Browsing by study line "Muuttuva kasvatus ja koulutus"

The mental health of university students has been a concern worldwide for years, and the issues have been increasing gradually to this date. Factors related to increased stress and mental health issues among university students include poor academic performance. To succeed in studies, students need to acquire organized study skills, which are also connected to one’s psychological well-being. By increasing psychological flexibility, it is possible to learn skills of managing stress, thoughts, and emotions and thus enhance one’s own mental well-being. Psychological flexibility is the goal of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and refers to a skill to focus on the present moment and live in the pursuit of one’s own goals and values. The connection between psychological flexibility and well-being has been studied quite extensively with quantitative measures. However, there is less research about this connection in the context of higher education institutes and university students. Also, according to the knowledge of the researcher, there has been fewer studies on the impact mechanisms of the different sub-processes of psychological flexibility and ACT. More in-depth research with qualitative methods is also needed to gain better understanding about the phenomenon. In some studies, ACT-based interventions have been found to have a positive impact on university students’ psychological well-being and study skills, but more research is needed within this context. The study was conducted applying a mixed methods approach combining repeated measures ANOVA and inductive content analysis. The research group consisted of students who participated in the web-based course, Towards Better Well-being and Studying, during fall 2021 at the University of Helsinki, Finland. For the quantitative measurements, a control group was also used, consisting of students on the waiting list for the course. The research task of this study was to gain better understanding of the possible changes in the participants’ well-being and organized study skills during the course, as well as to examine, how the students attending the course have evaluated the effectiveness of the specific modules and tasks involved during the course. Quantitative results showed that the course had a statistically significant effect on participants' organized study skills, psychological flexibility, and emotional and psychological well-being. Comparing the results of students who participated in the course with those of the control group, whose measures remained mostly the same, confirms this finding about the effects of the course on well-being, organized study skills and psychological flexibility. The results of the qualitative part of the study were in line with these findings. Based on findings from inductive content analysis, the course’s different modules were perceived as useful, and the course had an impact on the well-being of most students as well as their organized study skills. Students’ responses displayed personal development and in-depth reflection both at an individual level and at a broader and societal level. The students felt that they had gained new insights and particularly many concrete tips on how to promote their own well-being and learning, which they will continue to use in the future.

Abstract: Objectives. In recent years, educational systems around the world have been making a paradigm shift in their approach towards providing support systems for the students with diverse learning needs to move towards achieving a more inclusive educational system. The primary objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the intention and implementation of the Three-Tier Support System in a major city in Finland with a specific focus on the perspective of a senior Municipality Official. The study aims to assess the purpose and execution of the support system by examining various aspects that are critical to its actual implementation. Previous studies have emphasized the significance of well-structured support systems in educational institutions, which could enhance student educational outcomes and their overall wellbeing. This study builds on such previous findings by investigating how the municipality of a major city in Finland has approached the intention and implementation of the Three-Tier Support System. In particular, the study seeks to understand the initial goals and practical steps taken by the city to achieve those goals to practice. It also evaluates the strategies adopted by the Municipality to implement the support system aiming to uncover best practices and areas that can be improved upon. Furthermore, the study also identifies challenges and barriers faced during both planning and implementation stages of the Three-Tier Support System and how they were or can be overcome to meet the intentions of the support system. By addressing these objectives, the study aims to provide valuable insights into the intention and implementation of the Three-Tier Support System in a major city in Finland, offering a detailed evaluation that could guide future policies and practices. Methods. The data for this study was collected through a semi-structured interview. The participant of this study was a senior municipal official who is in charge of the planning and implementation of Three-Tier Support System in a major city in Finland. Thematic Content Analysis was used to analyse the data by following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) 6-Step Framework to comprehensively analyse the intentions and implementation of the Three-Tier Support System. Results and conclusions. The study results indicate that although there are significant efforts being taken at the different levels of administration for the intention-oriented implementation of the Three-Tier Support System in the city, there is still an intention gap in the implementation process of the support system. This can be owed to the presence of some challenging factors in the implementation process. However, ongoing efforts along with strategic adjustments and forthcoming changes have the potential to overcome these challenges and bridge the gap between the intentions and implementation of the support system. The study concludes that addressing these challenges is critical for the success of the Three-Tier Support System and in achieving the goal of an inclusive education system. The findings of this study can inform the design and implementation of similar support systems in other municipalities and educational contexts, contributing to the broader conversation on inclusive education.

The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of environmental education within the Chinese context. Although environmental education has been extensively studied and defined in the Western context, it has been present in the Chinese curriculum since the 1980s. However, it has often been neglected and is not a mandatory subject due to the exam-oriented education system. Consequently, various environmental education organizations have taken on the role of providing environmental education to children through outdoor environmental education programs. The research addresses one primary question and four sub-questions, focusing on the views of practitioners regarding the objectives and implementations of environmental education. Data were collected through online interviews with four chinses outdoor environmental education practitioners and two days of participant observation of an outdoor environmental education program. The data were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Key findings indicate that environmental education encompasses both an education philosophy and a comprehensive definition. Practitioners identified the primary reasons for conducting environmental education as personal significant life experience, helping children build connectedness with nature, enhancing children’s well-being, and benefiting children with special needs. Outcomes of environmental education include improved children’s environmental literacy, children’s personal development, and enhanced agency and creativity in children. Outdoor environmental education program challenges in implementation were related to parental attitudes toward education and a lack of suitable natural habitats. The results of the study offer new insights into environmental education in China and shed light on the potential contribution of outdoor environmental education programs toward environmental education.

Objectives. Emerging adulthood is characterized by a multitude of significant life changes. While the transition from adolescence to adulthood in the past was rather uniform, today, this developmental phase lacks clear characteristics (Arnett, 2000). Until emerging adulthood, schools have played a crucial role in shaping adolescents' lives. This study investigated the development of life satisfaction during this critical period, with particular attention to the influence of school track and gender on life satisfaction trajectories. Methods. This study is based on data from four-waves of a longitudinal study, encompassing questionnaire responses from 692 students, aged 18-25. Research questions focussing on overall life satisfaction trajectories, school track and gender differences, were addressed through the application of latent growth modelling for each of the three research questions, with the selection of the model demonstrating the best fit. Results and conclusions. The life satisfaction trajectories of emerging adults were rather stable and only showed a small decrease at the time of the financial crises in Finland. While the school track did not significantly impact life satisfaction trajectories, females reported lower life satisfaction during schooling, with their satisfaction levels later aligning with those of males. In conclusion, life satisfaction during the time of emerging adulthood remains rather stable despite the multitude of changes emerging adults experience during this phase. Nonetheless, significant inter-individual differences in life satisfaction trajectories persist, reflecting the diverse pathways of emerging adults.

This thesis aims to navigate doubt as a mental activity that occurs in a learning environment with more than one paradigm of knowledge. The thesis covers the gaps of lacking investigation of the perceptions toward doubt in a learning environment, learners’ experiences with doubt, and the endpoint of doubt as a mental activity. 6 adult learners with different backgrounds who encounter different paradigms in their learning environments are invited to individual semi-structured interviews. The thesis recognizes an individual’s experience as constructed knowledge and applies phenomenology as the methodology. Critical realism is used to analyse data qualitatively. As a result, what is described and experienced by individual learners are combined to form their perception related to doubt in their learning experiences. Then, four states of doubt are found in the progress of learning in an environment with multiple paradigms, including silence, comparing, sublation, and fusion or silence again. Finally, the essence of doubt is discussed with the evidence of the end of individual learners’ doubt.

Many university students in China are suffering from mental health problems, and the need for effective well-being interventions has been recognised as enormous. Given limited resources, innovative approaches are needed to increase university students’ well-being. Previous studies recognised that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions have a positive effect on improving student well-being. This research seeks to explore the change in Chinese university students’ psychological flexibility, well-being, and study-related burnout, and how they experience a pilot ACT intervention course WELLS developed by the University of Helsinki. This research was conducted in a voluntary online course piloted in two Chinese universities in 2023, lasting for seven weeks. The course was delivered on the Digicampus platform and included two optional online meetings, weekly individual exercises and group discussion and reflection. The study applied a mixed methods approach combining paired t-tests and inductive content analysis. The data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires (n = 14) and students’ reflective journals (n = 15). Quantitative results revealed significant increases in students' scores on psychological flexibility (d=-1.28, p<0.001) and well-being (d=-1.10, p=0.001) and a decrease in burnout (d=0.73, p=0.017) following the intervention. Qualitative findings supported these quantitative results, suggesting that students benefited from group work, learned to deal with thoughts and emotions, increased self-compassion and well-being and improved time management and study. These results indicated that the WELLS online ACT intervention is associated with positive changes in university students' well-being.

The purpose of this study was to examine how participation in the Motivation Makes the Move! lifestyle intervention affects the psychological well-being of overweight/obese, previously inactive work-aged adults as a secondary outcome of the intervention. The aim of the study was to determine whether participation in the intervention enhances psychological well-being and whether there occur differences between intervention group and control group during the intervention period. The prior research on the effects of lifestyle interventions on the psychological well-being of overweight/obese adults is limited, making the further research of this topic important. While the psychological benefits of exercise are well documented, the relationship between exercise and psychological well- being in overweight/obese individuals is more complex, regarding several barriers for exercise related to weight. A common challenge has additionally been how to motivate overweight individuals to engage in lifestyle changes and healthy lifestyle habits. According to research, psychological well-being is linked to motivation to engage in and to maintain healthier lifestyles, hence further research in this topic is needed. The participants (N = 89) were randomly allocated into two groups: control group (N = 22) following general guidelines for physical activity and intervention group (N = 67) following individually tailored exercise prescriptions. Both groups underwent physical and psychological assessments at three time points: baseline (0 months), 3 months and 12 months. Psychological well-being was assessed through three measures, including RAND-36, PANAS, and BDI-II questionnaires which evaluate three dimensions of psychological well-being. These dimensions encompass health-related quality of life, positive and negative affect, and prevalence of depressive symptoms. Results were quantitatively analysed using two-way mixed design ANOVA to observe time x group interaction effects, as well as the main effects of time and group on participants’ psychological well-being. The aim was to examine possible changes in psychological well-being for the entire study population during the intervention period and whether there occurred any differences in psychological well-being between the groups at different time points. The results revealed statistically significant improvements in various indicators of psychological well-being throughout the whole intervention period across the entire study population, but statistically significant differences between the groups were not observed. The results indicate that mere participation in a lifestyle intervention program positively influences psychological well-being for overweight and obese previously inactive adults. Additionally, it was observed that both the intervention and control groups experienced initial declines in certain psychological well-being indicators, which later improved towards the end of the 12-month intervention period. This suggests that exercise interventions may initially have a slight negative impact on psychological well-being, but maintaining the exercise regimen can lead to subsequent enhancements. Furthermore, the study found that certain aspects of psychological well-being improved for the intervention group as the study period progressed, whereas for the control group they declined. Although these differences were not statistically significant, they may indicate the potential effectiveness of individualized lifestyle interventions over general guidelines in improving and maintaining certain components of psychological well-being over a longer period. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Children and young people across the world are online more than ever. With this, comes the risk of experiencing online sexual harms and exploitation which can be sources of trauma and impact students’ well- being, mental health, behaviour, academic and life outcomes. Teachers can be trusted adults in their student’s lives with the ability to recognise these kinds of harms and abuse and offer effective support and intervention. Finland shows a steady increase in children and young people experiencing online child sexual harms such as online sexual harassment, grooming and exploitation and a rise in the media coverage of these issues. This seeks to discover student teacher perceptions of online child sexual harms and exploitation of children and young people, whilst examining what student teachers might need to be able to understand and respond more effectively. Data was collected with individual interviews that included open questions and action tasks with four student teachers from The University of Helsinki. The study was guided by trauma-informed theory. Interviews were analysed using a mixture of deductive and inductive approaches to thematic analysis. In doing so, three themes and five sub-themes were found. The results of this study were that student teacher participants showed varied perceptions of online sexual harms and exploitation, related to the nature of abuse, victim, and perpetrator characteristics. These perceptions influenced participant ability to recognise potentially harmful situations. Additionally, participants lacked formal training in these issues. Finally, participants expressed unanimous professional anxiety in terms of how to practically respond to incidents of online sexual harms and exploitation of students, indicating a critical need for teacher education programs at the University of Helsinki to provide a more comprehensive education for student teachers that addresses understanding, identifying, and responding to sexual harms and exploitation online.

This qualitative study highlights the recent issue in the integration of AI in the University level. While existing literature focuses on the utilisation of AI in computer science, this study explores the development of AI in the context of educational practices. The complexity of the AI brought the challenge and opportunities for educational stakeholders to capture the recent phenomena in teaching and learning. While there are existing guidelines developed by the European Union and the universities themselves regarding teaching and learning with AI such as ChatGPT, these guidelines often lack specificity in addressing the needs of different academic disciplines. For instance, the application of AI tools and methodologies may vary significantly between each field such as language teaching, computer science, and agriculture science. The general guidelines are not tailored to these distinct needs, resulting in gaps in effective implementation and support. This study aims to explore these discipline-specific challenges and provide insights into how AI can be better integrated into diverse academic contexts. By analysing teachers’ perspectives, experiences, and concerns, this study aims to capture the challenge and potential benefit of ChatGPT utilisation as generative AI tool for educational purposes. By focusing on higher educational level, this study involved semi-structured interviews with eight teachers from four Finnish universities. To conduct an analysis, a reflexive thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes and sub-themes reflecting their experiences with ChatGPT. Overall, there are two main themes in this study that illustrates teacher perception on ChatGPT integration and their concerns of its utilisation. The findings reveal a generally positive attitude towards using ChatGPT for ideation, assignment refinement, and enhancing student creativity. However, significant concerns were also expressed regarding overreliance on AI, ethical issues related to data privacy and authorship. The critical evaluation is covered as a skill that is needed to utilise ChatGPT for Educational purposes. The study highlights the needs of developing AI literacy among both students and teachers. Suggested AI literacy should emphasize the ethical, critical, and effective use of AI tools particularly ChatGPT in teaching and learning. Additionally, teachers express the importance of understanding AI's limitations and biases by recommending strategies to critically evaluate AI-generated content and adapt their assessment methods and current pedagogical practices to ensure students’ genuine understanding. While the potential benefits of incorporating ChatGPT into pedagogical practices are recognized, the applicability of AI tools varies across academic disciplines, thus, it is necessary to tailor teachers’ educational approaches for effective integration and utilisation.

Despite that curiosity is beneficial for learning, researchers found that it is declining among adolescents. The aim of this thesis is to identify the prominent environment facilitators for youths’ curiosity from an Ecological perspective that includes both family and school. To further understand the developmental effects, two age cohorts (10-year-old and 15-year-old) were compared. In total, 5482 Finnish students (3034 aged 10, 2448 aged 15) from the OECD Survey on Social-emotional Skills were chosen and their family and school factors related to basic psychological needs were surveyed (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Using Complex Two-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling, results demonstrated that (1) parents’ criterion-referenced evaluation, relations with both parents and teachers were associated with youths’ curiosity, whereas autonomy support was not; (2) parents’ criterion-referenced evaluation played the primary role in younger youths’ curiosity, but its effect was much smaller in the elder cohort; and (3) relations with teachers was a vital driving factor for elder youths’ curiosity, though its effect was weaker on the younger. Findings extend the literature by identifying the prominent need-based supporting factors in different age periods for youths’ curiosity facilitation.