Browsing by Title
Now showing items 236-255 of 3483
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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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(2017)Objectives. This research investigates the challenging changes, learning processes, and strategic adjustments made by consulting companies in Finland during the recent global economic crisis of 2009 onwards. In particular, this research aims to answer the following questions: a) What major changes have consulting companies encountered in the economic crisis? b) What strategic adjustments did the companies make in response to these changes? Were novel strategies developed in response to the changes? c) how can the changes and strategies be interpreted from an Activity Theory perspective? d) did the companies exhibit Expansive Learning in the development of novel strategies and in what forms? Methods. This work analyzed five management consulting companies of different sizes and business scope with representation in Finland. The data for the reported analysed consisted of interviews with managers from these firms. The analysis of the data proceeded in three steps: First, themes relating to changes and strategies were extracted from the transcribed interviews using Thematic Analysis; second, the themes identified were interpreted using the framework of Activity Theory in order to identify changes encountered and strategic responses developed by the companies; third, the themes were interpreted within the Expansive Learning framework, identifying individual Expansive Learning cycles and the overall structure of the learning processes. The empirical analysis was complemented by a discussion of the origins and characteristics of management consulting and consulting companies. Results and conclusions. Several of the consulting companies displayed features of Expansive Learning in understanding and responding to the changing economic situation. Deviating from the historically established consulting culture, these companies implemented systematic and proactive selling and marketing of their services. In addition, several companies changed the structure of their products and services. However, when reflecting on the situation of their companies, most managers primarily emphasized cost pressures and a need for improved efficiency. Efficiency improvements not accompanied by structural changes were not generally considered representative of expansive learning. It is found that the interviewed companies fail to engage in expansive learning process and are unwilling to make feasible changes until pressured by the economic crisis. Indeed, a greater sense of threat appears to have made companies more likely to embrace expansive learning.
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(2014)Objectives: The Finnish social and health care system is currently under transformation. The objective of this thesis was to chart the on-going concept change of the development system of Finnish social and health care and Innovillage's role in it within the theoretical framework of the third generation activity theory. Innovillage is a new national open innovation environment for developers in the field of health and welfare developed during the years 2009–2013. The research studies this issue through two research questions: (1) How the development system of Finnish social and health care's object and division of labor are changing?; (2) What does Innovillage tell about the concept change of the development system? The aim is to chart the features of the new emerging activity concept of the development system by depicting the changes in the object and the division of labor as well as to examine the development system's contradictions as manifested in Innovillage. Methods: The research questions have been analyzed through historical analysis and empirical data. The empirical data of this thesis constituted of nine individual interviews which were gathered during the summer and early fall of 2013. Six interviewees were representatives of the funding and developer organizations of Innovillage and three represented grassroots professionals involved with Innovillage. The research method was empirical and qualitative and the research process has been primarily guided by the data. The qualitative results were derived from the empirical data through content analysis. Historical analysis of this thesis was made based on the literature. The findings were interpreted with activity theoretical notions of activity concept, object, division of labor, and contradiction. Results and conclusions: The division of labor in the new emerging activity concept of the development system is, ideally, open and networked and the object of developing takes the customer or the client as well as the implementation phase of the created services or solutions into account. Currently, cross-sectorial co-operation has increased slightly especially between funders of the development system but, simultaneously, co-operation between grassroots professionals has diminished. Innovillage itself as well as its tools have supported co-operation within the development system but, according to the results, still fail to take the customer or the client into account. The current secondary contradictions between the division of labor and other elements of the development system seem to stem from the new tools that have been implemented to the development system by Innovillage.
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(2017)This thesis examines collaboration in construction industry. Collaboration practices are affected with the emergence of new technologies, as new technologies require new practices. Building Information Modelling (BIM), used for digital 3D modelling of buildings, is such an emerging technology, influencing collaboration. The topic is approached socio-constructively and -culturally, and through the theory of hybrid practices in construction. The thesis addresses the following questions: 1) how BIM is described to influence collaboration practices, and 2) how is collaboration in BIM construction projects conceptualised. The data was collected in 13 individual and group interviews. Content analysis and discourse analysis were used. BIM is found to influence collaboration through emerging hybrid practices, and BIM-based collaboration is conceptualised through four interlinked but conflicting discourses. The results confirm the need for more established collaboration practices in BIM projects. The thesis contributes to the narrow focus given to human perspective and conceptions in collaboration research in construction.
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(2016)Objectives: The present study examines everyday executive functioning in adults who have had perinatal risks related ADHD in childhood. ADHD symptoms often persist from childhood to adulthood but the long-term developmental course of ADHD beyond young adulthood is still poorly understood. The present study focuses on adults around 40 years of age who have had perinatal risk factors with subsequent onset of ADHD in childhood. The present study may advance understanding of the long-term impact of perinatal risks and childhood ADHD in adulthood. Methods: The present study is part of a larger longitudinal birth cohort research project examining long-term effects of perinatal risk factors. The cohort has been followed since 1970's. The present sample includes individuals with perinatal risks associated childhood ADHD (n = 32), individuals with perinatal risk factors without childhood ADHD (n = 158) and control individuals without perinatal risks or childhood ADHD (n = 38). Experienced everyday executive functioning was compared between these three groups using Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning – Adult Version (BRIEF-A). Executive functioning was compared between the three groups using analysis of variance (ANOVAs) and non-paramentric Kruskal-Wallis test. Results and conclusions: Adults with perinatal risks related childhood ADHD reported more cognitive and behavioral executive difficulties than control adults or adults with perinatal risks without childhood ADHD. The group with perinatal risks related childhood ADHD reported executive difficulties in domains of working memory, planning, inhibition and self-monitoring. Executive problems were mild in group level, although a small proportion reported more severe clinically significant dysfunction. Adults with perinatal risks but without childhood ADHD did not differ from controls in experienced executive functioning which suggests that perinatal risks alone without early ADHD symptoms do not affect executive functioning in adulthood. It appears that childhood ADHD with perceding perinatal risk factors can have long-term but mostly mild consequences for daily executive functioning extending to mid-adulthood.
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(2022)Objectives. Pedagogical planning is an essential process in early childhood education provision. It is also a space to embed child-centered pedagogy in practice. Connections between early childhood educators' well-being, children's well-being, and their participation in pedagogical planning have been found by prior research. Examining the dynamics between these phenomena sheds light on how important the well-being of all the early childhood education community members is in the process of education provision. This study aimed to look at the connection between children's psychosocial well-being, early childhood educators' subjective well-being, and the levels of child-centered pedagogical planning. The hypothesis predicted a positive association between the items mentioned above. Methods. The participants of the study were 43 early childhood educators and 165 children. The study was conducted in 15 groups within nine daycares across Finland. The data was collected through three questionnaires: SDQ (child's psychosocial well-being), WHO-5 (educators' subjective well-being), and Reunamo learning environment questionnaire (child-centered pedagogical planning). The statistical analyses were conducted with IBM SPSS Statistics. A quantitative item analysis was done to establish a child-centered pedagogical planning indicator. Three levels of this measure were identified (low, medium, and high). The analysis continued with performing a one-way analysis of variance between the levels of child-centered pedagogical planning indicator, the children's psychosocial well-being sum score, and the early childhood educator's subjective well-being sum score. Results and conclusions. The results highlighted that a high level of early childhood educators' well-being was positively connected with the high levels of child-centered pedagogical planning. However, regarding the children's psychosocial well-being and its association with the levels of child-centered pedagogical planning, a positive non-significant trend was observed. These findings raise awareness of the important connection between children's psychosocial well-being, early childhood educators' well-being and education provision. Additionally, they can be used in developing early childhood education practices.
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(2016)Bicycling is a way of transport and a sport that is considered both healthy and environmentally friendly. It is also a convenient way to get around especially for children and adolescents who cannot drive cars. However, school-aged children are an overrepresented group in bicycling-related injuries. For Finnish children, bicycling injuries are the most common traffic injuries. One possible explanation for children's higher accident liability could be their less developed hazard perception skills. This thesis is based on a study about hazard perception, where a game-like hazard perception test with videos filmed from a bicyclist's perspective was designed and tested on participants of different age and exposure to bicycling. The videos contained natural, unstaged videos from traffic, and participants were instructed to point out targets such as road users on a potential collision course and locations where road users could emerge from (e. g. house corners).The test was done using a touch screen where participants were to point out targets while the video was rolling early enough to gain points. If a target was missed or pointed out too late, the video was paused and feedback given. Performance in the hazard perception test was tested on 3 groups: one group of 49 children from the 2nd grade (age 8-9) and two adult groups: 16 adults who cycle at least 3 times a week (experienced adults) and 15 adults who cycle never or only rarely (inexperienced adults). The adults performed better than the children both in terms of answer latency and percentage of correct answers. Adults were also significantly better at pointing out view blockers as potentially hazardous targets. No significant differences were found between the experienced and inexperienced adults groups, which suggests that the test might have been too easy for the adult group. A correlation between a high percentage of correct answers and a low answer latency was found on an individual level, which suggests that the game was successful in measuring hazard perception skills.
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(2023)In this thesis I studied children’s self-regulation with the data from the “friendship skills” intervention study in early childhood education and care. Self-regulation has been found to be central factor in school readiness and academic achievements as well as in general wellbeing. The data was collected in nine different early childhood education and care units (15 child groups), consisting of 162 children (n = 82 girls, M = 5,65, SD = 0.88). The study used Educator’s Evaluation Form (EEF, self-regulation) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, internalising and externalising problems, prosocial behaviour) to measure self-regulation and both internalising and externalising problems and prosocial behaviour. I aimed to study associations between self-regulation and internalising and externalising problems, and self-regulation and prosocial behaviour, as well as between self-regulation and age. Another aim concerns the effect of gender on these associations. The hypotheses of the thesis were: (1a) self-regulation is negatively associated with internalising and externalising problems; (1b) self-regulation is positively associated with prosocial behaviour; (2) self-regulation is positively associated with age; and, (3) self-regulation is associated more positive with age in girls than in boys. Self-regulation was found to associate negatively with both internalising and externalising problems and positively with prosocial behaviour. Regarding age, gender was found to moderate the association between self-regulation and age (age by gender interaction) in that statistically non-significant positive association between self-regulation and age was found in girls and statistically significant negative association in boys. Gender was not found to moderate other associations. The results indicate that self-regulation may have profound affects to overall wellbeing of children. Gender-difference imply possible complexity in interconnections between self-regulation, age and gender. Additionally, boys may be in more vulnerable position regarding self-regulation especially when approaching to school entry. In discussion section, I discuss the results additionally in relation to the concept of self-regulation, which I view more broadly in developmental and educational perspectives. Moreover, I will suggest tentative model constructed for the process of self-regulation. Finally, I will give suggestions for future research.
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(2023)The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014 requires the utilization of music technology as well as student-oriented composition. Chrome Music Lab: Song Maker is a free web browser-based music sequencer that allows you to program musical pieces in a piano roll-like graphical user interface. Finnish primary school music teachers have also used the program in their music teaching. I interviewed six teachers who teach Finnish music in elementary school about the topic. The teachers I interviewed found Chrome Music Lab: Song Maker to be relatively easy to use and engaging for students. The program enabled the student-oriented compositions as well as the processing of other contents of the music curriculum. The program had also been helpful for some of the teachers, for example, in evaluation and distance learning. Chrome Music Lab: Song Maker was seen as particularly suitable for the lower grades of elementary school, but some teachers questioned its optimality in the last grades of elementary school. The teachers' attitude towards the students' more visual and cacophonous composition programming varied. In general, teachers' experiences with the program were positive.
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(2014)Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual-focused teaching approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language. It has gained increasing popularity in the European educational systems, but it still in the process of establishing it position in the field of language teaching. CLIL teachers have a demanding occupation and the teachers need many kind of skills that are needed in order to teach language and content simultaneously. CLIL teachers face problems like the lack of teaching materials, in-service training and support and mentoring and inadequate resources for teaching. According to the previous research it would be vital to provide extra hours for planning, preparing materials and collaboration and quality in-service training for CLIL teachers. The aim of this study is to examine what kind of problems CLIL teachers have encountered, what kind of solutions they have come up with those problems and what kind of support they would need in their work. This is a qualitative research. The data was collected via a questionnaire and five interviews. 24 CLIL teachers from Greater Helsinki answered the questionnaire and five of them were also interviewed. The data was analysed with the help of previous research. The solutions were analysed using content analysis. The problems CLIL teachers encountered were a lack of teaching materials, inadequate teaching resources, in-service and pre-service training, a lack of support and mentoring, problems with language and teaching language, collaboration and practical teaching work. The teachers solved problems they had encountered with colloquial collaboration, different classroom routines, in-service training and professional literature. They also supported the students' language learning and maintained their own language skills, shared experiences with their colleagues, prepared teaching materials themselves and in collaboration and adapted their teaching methods when needed. Teachers said that they would need better teaching materials, more teaching resources, more time for collaboration and discussion with their colleagues, better tailored in-service training, networking with other CLIL teachers and peer support in order to solve the problems they encounter in their work better.
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(2008)The temperamental traits of Cloninger's personality theory (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence) reflect independent systems of central nervous system deciding responses toward new, rewarding and aversive stimuli. Thus, certain temperamental traits and their combinations may predispose to heavy drinking and alcohol dependence. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate associations between temperamental traits and the amount of alcohol consumption, frequency of heavy drinking and the maximum number of drinks per occasion. In this study, we investigated also whether these associations are only confounded by between-family differences in genetic and environmental factors. Furthermore the associations between temperamental trait combinations that reflect Cloninger's typology of alcoholism and alcohol use were studied. The subjects (n=401) in the current study were a group of FinnTwin16 study participators, Finnish twins born in 1974-79. Temperament was measured with TCI-R (Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised) a self-report form. The amount of alcohol consumption was asked by Semi-structured interview (Semi-Structured Assessment of Genetics of Alcoholism = SSAGA). The frequency of heavy drinking and maximum number of drinks per occasion were asked by mail form. In accordance with previous studies, novelty seeking had a positive relationship with the amount of alcohol consumption, frequency of heavy drinking and the maximum number of drinks per occasion in both genders. In this study, the association was proven independent of between-family differences in genetic and environmental factors that are associated to both novelty seeking and alcohol use. Surprisingly, reward dependence was negatively related to the maximum number of drinks per occasion in both genders. Persistence had a weak positive relationship with maximum number of drinks per occasion in men. The temperamental trait combinations that reflect Cloninger's typology of alcoholism did not differ from the other combinations in regard to alcohol use as hypothesized. The results confirm the previous finding about the relationship between novelty seeking and alcohol use. Support for Cloninger's typology of alcoholism in regard to combinations of temperamental trait was not achieved in this study.
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(2020)The aim of this study is to examine coaching from an adult learning perspective and to form an understanding what kind of adult learning processes are involved in coaching. In addition, the purpose is also to form an understanding of potential elements that contribute to learning and elements that can slow down, or even hinder learning. Related to this is the exploration of methods and tools used by coaches to facilitate the learning experience. The research data for this qualitative research was collected by interviewing seven ICF coach practitioners. Theory-guided content analysis was used to analyse the interview mate-rial. Andragogy, experiential learning and transformative learning were used as reference theories that could possible explain the findings from the research material. The findings show that the adult learning processes that are at play in coaching are related to reflective activity, which create awareness that then trigger action. An action with successful outcome, a tested hypothesis proves effective, creates a durable and concrete change, or transformation, in the way of thinking and or acting in the person. All three adult learning theories, that provided the framework for this study, were found to be relevant in one way or the other. None of the theories could alone explain the learning processes that happen in coaching. Andragogy provides a good framework for the overall practical process steps in coaching. Experiential learning provides a good framework in explaining the process of reflective thought, hypothesis testing and action. Transformative learning, on the other hand, provide an understanding of the processes that happen when the testing of hypothesis succeed and transformation occurs in the learner. The fundamentals elements contributing to a positive coaching experience were found to be several. Client’s aptitude for coaching, coach's professionality, a good dyadic relation based on trust and external support from manager and organization were among the important contributing factors.
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(2015)Recent evidence suggests paranormal and religious beliefs may result from cognitive biases that all humans share. People who think in an intuitive manner are supposedly more affected by these biases than analytical people. Consequently, mounting evidence suggests those who endorse intuitive thinking style tend to be more religious and have more paranormal beliefs than people with an analytic thinking style. However, less attention has been paid to people who are highly analytical but nevertheless have supernatural beliefs. Since analytical people should be less susceptible to cognitive biases, other factors such as metacognitive tendencies might account for these beliefs. On the other hand, if intuitive thinking style is a major causal factor behind paranormal beliefs, an intuitive sub-group among sceptics could be considered an anomaly. Metacognitive tendencies could be a potential psychological factor behind scepticism. A sample of nearly 3000 Finnish participants revealed that there was an analytical and intuitive subgroup among the believers and sceptics. Particularly, analytic believers had more cognitive biases and lesser tendency to belief flexibility than analytic sceptics. Intuitive sceptics had more cognitive biases than analytic sceptics but they adhered more to flexible thinking than intuitive believers. The results of this thesis underline the multifarious nature of both paranormal beliefs and thinking styles. Although analytical thinking may help the person to overcome the automatic and often erroneous shortcuts that the mind produces, it may fail to suppress overlearned and reflectively practiced beliefs. On the other hand, an intuitive thinking style and cognitive biases may not necessary lead to paranormal believing, especially if the living environment encourages a sceptic worldview. Future studies should address the mechanisms that lead individuals with similar epistemological tendencies to acquire totally different metaphysical beliefs.
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(2023)The use of virtual reality learning environments is rapidly expanding in various disciplines. However, there are only a few comparative studies in education. This thesis explores the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) and a physical learning environment on students’ learning outcomes and motivation by comparing the virtual reality and the physical learning environment during one day of studies. The participants were fourth-year mechanical engineering bachelor students (N = 14) at a university of applied sciences in Finland. The intervention was implemented as part of the course module, where students learned the structure and the functioning of the harvester head engine, which was part of a logging machine. A quasi-experimental design was set up, and in the morning, one-half of the students started their studies in virtual reality and the other half in the physical learning environment. In the afternoon, student groups switched learning environments. Motivation and learning outcomes were measured by pre-test and post-test questionnaires. Additionally, students’ learning outcomes were measured by completed study tasks during the interventions and by observing. The teacher assessed the data related to learning as grades. The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to analyse the effectiveness of the learning environments on motivation and learning outcomes. The development of learning outcomes was statistically significant (p < .00) in both learning environments during the morning and the afternoon. No difference was observed between the learning outcomes gained in the two learning environments. There was an interaction (p < .01) between intrinsic motivation and learning environments in the morning. While in the afternoon, intrinsic motivation developed positively (p < .01) in both environments. The results suggest that studying in two different learning environments maintains interest and helps to achieve significant learning outcomes during the one-day studies. When studying began in a physical learning environment, intrinsic motivation developed positively throughout the day.
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(2016)Aims. The aim of this thesis is to bring forth Aalto university School of Engineering associate professors' conceptions of good teaching, their construction of the conceptions and experiences about resources and difficulties in developing teaching. These issues are partly elaborated in the light of teaching competence assessment which is part of the tenure track career path for professors. In this thesis the following research questions were addressed: 1) What are the associate professors' conceptions of good teaching? 2) Through which elements the associate professors construct their conceptions? 3) What kinds of experiences the associate professors have about the resources in developing teaching? 4) What kinds of experiences the associate professors have about the difficulties in developing teaching? Methods. Seven associate professors of the School of Engineering were interviewed and they had all participated in teaching competence assessment before being admitted as associate professor. Seven thematic interviews were conducted in the Winter 2015-2016. The qualitative method of analysis was an abductive thematic analysis. The theoretical framework is based on Boyer's concept of the scholarship of teaching and Kreber and Cranton's (2000) perception of three knowledge domains (instructional, pedagogical and curricular knowledge) that are based on three reflections (content, process and premise reflection) which together construct the scholarship of teaching. Boyer's (1990) concept and Kreber and Cranton's (2000) three types of reflections and knowledge domains were utilized in analyzing the conceptions of good teaching as well as resources and difficulties in developing teaching. Results and conclusions. Three different conceptions about good teaching emerged. The conceptions were 1) teaching as providing multifunctional tools for working life, 2) teaching as activation of students and 3) teaching as emphasizing students. The interviewees constructed their conceptions through eight elements of which pedagogical training and discussions with pedagogical experts were described as central in changing own conception. Activating students was emphasized in all of the conceptions, but in different ways. The most fundamental resources for developing teaching were pedagogical training, discussions with pedagogical experts and proactivity. The most central difficulties for developing teaching were lack of pedagogical skills, time and the distance in between pedagogical experts and teachers. Based on the interviewees reports, the conceptions of good teaching, resources and difficulties in developing teaching could be partly explained with the financial situation of the society as well as university teachers' workload. Additionally, the difficulties in developing teaching could be eased by making the assessment process of teaching competence more transparent and reaching pedagogical experts easier.
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(2002)Tutkielma käsittelee nykyisiä kognitiotieteen teorioita käsitteistä ja niiden mallintamista oliokeskeisillä tietämyksen esittämisen menetelmillä. Käsiteteorioista käsitellään klassinen, määritelmäteoria, prototyyppiteoria, duaaliteoriat, uusklassinen teoria, teoria-teoria ja atomistinen teoria. Oliokeskeiset menetelmät ovat viime aikoina jakautuneet kahden tyyppisiin kieliin: oliopohjaisiin ja luokkapohjaisiin. Uudet olio-pohjaiset olio-ohjelmointikielet antavat käsitteiden representointiin mahdollisuuksia, jotka puuttuvat aikaisemmista luokka-pohjaisista kielistä ja myös kehysmenetelmistä. Tutkielma osoittaa, että oliopohjaisten kielten uudet piirteet tarjoavat keinoja, joilla käsitteitä voidaan esittää symbolisessa muodossa paremmin kuin perinteisillä menetelmillä. Niillä pystytään simuloimaan kaikkea mitä luokkapohjaisilla kielillä voidaan, mutta ne pystyvät lisäksi simuloimaan perheyhtäläisyyskäsitteitä ja mahdollistavat olioiden dynaamisen muuttamisen ilman, että siinä rikotaan psykologisen essentialismin periaatetta. Tutkielma osoittaa lisäksi vakavia puutteitta, jotka koskevat koko oliokeskeistä menetelmää.
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(2017)In this study we investigate the concepts of courage according to Finnish students of different ages, how the conceptualization of courage develops in different age-groups, how the thin boundary between courage and foolhardiness appears in the students' interpretations, and how one can learn courage. The emphasis is on students' own life-world phenomena experiences and interpretations. Our unique data consists of applied storycrafting interviews with 6 to 7-year-old preschoolers and school essays written by students in age groups of 11 to 12, 15 to 16 and 16 to 18-years. The data has been collected in southern Finland. The study is a qualitative study with a narrative approach and phenomenography. Applying both data-driven and theory-driven content analysis, we have classified our findings from different age-groups into four main categories: (a) the role of fear in courage, (b) the concepts of courage as physical, psychological, social and moral courage, (c) the development of conceptualization of courage through age and (d) the thin boundary between courage and foolhardiness. The emphasis is on describing and interpreting students' concepts and conceptualization of courage and relate our findings on the umbrella conceptualization of courage by Rate et al. (2007). We also view students' interpretations on how courage feels like and what emotions are related to it, wether they think that courage can be cultivated and what it is that students think enables one to learn courage. Social context and relationships of students in different ages emerge as important factors on their reflection of courage.
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(2016)Aim. Maternal attachment towards the child starts to form already during pregnancy. It is suggested that antenatal attachment increases during pregnancy and at the end of the pregnancy it is at the highest level. However, longitudinal studies of continuity in antenatal attachment are lacking. The present study aims to investigate the continuity of maternal antenatal attachment during pregnancy, the continuity of attachment from antenatal to postnatal period and the associations of maternal prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms to both maternal antenatal and postnatal attachment. Methods. The study is part of a larger longitudinal multidisciplinary project called PREDO Project 'Prediction and Prevention of Pre-eclampsia'. The present study sample comprised 3206 singleton mother. Maternal antenatal attachment was assessed with the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS) filled in at 12 and 26 weeks of gestation and postnatal attachment with the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) filled in at six months postpartum. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale completed bi-weekly from 12 to 26 weeks of gestation and six months after the delivery. The regression analysis was used to explore the associations. We adjusted models for demographic factors and maternal depressive symptoms. In addition, the mediating effect of maternal depressive symptoms on the associations between maternal antenatal attachment at 12 and 26 gestational weeks and between antenatal and postnatal attachment were studied with Sobel test. Results and conclusions. Higher level of maternal antenatal attachment at the end of the first trimester was associated with higher level of attachment at the end of the second trimester and at six months after the delivery. The maternal depressive symptoms during and after the pregnancy were negatively associated with maternal antenatal and postnatal attachment. Maternal depressive symptoms mediated the associations between antenatal attachment and between antenatal and postnatal attachment. The results indicate that maternal antenatal attachment starts to form from early on pregnancy. Maternal depressive symptoms are a significant risk-factor for maternal attachment process. Increasing awareness of the importance of enhancing mother-fetal attachment from the beginning of the pregnancy is important because it shows high continuity to the postnatal life.
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(2018)This study reviews co-production with citizens in the context of working-life projects of higher education. Studies on the topic in question and on the outcomes of co-production with citizens are rare and, the study serves both needs. The object of study is the Until Now project, realised by Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. In it, an art performance was co-produced with the working-life partners and citizens for the Finnish National Opera. The project participated especially the elderly but also children and young people. The research problem covers the interests of the participants and resources brought by them into the project, as well as the challenges and possibilities of the project. The study was realised as qualitative case study. The analysed data, gathered especially for this study, was based on the semi-structured interviews of five individual participants of the project. The method of thematic analysis was deployed in the data analysis. Four separate analyses were carried out, altogether, one for each of the specific research questions. The results of them were reflected against activity theory and the prior research on co-production with citizens. The results showed the multi-layered nature and variety of the interests of the participants. The significance of sufficient and appropriate material resources and of qualities of the immaterial resources were emphasised. Various challenges emerged during the project, the productional and practical ones being stressed. The possibilities and positive effects of the project were multiple and expanded also beyond it. The focal meaning of the community, joint activity and encounter between the generations for the citizen participants also came up. The role of the elderly was of critical importance from the standpoint of the artistic work and meeting the learning objectives. Expansions of the activity caused additional challenges but also allowed positive outcomes to emerge. The activity theoretical angle highlights characteristics of expansions of activity, knot-working and distributed agency in the results. The main conclusion is that co-production with citizens is a relevant form of collaboration in the context of working-life projects of higher education. The results of the study add knowledge on the outcomes of co-production with citizens, which is scarce so far. The results also can be applied in the practical work, especially in the development of higher education and public service production.
Now showing items 236-255 of 3483