Browsing by study line "Class teacher (educational psychology) + Specialisation studies leading to the qualification of special education teacher"

The coronavirus outbreak disrupted life around the globe in 2020, which led to the suspension of face-to-face teaching. Based on previous research, it is clear that student participation in face-to-face lectures has a positive impact on their academic performance. Now, however, we find ourselves in a situation where it is not even physically possible to attend lectures. This raises the question of how distance education has affected the level of students’ academic performance and how do students experience distance education. The aim of this mixed methods study is first to quantitatively identify the effect of distance education on the level of students’ academic performance when compared to the results of normal course implementation. The results were obtained by examining the exam results and the course assignment results of a total of 728 students over a three-year period from the same course, two of which were implemented normally and one remotely due to the coronavirus outbreak. The preliminary analysis of the first phase raised the need to examine these results in more depth through qualitative analysis. The aim of the qualitative analysis is to find out how students experienced distance education in the Quantitative research methods 1 course. This second phase of the study consisted of eight students, whose exam results were also reviewed in the first phase of the study. Staying true to the mixed methods’ Explanatory Sequential Design, the final phase of the study sought to explain the results of the quantitative phase with the help of the qualitative results. In other words the students’ experiences sought to explain the fluctuation of the level of students’ academic performace. The quantitative part of the study showed that distance education had a positive effect on the level of students’ academic performance. A statistically significant positive correlation was found when examining the overall exam grade, the exam question scores regarding the lectures and exercises, and the course assignment results. The qualitative part of the study showed that students associated both positive and negative experiences regarding distance education. Positive experiences were related to the utilization of lecture recordings, the choices of the lecturer, and the benefits of a distance exam, while negative experiences were related to a lack of interaction, challenges in organizing one’s own work, and IT related probelms. This study shows that it is in the interest of both students and the university to provide lecture recordings regardless of how the course is organized.

Objectives. Character-strengths-based (CSB) pedagogy stems from positive psychology’s PERMA theory. CSB pedagogy has been studied in Finland to an increasing extent since the 2010s and internationally since the early 2000s. The research results show it has positive effects on, for example, support for the inclusive school system, student well-being, learning motivation among students with special needs, and student participation. The aim of this research was to find out what kind of experiences and perceptions class teachers have about the importance and implications of becoming aware of, acknowledging, and developing character strengths. This research was also interested in what significances CSB pedagogy has among students with neuropsychiatric abnormalities according to class teachers, as well as classroom teachers’ perceptions of 5th–6th graders’ awareness of their own character strengths. One hypothesis was that classroom teachers perceive CSB pedagogy to be particularly important with ADHD students. Another hypothesis was that CSB pedagogy is used in Finnish primary schools with a very varying volume and in different ways. Methods. This research included both interview and questionnaire surveys. The analysis was carried out both qualitatively and quantitatively and by means of mixed methods. Interview material was six classroom teachers. Questionnaire was 106 respondents. Results and conclusions. Results support the use of CSB pedagogy in primary school. Perceived ease of using CSB pedagogy, the school's commitment to CSB pedagogy, and the perceived guidance to CSB pedagogy in national core curriculum for basic education have the biggest effect on the perceived importance of CSB pedagogy. One of the general views of the effects of CSB pedagogy was that it had beneficial effects on school-positivity and classroom atmosphere. The interview material much emphasized the preventive role of CSB pedagogy, especially among students with behavioral challenges or ADHD.