Browsing by Subject "itsesäätely"

Objective of the study. This Master’s thesis investigates dyslexic university students and their learning experiences. Previous research has shown that dyslexia is related to learning in a variety of ways. However, previous research is primarily focused on children and adoles-cents. Further academic studies set new types of requirements to learning. Thus, it is neces-sary to explore dyslexic university students in order to find out especially the factors that are impeding and enhancing their studies. Efficient progress and the completion of academic studies are important for the students themselves, but also for the university and the society. This research examines the obstacles that dyslexic students face during their studies, and the variety of means and practices they use to overcome these challenges. Methods. The research material consists of ten semi-structured theme interviews. In the in-terviews the students were asked about their study habits, how dyslexia appears in their studies, which impeding and enhancing factors they could name, and what kind of social support they have received during the studies. The interview data were analysed by using a qualitative abductive content analysis. Finally, four different student profiles were formed based on the analysis. Results and conclusions. Results of the study indicated, that the dyslexic students experi-ence various impeding and enhancing factors in their academic studies. In addition to the factors related directly to dyslexia, study exhaustion was named as a major impeding factor. Self-regulation skills, study engagement, and social support were considered to be the most central factors in overcoming those challenges. Student profiles provide direction for differ-ent measures of support. According to the results, the interventions that are most crucially needed relate to the development of self-regulation skills during the studies, and to recogniz-ing and reducing study exhaustion at their early stages.

Aim of this study was to investigate the connection between children’s self-regulation and temperament. Additionally, the aim of the study was to determine whether a child’s age, gender or mother’s level of education modified the associations between temperament and self-regulation skills. The research material was collected in 2017 in kindergartens in Salo (N=29) and Riihimäki (N=3) as part of the DAGIS project. Data consisted of questionnaire material collected during the baseline measurement of the project. The subjects (N=802) were 3–6 years old children and their families. Children’s self-regulation skills were measured using PikkuKesky survey (challenges in self-regulatory skills) completed by early childhood education teachers or other professional (N=757). Also, parents filled a form that measured child’s cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills separately. Children’s temperament was assessed using Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (very short form). This questionnaire was filled by parents. The relationship between child’s temperament and self-regulation was analysed using linear regression analysis. In addition to that, regression analysis was used to examine whether a child’s age and gender or maternal education level had an interaction effect with temperament on self-regulation. The results of the research showed that there was a connection between children’s temperament and self-regulation. Children with high levels of surgency had more challenges in their self-regulatory skills, while better effortful control meant that the child had fewer challenges in self-regulation. This study did not find connection between challenges of self-regulation and negative affectivity. Children with high levels of effortful control as well as those with more surgency was associated to better cognitional self-regulation. In contrast, children with high levels of negative affectivity had weaker cognitive self-regulatory skills. Children with high levels of surgency or negative affectivity had weaker emotional self-regulation skills, while children with high levels of effortful control was associated to better emotional self-regulation. In this study, age, gender and maternal educational background, had no interaction between temperament and self-regulation. Children’s personal temperament needs to be taken into account when developing child’s self-regulatory skills and pay attention to supporting the self-regulatory skills of children with different temperaments - especially surgency ones - at an early stage.

The aim of this study was to describe difficulties in kids self-regulation and define multiple things that cause it in day care interaction situations. The research questions are 1. How difficulties in self-regulation appear in interaction, 2. What are the causes that effect to self-regulation, and 3. What pedagogical methods are applied concerning self-regulation in day care groups in this research. Stress is closely related with self-regulation. When faced with a stimulus, people become alerted. That elevates stress level and calls for self regulation. Self-regulation is considered as dependent on circumstances and interaction. Difficulties in self-regulation often coexist with difficulties in peer relations. People have inborn abilities to regulate emotions and behavior, but self-regulation skills are also learned in interaction with others. Human is considered to be pro-social by birth, and to be favoring helping others. Interventions concerning self-regulation has been developed, to enhance pedagogical sensitivity among day care teachers. Pedagogical sensitivity reduces stress and helps children to self-regulate. Two day care groups from Helsinki participated in this research. Research groups had children with special needs integrated. The data was collected by videotaping and observing the interaction in normal daily activities in spring 2015, two days in a row. Interesting clips were chosen from the videotapes to be shown to day care teachers together with the interviews. In interviews, the teachers commented about the situations from the videoclips and answered open questions about self-regulation. Observations from the videotapes and transcribed interviews were analyzed according to methods of qualitative content analysis. According to research findings, difficulties in self-regulation appear in interaction with unique ways. Children seem to have their own individual ways to react in face of a stress and in need of self-regulation. Difficulties in self-regulation appeared in behavior merely described with three concepts: ”fight, flee or freeze”. Difficulties were either active and extraverted, or passive and introverted. The causes that effect self-regulation in this research were distinctive and dependent on the situation. Children had very different abilities to face day care interaction situations. Self-regulation was effected with multiple, also random causes, and because of that self-regulation cannot be seen linear from its causes and effects. Causes were classified as 1. abilities to regulate, 2. causes that strain and challenging interaction situations. These three causes can be found in all research situations that had self-regulation difficulties. Adult support, well-planned, structured day care environment and customs, that have been formed together, were the main causes that supported self-regulation in this research. In research day care groups self-regulation difficulties were prevented in many ways. Teachers had good knowledge and know-how about self-regulation. To support development of self-regulation in wider perspective knowledge should be increased. Children should have opportunities to train their self-regulation skills in their natural interaction situations, for example, with adult supported play, and interventions that enhance emotion-regulation and interaction skills.

Aims. The aim of this study was to examine coping challenges and school exhaustion in elementary children and also how much home, self-regulation and well-being estimate student burnout. Idea is also examine wheter there are any differences between gender in field of student burnout. Coping challenges and school exhaustion are a phenomenon that affects more and more young children as well as young people. Previous research has shown that the causes of coping challenges are due to the poor atmosphere in school, the social environment and the student own lack of motivation. Previous studies have also shown that school exhaustion can lead to depression and educational exclusion. Methods. The data was collected with questionnaires as a part of #newschool -project during fall 2019. The participants (N = 212) were 11–12-years-old students from elementary schools in southern Finland. Coping was measured with a 10–point questionnaire in which children were allowed to assess their own coping. Welfare was asked using a 10–item questionnaire that measures subjective well-being. Self-regulation was measured with six-point statements and home-affairs were measured with five-point statements. I analysed how children cope at school by looking at the means and variances of responses. In addition, I used regression analysis to analyse how well-being, self-regulation and home affairs explain coping in school. Finally, I used the t-test to compare gender differences in coping at school. Results and conclusions. Most sixth graders felt that they were coping well or moderately at school. However, about 15 % of sixth graders experienced some degree of school burnout or school exhaustion. The better the children feel their well-being is, the better they cope with school. Well-being was the only background variable that explained coping in school in a statistically significant way. According to the results of the dissertation, there were no differences between boys and girls in coping at school. The results were largely in line with previous results. The results suggest that more and more young people are experiencing intolerance at school as well as school exhaustion. The results also showed that children’s well-being plays a major role in coping at school. From this it can be concluded that investing in the well-being of children results in happy and enthusiastic learners, as well as well-being adults in the future.

Objectives. Previous studies have shown that the sensitive interaction produced by adults is connected to the self-regulation and working memory of children. This is because interactions stir emotions in children. The processing of emotions is connected to the functions of the prefrontal area of the brain. These functions include self-regulation and the working memory. Children are more easily led by their emotions when compared to adults, and they need adult support in their self-regulation. Self-regulation has been shown to be a prerequisite for metacognition, and metacognition is an important component of the learning process. This study aims to find out how the interaction produced by an adult is connected to the executive functions of a student. The results of the study can be applied to interactions between adults and children in a general level, but special emphasis has been placed on immigrant children. The importance of interaction is emphasized when the child has moved from their own culture to a foreign one. Immigrant students are over-represented when looking at the decisions related to specific support, but according to various studies, the need for specific support for these children has not been demonstrated reliably. The study examines the interactive means that adults have at their disposal and tries to shed light on the interaction produced by adults. Methods. The material of the study is part of the University of Helsinki's Long Second data. The material was videotaped during the school year 2011–2012 in a preparatory class, twice a week. The approach to the study was through a socio-cultural learning theory perspective, because the socio-cultural theory focuses on the interaction between the environment, cultural tools, the individual and the community. The method of analysis applied was discussion analysis. The analysis was supported by a questionnaire on concentration, Keskittymiskysely (Klenberg, L., Jämsä, S., Häyrinen, T. & Korkman, M. 2010) which was used to analyse executive functions. One student was picked from the video material, and the changes in the student's executive functions were monitored in relation to teacher interactions. The material that was selected for analysis included four teachers. Results and conclusions. Four different types of adult interactions were discovered in the analysis phase. One of these interaction types shows genuine interest in the child. By utilizing dialogical discussion, this type of adult interaction makes students regulate their activities and speak Finnish. The more dialogical the teacher interaction was, the better were the student's own executive functions. The study also showed that rules related to the interaction improved the student's own executive functions.

Graduation from university takes usually longer than the target time. This study focuses on exploring procrastinating university students. Strategic delayers and unnecessarily delaying students were excluded from the study. The aim of this study is to find out what kind of goal orientations procrastinators have and what kind of counselling would enhance study progress. Research questions were: 1) What kind of goal orientations procrastinators have? 2) What kind of needs of counselling procrastinators have? 3) Is there a connection between goal orientations and the need for counselling? Goal orientations were constructed on the basis of the students' goals, motivation and self-regulation skills. The data consist of transcribed interviews of eight students from Faculty of Arts. Students were identified as procrastinators in a previous study. The method of analysis was an abductive content analysis. Based on the data, categories that described most clearly students' goal orientations and needs of counselling were constructed. Connection between goal orientations and needs for counselling were explored by cross-tabulating goal orientations and needs for counselling which were found out of the data. As a result four goal orientation groups were formed: intrinsically motivated goal-oriented, intrinsically motivated without a goal, externally motivated goal-oriented, externally motivating without a goal. Students without a goal did not have a clear aim for the studies or for the future. Goal-oriented students knew what kind of degree they wanted and how to make use of it in the future. Intrinsically motivated students liked to study in itself and they were truly interested in learning new knowledge and developing their expertise. Externally motivated students were interested in the university degree and its value in the working life. The level of self-regulation skills were low in all groups except for the intrinsically motivated goal-oriented students. The needs for counselling formed three main groups: the lack of information, support for study skills and individual counselling. The lack of information included problems with course-registration, lack of study guide and general information after first autumn semester. Students needed support for writing scientific essays and for learning methods. Individual counselling was needed for making study plans. There was not a clear connection between goal orientations and needs of counselling. The needs for counselling were distributed unevenly. Most of the students experienced lack of information. The need for individual counselling was emphasized by students without a goal, which is explained with uncertain plans for studies and for the future. So, the need of counselling seems to be very individual and there is no connection to goal orientations. As a conclusion the course for personal study plan should be individualized so that the study plans would be checked together with supervisor. Learning methods and academic writing skills should be taught during the first study period. Individual counselling should be available throughout the studies, also after the first semester. Guidance services at the University of Helsinki should be clarified and a basic student counsellor office should be created.

Goals: Regulatory problems of crying, eating and sleeping in infancy may lead to mental disorders later in childhood. The consequences of early appearing self-regulation problems assessed by parents have gained only little research attention. Some previous studies suggest that weaker self-regulation in infancy predicts mental disorders later in childhood but the results are conflicting. This study investigated the associations between infant's self-regulation and his/her psychiatric symptoms in early childhood. In addition to overall psychiatric symptoms, associations to externalizing and internalizing symptoms were also studied. Also the interactions between child's gender and mother's depressive symptoms and self-regulation on subsequent psychiatric symptoms were investigated. Methods: The study consisted of 2097 children and their mothers who participated in the prospective PREDO study. Mothers rated self-regulation of their own baby and an imaginary average baby within 1.5 months after the childbirth with Neonatal Perception Inventory. The follow-up was done at the age of 1–5 years when mothers rated their children's psychiatric symptoms with Child Behavior Checklist. Results and conclusions: Infant's self-regulation skills as such and in comparison to the self-regulation of the average infant predicted overall psychiatric symptoms and externalizing symptoms, whereas only the infant's own self-regulation skills predicted internalizing symptoms. Better self-regulation in infancy was associated with less psychiatric symptoms in early childhood. Of the specific self-regulation areas, crying and stomach ache / digestion problems associated almost as strongly with the subsequent psychiatric symptoms as overall self-regulation. Child's gender and mother's depressive symptoms did not moderate the associations between self-regulation and psychiatric symptoms. This study showed that good self-regulation capacity in infancy can protect the child from later psychiatric symptoms. Assessment of self-regulatory skills in infancy at maternity and child health clinics may be beneficial. Thus, parents of infants with increased risk could be offered support already in a very early stage to ease regulatory problems and to prevent further consequences.