Browsing by study line "Specialpedagogik"
Now showing items 41-60 of 107
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(2022)Goals. Deci and Ryan's (2000) self determination theory has been researched in the context of schools. The significance of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relat-edness on learning, motivation and well being has been proven through much research. This re-search aims to find out how these basic psychological needs are found in the memories of pris-oners, what kind of strengthening or weakening aspects of motivation and well being can be found in the memories and to take a look at the weaknesses and strengths of school systems that can be found in the memories of the prisoners. Method. The material used, VASORA, which was collected from 11 Finnish prisons. 243 pris-oners answered an open questionnaire in which they were asked to depict their school memo-ries, more specifically, their memories of peer relationships, teacher relationships and coping in different studies. The research is qualitative in nature and the data analysis method used in this study was content analysis. Results and conclusions. The key finding was that basic psychological needs were not suffi-ciently met during the prisoners' school period. Bullying, loneliness, learning difficulties, prob-lems of concentration and hyperactivity, absence and other factors that weaken the well be-ing were highlighted in the data. For developing schools, it is key to note these weak spots of the system in which the student is in danger of sliding towards exclusion.
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(2020)Preventing youth’s marginalization is a major challenge for the whole society and it has been in the forefront media coverage as well as in the government programme. Earlier research has shown that juvenile delinquency has a connection with both dropout and challenging position in labour market later in life. It is seen as a path to subsequent marginalization. Finnish Ministry of the Interior has launched an youth’s criminal behavior preventing programme, Anchor work (ankkuritoiminta). Since 2018 Anchor teams (ankkuritiimit) have meen mandated to co-operate more tightly with local schools. The aim of this study is to determine the experiences of multiprofessional collaboration between school personnel and Anchor team when preventing juvenile delinquency. The goal is to find out how collaboration is experienced and to identify the factors that are perceived as guiding the collaboration. This qualitative study is a case study with a background in phenomenological research tradition. The data was gathered by theme interviews from three (3) members of Anchor team located in Southern Finland and three (3) members of school personnel from the same area. Interviews were held in the beginning of June 2020. Interviewees were from four different professions. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by content analysis. The result showed that the experiences of collaboration between the Anchor team and school were mainly positive but also dependent on the situation. Collaboration was perceived as concrete, consultative, solution-orientated and interactive. There were four (4) factors guid-ing the multiprofessional collaboration: youth’s position, interaction, values and later conse-quences.
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(2021)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract The purpose of this master’s thesis is to find out views of young adults attending workshop activities. This research intends to find out how school experiences have affected their lives and their further education and employment. This research is based on the earlier known connection between school dropout and the process of social exclusion and aims to find out more on the possible role of special education in this process. The research group was chosen to include young adults who attend workshop activities because it is very likely that they have had risk factors for social exclusion present in their lives. The research material consisted of seven theme interviews that were analysed by using theme analysis. The interviews included conversation about school motivation, teachers, further education and choosing a profession, substance abuse, the significance of friends and family and learning difficulties. The informants were 21 to 29 years old and they all attended workshop activities in a quite small town in southern Finland. The informants had ended up in workshop activities due to unfinished second-degree education or long-term unemployment. The research showed that both school and free time related factors had had an influence on the informants’ lives. Especially learning difficulties, social support, substance abuse, bullying experiences at school, teachers, the sense of not belonging to school and friends turned out to be significant factors. All together the informants didn’t seem to think school experiences were the most important factors in life, but the research material still showed signs of school being able to influence the life paths of youngsters by at least giving some directions for the road.
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(2021)Education arranged by activity areas is a form of teaching meant for those students, who cannot fulfill basic education syllabus even if the syllabus is adjusted. There are five activity areas: communication skills, social skills, motor skills, cognitive skills and day-to-day skills. These activity areas have stayed the same for over 30 years, even though education arranged by activity areas curriculum has otherwise been reduced. Education arranged by activity areas is highly individualized and only applied to a marginal group of students. The aim of this study is to find out, how a typical day in education arranged by activity areas is structured. The material of this research was interviews of 96 special education teachers across Finland. The interviews were carried out in 2018-2020. This thesis used a qualitative research approach and qualitative content analysis was used for the analysis. The results show that school days are typically built around five basic pillars. These basic pillars are morning circle, recess, school meal, rest and ending circle. The contents of these basic pillars varied. It was also found that teachers had different orientations in their teaching. There were five different orientations: subject orientation, activity areas orientation, shared orientation, creative orientation and treatment orientation. These orientations represent which types of contents the teachers emphasized in their narration. In addition, the results showed that there were two types of exceptions that disturbed the daily structure: regular and irregular exceptions. Based on the results, it can be concluded that education arranged by activity areas curriculum gives teachers much autonomy to plan and execute teaching their class. In education arranged by activity areas a significant portion of the day is spend carrying out day-to-day tasks, which affects the realities of teaching and its planning. The teachers may be in danger of seclusion, if the arranged by activity areas curriculum and teacher education do not provide teachers with enough support to design their teaching.
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(2024)Based on recent studies, the practices related to school absences, such as their prevention, monitoring and intervention, have varied in Finnish elementary schools. By changing the regulations regarding teaching, efforts have been made to unify these practices and emphasize the importance of practices that prevent absenteeism, such as supporting the school engagement of all students. Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyze and interpret the support of student engagement and the prevention, monitoring and intervention of school absences in Finnish basic education. The research questions of the thesis are: 1. How do the contents of the operating models of the education organizers correspond to the contents of the framework presented in the Ministry of Education and Culture's Our common school path -handbook? 2. What kind of instructions regarding different systems do the operating models contain? 3. What kind of views do the coordinators have about student engagement, its’ support and the practices related to absences? Methods. Qualitative research was used to examine the education organizers’ operating models related to school absences, as well as the views of the regional coordinators regarding student engagement and school absences. The data consisted of operating models collected from the municipalities' websites (N=11), and individual interviews (N=6), which were carried out as theme interviews. The data analysis was carried out using theory-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions: The contents of the operating models mostly corresponded well to the recommendations of the national framework. However, there were differences in the ways communal monitoring and intervening in absences was described. The models focused on the practices and cooperation of school staff, the behavior of students and cooperation between home and school. The interviewees emphasized consideration of the students’ benefits, schools’ everyday practices, early intervention and cooperation between different actors as well as cooperation at the municipal and regional level. Interviewees also hoped for increases in positive attitudes and understanding regarding the phenomenon and restoration of the meaningfulness of education. Based on the results, attention should be paid to communal practices and efforts should be made to enable cooperation at different levels, as well as creating a common understanding of the phenomena.
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(2023)According to research, teachers starting their careers face many challenges in the school world, one of which is the challenging behaviour of students. Previous studies have also shown that, in order to survive the first years of work, teachers need the support of others. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of special education teachers at the beginning of their careers relating to working with students with challenging behaviour. The study examines how special education teachers build their competence when dealing with students who behave in a challenging manner. The study also examines what kind of support special education teachers at the beginning of their careers need when working with students with challenging behaviour. The research data was obtained by interviewing five special education teachers at the beginning of their working career. They had a maximum of three years of work experience, and all of them had graduated with a master's degree in special education. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured interviews and the collected data was analysed using data-based content analysis. The results of the study show that the special education teachers felt insecure about their own competence when working with students who behave in a challenging manner, especially as newly graduated teachers at the very beginning of their career. Through work experience they felt that their competence had developed. The special education teachers starting their careers built up their competence in working with students with challenging behaviour with the help of work experience, work community, education, model learning, self-reflection and knowing their students. They needed support especially in dealing with violence, intervening in bullying, dealing with students' psychological symptoms, cooperating with different parties, limiting the amount of work and building self-confidence. Support was required from work communities, mentor teachers, university studies, the schools’ operating cultures and further education. The most important conclusion is that teacher training should be developed in such a way that it would give more competence in dealing with the challenging behaviour of students. The support of the working community should already be present in the structures of every school and working community, so that it is available to all special education teachers from the beginning of their working career.
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(2022)My master's thesis examines the dimensions of well-being in sixth-graders (school engagement, self-esteem, school burnout and depression) as well as their relations to each other. This thesis focuses on how social factors can predict the dimensions of well-being. Previous studies have shown that adolescent's school engagement has a positive effect even later in working life. According to research the support of classmates, teacher and family is related to the well-being in adolescents. The results of this study can be used to develop tools for support the well-being of adolescents. In addition, it might be useful for the future research of adolescents’ well-being. This is a quantitative study, and the research material was collected as part of the #Uuttakoulua - project. However, my thesis is not part of the project. The data was collected in three different schools in the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, and it consist of 156 respondents; 99 of them belongs to the experimental group with strength-based education and 57 belongs to the comparison group. Participants in the study were sixth-graders and their answers were filled by an online questionnaire. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 was used for data analysis. I used statistical methods to answer my research questions (independent sample t-test, means - standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression analysis). The results showed that the well-being of sixth-graders is generally good. They experienced more school engagement and higher self-esteem than school burnout and depression. The dimensions of well-being correlate statistically significantly with each other, for example self-esteem and depression had a quite strong negative correlation. Based on the results, support of the family seemed to have a more significant impact on students’ well-being than other social factors.
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(2022)Bullying and conflicts between peers have been a topic of discussion and research for years. Although a lot of attention is paid to bullying in particular in our society, and measures to prevent it are constantly being developed, it still occurs in many schools. Research has shown that bullying is a multi-faceted phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of risk factors at the individual, class and school levels. It’s important to address conflicts and bullying immediately and by adequate means. Sometimes, however the situations escalate and especially then they can threaten both the well-being of the individuals involved as well as the school community. Aseman Lapset provides support for schools in resolving challenging and prolonged bullying and conflict cases in the form of K-0 project. The purpose of this study is to examine bullying and conflicts in the school context from the viewpoint of K-0 employees and to find out what kind of factors may influence the prolongation of these cases. This study was conducted as a qualitative study with phenomenological-hermeneutic features. Thematic interviews were used to collect the data. The interviews were conducted in the autumn of 2021, and a total of nine (N=9) K-0 employees participated in three group interviews. The data was transcribed and then analyzed using data-driven content analysis. The themes that were described by the interviewees in this study were related to school culture, students and their families, and more broadly to society in general. These included school climate and anti-bullying/conflict practices, peer relationships, individual needs of the students, strong emotional responses of the parents involved, and the availability of community support services. Especially school culture and its different aspects were emphasized in the interviews.
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(2020)The aim of this article-type master's thesis was to examine the stress, coping, and metacognitive perspectives of special education teachers working in primary school during the remote teaching and learning period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to examine what kind of stress and coping experiences the teachers had during the remote learning period, as well as what kind of mindset the teachers had when facing the workload. In addition, the dissertation examined the connection between teachers' ways of thinking and experiencing the intensity of workload. Experiences were examined using the Coping-Competence-Context (3C)-model. The data of the study was collected by thematic interviews with special education teachers (n = 11) working in different parts of Finland. Teachers were working in primary schools during the remote teaching and learning period. In these interviews conducted remotely, respondents were asked to describe their experiences of workload, recovery from work, and mindset and attitudes towards work. The data were analyzed using theoretical content analysis. Qualitative analysis program ATLAS.ti version 8 was used to organize the data. The workload experienced by special education teachers was mainly emotional, and often related to daily work changes. The coping strategies were used in a variety of ways, and their use was increased and new means were introduced during the remote learning period. The part of the 3C model focusing on recovery received support from teachers’ experiences, suggesting that teacher workload and recovery are directly related. The link between metacognitive perspectives and intensity of the workload was only partially supported: two teachers who had a stress-is-debilitating mindset experienced a higher-than-average workload. Instead, nine teachers who had a stress-is-enhancing mindset experienced both light and intense workload. The article ”Laaja-alaisten erityisopettajien työn kuormitus ja palautuminen sekä ajattelutavat COVID-19-pandemian aiheuttaman etäopetusjakson aikana: kokemusten tarkastelua Coping-Competence-Context-mallin avulla” is to be published in the NMI Bulletin.
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(2021)Objectives. The goal of this thesis was to examine the assumptions of an inclusion that personnel in early childhood education have. The theoretical context of this study is the ecosystem model of inclusive early childhood education. Model is developed based on Urie Bronfenbrenner´s ecological systems theory. In the ecosystem model is described macro-, meso-, ecso- and microsystem factors that has to be considered when early chilhood ecucation is developed as more inclusive. Concepts are also explained. Methods. The material of this thesis was collected in research that clarified the state of special support in early childhood education. In this thesis was analysed one question´s answers of that research. Answers was given 572. From these answers was chosen five personnel groups whose answers was received more than 15. From these groups (early childhood special education teacher, early chilhood education teacher, childminder, nursery nurse and day care center manager) was chosen 15 answers each, based on discretionary sample. The answers that were chosen told about inclusion from works point of view. The answers were analysed and categorized in themes. Fenomenografi and dialogical theme-making was used as methods. Results and conclusions. Seven themes were made from the answers: the pedagogical solutions and tools that support inclusion, inclusion as a value, associates who support inclusive early childhood education, inclusion as a child´s right, inclusion as a child’s place, the challenges that inclusion has and enough education and know-how for inclusion. Themes were divided in between personnel groups. Inclusion as a value and inclusion as a child´s right were mentioned in every groups answers. The pedagogical solutions and tools that support inclusion was mentioned mostly by early childhood education teachers and early childhood special education teachers. Inclusion as a child´s place was mostly mentioned by early childhood special education teacher and day care center managers. Inclusion´s challenges were mentioned mostly by nursery nurses and day care center managers. Enough education and know-how for inclusion was mentioned by day care center managers, early childhood education teachers and nursery nurses. Associates who support inclusive early childhood education was written by early childhood special education teachers and early childhood education teachers.
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(2020)The aim of my master’s thesis was to study special education classroom teachers’ views on physical education. I think my thesis is important because it is known that children and youth’s level of physical activity has reduced. I wanted to find out what physical activities special education classroom teachers use in their teaching and how they support the development of a physical lifestyle for their students. Additionally, I wanted to find out if physical education for special needs students is similar to physical education for general education students. The thesis is a qualitative study which was done using a phenomenographic research method. I used categorization and content analysis as the method for analysing the research material. The study was conducted with a survey (n=19) with open questions. The theoretical framework used in the study consists of the study of physical activity relationships and the self-determination theory. In addition, the thesis’ theory part also goes over the effect instruction, environment and motivation have on a person’s physical activity and physical activity relationship. The study yielded empirical data on how special education classroom teachers’ idea of physical education is formed. I divided the different dimensions of physical education to the following categories: teachers’ personal starting points, objectives, experiences, methods and didactics as physical educators. The teachers’ methods of promoting children’s physical activity were diverse, including functional teaching, developing recess activities, teaching outside and adding sessions of physical activity for example as break exercises or as rewards. Related to exercise situations with special needs students the answers highlighted the importance of clarity, time, instruction, structure, routines, safety and planning. All in all, promoting children’s physical activity was seen as an important objective.
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(2023)The objective of the thesis is to find out what kind of factors can be observed in the background of psychological stress of students studying in hospital school and which methods are used to regulate the psychological stress. The mental health challenges of children and youth and mental symptoms have been a social topic for a fairly long time. Effects can be seen both in individual´s free time and in everyday school life. The topic of the thesis is important, because successful schooling makes it possible for the student to learn and grow and provides the good basis for success in the future. The thesis was carried out using qualitative research. The material of the thesis consists of interviews with five teachers which were carried out using a semi-structured thematic interview. The research method is data-driven content analysis. In the hospital school pedagogy, the students' psychological stress showed symptoms both internally and externally. The research results show that teachers identify both internal characteristics and environmental factors behind the students' psychological stress. Among the students' internal characteristics that caused psychological stress, neuropsychiatric challenges, special sensitivity, weak stress and pressure tolerance, challenges in self-regulation and low resilience were identified. Among the environmental factors that caused psychological stress, the demands set by adults, school, modern society, social factors, corona pandemic, home and institutional conditions, and social media were identified. The research results show that the manifestation of psychological stress and the regulation of psychological stress are strongly linked to each other. A certain type of psychological stress symptomatology leads to the use of certain methods of support. One of the main observations of the thesis is that the methods of support can be divided into two types of activities: activities in which the activity and interaction between adults is at the center of the support and activities in which the activity and interaction between the adult and the student is at the center of the support. Regardless of the method of support, the objective is the same in all of them: individually meeting the student, calculating the psychological stress, rehabilitating and, in the context of hospital school pedagogy, returning the children and youth back to the standard basic education.
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(2021)Goals. The general upper secondary school (high school) has faced several reforms lately. Meanwhile high school students’ school burnout has increased. Some of the reforms, for example, the student admissions reform in higher education institutions, has been feared to put even more pressure on the already exhausted high school students. Perhaps they may experience pressure to perform perfectly in their studies. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between high school students’ perfectionism and school burnout. The study examined the connection between high school students’ perfectionism, school burnout and some background factors. It also analyzed how the students’ perfectionism and school burnout explained and predicted each other taking the background factors into account. Differences in the students’ perfectionism and school burnout in relation to different background factors were also examined. Methods. The research data was collected with an online survey, which was answered by 111 students from two high schools in Uusimaa. The data was analyzed with SPSS Statistics 27.0. The relationship between the students’ perfectionism and school burnout, as well as their relationship with some background factors were studied by exploring their correlations. How the students’ perfectionism and school burnout explained and predicted each other, taking the background factors into account, was analyzed with linear regression analysis. To study differences in the students’ perfectionism and school burnout in relation to some background factors, variance analysis (ANOVA) and the t-test, among others, were used. Results and conclusions. High school students’ perfectionism and school burnout correlated positively, but the connection was stronger with perfectionistic concerns than perfectionistic strivings. Being female and experiencing the need of special education or other support for learning were positively correlated with perfectionistic concerns and school burnout, while higher education of the students’ caretakers was negatively correlated with them. The strongest predictors for, for example, school-related exhaustion were perfectionistic concerns and being female. In addition, for example, girls reported more perfectionistic concerns and school burnout than boys. Thus, perfectionism should be taken into account in the prevention of school burnout.
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(2022)The starting point of this master’s thesis is the Act on General Upper Secondary Education, which entered into force in 2019, and the subsequent general upper secondary school reform, which obligates general upper secondary schools to provide special needs education and learning support for their students. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the job description of general upper secondary school part-time special needs teachers, as described by the special needs teachers themselves. In addition, the purpose of this thesis is to understand what kind of support students in general upper secondary school need. The aim of this thesis is to make the job description of general upper secondary school special needs teachers clearer and more approachable. Also, the goal is to make the support needs of general upper secondary school students understandable. Only little research has yet been carried out on these themes. This thesis was qualitative, and the thematic interviews formed the material of the thesis. The data was analysed through data-driven content analysis. Seven general upper secondary school special needs teachers participated in the interview. The results of the thesis conclude that the job description of the general upper secondary school special needs teachers is divided into three categories, each of which have various subcategories. In the job description, the following three categories stood out: identifying support needs, support for studying, and co-operation. Out of the job description, the most amount of the time was spent identifying reading difficulties and writing statements following the identification. Support for studying appeared in the job description as both support for learning and support for general well-being. The job description also essentially included co-operation between different actors. Students needed support in studying relating to both learning and well-being. Students especially needed support in time management and with problems concerning concentration as well as being able to identify and deal with learning difficulties. Students also needed widespread support in maintaining well-being, of which anxiety and depression were especially highlight
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(2022)With the new Upper Secondary Schools Act that came into use in 2019, upper secondary schools have been obliged to offer special education from 2021 onwards. As a result, the number of special education teachers in upper secondary schools has also increased in recent years. There are hardly any previous studies on the well-being at work of upper secondary special education teachers in the Finnish context. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of high school special education teachers on well-being at work and their views on developing well-being at work. The aim of the study was to examine the impact of different factors on the well-being of high school special education teachers based on their own experiences. In addition, the aim was to obtain development suggestions to promote the well-being of special teachers in upper secondary schools. This study is a qualitative master’s thesis, in which five special education teachers in upper secondary schools, working in two different locations in Southern Finland, were interviewed. The data was collected through semi-structured thematic interviews and analyzed using content analysis. According to the results of the study, individual factors, job description and tasks, work community and leadership have a significant impact on the well-being of upper secondary school special education teachers. The work community and within it, especially the cooperation between special education teachers, was seen as the most important factor contributing to well-being at work. The job description and job duties, on the other hand, were seen as the most negative factors for well-being at work. The well-being of upper secondary special education teachers could be improved by increasing resources, aligning the job description of upper secondary special education teachers nationwide, and developing forms of cooperation and the upper secondary school system.
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(2020)With the amendment to the Act on Upper Secondary Education that came into force in 2019, students have the right to receive special needs education in upper secondary school, which is why the need for upper secondary school special education teachers will increase in the future. In the last decade, there have been only little research on special education in upper secondary schools in Finland. The purpose of this study was to find out the work assignment of upper secondary school special education teachers and the challenges they experienced in carrying out their work. The aim of the study is to look at high school special education from the perspective of high school special education teachers and to create an overall picture of what kind of tasks the job description of a high school special education teacher consists of and what kind of challenges they face in their work. This is a qualitative study, where was interviewed six high school special education teachers who worked in three different municipalities. The research material was collected through semi-structured thematic interviews, which were analyzed using content analysis. Based on the results of the study, the job description of special education teachers consisted of three broad areas, which were collaboration, student support, and written work. In the job description of a high school special education teacher, the most employment-related tasks emphasized issues related to supporting reading difficulties, making reading statements and writing learning support plans. The most challenging things for high school special education teachers were the lack of resources and time in their work, as well as the ambiguity of their own job description. According to special education teachers, these results show that current resources are not sufficient to provide ongoing and adequate support in upper secondary school. In order to organize special education in upper secondary school, clearer frameworks would also be needed to make the provision of support more uniform and equal in every upper secondary school throughout Finland.
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(2021)The aim of this master’s thesis was to describe special education teachers’ perceptions of the ways to support their students’ reading-related self-concepts. Reading difficulties and reading related learning disabilities create a risk for the development of students’ reading-related self-concepts. Students reading-related self-concept is in many ways related to students’ reading skills and performance in school as well as general well-being. Thus it is important to pay attention to the students’ reading-related self-concepts’ significance and to find means to support it. The theoretical framework used in the study consists of the main themes of the study, which are learning and teaching to read, reading difficulties and reading-related self-concept. The aim of this study was to examine special education teachers’ work in relation to reading difficulties and reading-related self-concept. The purpose was also to find out how special education teachers comprehend the connection between reading difficulties, school-performance and reading-related self-concept. This study focused on describing the ways in which a part-time special education teacher can support students’ reading-related self-concept. This study was a qualitative study and it was carried out using a phenomelological research method. The data was produced by interviewing part time special education teachers in elementary schools. The method of analysis was content analysis. The results showed that part-time special-education teachers’ work was multifaceted and focused on taking into account students’ individual needs and reading difficulties. Reading-related self-concept was seen to have a strong influence on students’ studies and well-being. Part-time special-education teachers used several different methods of supporting their students’ reading-related self-concept: improving students’ reading skills, motivation, collaboration with other teachers and students’ guardians, teacher-student-interaction, differentiating teaching and enabling the feelings of success as well as emotional support and positive working climate.
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(2021)Immigrant mothers are at greater risk, compared to other immigrants, of being excluded from the integrative structures of the employment market and education. Immigrant mothers integrate into society by learning a second language. In this thesis, the subject of interest is the language learning of immigrant mothers in the integration training implemented, partly with their own children’s classroom, in the Parents to school! and the Our turn, Mothers! -projects. Based on previous studies, it is known that immigrant adults’ second language learning is affected by length of stay, background continent, mother tongue, educational background, age, and the amount of use of the new language. The aim is to study how these above-mentioned background variables and the number of children affected the initial Finnish language skills of immigrant mothers in terms of reading comprehension, writing, and speaking. In addition, it is examined how language proficiency developed in the project and whether the initial level of the language skills sub-areas was related to the final language skill level. The data was collected from immigrant mothers who did not speak Finnish well and who participated in the Parents to school! and Our turn, Mothers! -projects in the academic years 2017–2020 (N = 33). The data consisted of group A (n = 16) initial language tests and data collected with the background form, as well as group B (n = 17) initial and final language tests. Group A data was analyzed by examining the correlations between initial language proficiency and background variables. Group B data was analyzed by examining the development of language proficiency in Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and by examining the correlations between language skills sub-areas in the baseline level and the final level of language skills. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Results revealed that the Finnish language proficiency of immigrant mothers had already developed before the start of official integration training, and the development had been influenced by the length of stay and the active use of the Finnish language. In the integration training, language skills developed on average of half CEFR language proficiency level and language skills developed most among those, who scored lowest in the initial test. From language skills sub-areas, the development of language was best predicted by the initial test of speaking. The results of this thesis were in line with previous studies. The results show that integration training with children has developed the Finnish language proficiency of immigrant mothers and that the project has reached a target group that has been outside of the usual integration training.
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(2024)Mathematical problem-solving skills have become increasingly important in our technology-driven, rapidly evolving modern society. The OECD (2017) has identified mathematical problem-solving skills as a key skill for the future. Mathematical problem-solving skills are considered a key competency in everyday life as well as in educational and academic progress. In everyday and work life the mathematical questions are mostly described in verbal format. Therefore, teaching to solve mathematical word problem-solving (WPS) tasks is one of the most relevant ways to train higher-order-thinking skills in elementary school mathematics. The connection of word problem-solving tasks to everyday life has led to their prominent place in mathematics and science curriculums (Jaffe & Bolger, 2023; Seel, 2017). Research findings consistently demonstrate the effectiveness of problem-based teaching approaches (Hoffmann, ym., 2006; Pineda, 2019; Salmivirta, 2020). However, gaps in students' mathematical problem-solving skills have been identified in Finland (Kupari 1983; Kyllönen & Nissinen 2014) and internationally (Dewolf et al., 2014; PISA 2003; PISA 2015). Especially for students with mathematical learning difficulties, mathematical word problem-solving is challenging (Arsenault & Powell, 2022). This thesis aimed to develop a digital word problem solving assessment tool using quantitative analysis. The thesis was carried out as part of the Future Problem Solvers! project in cooperation with the University of Helsinki, Åbo Akademii University, the Aalto University, and the Turku Research Institute for Learning Analytics. The research material was collected during the autumn of 2023 on the digital ViLLE learning platform from 3-6 grade pupils in primary schools with 104 word problem-solving tasks. The tasks used to collect the data were created at the beginning of 2022, and the data consisted of 70 886 responses. The data was analyzed using Excel 2022 (version 18) spreadsheet software and IBM SPSS Statistics 28 statistical software during the academic year 2023-2024. In the process of finding suitable tasks for the assessment tool word problem solving the schemas (Marshall, 1995) of the task instruction were used. The main result is 30 items suitable for a digital assessment tool to map arithmetic word problem-solving skills. The suitable tasks have been divided according to their level of difficulty for grades 3-4 and 5-6, as the difficulty of the tasks changed with the grade level. The study found that when developing a verbal problem-solving assessment tool, it is important to consider whether a wide range of mathematical content areas is practical to assess, as the verbal problem-solving task is relatively time-consuming. The development of assessment tools is important for the development of an evidence-based approach to teaching and learning support. This thesis is a first step forward in the development of digital assessment and further teaching of arithmetic word problem-solving.
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(2022)The objective of this study The objective of my study was to examine what the experience of math anxiety is to teachers, who teach mathematics despite their anxiety. Based on previous research math anxiety manifests itself as an emotional and physical reaction, that hinders cognitive functions. Teacher's math anxiety can result in for example as teaching on elementary school grade, avoidance of teaching mathematics, spending less time on math instruction and as emotional concequences. However, there are many ways to alleviate math anxiety. Teachers actions may help prevent math anxiety from forming. Internalized growth mindset has also been proven to have an alleviating affect. In my research I will examin how these factors appear in teachers' stories about their own experiences. Methods This study was done with qualitative research methods. The research material consists of answers to a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The questionnaire material was gathered using a google forms questionnaire,that was shared to teacher groups in facebook, questions of which were formed based on previous research. A follow-up interview was conduted with volunteered participants. 21 teachers answered the questionnaire, of which two were interviewed. The material gathered from the questionnaire and interviews was analyzed using content analysis and a narrative dimensions model. The questionnaire material was examined for signs of growth and fixed mindset. Results and conclusions The participants experiences of living and teaching with math anxiety aligned in part with previous research. However, the anxiety appears in broad and individual ways. The difficulties it produces both in learning and teaching are versatile. Only a couple of participants reported getting help for math anxiety. Expressions of growth mindset appeared mostly on teachers experiencing mediocre math-anxiety. Its' counterpart, fixed mindset, appeared most on those experiencing mild math anxiety. Growth mindset had helped some of the teachers to get over their hardest anxiety, and they saw teaching mathematics as enjoyable and meaningful. It is good that math anxiety is being researched increasingly, because it is a problem that can affect employment and educational level. Many are left alone with their anxiety- In the future attention should be payed to math anxiety of those studying to become teachers, so that the training can help alleviate the anxiety before transitioning to working life.
Now showing items 41-60 of 107