Browsing by Subject "opettaminen"

Dialogicality is an actual topic in pedagogical studies. Both in theoretical and ordinary speech, the term is often used as a synonym of discussion and interaction. The use of the concept, however, only seldom reveals the equivocal nature of the phenomenon. In pedagogical discourses, it is often difficult to discern the background conceptions or theories determining in each case the concept of dialogue. The aim of the present study is to address this challenge and help to clarify the situation by examining the various ways in which dialogicality has been understood in pedagogical studies in Finland in the 21st century. The research material consisted of 24 international research publications written in English. The material was first studied in relation to the notions and definitions of dialogicality put forward in them, and these were then analysed in the light of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy. The research questions to be answered were: 1. How is dialogicality defined in the pedagogical research in Finland during the las two decades 2. What do these conceptions reveal of the understanding of dialogicality, when related to Gadamer’s phenomenological-hermeneutical understanding of its nature? The research combines two different approaches: the material was organized with the method of systematic literature review and it was analysed through philosophical research. The study’s vantage point, and the theoretical framework directing its questioning, was constituted by the phenomenological-hermeneutical thought of Hans-Georg Gadamer. According to the results of the study, there are four central theoretical frameworks defining the research of dialogicality in the pedagogical research in Finland in the 21st century. Apparently, the studies are to a certain extent compatible with each other in their thematic content and in their descriptions of interconnected phenomena, but their ways of understanding the nature of dialogicality prove to be incommensurate. When analysed with the help of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, the research also shows itself as internally divided: the decisive differences are, firstly, whether dialogicality is understood as communication of knowledge, and secondly, whether dialogue is understood instrumentally as a method. With the help of Gadamer’s hermeneutical though, the study attempts to clarify the phenomenon of dialogue and to sharpen the required conceptual grasp and so to elaborate pedagogical research of dialogicality.

Goals. The goal of this Master’s Thesis is to examine Helsinki University’s Home Economics teacher students’ digital skills, what experiences they have of utilizing digital tools in Home Economics teaching and how they consider using digital tools in the future while working as Home Economics teacher in secondary school. In addition to that, one goal is to examine how their university education supports the development of their digital skills. The subject is topical because digitality constantly changes our society and the work of teachers. According to research digitality has not advanced evenly in Finnish secondary schools, and there are differences in teachers’ digital skills. Home Economics is in a key position teaching the future everyday skills and it cannot fall behind technological development. Therefore it is important to pay attention to teacher education and to the development of the students’ skills. Methods. My Master’s Thesis was conducted as a quantitative research on Helsinki University’s web-based survey tool. The target group of the study was all the Home Economics students of the grades 2–5 (or higher). There were 49 responses by the due date. The material was analyzed with SPSS and Excel utilizing descriptive statistical analysis methods, correlations and t-tests. The open questions were examined using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. Results show that Home Economics students have somewhat good digital skills, but especially problem solving skills require improvement. Problem solving skills are connected to using digital tools in the future in teaching Home Economics, so it would be important to invest in it in teacher education. Students thought the greatest advantage of using digital tools is how it diversifies pedagogy, and the greatest challenge had to do with hardware problems. Students thought it was easiest to use digital tools in the planning of teaching. The use of digital tools is encouraged in the university, but the students feel they don’t get enough education in it.

The study focuses on the Nepalese 8 grade Mathematics, Nepali language and Social study teachers' confidence to teach their own subject. Every skill, such as teaching skills, brings with uncertainty and insecurity creates a need for security. The aim of the master's thesis is to research how substance knowledge, the teacher's personality, pedagogical knowledge and classroom management, and their components are connected to each other. In addition, has been researched how much personality, pedagogical knowledge and classroom management, explain the teacher's self-perceived competence assurance to teach. Altogether, 1224 of Nepalese teachers responded to the survey. The survey sample was stratified. The questionnaire, teachers were asked to assess their teaching confidence in their teaching subject and its sections, on a scale of 1 to 4. Many studies have been done about teaching and the teacher's impact on learning outcomes. That has been considered as a possible cause of Finnish students' good learning achievements. Since the schools have small differences between them, it is easier to study the teachers and the teaching effect of the student's achievements in a country, where the school differences are considerable bigger. According to Hattie (2003, 2), the teacher effect is 30% of the student learning achievements, in Nepal the corresponding figure is 68% (Acharya, Metsämuuronen and Metsämuuronen 2013, 281 316). The study examined by tree-analysis how personality, pedagogical knowledge and classroom management elements are linked to educational confidence and by regression analysis how much these independent variables explain together the effect of the phenomenon. According to regression analysis, there are age, teaching years, assessment, professional development over the last two years, and the curriculum understanding and using, as well as the school equipment shortages. The study found that the most confident were those teachers who were under the age of 30 teachers; who had teaching experience five years or less; who used the project work as assessment; who experienced that they understood the objectives of the school curriculum, and in addition they experienced to implement it successfully. This study was empirical and explorative work and the results obtained on the regression model shows that the model explains 9.5% of teacher's confidence to teach their own subjects. As regression model explains less than 10% certainty, is the teacher's teaching confidence and competence a good follow-up research object. Another good object would be to compare the self-perceived reliability and the validity of the comparison of the measured whether teachers' own experience of the same qualifications as a measurable skill.