Browsing by department "Institute of Behavioural Sciences"

The research focuses on the views and experiences of professional youtubers and about where they have acquired their knowledge and skills. Also, how they develop their expertise is at the heart of the review, as there is no actual training in the profession of a youtuber. The aim of the study is to outline the different dimensions of knowledge and the areas that a person needs in his / her work. The context of the research is competence, competence development and new work. The labor market of the future requires updating skills, and through this research it is possible to look at the demands of the skills of such a new work represented by the youtubers in this study. The material consists of four interviews in which the most successful tubers in Finland tell about their own work and describe the related skills and areas of expertise. The analysis proceeds according to content analysis, where I summarize the categories of different competencies emerging from the interviewees' stories. On the basis of the analysis, four top classes describing the skills of professional youtubers were gathered: Technical skills, self-management skills, professional skills and networking skills. Under these four upper classes, there are even more sub-categories that define the skills required in the work of youtubers. The categories of competence are not intended to cover the skills and requirements of the entire profession, but to gain access to the individual's own expertise and development. Through the results, it is also possible to get more information on about the youtubers work, that represents new manifestations of worklife. The results show how new ways of working have come to stay and there is no return to the old bureaucratic organization style of work in these young people's expectations. Expertise and its development were seen as a self-contained factor. The future as a professional youtuber was seen as unstable, but still unlimited and bright. New forms of work and the changing attitudes of young people towards work require more research at a single level. New larger phenomena are often formed through micro-phenomena and when these micro-phenomena can be accessed early enough, greater changes could be better anticipated.

Study aims: Parents' role has been emphasized in children's speech therapy in recent years. There has, however, been very little research done on parents' experiences of their children's speech therapy. By learning more about parents' perceptions of speech therapy it is possible to increase the acceptance of therapy, develop therapy practices and the training of professionals. This study concentrated on stuttering children's speech therapy because there is very little research done on the topic and the role of parents is especially important in the speech therapy of stuttering children. The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge of parents' experiences of stuttering children's speech therapy as a part of daily life. Methods: The method in this study was a semi-structured interview. Altogether eight interviews were done in which seven mothers and one mother-father pair was interviewed. All the stuttering children were boys, aged 7 to 17 years. The interviews were done during May-June 2014. Theory bound content analysis was used in the study. Results and conclusions: For the parents speech therapy and the cooperation with the speech therapist was mainly a positive experience. The biggest challenge was the lack of therapy resources. The parents had mainly been successful in combining family life and therapy although the hurry of everyday life in families with small children was evident. Supporting children's speech fluency was seen as challenging. Some of the advice received in supporting the child's speech fluency had been seen helpful for the parents while some others were questioned. The parents would have wanted more guidance from the speech therapist in supporting the child's speech fluency in everyday life. Acceptance and commitment therapy was seen as more helpful than speech therapy in helping the parents come to terms with their child's stuttering and in supporting the child's speech fluency. Parents saw the peer support as especially helpful. The child's age had a bearing on the parents' experiences of their own role, on how well family life could be combined with therapy and on which of the ways to support the child's speech fluency were seen as helpful. The lack of therapy resources and especially the regional differences in therapy resources was evident in this study. On the basis of this study it can be stated that the parents of stuttering children experience their role in speech therapy as an important one. The role of parents is also experienced as challenging due to the lack of therapy resources and the hurry of everyday life. There should be more emphasis in speech therapy on parental guidance and on considering the family's overall situation. The lack of therapy resources, however, makes increasing the parental guidance difficult. More research is needed on parents' experiences of their stuttering children's speech therapy in order to take the parents' perspective better in to consideration in speech therapy.

Wellbeing and satisfied employees is the fundament of a successful work place. It promotes health of employees, work atmosphere, engagement, development and productivity. The aim of the present study is to analyze job satisfaction among research and education personnel at The University of Helsinki. The job satisfaction was studied through analyzing the balance between effort and reward, the experience of job demands, control and social support and the effects of saving measures on work motivation. The data for the present study was gathered though an electronic survey and analyzed statistically during spring 2016. The measurement used was the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI), a questionnaire created on the theoretical base of the Job Demand, Control and Social support model (JDCS) and the job satisfaction questions were also created on a theoretical base. The results were analyzed with a statistical program, IBM SPSS Statistics 22. Results of the present study showed that the job satisfaction among the participated employees were very high. The employees also experienced somewhat high levels of demands, a high amount of control and social support. A very significant part of the respondents experienced a disadvantageous balance between effort and reward in their work. In addition almost 70 % pointed out that the saving measures had effected their work motivation negatively. There were statistically significant differences between men and women. Women experienced their work more disadvantageous than men. The teaching- and research personnel experienced a very high level of job satisfaction and their work could be characterized as an active type of work providing fruitful conditions for learning and development. On the other hand there were several factors that form a risk for the employees well-being and therefore causes a threat to the active nature of work if the present conditions continues unchangeable.

Objectives: 18 percent of Finnish children have some kind of articulation problems when starting their school path. Lack of speech therapists and unequal spread of these professionals has reduced possibility to receive speech therapy for mild problems. Instead resources are allocated for clients with severe speech and language disorders. In some municipalities parents and special education teachers are already responsible for the remediation of articulation problems. The aim of this study was to identify if Äännekoulu-website (www.aannekoulu.fi) can help to rehabilitate articulation problems and if the site will meet the needs of the parents struggling with their children' articulation problem. Methods: The study was qualitatively centred mixed method design that had also some quantitative elements. 21 children between the ages of 5 and 7 with /r/ articulation problem participated in this study. Children were tested three times. Children's spontaneous development of /r/ was controlled by having one month break after the first testing. After the second test families received the right to use Äännekoulu practice materials. Families were instructed to use the site for two months just as regular paying customers would do. Outcome of the intervention was observed during the third test. Families were also given a phone call after one and a half months of the last test to explore the possible changes in the /r/ articulation. In addition families were asked to keep a record of their home practices and answer in a survey concerning the Äännekoulu intervention period. Results and conclusions: Six families dropped out from the intervention. Five children found the right /r/ spontaneously. 12 families participated in the remediation period and one child found the missing /r/. Nine children had no changes in their articulation. From these nine children three continued their practice after the real intervention. During one month of practice two out of these three children found the /r/ completely and one learned to do long /r/-vibration. Families didn't practice a lot and they were unsatisfied with the amount of practice. According to the parents health issues within the family, burdensome family situations, lack of time, child's unwillingness to complete assignments, technical difficulties and laziness were the biggest barriers for practicing. Families considered Äännekoulu to be a good way to practice. Families were pleased about the nice games and the possibility to practise whenever and wherever since the exercises were available online. Unfortunately families trained impractically without knowing it and actually reinforced the incorrect articulation. Parents thought that the visual look of Äännekoulu should be revised and some of them also longed for more diverse games. Still the most crucial target for development in Äännekoulu is the instructions of the assignments. The model of the site hasn't been clear to the users even though families didn't consider the website to be confusing. It's clear that the the instructions have been insufficient since only one family realised how to progress accordingly. On the basis of this study it can be stated that speech therapist's guidance is significant when rehabilitating articulation problems. In the future it would be beneficial to explore, what kind of home instructions help families to execute their role in a best way possible, what is the role of a speech therapist in the future especially when considering telepractice or other technological services and can Äännekoulu fulfill the gap in the field of articulation remediation.

The purpose of this study was to find out whether the values of Finns with children differ from the values of Finns with no children. The data consisted of a Finnish sample of European Social Survey during the years 2002-2012, including Schwart's Human Values Scale with 21 sections measuring the ten distinct values. From the ten values was then further calculated the two distinct value dimensions "self-transcendence" and "conservation". Having children was positively related to conservation values. Especially among younger participants having children was related to higher conservation compared to young participants with no children. Participants under 30 years of age valued self-transcendence more than participants of the same age group with no children. Finns with children valued benevolence, conformity, tradition and security more than those with no children. Finns with no children valued self-direction, stimulation and hedonism values more than those with children. Being a parent was related to the values that aim for corporate goals. On the other hand, Finns with no children appreciated values that enhance the goals of oneself. For a young parent it is helpful to be aware of his/her goals and values, but also of the expectations and values of the environment. More research on the topic is needed to better understand the changes and challenges regarding parenthood and to develop best possible ways of support for families that are facing a new life situation.

Objective: Cognitive impairment as a consequence of a stroke is common. Advanced age increases the frequency of poststroke cognitive deficits. Particularly executive dysfunction has an important role in poststroke disability. Complex by their nature, however, measuring executive function is difficult. The Hayling test, Design fluency task and Questioning task are some of the less common assessment methods of executive functions, and thus, they are not widely studied. The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of these tests in elderly patients three months after ischemic stroke. Performances on these tests were compared to conventional assessment methods of executive functions, and their predictive value on functional disability in follow-up was examined. Methods: 62 stroke patients and 39 control subjects, aged 55-85, underwent comprehensive neurological and neuropsychological examinations three months after the index stroke. Executive functions were studied with the Trail Making test, Stroop test, Wisconsin card sorting test, Verbal fluency task as well as with the Hayling test, Design fluency task and Questioning task. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the Lawton's Instrumental activities of daily living -scale (IADL) were used to assess functional abilities at three months, and the mRS after 15 months follow-up. Results and conclusions: The Hayling test and Questioning task and the four conventional tests of executive functions differentiated stroke patients from healthy controls. Furthermore, the executive functions predicted functional dependence in the elderly stroke patients. The Hayling test was most consistently associated with functional disability as evaluated with mRS and IADL three months after the stroke, and predicted functional disability as evaluated with mRS at 15 months follow-up. Of all executive functions tests, the Hayling test proved to be the most constant predictor of functional abilities in elderly stroke patients. However, there is no golden standard for measuring executive functions, and in the future, more sensitive methods are needed. Nevertheless, the present study confirms the importance of assessing executive functions in clinical populations, when predicting functional disability even in the long-term.

This thesis examines the associations between personality traits and sleep quantity and quality in young adults. Additionally the possible effects of birth status on these associations are examined. The data used in this thesis is part of a birth cohort study (Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults). The personality traits are based on the five-factor model of personality. The sleep quantity and quality are based on actigraphy assessments. Four hypothesis were made about the personality and sleep associations: (1) neuroticism is related to a lesser quality of sleep, (2) there will be more significant associations between personality traits and sleep quality than between personality traits and sleep quantity, (3) the Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) as well as, (4) the Small for Gestational Age (SGA) status will affect the associations. Linear regressions were used to study the associations between personality traits and sleep quality and quantity. Whenever an association was significant, it was tested whether this association was moderated first, by the VLBW and second, by the SGA status of the participant. The results were mostly in line with previous research especially demonstrating the negative association between neuroticism and the quality of sleep and suggesting that vulnerability to stress decreases sleep quality. Also it was found that agreeableness and conscientiousness were associated with better sleep quality and extraversion was associated with lower sleep quantity. In addition SGA status moderated the personality and sleep associations. It is proposed that there are two factors behind the interaction. First, prenatally developing mechanisms have an effect on the development of sleep as well as personality. Second, differences in the postnatal environment, for instance the parenting practices, can account for this finding. Future research could focus especially on what kind of prenatal disturbances SGA infants have in the development of mechanisms related to sleep and personality. Also focusing on the differences in parental interaction might shed more light on the results.

Aims. The purpose of this qualitative study was to systematically analyze how university teaching and learning vary in one Finnish university. My research questions were "How do students' approaches to learning vary?" and "How do teachers' approaches to teaching vary?" In this systematic review, I used the relational model of learning and teaching in universities as a theoretical framework. This model provides a tool to analyze the variation in students' approaches to learning and teachers' approaches to teaching in different teaching-learning environments. The quality of what students learn is linked to the variation in how students learn and how university teachers teach in teaching-learning environments in universities. The quality of learning and teaching is also connected with the allocation of resources and funding in universities and global university rankings. Methods. By using the method of systematic review, I analyzed the variation in teaching and learning in a data sample of 23 high-quality peer-reviewed academic articles. The research context of the studies, which concerned teaching and learning in universities, was the University of Helsinki. Results and conclusions. In this review, students' learning varies mainly in how the students approach their learning (i.e. as surface or deep approaches to learning). Students' learning is modified by the students' learning strategies (e.g. as systematic or critical studies), study orientations (i.e. reproduction- or meaning-oriented learning), and study orchestrations (i.e. different profiles of approaches to learning). Teaching varies mainly in how the teachers approach their teaching (i.e. as teacher- or student-focused approaches to teaching). Teaching is modified by the teachers' conceptions of teaching, teaching strategies (i.e. content- or learning-focused approaches to teaching), and amounts of pedagogical training (that affect the approaches to teaching). Both learning and teaching vary in different teaching-learning environments (both within courses and between disciplines). Both students' and teachers' conceptions of knowledge (e.g. as integrated or fragmented knowledge; declarative or procedural knowledge) affect their approaches to learning and teaching. This systematic review synthesizes what we know about learning and teaching in one university in Finland. This knowledge provides guidelines on how the quality of learning and teaching can be improved both in policy and practice largely in universities in Finland. Essentially, learning is based on good teaching that is focused on the students' learning.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to introduce the perceptions and opinions Finnish teachers have about the supporting and the meeting of bilingual pupil's language identity in the Finnish-Swedish schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area; the intention was to examine how the Finnish teachers describes the Finnish-Swedish schools relation against bilingualism. The intention was also to examine the meaning and purposes Finnish teachers personally give to supporting of a bilingual identity in the Finnish-Swedish schools. The intention was also to examine how Finnish teachers relate to the discussion of the bilingual school. The study contributes to form a view of how the Finnish-Swedish school in the metropolitan area currently meets and works with the progressively increasing bilingualism and to introduce how the Finnish teachers sees the role of the Finnish-Swedish school as an supporter of all its pupils languages and identities. Method. The study is written from the perspective of Finnish teachers and the material is gathered by interviewing seven teachers. The interview method used is the qualitative semi-structured interview. The material was analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. Results. From the results it appears that the meeting of bilingualism in the Finnish-Swedish schools in metropolitan area varies between schools and occurs either in a more or less secluding or integrative way so that bilingualism in some schools appear to be more of a negative and repressed and in some schools more of a positive and accepted phenomenon. Supporting bilingualism in the Finnish-Swedish schools in general are rather scarce and the bilingual identity and the Finnish receive slightly conscious or deliberate attention or place in the school. Finnish teachers advocates for a more active work around bilingualism in the Finnish-Swedish school and opinions that the Finnish-Swedish school should actively strive to improve both the work around and attitude against bilingualism in school. The Finnish teachers relates against the idea of the bilingual school with a certain reservation and do prefer a retention of the monolingual schools, but wants a more active working around bilingualism in the monolingual Swedish-speaking schools. The bilingual schools could not replace the monolingual schools as a national solution, but the bilingual school model is considered to act as an alternative for some language groups in some parts of the country.

Along with the technological development, and the transition to knowledge society, our way working has changed. Due to digital solutions and advanced technology employees have the ability to work in a much more flexible work environment. Activity-based working gives employees the opportunity to choose how and where they work. At activity-based workplaces, no one has their own desk. Instead, the concept of free seating is used. Activity-based working creates options and independence for employees, but at the same time activity-based working can be perceived as challenging. In the thesis, a phenomenographic approach was used, and as a researcher, I focused on employees' different conceptions of activity-based working. The purpose of the study was to get a deeper understanding about employees' conceptions of activity-based working, and moreover, how the way of working influences the organisational culture and work identity. The theoretical framework consisted of earlier studies about activity-based working, as well as theories regarding organisational culture and work identity. The data were gathered during spring 2017, and involved 9 interviews with 9 employees, who work at activity-based organisations. The method of analysis was the phenomenographic approach. The employees sense, that activity-based working influences organisational culture, and work identity positively, as well as negatively. It appeared that employees find activity-based working as motivational. In addition, the employees find that activity-based working bring openness to the work culture, and enhance the communication. The employees also sense that activity-based working affects work identity, and that the work role becomes more dynamic and task orientated. However, some employees perceived activity-based working as challenging, and that it causes a formal work environment, constructed by unintended social structures. The results also showed conceptions of activity-based working causing anonymous work identity. Over all, the study proves that the conceptions of activity-based working, and how it affects organisational culture and work identity, differ. Yet, even though the results reveal conceptions of activity-based working coursing formal work environment, and anonymous work identity within the workplace, the employees value activity-based working and the ability to choose where and how they work.