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In the 1970s information technology started to become part of everyday life and as a result of this process, computer programming has become an important theme in the digital society both in the labor-market and on the educational field. In this study, I examine high school students' everyday conceptions of computer programming and technological development. I explore these conceptions relying on the theory of social representations which is focused on defining how people make foreign technical and scientific phenomena familiar. I interpreted the meanings produced by the high school students in relation to the cultural history of computer programming and especially in relation to the general meanings given to computer programming on the educational field. As a separate research question I examined computer programming in relation to meanings that are connected to technological development. The aim of this study is to offer more understanding about how computer programming is made familiar in an increasingly digital society where it has emerged as an important skill, especially through education. I produced my data by interviewing seven high school students who had attended a voluntary high school course combining electronics and programming. I analyzed the interviews discourse-analytically by defining oppositions that describe the social representation of programming. I also produced concepts that seemed to synthesize the oppositions and examined subject positions that were constructed in the speech. Besides, I analyzed how the representations of programming and technological development were connected in the speech. The representational field of programming was constructed by the oppositions of human-computer, material-virtual, technical-playfulness and proximity-remoteness. I defined the opposition human-computer to be the most fundamental themata of the social representation of computer programming. Programming was perceived as taking technological development to the next level. Technological development was seen as a partly autonomous process but humans were still given the most fundamental role in the definition and delimitation of technologies. On the basis of this study it can be summarized that high school students saw programming as an important phenomenon which at the same time was difficult to approach and define. This observation r a challenge for the establishment of programming both in education and in the wider society.

Goal. The purpose of the thesis is to identify, analyze and describe the underlying impact of digitalisation on equality and inequality between students in elementary schools. In addition, the relationship between democracy, participation and digitalisation is researched. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in teachers' and students' digital competence, technological equipment, digitalisation between different cities/schools. Studies have also shown that students' digital equipment and socio-economic background affect students’ academic success. Digital competence is a central part of the curriculum and relevant in today's changing society, as are equality matters. The remote-studies during the covid-19 pandemic and the number of digital tools in everyday life have also increased the need for digital tools in teaching. Methods. The study is a qualitative interview study within the framework of the research project "Digital literacy in development", DigiLi. The project started in the year 2021 and the research process is still active in 2022. The material received includes interviews with teachers in Swedish-speaking schools in Finland. The study uses ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers in grades 5–9. In the interviews the topic of discussion was distance learning and digi-talisation, with a focus on digital resources, changes in teaching content and student participa-tion, student (in)equality, language awareness and collegial work. The audio recordings and transcriptions were analyzed using content analysis. Results and conclusions. The teachers feel that students have access to different digital tools among themselves. The economic situation of families can for example lead to weak internet connection and digital tools. The teachers also gave varying answers to questions about partici-pation in the digital environment; digitalisation and the use of digital tools can both promote democracy and participation in education as well as hinder or suppress it. The conclusions are that students have access to different teaching methods with digital tools between them, which is due to differences in the teachers' digital competence, the school's/municipality's resources and the student's (socio)economic status. The digitalisation of teaching can thus expand the already existing inequalities in society.

The present study is part of Handling Mind: Embodiment, Design and Creativity research project. This study has two main goals: 1) to shed light on the participants' opinions of an experiment they participated and 2) to map their problem solving strategies used in different clay forming task. As the latest previous research has suggested in addition to the cognitive aspects, problem solving in design and crafts has embodied side too, that is, for example, related to the interaction with materials and tools. Both sides of problem solving are discussed in the present study. Thirty participants from various fields of design participated drawing and clay forming experiment and were interviewed afterwards using stimulated recall method. In the experiment the participants performed three types of tasks: copying, design and free improvisation. Fifteen of the interviews were transcript and analyzed using content analysis. The results show that the experiment situation was a positive or at least neutral situation to fourteen out of fifteen participants. In the copying and design tasks problem solving was related to finding a quick and suitable technique to perform the task, whereas in the free improvisation tasks techniques were more experimental and clay material was a source of inspiration to many of the participants. There are some things to consider from the participants point of view, when planning new experiments, such as the timing, repetition of the same tasks and the total length of the experiment. In clay forming tasks, problem solving is strongly connected to the material, which shows the importance of the embodied side of problem solving. Setting or redefining goals and choosing working strategies are examples of the cognitive side of problem solving.

Aims. The aim of this qualitative study was to find out what information the special education students' IEPs' (Individual Educational Plan) includes about different activity areas. The activity areas are based on the National Curricula for basic education and they are motor skills, language and communication, social skills, skills in daily functions and cognitive skills. The aim of the study was to find out what other information the IEPs' includes. The study also aimed to find out what information IEPs' includes about multi-professional cooperation and the different responsibility that they share. Even though, the aim of the IEP is to ensure that the right special support is given to the student, there are also concerns about the documents. Earlier research shows for example that the information that has been written to IEPs mainly describes the problems and the challenges that the student has. The goals that have been written to the documents are often general and not measurable. Methods. The research data consist 20 IEPs that has been written to the children with special needs. The data of the research was collected earlier to the use of Special Education Research of the University of Helsinki. The IEPs were written to the students that are in need of the special support and who are studying by the activity areas. The data was analysed by using the qualitative text content analysis and discourse analysis. Results and conclusions. Based on the research, when the data was analysed by the activity areas the IEPs contained mainly information about students' cognitive skills. The discourse analysis showed that the information about activity areas were mainly positive, but there was also negative information concerning the activity areas. The information that were not about the activity areas were for example about student's hobbies, integration, student's self-esteem, motivation and studying environment. The results showed that the other information in the IEPs were mainly neutral. In the IEPs there were all in all 21 different multi-professional cooperation mentioned, but in the documents there were no more information about how the cooperation was organized.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what kind of ideals of a teacher and teaching con-structed in the curriculum texts of teacher education. The research questions are: 1) what kind of discourses can be read out from curriculum texts and 2) what kind of ideals and val-ues are attached in teachers in teacher education curriculum texts. The material of the thesis consists of general descriptions of the program catalogues of teacher education in the univer-sities of Helsinki, Lapland, Tampere and Turku, which were valid in the academic year 2017-2018. The theoretical background draws from curriculum research as well as research on the teacher ideals. The research method is discourse analytical reading of curriculum texts. There are three discourses on teacher education in the curriculum texts. The first discourse is discourse of science that relates teaching to academic teacher education. The second dis-course relates teaching to society considering teachers as actors of social change. I have named the second discourse as the discourse of social change. The third discourse empha-sises the effectiveness of teacher education in responding to the needs of the working life by producing teaching professionals. I have named the third discourse as Discourse of labour market and efficiency. The fourth discourse is an individual-centred discourse in which teaching is discussed as a means to the individual’s own development and the growth of in-dividual strengths. In general, all four discourses are present in each curriculum. The strong-est of these is the discourse of social change. The most significant exception is the University of Lapland where the teacher education cur-riculum text highlights locality, the significance of individual's own internal capabilities and problematisation of gender. The history of the University of Lapland provides the curriculum the specific nature. The question to be considered further is whether it is possible to find strength and new perspectives for teacher education from the strengths of each university in-stead of following the narratives and phrasing of educational ideologies alike in other univer-sities.

Objectives: This thesis examined the relationship between disordered gambling (DG) with mental health, loneliness, perceived general health, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and computer gaming frequency by age and gender among adolescents and emerging adults. Gambling types were also examined for their association to DG, mental health, loneliness, perceived health, risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking. DG is conceptualized as a behavioural addiction, and its development is influenced by the availability of gambling opportunities, prevalence of other addictive behaviours, and psychological well-being. Previous studies have indicated that specific types of gambling are more strongly associated to DG that others. The purpose of the present study was to identify the strength of the various risk factors of disordered gambling, examine whether specific risk factors are associated to certain gambling types and if there are age and gender related differences in regards to the associations between disordered gambling and its risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional population based random sample (n = 822, 49.3 % female) of individuals aged 15 to 28 from the self-reported Finnish Gambling Survey 2011 was utilized. DG was assessed with the Problem Gambling Severity Index, such that a score of 2 or more indicated DG. Mental health was measured with the five item Mental Health Inventory and risky alcohol consumption was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test -Consumption. The remainder of examined variables were assessed with single Likert-scaled items. The correlates of DG and gambling types were examined with logistic regression models. Results and conclusions: Male gender, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and frequently feeling lonely were significantly associated to DG. Slot machine gambling, online gambling other than poker, private betting, and casino betting were strongly associated to DG. The aforementioned gambling types were strongly associated to risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking along with sports betting. Feeling lonely was associated to online poker, casino betting and private betting. There were indications of gender differences in regards to the gambling types associated to feeling lonely. Risky alcohol consumption seemed to be a stronger risk factor for DG among males, and tobacco smoking stronger among females. Current findings warrant further investigation of DG in regards to loneliness, and reconsideration of national gambling policies.

The purpose of the research was to study how Finnish lower-stage schools participating in the international network of UNESCO schools, also called the Associated Schools Project (ASP), prepare their students for the future at the level of their school-based curriculums. In the research, the future trends were discussed, and the importance of their consideration in educational practice was explained from a global viewpoint: Based on the examination of today's problematic world state, and development trends characterized by globalization, the challenges and demands set for schooling and education in the future were discussed. Understanding the significance of an individual's action and responsibility was considered to be the central resource for building a more just and sustainable future. The study was grounded on a theoretical model developed by the researcher, which combined the models of Dalin & Rust (1996) and UNESCO (Delors et al. 1996) about future-oriented learning. The model consists of four basic elements of curriculum; "Nature", "Culture", "Myself", and "Others", and four dimension of learning; "Learning to know", "Learning to do", "Learning to live together" and "Learning to be". The model represents the holistic aspect of educational theory, and its aim is to maintain a balance between its different components. The research material composed of ten lower-stage UNESCO schools' school-based curriculums. They were analyzed using the theoretical model by the methology of content analysis. The research results were notably consistent between the different schools. They showed cultural learning and learning concerned with "myself" to be clearly more emphasized than learning referring to nature and other people. In addition, they reflected the central position of subjects, knowledge and skills, thus leaving the development of the pupils' personalities, and particularly learning concerned with living with other people, in a marginal role. The question about whether the schools prepare for the future interms of their curriculums, was discussed in the light of the results. The research offered a way and a model to approach the relationship between education and the future, and to evaluate schools' future-orientation. Based on the results, the schools are suggested to lay more stress on learning concerned with nature and other people, and focus more on developing the mental capasities of their pupils and competencies they need for living with other people. Above all, what the present societies require of schools is education which produces balanced and broadly aware human beings who have the mental strength to face the challenges of the future and abilities to direct it along the lines they desire.

This study examines university students experiences about the drama pedagogy in foreign language teaching. The study observes students experiences and thoughts about drama pedagogy in foreign language teaching at the university level. How student’s foreign language learning self-concept and student’s goal setting affects to the student’s choise to participate to the drama group at the university?

The aim of this study was to test the associations between job satisfaction and job strain, defined according to Karasek's Job Demands-Control Model, as well as type D personality traits. Previous studies have mainly focused on job characteristics and other external circumstances when studying wellbeing at work. The relationship between occupational wellbeing and individual factors such as personality traits has received less attention. Based on previous studies five hypotheses were set: 1) type D personality is associated with lower job satisfaction, 2) type D personality is associated with higher job strain, 3) job strain is negatively associated with job satisfaction, 4) job control moderates the association between job demands and job satisfaction, and 5) the association between type D personality and job satisfaction is mediated by job strain. The data consisted of 1117 participants of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. All participants were full-time employed Finns aged 30 to 45. Type D personality was measured with a modified questionnaire based on DS14 (Denollet, 2005), job control was measured using items from the Job Content Questionnaire (Karasek, 1985) and job demands was measured using items from the Occupational Stress Questionnaire (Elo et al, 1990). Job satisfaction was measured with a single-item scale. The hypotheses were tested using linear regression analyses. The effects of gender and education level were controlled for. Employees with type D personality were found to experience lower job satisfaction and higher job strain when compared to non-type D counterparts. Of the two type D traits, only negative affectivity was a statistically significant predictor of job satisfaction. Job strain was associated with lower job satisfaction. The association between negative affectivity and job satisfaction was partly mediated by job strain. Based on these results it seems that type D personality, especially negative affectivity and job strain may be risk factors for lower occupational well-being.

Combining studying and goal-oriented sports is challenging. This master's thesis looks at the path of successful high-level athletes to the top and how they have experienced the combining of two careers. The aim is to look at the experience’s athletes have of combining sports careers and studies at different levels of education and what they have found challenging and what has been, on the other hand, successful. On average, sports careers at the top level are short, and after the end of their careers, many athletes find employment in jobs corresponding to their studies. The best way we can understand athletes' experiences is if we are also aware of how to develop into a top athlete. The data of the study consists of seven interviews. Seven Finnish athletes who have had successful sports careers and who also have had varied study experiences were interviewed for the purpose of the study. The study data was collected in autumn 2021 through a thematic interview. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed. A phenomenographic approach was used in the analysis of the data. Based on the research results, athletes had similar experiences combining study and sports in comprehensive school. Combining these did not require any special effort. However, the sports-oriented classes in comprehensive school provided an opportunity for morning training. In high school, different experiences were experienced. It was possible to combine sports and studies in a regular high school, but it required initiative and support from the school side. In sports schools, it was easier to combine the two careers, and the school provided significant support to promote both athlete careers. In higher education studies, combining sports and studies was considered challenging. In particular, courses requiring attendance slowed down the completion of studies. However, the interviewees agreed that studying and graduating is possible during a sports career. Studying was seen as a counterbalance to the sport. Sports academies aim to simplify the combination of sports and studies. However, not all athletes knew how to take advantage of the services provided by sports academies because most of them were unaware of their existence. In the future, the activities of sports academies should be developed so that it is even more efficient and accessible to athletes.