Browsing by Author "Purolinna, Ronja"

The study examines the subject didactic development reports produced as the final work of the course ’Teacher as a researcher’ which is part of home economics teacher’s pedagogical studies. These reports have not previously been analyzed as research data. The aim of the study was to find out what content areas and learning theories students use in their teaching experiments. The aim was also look at how the comprehensive learning goals, stated in the National curriculum are manifested in teaching experiments. Thus, this study examines the directions in which students are taking the subject-didactic development work. The scientific literature of the study relies on research-based teacher education and comprehensive learning goals as part of the National curriculum. The data includes 66 development reports prepared in 2013-2020. The reports were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The learning theories applied in the teaching experiments were analyzed as based on the framework summarizing these theories. The emphasis on the various content areas of home economics was searched for on the teaching methods used and for on the topics selected. These contents were again further processed into a table format. The comprehensive approach (based on the curriculum) in the experiment was searched by using three-step criteria. One report per content area per year was evaluated for further examination. According to the study, the content area of ‘Food competence and food culture’ proved to be the most used. The content area of ‘Consumer and financial expertise’ proved to be the second most popular and the area ‘Living together’ the least utilized. Students reflected little influence on the choice of content areas, as teaching experiments were mainly conducted at the same time as teaching practice. Learning theories that emphasized interactive learning proved to be popular. Comprehensiveness was manifested primarily through fulfillment of comprehensive goals and the selection of thematic contents that support the formation of a broader understanding. The usefulness of the course ’Teacher as a researcher’ leans strongly in experimentation of new methods and the use of digital technology in teaching. Such skills have been proven necessary as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed teaching practices in schools.