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Now showing items 3464-3483 of 3510
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(2016)Aims. Generally, there is a lot of research about generic skills, but how these skills develop during the work phase has barely been researched. The participants of the study are students from the Finnish National Defense University, whose studies include a four-year long work phase between the bachelor degree and the master's degree. The research questions were: 1.What kind of generic skills students learn at the workplace? 2. How do these skills and the work phase generally affect the studies after the work phase? 3. How do the generic skills learned during the work phase differ between the students who experienced that the transition from the work phase to masters' studies went well and those who experienced the transition as challenging? The results are used to discuss the development of students' expertise. Methods. The data were collected with a questionnaire during the spring 2015. The link to the questionnaire was sent by email to the second year master students from the Finnish National Defense University (N=108). Twenty-six students responded, the response rate being 24 %. The qualitative data was analyzed with inductive content analysis. The first two questions were analyzed with a variable-oriented approach while the third question was analyzed with a person-oriented approach. Results and conclusions. The analysis showed that students learned many kinds of generic skills during the work phase. These skills were categorized into five categories: social skills, skills related to self-knowledge, skills related to the mastery of big picture, problem solving and organizing skills and other skills. These skills and the work generally had impact on the master studies after the work phase. These impacts were: impact on maturity, impact on the master's thesis, influence on the fluency of the studies and other impacts. The learned generic skills were also related to the transition from the work phase to the studies. Those students who felt their transition went smoothly had learned more skills related to self-knowledge and problem solving and organizing skills than those students who experienced the transition as challenging. On the contrary, these students had learned more social and other skills than the students who felt their transition went smoothly.
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(2016)Objectives. University students should be given possibility to learn generic skills alongside discipline specific knowledge during their university studies. This study examines how bachelor's and master's graduates evaluated the development of different generic skills during their university studies. In addition study examines how bachelor's and master's graduates described learning environments of the generic skills, the most important generic skills and factors impeding the development of the generic skills and also what kind of suggestions bachelor's and master's graduates produced for the better development of the generic skills. Methods. The present study combined both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data were collected through an electronic questionnaire. The survey data in this study consisted of 438 bachelor's graduates and 578 master's graduates survey answers and five bachelor's and five master's graduates interviews. Bachelor's and master's graduates were from different faculties. Quantitative data were analysed using t-test and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. Results and conclusions. The bachelor's and master's graduates evaluated that the different generic skills have been developed well during university studies. There were statistically significant differences in a few generic skills between bachelor's and master's graduates evaluations but the effect sizes were small. Bachelor's and master's graduates described similarly the learning environments of generic skills. Master's graduates emphasized the importance of working life alone in developing generic skills. Bachelor's and master's graduates perceived critical thinking as a most important generic skill. Bachelor's and master's graduates viewed that different factors which were related to learning methods, courses and teaching, degree, university practices and university as a learning environment, impeded the development of generic skills. For the better development of generic skills bachelor's and master's graduates suggested that university should focus on the professional development and the development of curriculum and teaching. Based on bachelor's and master's graduates evaluations and experiences, it might be that after bachelor's degree the generic skills do not develop significantly in master's degree studies. In the future, a stronger integration of generic skills to the teaching of discipline specific knowledge and paying attention to the students professional development could contribute to better development of generic skills during university studies.
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(2015)In this study I was examining means to better take into account the special needs of a sensory hypersensitive student in the first six grades of the comprehensive school. The sub-research problems considered means for taking into account the needs of a sensory hypersensitive child in the context of classroom as a physical space, teaching, social interaction, physical education, transitional situations and eating. Previous studies about sensory hypersensitivity in the context of school are relatively rare, especially in Finland. The research material was acquired by carrying through five semi-structured interviews. Three occupational therapists and two special needs teachers were interviewed. The material was analyzed using phenomenological approaching method. There are also features of content analysis and discourse analysis in the study. The results were that ne needs of a sensory hypersensitive student can be taken into account in school by decreasing the amount of stimulus and the sensory load that a hypersensitive student under-go. This can be actualized by modifying the physical environment and the teaching process as well as understanding the student's special needs and accepting them. In order to do so the child's parents and teacher must collaborate and be well aware of the situation. All the suggested improvements can be carried out with relatively low costs.
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(2015)The subject of this study is the historical formation of the university funding formula in Finland during 1995–2010. Funding formula is approached via its historical context, and the aim of this study is to discover and construct regularities that enable and restrict the formation of the funding formula. The main foci of this study are the funding formula, and its components the funding criteria. The primary research material of this study consists of memoranda and decrees of the Ministry of Education in 1995–2006, and legislative material from the university reform in 2007–2010. The frame of this research is built by combining Kari Palonen's topological conception of politics on one hand, and the Foucauldian genealogical-archaeological discourse analysis on the other. Following Palonen, politics is conceptualised here both as activity, and as a sphere borne out of that activity, which can be analysed from nine different perspectives (topos). Discursive formation is conceptualised as set of objects, subjects, concepts, and strategies that are connected to each other by discursive regularities. This study creates a description of a discursive formation, in which and under who's conditions the university funding formula and funding criteria are formulated. The result of this study is extensive and detailed description of the discursive formation. As results it is asserted that there are five discursive regularities that govern the formation of funding criteria: the conflict between the funding model politics and general university politics, policy, internal variation, conceptual changes, and functional extension. The formation of the system of subjects is governed by the relationship between the universities and the Ministry of education. Concepts emerge as a result of a regularity called borrowing, and concepts fade away as soon as they are unneeded. Two strategies, the funding model politics and the general university politics, emerge by the support of the system of subjects, and a third strategy emerges as a conflict zone of the two, functioning as a conflict mediator.
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(2012)The goal of the thesis is to explore the contents of tasks in craft studies. The background of the study is placed in the experiences that both the scholar and other craft teachers have of difficulties in teaching designing. The data consists of tasks given to university students. The study examines the projects carried out in the university craft courses and the contents found in tasks designed by teachers. The study explores the following tasks found in the data: the phases of craft processes, design elements, and the action models of craft. The data of the exploration was collected from four Finnish universities, and the lecturers were approached by e-mail. The tasks including a craft project carried out by students were picked out from the data; there were 43 such tasks. The data was analyzed using the method of qualitative content analysis based on the theory driven approach. Classification frames were outlined with the help of the theory, and they were completed with the themes arising from the data. The phases of craft processes occurred in the data in many different ways: most usually, the tasks included the phases of design, manufacturing, and assessment. Ideation occurred the least in the data. Problems in design elements were examined from the following points of view: technique, material, and product. On the basis of these observations, the well-defined problems occurred most in the tasks. There were numerous design constraints, and most of them had technique-based manufacturing as a point of departure. There was a large variety of both verbal and visual representation in the tasks. Craft techniques, craft skills, and problem solving tasks were emphasized in action models of craft. Among these, there were less craft as self-expression and routine-like manufacturing of a product. The craft tasks followed the tradition of learning techniques and skills. However, the objective of holistic craft occurred in most of the tasks.
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(2018)Teacher education is often perceived as a means to change society. Despite this, research on teacher education curricula is scarce; and there are even fewer comparative studies on teacher education curricula. The purpose of this study is to shed light on teacher education curricula using a comparative perspective. The study aims to analyse the Finnish and the English academic primary teacher education curricula as entities; with their aims and objectives, syllabus, methodology and assessment. The targets of the study were the teacher education curricula of Helsinki University and University of Exeter. The study was based on a qualitative document analysis. The research material consisted, in addition to the curricula and module descriptions, of the school placement web-sites and handbooks. Theory-bound content analysis was used to be able to recognise and analyse the key concepts, as well as to contrast and compare them within the theoretical framework. Helsinki University teacher education curriculum is based on a humanistic philosophy that emphasises a student’s “growth” into an autonomous expert teacher and a professional. The curriculum is discipline and subject matter based, with an emphasis on declarative knowledge, scientific thinking and content. Theory and practice remain partially separate and the curriculum could benefit from combining some courses and subjects into cross-curricular modules. The curriculum of the University of Exeter PGCE programme is mostly based on meeting the statutory criteria; the statutory policies are reflected in the university curricula. The structure of the teacher education programme is sound, with different parts of the programme linked together. However, the theoretical and subject knowledge modules are likely to remain too superficial. The curriculum is very practice-orientated.
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(2009)The starting point for this study was university teaching and teachers and specifically their changing role when confronting the Finnish University Reform and the student-focused theories of learning. Teachers' pedagogical thinking and pedagogical content knowledge were also part of the theoretical framework. In the research of conceptions of and approaches to learning and teaching, the qualitative classifications of Säljö and Marton (1976; 1997), Ramsden (1992), Kember (1997) and Trigwell and Prosser (1999) were utilised. Two study questions were raised (1) What kind of conceptions of and approaches to learning do engineering science teachers have? and (2) What kind of conceptions of and approaches to teaching do engineering science teachers have? The relationship between teachers' conceptions and teaching was also examined. The research material was collected in autumn 2008 by interviewing teachers and by observing teaching in the Department of Energy Technology at Helsinki University of Technology. Altogether two tutorials and ten lectures were observed. Each teacher of the observed lectures was interviewed once. The interviews were carried out as semi-structured theme interviews. In the analysis of the research material phenomenographical approach was adapted. The study revealed many kinds of conceptions of and approaches to learning and teaching in the teachers' speech. On the basis of the research material, the conceptions and approaches that the teachers declare do not always reflect their actions in the teaching situation. The surface approaches to learning and teacher-focused approaches to teaching and conceptions of receiving and transmission of knowledge were parallel. Instead the teachers' declarations of the deep approaches to learning and student-focused approaches to teaching were partly in conflict with how the teacher taught. When striving towards student-centered teaching culture attention should be paid to the development of teachers' pedagogical thinking and pedagogical content knowledge. The culture and the structures of the educational institution should also be considered.
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(2014)Objectives and theoretical framework: This study examined narratively university teachers' teacher identity using the Beijaard, Verloop and Vermunt (2000) model of teacher identity. Based on the model, teacher identity was conceived as subject matter expertise, didactical expertise and pedagogical expertise. In this study teacher identity was understood narratively, in other words, developing as an unfolding story. Teacher identity and its change are examined according to the Beijaard et al. (2000) model of teacher identity focusing on the beginning of the teaching career and on the end of pedagogical studies. Attention is also paid to the composition of the different elements of teacher identity. Additionally, influencing factors on the development of these elements of teacher identity are also identified. Earlier research on university teachers' teacher identity is scarce. Methods: The study was conducted applying a narrative method. The research material was collected by interviewing eight university teachers that had participated in pedagogical studies. The research material was analysed by applying a narrative analysis method, thus by formulating teacher stories for each university teacher participating in the study. After this the stories were analysed according to the research questions. Results and conclusions: As a result of the study three teacher identity groups were identified. The first group was characterized by the development from a content focus to a wide didactical and pedagogical expertise. The second group was characterized by the strengthening of didactical and pedagogical expertise. The third group was characterized by the development to didactically and pedagogically skilful teachers. Especially the didactical expertise of all teachers had strengthened. The most important factors contributing to its development were teaching and teaching experience and pedagogical studies. Also notable was that during the teaching career the pedagogical expertise had become a part of each university teacher's teacher identity, even if its importance as an element of teacher identity varied. Especially didactical expertise and pedagogical expertise consisted of relatively similar factors among teachers from all three groups. The results of this study can be used in pedagogical studies where university teachers should be supported in recognizing these elements of their teacher identity.
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(2019)Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan yliopisto-opettajien arvoja, ja selvitetään, ovatko arvot yhteydessä näkemyksiin siitä, miten he kokevat yliopistotyön ja yliopiston perustehtävät. Yliopistouudistuksen jälkeen markkinaistumisen korostuminen on tuonut uusia elementtejä myös yliopistomaailmaan, ja yksittäisten ihmisten toimintaa ohjaavat arvot voivatkin potentiaalisesti muodostaa ristiriitoja ulkoisten ja sisäisten tavoitteiden välille. Korkeakoulutuksen piirissä arvoja on tarkasteltu pääosin opiskelijoiden osalta, mutta toisaalta suomalaiset tutkijat ovat olleet kiinteästi muodostamassa vallitsevaa arvomittaria, ja käsitys suomalaisten yleisistä arvopainotuksista on siten melko systemaattisesti tutkittua. Siksi tällä tutkimuksella on mahdollisuus tarjota laajempi näkökulma siihen, miten arvot painottuvat yliopisto-opettajilla. Tutkimus toteutettiin sähköisellä e-lomakekyselyllä, joka lähetettiin niille Helsingin yliopiston, Tampereen yliopiston ja Taideyliopiston opettajille, joiden yhteystietoja sai käyttää tutkimustarkoituksiin. Tutkimuksessa käytetty valmisaineisto on kerätty vuonna 2015, ja sitä täydentävä materiaali kerätty vuonna 2017. Kyselyyn vastasi 146 yliopisto-opettajaa. Kyselyssä tiedusteltiin akateemista alaa, työnimikettä ja työn luonnetta koskevien taustakysymysten lisäksi laajasti näkemyksiä yliopiston perustehtävistä opetuksesta, tutkimuksesta ja yhteiskunnallisesta vaikuttamisesta tai taiteellisesta työstä. Kyselyn viimeisenä osiona oli Schwartzin universaalien arvojen mittarin suomalaismuunnos. Tutkimuksessa saatiin selville, että yliopisto-opettajat ovat arvoiltaan hyvin yhtenäinen vastaajajoukko, joiden arvoja kuvaa erityisesti muutokselle avoimuuden korostaminen säilyttämisen kustannuksella. He ovat tyypiltään itseohjautuvia universalisteja, ja heille itsensä korostaminen, yhdenmukaisuus tai turvallisuus olivat varsin vähän tärkeitä. Yksittäisten arvojen sijaan työnäkemysten kanssa olivat yhteydessä arvojen kokonaisuuksista muodostetut klusterit, jotka jakoivat yliopisto-opettajat vapaudenhakuisiin, traditionalistisiin ja minäkeskeisiin. Yhteys arvoklusterien, taustamuuttujien ja työnäkemysten välillä oli sirpaleinen, mutta yksittäiset yhteydet olivat muodoltaan koherentteja. Arvojen ja työhön liittyvien näkemysten yhteys on siten hyvin moniulotteinen ilmiö, jonka erityispiirteitä kuvaa yhteyksien luonteen holistisuus.
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(2016)Objectives. The aim of this study is to find out what kind of conceptions of teaching can be found among university teachers and how their conceptions change during pedagogical training. The research questions of the study are: 1) What kind of conceptions of teaching university teachers have at the beginning of the pedagogical training? 2) What kind of conceptions of teaching university teachers have at the end of the pedagogical training? 3) What kind of narratives can be identified concerning teachers' conceptions of teaching from the beginning of pedagogical studies until the end of the studies? What is the role of earlier experiences as a student, teaching history and teaching traditions of the discipline in the narratives of the teachers? Methods. The data of the study consists of interviews of six university teachers which are conducted at the beginning of pedagogical training in 2003-2004 and reports of practical training which are written after a practical training period in 2009-2010. In this study the primary method is an abductive content analysis and Kember's (1997) categorization of conceptions of teaching is used to identify the conceptions of teaching. Narrative analysis is used when examining the change in conceptions of teaching, and the role of earlier experiences as a student, teaching history and teaching traditions of the discipline. Results and conclusions. Individual teacher's conceptions could be located in many categories, such as Kember's (1997) teacher centered/content oriented, student centered/learning oriented or transitional conception categories. Also some new categories of conceptions were identified. In the teachers' narratives, either change in conceptions or strengthening of conceptions of teaching was recognized. Teachers' earlier experiences as a student, teaching history and teaching traditions of the discipline seemed to direct teachers' teaching practices at the beginning of the studies. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that during the pedagogical training university teachers' conceptions of teaching change. The practical training period in a new teaching environment seems to promote many learning experiences which are usually related to student centered/learning oriented or transitional categories of conceptions of teaching.
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(2014)Research on approaches to teaching has previously been based only on teachers' own reports of the planning of their teaching, action strategies and the intentions behind them. The purpose of the study was to increase understanding of the relationship between teachers' own reports and observed action, by comparing the correspondence of five university teachers' own reports and their observed teaching practices. The study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What kind of teaching profiles can be identified on the basis of teachers' own reports? 2. What kind of teaching practices can be identified in videotaped lectures? and 3. How do the teaching profiles and observed teaching correspond with each other? Methods. The data were received from the Helsinki University Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education. The interview and video data were collected in the autumn of 2009–2010 by the researchers in charge of the "The Interaction between Teaching and Learning in Higher Education" research project. The qualitative data chosen for the study were analysed with theory-based content analysis. Results and conclusions. The analysis of the teachers' individual teaching profiles showed that the approaches can be comprised of theoretically contradicting, dissonant, qualities. The contradictions may manifest at different levels, both in the conceptions of teaching and in the strategies concerning teaching and the purposes behind them. Observing the teaching showed that learning-focused conceptions of teaching are not always reflected in the planning and implementation of individual courses. Also learning-focused teaching strategies and intentions concerning an individual course may become considerably more content-focused in the implementation of teaching. Reports of content-focused strategies and plans for action, however, are more uniform with the observable action. Based on the data, it can therefore be stated that the individual teaching profiles of teachers and the action observable in teaching situations do not always coincide. Based on the teachers' reports and the observation of teaching, it can be assumed that the contradictions between verbal reports and realised action may be caused not only by situational factors, but also by little reflection of one's own action patterns, or by insufficient abilities to actualise intentions.
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(2014)Objectives. The object of this study was to find out what kinds of profiles of approaches to teaching can be found among university teachers, are there disciplinary differences between the profiles and to discover teaching-related challenges. In the analysis of teachers approaches to teaching, particularly the qualitative research by Kember and Kwan (2000), Trigwell and Prosser (1999) and especially the research of Postareff and Lindblom-Ylänne (2008) were utilised. The study sought to answer three questions: 1) What kinds of profiles of approaches to teaching can be identified among individual teachers? 2) Are the profiles related to academic disciplines? and 3) What kinds of teaching-related challenges do the teachers describe, and how these challenges are related to their teaching profiles? Methods. The research material has been collected in the Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education between 2009 and 2011. Interviews of nine teachers were analysed: three teachers from the Faculty of Theology, three teachers from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and three teachers from the Faculty of Science. In the analysis of research questions one and two, deductive content analysis was used, and in question three inductive content analysis was utilised. Results and conclusions. The analysis of approaches to teaching revealed that approaches can consist of both theoretically consistent and inconsistent elements. Five different profiles were recognized: a systematically learning-focused profile, a systematically content-focused profile, a conflicting profile with an emphasis on contents, a conflicting profile with an emphasis on learning, and a conflicting profile. In this study there were no clear connections between discipline and teaching profiles. A link between the profiles and the challenges was discovered: The teachers who had been categorised in the same profile also stated same kinds of teaching challenges, apart from teachers in the conflicting profile. Based on the findings of this study it can be suggested that the conflicts between the intentions and actions in teaching can result not only from the lack of resources or support or from structural constraints, but especially from insufficient pedagogical expertise and difficulties in reflecting one's own capabilities and actions.
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(2018)This study examines the experiences of student engagement among university students from non-academic family backgrounds using Vesa Korhonen’s model of student engagement. The ”massification” of higher education and the increasing number of university students in Finland over the last few years, has created a more heterogeneous population of university students and especially the number of students from non-academic background in higher education has increased. The recent concern for the extension of studying time has increased interest in student engagement research. This research focuses on the student engagement of these students from non-academic backgrounds. In the student engagement model used in this study, engagement is thought to be comprised of the proceeding participation in social communities, artistry of academic learning and feelings of belonging. The data for the study was collected with semi-structured interviews in University of Helsinki. A total of eight university students were interviewed, three studying general and adult education, two studying psychology, two studying to become teachers and one student of social-psychology. The data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The research suggests that university students from non-academic backgrounds often experience uncertainty towards their academic skills and often experience feelings of not belonging not only within the university but also within their families. The attempted harmonization of the academic world of university and the family world seemed to create some conflicting feelings. However, some of the students felt that their background was more of an asset or incentive in their university studies.
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(2021)Goals. The aim of this study was to examine the challenges autistic university students face when searching for a job, and the supporting structures that universities offer. Research on autistic graduates’ transition between university and employment is scarce. The numbers of autistic students are on the rise in higher education. It is important to evaluate the structures that universities have in place to support their transition into employment. The autism spectrum condition manifests differently with every individual but there are some common characteristics: challenges in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive and/or restricted behaviour. These characteristics can present challenges during job application. Research shows that especially job application and the processes involving it can create barriers for autistic graduates. Methods. The data is collected as a part of the IMAGE Project. Participants were Finnish autistic university students or recent graduates (n=7) and career advisors (n=5). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews during spring 2019. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed using grounded theory. Results and conclusions. This study shows that many autistic students didn’t use career services even though they recognized needs for support in searching for a job. Three aspects affected students seeking support from career services: 1) need for support and recognising it, 2) meeting the need for support and 3) accessibility of support. Many of the support needs expressed by autistic students were met by services offered by universities, but problems with accessibility of career services created barriers which hindered students from using the services. There were structures in place that guided students into career services but often getting help demanded that students actively seek it. This demand for self-directness may form a barrier for many autistic students. Based on this study universities should create systematic structures that guide students into services as effortlessly as possible.
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Yliopisto-opiskelijasta lastentarhanopettajaksi : miksi toiset haluavat työelämään ja toiset eivät? (2015)International research on student teachers' induction into the working life has showed that work exhaustion and feelings of confusion are common amongst the young professionals, who have been working in the field for five years or less. In Finland, there has been a lack of qualified Kindergarten teachers for a long time. This study aimed to find out what appeals Kindergarten teacher students to work in the profession and what makes students hesitate working in the profession. There were three research problems: (1) Which factors are linked with students' desire to work as a Kindergarten teacher? (2) Which factors are linked with students' hesitation to work as a Kindergarten teacher? (3) How do the students describe the socialisation into the profession and how is that affected to the work engagement? This study was conducted as a qualitative survey. The data used in this study was part of University of Helsinki study Koulutuksesta valmistuminen ja työssä pysyminen lastentarhanopettajan työuralla. The data included four open-ended questions (n = 350), which were answered by 166 third year students from the University of Helsinki Kindergarten Teacher Education. The data was analyzed using Content Analysis. The results of the study brought out that the students' desire to work as kindergarten teachers is mainly linked with love for children and early childhood education. The motivation to develop as a professional seemed to link with the desire to continue to the profession as well. The help of senior teachers and well adopted teaching practices seemed to strengthen the socialisation into the profession. Students' feeling that the society doesn't appreciate the profession was strongly linked with feelings of hesitation, as well as the weak resources in the Daycare Centres. The students also felt that by clarifying the job descriptions between the Kindergarten teachers and the practical nurses, the profession would seem more appealing. The results of this study can be used to promote the Kindergarten teachers induction into the working life.
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(2018)Objectives. In the light of previous research, so called working life orientation is more emphasised in university education and this is also what students wish. Previous studies have shown that there is a shortage of skills and knowledge among university students and employers' expectations. Especially students in generalist fields, i.e. those students who do not graduate from their studies to a certain profession, experience challenges in their working life transition. This study examines the experiences of generalist students in the competences they have learned in the university and what competencies they think it was useful to learn when transitioning to working life. The study also explores the challenges the graduated students face in working life on a more general level. Methods. The study examined 20 generalist students from the University of Helsinki and especially their experiences of learning working life skills and the challenges faced after the transition to working life. The data were collected with a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using abductive content analysis method. Results and Conclusions. The students reported to learn competencies related to understanding and knowledge formation, and the least described competences were related to communication and interaction. Most of the students missed the least described communication and interaction competences, and also the challenges in working life were mostly related to these competences. It can be concluded that student learning of communication skills should be developed in order to prepare students for the demands of working life.
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(2016)Students' self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were examined in this research. The participants were 250 students from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. Research data were collected in autumn 2013 through a questionnaire developed at the Helsinki University Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education (YTY). Factor analysis was used to explore the validity of the scales measuring self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility. The first research question concerning the correlations between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were analysed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. This was followed by K-Means Cluster Analysis to form student profiles comprising of self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility (research question 2). After formation of student profiles Oneway ANOVA was used to analyse whether the student profiles differ from each other in terms of study success, age and sex (research question 3). According to the results all correlations between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were statistically significant. Especially between self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility a strong correlation (r2 = .30) was found. Four student profiles were identified and they were named as unsure (n = 41), self-confident easygoing (n = 95), self-confident distressed (n = 51) and self-confident efficient (n = 63) students. A statistically significant difference in study success was found between unsure (M = 3.22) and self-confident efficient (M = 3.91) students. With regard to age there was a statistically significant difference between self-confident easygoing (M = 25.6) and self-confident efficient (M = 29.9) students. Student profiles didn't differ with regard to sex. The results imply that self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility have a great significance for students' coping and well-being in their studies. Therefore it is important to increase understanding of the interplay between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility to find means to support students' coping under the economically challenging circumstances facing Finnish higher education.
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(2015)Previous studies have shown that cognitive and attributional strategies as well as academic emotions can be considered as central factors affecting studying but the interaction between them has been explored very little. The aim of this study was to explore what kind of cognitive and attributional strategies university students in the Faculty of Arts use and what kind of academic emotions they experience in their studies. The aim was also to examine what kind of cognitive-attributional-emotional profiles can be identified for students and how do these profiles differ from each other in study success. The study also addressed the differences between Bachelor's and Master's degree students. The data were collected in a previous research project in the Faculty of Arts in the University of Helsinki. The shortened version of the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire was used as a measure of cognitive and attributional strategies. The measure of academic emotions was formed on the basis of the Academic Emotions Scale. The data was collected by an online questionnaire in the autumn of 2013 and the participants of the study were 244 students. Cluster analysis was used for clustering students into cognitive-attributional-emotional profiles based on the combinations of cognitive and attributional strategies and academic emotions. Differences between different groups were analyzed by the independent samples t-test and ANOVA. Four groups with different profiles were identified: optimistic and hopeful, optimistic and ashamed, optimistic and frustrated as well as avoidant and anxious. The optimistic and hopeful group did better in their studies than the avoidant and anxious as well as the optimistic and frustrated group. The Bachelor's degree students, as well as younger students, experienced more negative emotions and used the self-handicapping strategy more than the Master's degree students and older students. It is important to further examine the interaction between cognitive and attributional strategies and academic emotions to find out whether same kind of profiles can be identified in different contexts.
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(2022)Objectives. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, a large part of teaching in higher education institutions was transferred to distance learning, which affected the lives of students in many ways. The aim of this study was to examine what kind of challenges Finnish university students experienced in their studies during the Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning in the fall of 2020. The connections of the perceived challenges to gender and to the start date of studies were also examined. This study aimed to form a deeper understanding of what kind of demands the Covid-19 pandemic caused for university students. Based on the demands, it was discussed what kind of resources students would need to support their studies and well-being. In this study the study demands-resources model was used as theoretical framework. Methods. The research data was gathered as a part of the research of the educational psychology research unit of the Faculty of Education, University of Helsinki. The sample consisted of university students (N=1264) aged 18–58, of whom 81% were women. The measures of the study were based on an open question regarding the challenges experienced by students in their studies. The data was analyzed by classifying the challenges appearing in the answers using qualitative methods. The connections of the perceived challenges to gender and to the start date of studies were also examined using cross-tabulation. The significance of the observed differences was tested with the χ² test. Results and conclusions. Thirteen different categories of challenges were identified from the data, which described different physical, social, emotional and cognitive challenges experienced by the students. The most common challenges reported by students were related to high workload, time management and organizational skills, as well as lack of social interaction and loneliness. The results showed differences in the perceived challenges according to the start date of the studies. The results also suggested gender differences, but these differences were not statistically significant. Based on the results, students would need social support which the university could provide, for example by enabling social integration, especially at the beginning of studies. In addition, students would need support for developing time management and organizational skills, as well as physical support, for example in the form of providing facilities suitable for studying.
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(2022)Aims. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many changes around the world, including an impact on university students. Remote teaching has had a significant influence on students’ daily lives. In this study I will investigate the motivation of university students’ during the pandemic. Motivation is examined using person-oriented approach and expectancy-value theory. The aim of this study was to investigate what kinds of motivational profiles can be identified among university students. Another aim was to investigate the relationships between these motivational profiles, stage of studies, and future study desires. Methods. Data were collected as part of the “University students’ well-being during the COVID- 19 pandemic” -research project in the spring of 2021. In total, 1718 students from three Finnish universities took part in the study. Analyses concerning the structural validity of all scales were first conducted using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Using a person-oriented approach and two-step cluster analysis (CA), students with similar patterns of expectancy-value-cost dimensions were identified. Crosstabulations were performed to investigate the relationships between motivational profile and both the stage of studies and the desired organization of future studies (i.e., remote or contact teaching). Results and Conclusions. Five distinct motivational profiles were identified: weakly motivated, struggling (30.3%), moderately motivated (24.6%), struggling utility-oriented (16.1%), utility- oriented (15.7%) and positively ambitious (13.2%). Students who were weakly motivated and struggling were underrepresented in academically younger student groups. It was typical for the positively ambitious students to prefer continuing in remote teaching, whereas weakly motivated and struggling preferred hybrid- or contact teaching. The discovered profiles were consistent with previous research while also providing interesting new information about university students’ expectancies, values, and costs during remote teaching. The findings of this study can be used to design the future of university studies as well as ways to support students' motivation.
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