality characteristics may be prone towards different types of delinquent acts. The role of violence as the most "pathological" form of antisocial behavior is discussed in relation of previous theory and research as well as the findings of this study.
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(2015)Goals. Bullying is a fairly common phenomenon and is known to cause major psychological distress on its victims. The negative effects of bullying are often long lasting, which is why early interventions are important. Understanding the factors behind bullying can help us learn more about it and thus find better ways of intervening. One factor that is known to affect bullying is personality. The goal of this study is to examine the link between Big Five personality traits and becoming the victim of bullying. On basis of previous research, it was assumed that lower conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion and higher neuroticism would lead to a higher risk of being bullied. The role of openness was ambiguous. Also the effect of parental supervision, school performance and time spent with friends were examined. Methods. This study employs the data from the nationwide survey on youth crime and victimization conducted by the national research institute of legal policy in 2012. The sample frame of the survey was Finnish-speaking primary and secondary schools. A total of 8914 sixth and ninth grade students completed a self-report survey questionnaire in school. 14.9 % of the students reported being bullied at least once during the previous year. Multinomial regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between personality traits, parental supervision, time spent with friends, school performance and bullying. Interaction analyses between personality traits and the moderators were also conducted. Results and conclusions. The result of this study suggest that students who score lower on extroversion, conscientiousness, parental supervision and school performance and higher on openness and neuroticism are more likely than other students to be bullied. There was no statistically significant relation between bullying and openness or time spent with friends. The risk between bullying and extroversion was especially high when combined with lower parental supervision, school performance and a higher level of time spent with friends. The risk between bullying and neuroticism was higher when combined with lower school performance and a higher level of time spent with friends. Openness was a risk factor especially when combined with lower levels of parental supervision and school performance. The results show that personality traits as well as other, more social factors such as parental supervision, can have a significant impact on bullying. Parental supervision is something that, unlike personality traits, can be more easily altered, which is why giving parents more information about the effects of parental supervision on bullying is important. Although this study focused on the victim's traits, it is important to stress that the idea is not to blame the victim. The goal of this study was to get a better understanding of the factors that increase a child's risk for victimization and use this knowledge to design better interventions for bullying and perhaps peer victimization in general.
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(2015)The purpose of the study was to examine the associations between the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience and agreeableness) and insomnia symptoms. The insomnia symptoms were difficulties to initiate sleep, awakenings during sleep, waking up too early and feeling tired after a night's sleep. According to theories on insomnia and to empirical research, high neuroticism, low extroversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness may be associated with insomnia. In empirical research, high neuroticism has consistently been associated with insomnia but also low extraversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness have been associated with it. It was therefore hypothesized that high neuroticism, low extraversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness are associated with insomnia symptoms. The participants, aged 30-45, were derived from the Young Finns study. The sample size was 1708. The Big Five personality traits were assessed with the NEO-FFI measure and insomnia symptoms with Jenkins's sleep problems scale. Ordinal regressions were used in analyzing the data. All of the Big Five personality traits were associated with at least some of the insomnia symptoms. In general, high neuroticism and high openness to experience were associated with more insomnia symptoms, whereas low extroversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness were associated with better sleep. High neuroticism had the strongest associations with most of the insomnia symptoms. When it comes to the trait openness to experience, the results of this study were inconsistent with previous studies, and therefore more information on the subject would be needed. The results of this study could be used in planning interventions for insomnia sufferers.
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(2014)Objectives – The objective of this study was to examine whether there is a connection between the Big Five personality traits and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Finnish adults. The MetS is a rapidly increasing syndrome among the Finnish population, which predisposes to type 2 diabetes and cardiac diseases. Previous research suggests that single personality traits may be connected to the MetS and its risk factors. However, only a few studies have examined theoretically well based personality models in relation to the MetS. Identifying the psychosocial risk factors for the MetS is important in predicting and preventing its occurrence. The following hypotheses were made based on previous research: (1) high neuroticism and (2) low agreeableness are positively associated with the MetS. Methods – This is a cross-sectional study of The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study from the year 2007. There were 1 580 Finnish adults aged 30–45 participating in the study, of which 919 were women and 661 were men. The participants answered a personality questionnaire, the Finnish version of the NEO-FFI (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Five-Factor Inventory), which measured the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness). The MetS is diagnosed when at least three of the following five factors are present: (1) central obesity, (2) raised fasting glucose, (3) raised triglycerides, (4) lowered high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and (5) hypertension. The associations between personality traits and the MetS were examined using logistic regression analyses. Results and Conclusions – In men, low agreeableness was statistically significantly associated with higher risk of having the MetS (OR=.70, 95 % CI=.57–.87, p=.001), adjusting for age and level of education. There were no statistically significant associations found between any of the personality traits and the MetS in women. On the basis of these results, it can be proposed that men with low agreeableness, that is, men low in cooperation, empathy, and kindness, might comprise a risk group for the MetS. This study was cross-sectional by design, which precludes conclusions about cause and effect relationships. Mechanisms linking personality to the MetS were not examined in the current study, and thus, future research should examine the direction of the associations and the mechanisms linking such associations.
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(2020)The stiffened cap has a paper frame, which is usually covered with silk fabric. The cap includes a ribbon bow and a lace trim. Caps with such a lace trim are called styckemössa in Swedish and tykkimyssy in Finnish. The aim of the study was to evaluate the of stiffened caps at the Brage costumes museum and to deepen the knowledge of the manufacture and use of caps by peasant women in the 18th and 19th centuries. The aim was to gain additional knowledge about the caps specifically in the Finland-Swedish costume culture, as well as new information on materials and the manufacture of stiffened caps in general and specifically about metal embroidered caps. In what way does the Brage collection of stiffened caps contribute to the overall picture of the Finland-Swedish peasant women's headdress? In connoisseurship analysis, the rich source material of the museum and previous knowledge were combined with practical experiments and laboratory examinations. There were 97 caps left in the collection, as well as a silk piece with gold and sequin embroidery. A significance analysis was executed based on the catalogued data and photographs. The metal embroidered fabric piece was examined by microscope and a metal analysis was conducted. The construction of the caps was examined from a craft perspective, as well as how they could be manufactured with current materials and knowledge. The cap collection opened an interesting path into the life and attire of peasant women, and above all into the importance of the stiffened cap. The collection offers a good overall picture of the development of the Finland-Swedish stiffened cap from large and heart-shaped to small with a straight front. An interesting find was nine caps from eastern Uusimaa with almost identical shape but fashioned using different fabrics. A specialty of the collection is the four caps of printed linen and the metal embroidered silk piece. The manufacture of a stiffened cap is a time-consuming craft that requires skill in everything from the manufacture of the paper frame, the embroidery and finally the mounting. The micrographs and the analysis of the metal embroidered fabric provided detailed information that was utilized in the manufacture a new cap for the Munsala traditional costume.
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(2017)For the students' future, it is important that today's teaching prepares them for their future challenges and gives them tools to solve those. There will be a need for creative thinking, courage and cooperation skills. The curriculum of Finnish schools has defined a broad range of skills which are important in the future of students. Teaching should be planned from the point of view of learning process and extending the boundaries of school subjects. In the context of integrating teaching, we talk about phenomenal learning, which is based on holistic phenomena of the real world. The basis of phenomenal learning is the principle of exploratory learning, where learning starts by exploring problems and finding answers and solutions to them. The focus of the thesis is a quasi-experimental study to explore which color shades are generated when using beetroot and peels of mandarin and red onion as a source of color, how those colors will withstand washing and light exposure and what kind of possibilities for exploratory, phenomenon based learning following the aims of transversal competences defined by the integrated curriculum the project provides. The main results of the experimental part of the study show that the use of rhubarb leaves as a mordant has darkened the color result with all the dyeing colors tried. This is explained by the fact that rhubarb causes a dark background color, which shows strong in light dyes with little redness. The colorfastness of beetroot towards light and washing is poor. The colors achieved by the use of mandarin peels are light yellow and red onion is a source for green or brown shades, depending on the mordant used. Those colors have a good fastness to light and laundering. The differences are found are a good starting point for phenomenon based exploratory learning. Performing dyeing and dyeing tests themselves touch many areas of expertise and educational goals. The use of bio waste as a source of colors, colors and woolen material offer a variety of opportunities for teaching following an integrated curriculum, exploratory learning, phenomenon based learning and improving transversal competences. The project can be expanded according to the teacher's goals, depending on the subject and topic, or following the pupils' interest. In this way learning can be expanded in various ways.
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(2017)There has been a decline in the interest of children and the young in natural sciences. This phenomenon is worrying because it is known that interest affects learning and performing in science positively. Teaching methods have an impact on interest. This research will focus on science camps that are non-formal science education environments. The study describes the interestingness of the teaching methods used in biology science camps from a child's perspective. The study also investigates the development needs of the activities and the tutors' own development during the camps. In the summer of 2016, the BioPop class of the LUMA science education center organized six biology science camps for two age groups of children: 7–9 years old and 10–12 years old. The material of the research was collected from these science camps, while the researcher herself was a tutor of the science camps. The research material consisted of questionnaires for campers (N=99) and tutors (N=8). The campers evaluated the interestingness of the activities on the Flechen-scale from 1 to 5, and filled out open-ended questions about what they 'liked' and what they did 'not like' in the camps. In addition, the tutors evaluated the interestingness and development needs of the activities, and their own development as tutors. The material was analyzed by using simple statistical key figures. It was analyzed by Mann-Whitney U-test whether gender or previous participation in BioPop camps had any effect on the interestingness of the activities. The open-ended questions were analyzed by theory-based content analysis. The campers were very interested in the activities – lab assignments and experiments, outdoor education, plays and nature videos were the most interesting activities. The results of the research supported previous studies of the relationship between teaching methods and interest in teaching natural sciences: for children, functional, inquiry-based and interactive teaching methods were the most interesting. Child's sense of autonomy, optimal challenge and novelty of the activities seemed to be central to children's interest. There were significant differences between the camps in the interestingness of some activities: activities gained mostly higher interest rates on the second camp week than the first. One possible explanation for this is the development of the activity guidance, in which the tutors think they had advanced during the camps. Especially in the older age group, inquiry-based, pupil-centered and interactive activities were the most interesting among children. The younger age group was more interested in independent and teacher-led activities compared to the older age group. Girls were more interested in independent and teacher-led activities than boys. The results of the research can be utilized in the future when developing science camps more inquiry-based, pupil-centered and interactive learning environments of science education.
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(2013)According to previous research many preservice teachers are not sufficiently educated for teaching in multicultural classrooms. It is also known that preservice teachers often fail to give adequate definitions of multiculturism and multicultural education and that they lack an understanding of how these aspects could be included in the curriculum. The aim with this study is to explore the understanding of what is meant with cultural diversity in the classroom and multicultural education among preservice teachers. The research questions are: how conscious are the preservice teachers about their own cultural identity and its significance for the interaction with students? How do preservice teachers understand the meaning of cultural diversity in the classroom? What is their understanding of the meaning of multicultural education? What kind of demands do preservice teachers believe that multicultural schools places on them as teachers? The research was conducted as a qualitative interview study. The data was inductively analyzed using content analysis. The study drew on the theoretical framework of critical multicultural education. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with open questions. Thirty informants, both class teacher students and teachers of a special subject were recruited in connections with their Master's thesis seminars. The results of the study clearly indicate that the understandings of the preservice teachers can be characterized by a lack of complexity and critical thinking. Multicultural teaching was commonly associated with immigrant children and knowledge about foreign cultures. There was a strong belief in individualism among the preservice teachers, along with a negation of the impact of social class on the lives of the pupils in school. Religion, language and partly gender were seen as significant aspects of cultural diversity in the classroom. The majority of preservice teachers considered the demands on them in multicultural classrooms as heavier compared to traditional teaching. They also considered their knowledge of how to implement multicultural perspectives in their teaching as insufficient. As a result of the research the study also indicated a lack of awareness of the importance of the personal sociocultural background in the interaction between teachers and students. In order to reach a deeper understanding of multicultural issues, a greater effort on both theory and didactics related to multicultural education should be made in the preservice teacher education. Preservice teachers would also benefit from reflection on personal knowledge constructs and assumptions associated to a pluralistic society and culturally diverse "others".
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(2014)Research objectives: As the use of social media has increased, writing a blog has become more and more popular in the recent years. For the writer, a blog is a means of communication, a diary, or enabler of writing as a hobby. One blogger group consists of Finnish expatriates. Emigrating means a life change, that according to previous research causes a process of culture shock that can last for years. Integration of expatriates has been studied quite a lot. Blogs and blogging as a relatively new phenomenon has already been the object of an amount of research, but blogging while living abroad has not received much attention, yet. The purpose of this study was to find out, how blog-writing Finnish expatriates experience the significance of blogging in their current situation in life. The meanings given to the blog were viewed in relation to the writers' background. The starting point for the study was an assumption, that blog-writing Finnish expatriates possibly use the blog as an aid in adaptation. Methods: The study involved 39 blog-writing Finnish expatriates, who wrote a free-form text about their blogging, guided by some general questions around the focus of this study. In addition, they answered some questions concerning their background. The texts were analyzed using content analysis. The results of the content analysis and the background information were quantified and cross tabulated to find out factors that might be connected to the significances given. Results and conclusions: The majority of significances given to blogging were connected to living abroad, especially when taking into account the subjects of blog posts and the target audience. The reasons for starting a blog were pragmatic, like communication and writing a diary, whereas the current significances also included deeper level functions. The latter were e.g. receiving peer support, pondering issues and using the Finnish language. The significances given to the blog change as time passes and integration proceeds, but it does not become less important to the writer. Many respondents indicated that communication with friends and family in Finland through the blog is often unidirectional. Communication with new connections acquired through the blog, however, was told to be bidirectional. Therefore, writing a blog may in a way close the writer outside of her former social network, but instead it helps to build a totally new network, including members in a similar situation in life. The results suggest that Finnish expatriates use the blog as an aid in integration process. The blog has instrumental value even when integration has come to an advanced stage and the difficult phases of culture shock have been passed.
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(2015)This thesis analyses how young, blogging girls see and experience commercialism in blogosphere. My aim is to find out what kind of consumers these girls are and which qualities are typical among them. Do these girls feel that blogs have the possibility to have an influence on other peoples consuming and does commercialism have some kind of role in their blogs. There are some previous studies about adults and older adolescents and their roles in Finnish blogosphere and that is why this study concentrates on 13–15 year old girls. The theoretical background of this thesis is based on consuming, social media and commercialism on internet and blogs. The data of this study was collected from 13–15 year old girls who write blogs quite regularly. They (N=17) answered to five different open questions and were able to see all the other girls' answers and comment on them. Beside this data I also used some blogs and blogposts that these same girls have written. This is a qualitative study that was analysed with the following methods: qualitative content analysis, themes and types. In the analysis I introduce some common thoughts and thoughts that vary from other answers. I have created three different types of a young, blogging girl. These types can be used when constructing curriculas and lessonplans especially in home economics classes These girls' thoughts about consuming do vary quite a bit according to my data. Their wish to be a critical consumer came up in many answers and some of them were able to show some qualities of critical consuming in their answers. These girls were also able to find some factors that have an influence on their consuming in social media. They had different opinions regarding the commercialism of the blogosphere. It is a common thought that their own blogs have some forms of commercialism in them even though they don't have any official co-operation with any companies. Their thoughts of commercialism in social media were very mature.
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(2017)This masters' thesis explored the use of the body, tools, and the environment in craftwork from an embodied cognitive perspective. More specifically the activity studied was wooden boatbuilding. Activity theory was used to map the elements and the dynamics of the wooden boatbuilding activity in relation to the object of work (a wooden gunboat). The research interests (related to body, tools and environment) were positioned among the different elements of the wooden boatbuilding activity (tools, subject, object, outcome, rules, community and division of labor) by following an activity theoretical structure. Previous research has shown that the abilities of the body are quite often overshadowed by the abilities of brain alone, even though cognition is embodied due to its dependency on the characteristics of the agent's physical body. The objective of this research was to seek further understanding on the position of the body and its role in an activity of craft with the use of tools and environment. By having an embodied cognitive perspective, the research looked at the types of materials from the environment that were applied for work, and how material artefacts have contributed to the body's performance during craft. In addition, the research took into account the characteristics of the work environment that enabled the body of craftsmen to work more efficiently. Specifically, the thesis captured a two-day data collection of videos and interviews in the dockyard of Suomenlinna Fortress, based on the method of ethnography. The data collection gathered material for the analysis of the craftwork on a wooden gunboat model, during a process of craft called caulking. For the analysis, the work of five subjects (wooden boat builders) was observed closely. The method applied for analysis of data was thematic analysis, which required a selective process of data, based on relevant or reoccurring themes identified throughout video files. The most representative themes of the activity were framed in sets of images for further interpretation, and in that way enabling the validation of themes and their relevance to the research questions. As a result, the themes identified in the activity of wooden boatbuilding were (1) the abilities of the body, (2) the limitations of the body, (3) the body and the process of sensing, (4) the affordance of tools, (5) tools as mediators, and (6) the affordances or the environment. All these themes were building blocks for conceptualising the role of the body in the craft of wooden boatbuilding, the role of tools in the craft of wooden boatbuilding, and how the environment is used in the craft of wooden boatbuilding. This research concluded that, while activity theory allowed a holistic understanding of a craft activity, such as wooden boatbuilding, embodied cognition was vital for conceptualising the role of the body as a starting point in relation to all elements of the activity, including tools and environment. In addition of certifying the usefulness of this combination (embodied cognition and activity theory), perhaps the most relevant finding of this research was the so-called APDCS (area of potential development of craft skills), which could contextualise the integration among body, tools and environment in the craft of wooden boatbuilding through the development of various tasks.
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(2018)Objectives. The aim of this study is to describe, analyze and interpret teachers' perceptions of co-teaching and how to support positive education, the reasons for their co-teaching, what positive teaching means to them in regard to using positive education in their teaching, and the positive presentation of positive co-education. Methods. A total of 8 primary school teachers participated in this study in the fall of 2017. The teachers were interviewed by semi-structured theme interviewing and the research material was analyzed in accordance with qualitative content-based content analysis. Results and Conclusions. The study highlighted three main themes, which are the charm of co-teaching, the importance of positive education, and to describe positive education from the perspective of co-education. The teaching methods used in co-teaching were the well-being of the teacher, the collegial models in everyday life, and the learning situations and characteristics of everyday life. Positive education was seen to be very significant, especially as a classroom teacher, for the development of work prosperity and self-education, as well as for the students' perceptions and learning. The conditions for co-operation in positive education were manifested through a specific culture of operation and interaction. The benefits of joint teaching in positive education increased with collegial support, use of time as well as planning and assessment and lastly through the social and emotional integration of the students and the interaction between the student and the teacher.
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(2010)Aim: So far, most of the cognitive neuroscience studies investigating the development of brain activity in childhood have made comparisons between different age groups and ignored the individual stage of cognitive development. Given the wide variation in the rate of cognitive development, this study argues that chronological age alone cannot explain the developmental changes in brain activity. This study demonstrates how Piaget's theory and information on child's individual stage of development can complement the age-related evaluations of brain oscillatory activity. In addition, the relationship between cognitive development and working memory is investigated. Method: A total of 33 children (17 11-year-olds, 16 14-year-olds) participated in this study. The study consisted of behavioural tests and an EEG experiment. Behavioral tests included two Piagetian tasks (the Volume and Density task, the Pendulum task) and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices task. During EEG experiment, subjects performed a modified version of the Sternberg's memory search paradigm which consisted of an auditorily presented memory set of 4 words and a probe word following these. The EEG data was analyzed using the event-related desynchronization / synchronization (ERD/ERS) method. The Pendulum task was used to assess the cognitive developmental stage of each subject and to form four groups based on age (11- or 14-year-olds) and cognitive developmental stage (concrete or formal operational stage). Group comparisons between these four groups were performed for the EEG data. Results and conclusions: Both age- and cognitive stage-related differences in brain oscillatory activity were found between the four groups. Importantly, age-related changes similar to those reported by previous studies were found also in this study, but these changes were modified by developmental stage. In addition, the results support a strong link between working memory and cognitive development by demonstrating differences in memory task related brain activity and cognitive developmental stages. Based on these findings it is suggested that in the future, comparisons of development of brain activity should not be based only on age but also on the individual cognitive developmental stage.
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(2022)Aim: The aim of this thesis is to investigate if an intervention in positive psychology can im-prove students’ subjective well-being and cultivate a growth mindset. The health in school study has shown that students experienced more school fatigue, difficulties with school as-signments and more anxiety and depression than before (THL, 2017; 2019; 2021). The pro-ject Study with Strength has developed an intervention course to support students in their everyday lives and my dissertation is written within this project. The study is based on two theories, positive psychology, and Mindset theory. Methods: The thesis is based on interviews of upper secondary students who participated in the Study with Strength intervention. Six students from different locations in Finland partici-pated in the study. The participants were between 16 and 19 years old. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted via video. These interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with a thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. The results in my research showed that all the students felt that their conscious presence and their relationships had improved after the intervention. Fur-thermore, the students found methods to deal with their negative feelings. The students felt that finding out their strengths had improved their well-being as well as given them more self-confidence. This shows that the intervention has a positive effect on how students perceive their subjective well-being. Further results showed that the students’ belief in themselves and ability to develop had a positive change. They also viewed setbacks differently and were less scared to fail. All the students had also learnt how to manage their stress differently which lead to them feeling less stressed. Some of the students felt that they had a more positive view on challenges. Half the students had a more positive view on feedback after the intervention. The results show that the students perceived that their mindset had changed towards a more growth mindset.
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(2011)Aims. The aim of this thesis is to cover Marilyn Monroe's relationship with food as it appears in literature written about her. The study covers the years from 1942 to 1962, when Marilyn was between ages 16 and 36. As an adult, she was responsible for her own food intake. The emphasis of this study is on the following: what kind of food Marilyn ate, how different stages of her life affected her relationship with food, whether the food she ate was made by her or someone else, how interested she was in food, and what kind of food she liked. The historical context is also an important part of this study. Methods. The research material consists of literature written about Marilyn Monroe. This literature was the analyzed using content analysis. The research material was then divided into categories, which are different times of Marilyn's life. Considering the sources was a very important part when gathering material. Results and conclusions. As a result, Marilyn's relationship with food varied during her lifetime. During her first marriage she had to learn to cook for the first time in her life, and thus she sometimes made mistakes. Food was also gathered by hunting and fishing. As a young starlet in Hollywood Marilyn didn't have a lot of money for food, so she ate very little and very inexpensively. As her career progressed she was able to enjoy food more. Marilyn's second husband was from an Italian-American family, and Marilyn learned to cook Italian food and broil steaks. After moving to New York Marilyn often ate at her friends' homes. When she got married for the third time she really wanted to be a good housewife. During this period her cooking improved considerably. She also learned to cook Jewish dishes. After the marriage ended Marilyn was facing the hardest time of her life, until she moved to Los Angeles and bought her own house. She was planning to invite friends over for food and good times, and also said that she enjoyed champagne and good food.
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