Browsing by master's degree program "Kasvatustieteiden maisteriohjelma"
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(2023)This study examines the learning of children aged 0-6 from the perspective of parents. The aim of the study was to explore parents' views on their child's learning and how they perceive their own role in supporting learning. In terms of learning, I focused on parents' views on the importance of different skills. Promoting the learning of preschool-age children typically falls under the responsibility of parents and early childhood education, so the study also surveyed parents' thoughts on the role of early childhood education in their child's learning. Parents' perspectives on learning have been limitedly studied in recent years. However, parents play a significant role as supporters of their child's learning, and early childhood is an important stage for learning. During early childhood, comprehensive development and learning occur rapidly, laying the foundation for future learning pathways. The study was conducted as quantitative research. The data for the study was collected through an online survey in February 2023 via the Norstat research company's consumer panel. The respondents were 410 parents of 0-6-year-old children. The data analysis is descriptive, and the methods used include percentage distributions as descriptive measures. The research is part of a broader customer understanding project by Sanoma Pro. A key finding is that parents consider their child's learning to be highly important and perceived their own role as strong supporters of learning. Supporting learning is seen as a clear part of parents' parenting responsibility. The results show that parents engaged with their children in learning various skills extensively. Socio-emotional skills are perceived as the most important skills regardless of the child's age. Although parents feel responsible for their child's learning, they also recognize the important role of early childhood education. However, the current resource challenges in early childhood education raise concerns among parents that may have impact on a child's learning and well-being, posing new challenges and pressures for parents.
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(2022)The aim of this master's thesis was to study the childhood food memories of 67-76-year-olds. In the first theoretical part of my dissertation I deal with food culture, its formation and the factors that shape it. I write about the history of Finnish food culture since 1945 and the journey towards the current state of Finnish food culture. In the second part of the theory, I write about food memories, previous studies of childhood food memories in Finland and childhood eating habits. My dissertation becomes part of home economics food research, because it deals with Finnish food culture, food memories, cooking skills, food service and even the history of Finnish families' daily lives. My research questions were: How childhood food memories are perceived? Who or what is involved? And in what ways do childhood memories appear in a person’s life at a later age? I did not make hypotheses or presuppositions, as I wanted interview material to speak for itself. The study was conducted as a qualitative study. The research material was collected through pair interviews involving people aged 67–76 years. The subjects were siblings and all of the interviewees were born and have spent their childhoods mainly in the cities of southern Finland. The interviewees were selected at discretion. They have lived their childhoods during the greatest food culture changes in Finland in the last hundred years. The interviews were collected as semi-structured thematic interviews, and the collected material was transcribed, themed and analyzed by means of material-based content analysis. The results of the study show that the role of the mother was the most important in childhood food memories, but the father and grandmother also play a major role in them. Food memories strongly reflected the spirit of the period studied, such as the availability of food, the possibilities of choice, the appreciation of food, Finnish food culture and the social situation. Childhood food memories perceived as positive and negative. Negative food memories are often ignored and there are less negative food memories than positive. There are a lot of positive food memories and they evoke nice and warm thoughts and feelings. In addition to the people, the sensory experiences were emphasized in the food memories. Of the sensory memories, the experiences related to the sense of smell and taste were the most pronounced, but the appearance of the food also affected the attractiveness of the food. The results of my research are largely consistent with previous research. The purpose of the study was to store unique and important Finnish food memorabilia that contain valuable information about history, create an understanding of the present and strengthen the field of home economics research.
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(2022)Goals. The aim of this thesis was to examine the relationship between the assessments made on the teacher rating scale and the results of the direct measures of language development when assessing 4-year-old children’s language skills. The second aim was to find out how well early educators identify 4-year-old children who are at risk and those not at risk for language skills when using the teacher rating scale. Previous research has shown that form-based assessment tools are considered practical and efficient ways to assess children’s early language skills. The accuracy and consistency of the assessments have not been thoroughly investigated. This thesis will provide information on whether early educators identify those children who are at greater risk for language problems than their peers. Early identification is important to targeting the right kind of support. Methods. This study is a quantitative Master’s thesis. The research data included the results of the Lene and the Lukiva tests and the assessments made on the teacher rating scale for 4-year-old children (N=189) obtained in the initial sample of the Toimi ja opi research in 2019. The relationship between the assessments made on the teacher rating scale and the results of direct measures of language development was examined using Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlation analyses. The ability of early educators to identify 4-year-old children who are at risk and those not at risk for language skills was examined through configural frequency analysis. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 and Excel were used for data analysis. Results and conclusions. The results of the Master’s thesis showed a moderate and statistically significant relationship between the assessments made on the teacher rating scale and the direct measures of language development. The strongest connection was measured between the teacher rating scale and the Lene’s language comprehension test. The results also showed that the early educators were able to identify those 4-years-old children who are at risk and those not at risk for language skills when using the teacher rating scale. The findings show that the teacher rating scale is a viable tool for early educators to assess children’s language skills and to identify those who are at risk for language problems.
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(2021)The symptoms of ADHD can cause many challenges for children and adolescents in school. Today, traditional learning environments are challenged by more open, flexible learning environments. However, there is only little earlier research on classroom experiences in flexible learning environments and classroom experiences comparing traditional and flexible learning environments have not been studied from the perspective of students with ADHD symptoms. In addition, previous research has shown that students with symptoms of ADHD often experience lower self-esteem than their peers. It is also known that girls are more likely to report lower self-esteem than boys. The purpose of this study is to examine how students at risk for ADHD experience their self-esteem, engagement, autonomy, relatedness and competence in traditional and flexible learning environments. In addition, this study examines whether there is a gender difference in the above-mentioned experiences. The theoretical basis of the research is the self-determination theory, to which autonomy, competence, relatedness and engagement are essentially connected. The data was collected from students in grades 7 and 8 who had participated in the Learning, grouping, evaluation and well-being in large learning areas project of the city of Vantaa and the University of Helsinki Education Assessment Center in 2019–2020. Of all 7–8th graders (N 1446), students at risk of ADHD (n 113) were selected for the study. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the connections between attention, self-esteem, and the components of self-determination theory. Next, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine whether there is a difference between traditional and flexible learning environments in self-esteem, autonomy, competence, relatedness and student engagement in students at risk for ADHD. The same method of analysis was used again to examine whether there is a gender difference in self-esteem, autonomy, competence, relatedness and student engagement in students in the risk group of ADHD. The data was analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. The results showed that the experiences of self-esteem and the components of self-determination theory (student engagement, autonomy, relatedness and competence) did not differ depending on the learning environment in students at risk of ADHD between traditional and open plan (flexible) learning environments. However, experiences of self-esteem, autonomy and engagement among at-risk students in ADHD differed between the sexes, with girls having lower self-esteem and experiencing less autonomy and engagement than boys.
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(2020)In 2020, the government of Juha Sipilä implemented a reform in higher education. The meaning of the reform was to bring forward the starting of university studies as well as remove the need to participate in preparatory courses. The ideals of the competitive society were influencing in the backround of the reform. Instead of disappearing, the preparatory course markets will presumably transform into courses offered for even younger students at earlier stage, thus causing extra pressure to younger students. The aim of this thesis was to study high school seniors who applied to universities under the new reform. The aim was to examine how the competitive ethos affected their transition as well as how they reasoned the need to participate in preparatory courses as a part of the transition. This topic has not been researched before in this research frame, however similar studies have been conducted of students participating in preparatory courses. Former studies show that preparatory courses are perceived as a normal part of transitioning from secondary education to tertiary education. Studies also show that successful transition seems to require entrepreneurial characteristics. The research data was collected in the winter of 2020 through semi-structured interviews. Altogether five senior students, who participated in preparatory courses in Helsinki Summer University, were interviewed. The data was analysed with discourse analysis. The competitive ethos affected the transitioning strongly. The impact is evident in the notion of entrepreneurial self as well as in emphasizing the instrumental value of education. The preparatory courses give important support in the application to universities thus it’s viewed as a natural part of the transition. As a conclusion, the preparatory course market will not disappear, only transform into courses offered for even younger students. As a result of the reform, students are required to act as an entrepreneurial self in order to secure a successful transition.
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(2020)Aims. In the context of computing education, the vast majority of prior research examining achievement goal orientations has been conducted using variable-centred methods. In order to deepen understanding of the student population and achievement motivation, this Master’s Thesis employed person-oriented perspectives. The interplay of different goal orientations was explored by identifying prevalent motivational profiles and investigating profile differences in performance. Normative and appearance performance goals were handled as separate clustering variables in addition to mastery goals for the first time. Methods. The participants were 2059 introductory programming MOOC students. Data were collected by a questionnaire and from automatically assessed programming assignments and final exam. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted for the achievement goal orientation items to examine the factor structure. Using TwoStep cluster analysis, the students were classified into clusters according to their achievement goal orientations. Cross tabulations and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to investigate profile characteristics and differences in performance. Results and Conclusions. Five distinct achievement goal orientation profiles were identified: Approach-Oriented (31.2%), Performance-Oriented (18.9%), Combined Mastery and Performance Goals (18.0%), Low Goals (17.6.%) and Mastery-Oriented (14.3.%). Students with Combined Mastery and Performance Goals performed significantly better than students with Low Goals regarding two metrics. Consistent with previous findings, the results highlight the positive link between multiple goal pursuit and performance. Further studies are needed to investigate motivational profiles in relation to other educational outcomes in the context of computing education. This kind of knowledge is valuable for designing interventions and new courses. The article ‘Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles and Performance in a Programming MOOC’, which is based on the present thesis, will be presented at ITiCSE 2020 (Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education) conference and published in conference proceedings.
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(2021)In the context of education, ADHD has already been studied quite a bit. However, the way that teachers understand the ADHD diagnosis and what kind of image they create in their speech about children diagnosed with ADHD has received less attention. The purpose of this thesis is to find out what kind of meanings teachers generate for the ADHD diagnosis and what kind of image teachers create about children diagnosed with ADHD. It is important to study the way teachers speak because the way they speak can have either a positive or negative impact on the well-being and learning of children diagnosed with ADHD. I have collected the material for my thesis through an e-form, which has been answered by 70 teachers working in early childhood education and basic education. Respondents to the form were found through social media. The form consisted of open-ended questions and the data was analyzed using discourse analysis methods. I identified a total of six interpretive repertoires for the diagnosis of ADHD: diagnosis as evidence of medical background, diagnosis as a provider of understanding, diagnosis as an explanation of behaviour, diagnosis as a provider of support, diagnosis as a possible label, and diagnosis as a questionable phenomenon. The diagnosis appeared to be mainly necessary and good in these interpretive repertoires, but the possible negative effects of the diagnosis were also brought up. A total of six subject positions were produced for a child diagnosed with ADHD: patient, different child, troublemaker, child in need of support, labelled child and ordinary child / misunderstood child. Teachers described children diagnosed with ADHD mainly through problems and challenges, but the writings also conveyed an empathic attitude towards the child. I hope this thesis will inspire teachers to reflect on their ways of speaking and to think about the origins and consequences of the meanings they have given to the diagnosis.
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(2023)The aim of this study was to shine light to ADHD as a phenomenom in a teachers career. Hypothesis was that a teacher can have ADHD but it doesn’t make a teacher unqualified. This study focused on key themes of ADHD which were hardships, compensation or alleviation of these hardships and strengths in a teacher’s career. Research shows that ADHD can cause hardships but it is also possible to affect these hardships with certain actions (Lehtokoski, 2004, 75−78; Nadeau, 2005, 550; Adler & Florence, 2006, 41−42; Michelsson ym,. 2004, 21 & 93). Research also states that ADHD can also be a strength, which means that it is important for an ADHD individual to find a job that fits those personal ADHD related traits (Hansen, 2017, 13 & 114; Michelsson ym., 2004, 93). Research question was to find out how teachers experience their professional identity and teacherhood and which hardships and strengths they experience in their career as a teacher because of ADHD diagnosis. This study was executed by interviewing seven teachers from varying levels of education with means of semi-structured interview. Answers in these interviews were analysed with means of qualitative content analysis. Results of this study consisted of many experiences about teacherhood and a teacher’s professional identity from teachers who have ADHD diagnosis. Experiences about teacherhood and teachers’ professional identity were in line with earlier research about teacherhood. Although in this study the teachers emphasized a bit more on humanity and understanding as part of teacherhood and related personality traits. ADHD can affect the working of a teacher via hardships as well as strengths. Teachers brought up many different hardships, compensation methods and strengths related to ADHD. For example, hardships with time management and memory were brought up in these interviews. These for example can be alleviated by using a calendar and other sources of written reminders of important things. The use of ADHD medication was also mentioned in some form on most interviews. ADHD related strengths were linked to more humane and understanding approach to students, creativity, efficiency, increase of neuropsychiatric knowledge and curious or enthusiastic lifestyle. ADHD affects a teachers work, but it most certainly does not mean, that the teacher would face big problems in his or her career because of ADHD. It is important that a teacher with ADHD finds his own best way to do things and to find out his or her strengths as well as to utilize them. In this way a teacher can succeed in their line of work despite of their hardships. ADHD related traits or attributes do not define an individual, its more about how they can be utilized and alleviated via different solutions in work related environment, if needed.
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(2023)This thesis focuses on supporting the schooling and learning of an ADHD student from the point of view of special needs teachers and special class teachers. The aim of the study is to find out how the student ADHD appears at school and what support measures have been targeted at it. The study is also interested in how the three-tier support responds to the needs of the ADHD-symptom student. The research is of a qualitative nature. The material was collected through an interview. Two special teachers and three special class teachers from the Southern Finland region were interviewed. The expectation was that interviewees have a lot of experience in meeting a child with ADHD symptoms. The method of analysis of the data was content analysis. Descriptions of special- and special-class teachers from ADHD-symptoms students are suitable for literature symptoms; there were also a lot of positive expressions. The support of the ADHD-symptom student formed three upper classes of pedagogical activity in the learning environment, interaction and structure and self-management. These formed the comprehensive support of the student in the section. The three-step support for the research issue consisted of three upper classes: guardians, multiprofessionalism and pedagogical documents. The interviewees considered these classes to be the most important forms of three-tier support.
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(2023)Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract Objectives. The aim of this thesis was to describe, analyze, and interpret how a collaborative virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) can provide opportunities to learn and practice work skills that promote student motivation and agency to learn. The research questions concerned how students perceived their agency and autonomy in different learning environments and how this affected their motivation, as well as the cognitive potential of the VR learning environment and how it promoted agency in learning. The study applied the Cognitive Affordances of Technologies Scale, CATS (Dabbagh, Conrad & Dass, 2010), designed to examine the cognitive potential of technology-supported learning environments (TSLEs) with a focus on the strengths and weaknesses of learning technologies in relation to the affordances in the environment. CATS was developed with the aim to help in improving the cognitive design of TSLEs to support purposeful and meaningful learner activities and learning interactions. Methods. The study involved 14 students participating in a forest machine course at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. The students studied both in the VR learning environment and in the traditional learning environment. A mixed-method ethnographic case study approach (Torres Colón, 2020) was used to combine rich qualitative data from on-site observations, interviews, and video observations to complement quantitative data. The aim was to provide a better understanding of the research problems than using either approach alone. In this study, the approach was a pragmatic combination of methods (Seppänen-Järvelä, Åkerblad & Haapakoski, 2019), using all the methods that best enabled the research questions to be answered (triangulation). Results and conclusions. The main results showed that students generally rated their autonomy higher in VR groups than in physical groups, learning in a VR learning environment was meaningful and had a positive impact on students' motivation, and learning opportunities supported students' autonomy through meaningful teacher-student interaction and promoted student agency. A collaborative virtual learning environment, where teachers warmly regulate emotions through meaningful classroom interaction, can provide opportunities for learning and practicing work skills, thus promoting student motivation and agency. The VR environment was shown to provide opportunities for students to explore subjects that are interesting and meaningful to them, increasing students' intrinsic motivation. The teacher's role in supporting students' autonomy and agency is important, as students should be encouraged and guided to use the affordances of the VR environment. Teachers need to monitor, evaluate, and adapt different teaching methods to take advantage of the opportunities offered by technology. In the future, this may help teachers in post-secondary education and skills training and immersive virtual reality (VR) designers to further develop technology to enhance learning in VR.
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(2022)The aim of this study is to analyze how facilities and the role of time affect practises in coo-king and dining in the second home. The theoretical framework of this study is based on pre-vious studies of second home living and eating practices. It seems that the busy lifestyle causes reduction of time spent in cooking and eating together. On the other hand, previous studies also show that the second home living acts as a counterweight for busy citylife. The studies related to eating practices are mostly focused on everyday life while ingnoring the in-habitants of second homes. This study takes part to the discussion about second home living, cooking and dining by studying cooking and eating practises. In the previous studies this sub-ject has not been studied from this point of view. The study was executed by utilizing qualitative methods. A thematic interview was used for research material collection. The research material consists of twelve interviews of indivi-duals that spend regularly time in their second homes. The research material was analyzed in a material-based content analysis. The research results show that the more free opportunities to use time are a remarkable fac-tor in cooking and dining in the second home. The results also refer that there was time for cooking in the second home and the food was always prepared from ingredients if it was possible. Because of the conditions in the second home and to save time various methods are utilized to make cooking easier. The results show that there is a strive to dine together and without hurry in the second home. The results also tell of the meanings of cooking and dining in the second home. As a conclusion it can be said that the greater availability of time has a remarkable effect on cooking and dining practises in the second home. The results of this study can be used as guidelines for further studies on eating practices and their impor-tance in second home living.
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(2023)Aim. The goal of the study is to examine how pupils perceive the progression and the material challenges of technology education invention projects. These invention projects usually refer to multidisciplinary projects where pupils produce a concrete resolution to a problem they have chosen themselves by utilizing methods related to the field of technology education. These methods include co-operation, designing and programming which are also required in the curriculum. To illustrate the progression of the invention projects, different kinds of process models have been designed. A synthesis of these process models and Barlex's design-decision pentagon are used in the study to reflect on the material challenges of the pupils' invention projects and how the pupils responded to these challenges. Methods. The study was conducted by interviewing seven pupils who formed a total of three invention project groups. These pupils were a part of a robotics club, and they were aiming to compete in a robotics tournament hosted by the Innokas Network. These interview answers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, and the pupils' descriptions were compared to the invention project process model and the Barlex's design-decision pentagon. Results. The pupils' descriptions of the invention projects featured different phases of the process model, although the differences between the phases were sometimes hard to discern. The pupils viewed the invention project process as very linear and described the process as forward-going even when they were backtracking in the process model. The material challenges the pupils encountered were related to both the programmable technology in the invention and the materials combined with the technology, such as cardboard and paper. Traditional crafts material wood was considered by one group, but textiles were not featured in any project. The motivations for the designing process were different between the groups, where one group was motivated by the aesthetic side of the invention and others by the function of the invention.
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(2022)The aim of this study was to examine and describe how principles, student counsellors and other school administrators in comprehensive school represent the school paths of immi-grant children in Finland. The aim is to analyse the challenges described by authorities that immigrant students face in the transition between comprehensive school and upper second-ary level, and to contemplate how immigrant backgrounds and class positions are connect-ed to each other. In addition, the aim is to consider how social mobility of immigrants should be improved through different ways of support and guidance. Previous studies show that people with immigration backgrounds are still often excluded from secondary education and especially from high school in Finland. The expansion of compulsory school age obliges every child to move on to the secondary level, but especially with poor Finnish knowledge and weak social and cultural capital it is challenging coping with secondary level studies. In the centre of the theoretical framework of this study are Pierre Bourdieau’s forms of capital. The study was conducted as a qualitative content analysis and the data for the study con-sisted of interviews with eight authorities working in Finnish primary schools with pupils with immigration backgrounds. The data was analyzed and classified by means of thematic con-tent analysis. According to the findings, the challenges of school paths and transitions among students with immigration backgrounds include the extensive lack of cultural and social capital in fami-lies in relation to the context of the Finnish middle-class school system. Furthermore, the views of the families and of the school on realistic school options often differ. The joint appli-cation system does not encourage the student to change school after the first choice and experiment, and therefore people with immigration backgrounds are particularly challenged by choice and unknown educational opportunities. According to the results, Finland does not yet have a clear tailored system for immigrant children who move to Finland and who have passed the primary school age. They are ex-pected a quicker takeover of language and syllabus than other children. In addition, high school education appears to be inaccessible to many people with immigration backgrounds, according to authorities. In vocational training, resources for specific language and integra-tion support are insufficient, leading to the fact that after finishing vocational studies, they are moving to employment with low capacity.
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(2022)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Objectives. The goal of this thesis was to examine, what are the prerequisites for building be-longing from the point of view of children who need significant support in early childhood education, and what concrete actions are used to build this belonging. This was clarified by interviews with early childhood education professionals. The aim of this research is to produce new information and bring out the "silent knowledge" in the field of early childhood education through the joint speech of the discussants. The frame of reference in this research, is in early childhood education and with children who need significant support, and in building their belonging. The research opens up the concept of inclusion as a central principle guiding ear-ly childhood education. The concept of inclusion is essentially related to the concept of be-longing. With the help of current legislation and studies, the research opens up how to organize the support a child needs in early childhood education. In the theoretical framework, the child's participation, the politics of belonging and the means by which belonging can be built, are discussed. Methods. This thesis was inspired by a project called VAKA-TUVET, that aimed to increase awareness of significant support in early childhood education. The research material was collected with two focus group interviews and one individual interview from nine special teachers of early childhood education. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the interview material. With the help of the analysis, the data was loosely connected to the theoretical framework. Results and conclusions. From the results, it could be concluded that formation of belonging is a changing process, that must be consciously built and constantly evaluated through joint discussions. From the point of view of children in need of significant support, the inclusive culture of the work community was seen as a key. Taking individuality into account and re-moving obstacles is seen as an everyday matter in such a community. In discussions in teams, the importance of belonging to the child must be opened up, and information about the support required must be shared. In these discussions, a plan must be made on how to build belonging in everyday situations. Belonging was seen to be built in everyday life from individual solutions where the needs of all children are taken into account, keeping in mind the overall picture in terms of belonging. The sensitive and multidimensional role of professionals as builders of belonging of the children in need of significant support, and of the entire group, was felt to be essential. In concrete everyday situations, belonging was built with material actions, the pedagogical practices of the group, and the functional actions of professionals, which guided children to connect with others. In the linguistic actions of the professionals, speech that builds community was emphasized, as well as the creation of barrier-free opportunities for communication. The results are largely consistent with previous results, the importance of sensitive professionals who build belonging was highlighted and belonging should be built consciously in everyday life. It was felt that more information is needed about significant support, this information can increase understanding. Based on the data, the joy and absorption of work emerges, which can be experienced at work among children who need significant support. This requires properly sized resources and an operating culture that builds belonging. Diversity and the individual needs of children can be a wealth for the whole group.
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(2020)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Objective. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is developmental neurobiological disability. The aim of the current study was to examine what symptoms women diagnosed as adults with ADHD recognize emerged in their childhood before puberty, which symptoms were reported to manifest together and whether the reported symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria used by health care. In addition, the aim was to find out which were the most common reasons to apply for support as an adult. Untreated ADHD has been found to be associated with depression, exclusion from education, and an increased risk of substance use. Early identification and proper targeting of support measures can reduce health risks and improve quality of life. Method. The data were collected through the online survey, that the Finnish ADHD Association published on social media carried on the social network service Facebook in April 2020. The questionnaire was made based on previous research for this study, and was created with the E-lomake -program of the University of Helsinki. The participants (n = 360) were women diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, aged 20 to 50 years, who retrospectively assessed their own ADHD symptoms in childhood. The data thus gathered was analysed using statistical methods in the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 -program. Results and conclusions. The most commonly reported symptoms of ADHD included attentional regulation, systemicity, minor motor restlessness, and emotional and verbal impulsivity. The most common symptoms were reported to be co-occurring, but the review of also showed large variability for some symptoms. Of the eleven most commonly reported symptoms, only three were directly related to the diagnostic criteria in use. The most common reasons for applying assessment of ADHD as an adult were the identification of one's own symptoms, previously diagnosed depression, and feedback from close relatives. Based on this thesis, the diagnostic criteria in use do not adequately cover the dimensions of girls ’ ADHD symptoms are expressed. Two of the common symptoms were absorption in games intense and losing sense of time, that is comparable to with hyperfocusing, and clinging to details. The results are consistent with previous research data; the diagnostic criteria are based on research data obtained from boys with ADHD.
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(2020)This study will focus on news about the higher education reform that was conducted by Sipilä’s government (2015-2019), and their relations to the changes and reforms of educational politics. In theory part, I will discuss about the trends of educational politics and their relations to employability and neoliberalism. Studies have shown that Finnish education politics has adopted policy of competitivity, heading towards individualistic, evaluative and number-based policy. In my study I will answer two research question: What kind of arguments are represented for enhancing and objecting the higher education reform in media? Are there any paradoxes standing out in the higher education reform news? My study consisted of 53 the higher education reform news from Helsingin Sanomat and YLE, published between 2015-2019. I approached the news with a discursive practice, following Foucault’s ideology of power, seeing discourses as practices rather than speech. My aim was to point out what was possible to say or do in the created media discourse and find out what kind of discursive practice the news created. This study was also discussing the different subject positions given to the youth by the media in regard to this reform. Analysis showed that competitivity was established as a natural part of educational politics in media. The universities autonomy was seen as threatened when the government controls the universities with funding. The youth talked about their increased mental health problems while the individualistic responsibility increased. Education was described as free-will -based path with countless opportunities, but on the other hand people were governed to the same path. Media seemed to create the picture of the ideal consumer citizen: efficient, responsible, self-governed, young high school boy. Education was seen as a responsibility that youth should aim towards in order to maximise their own value. Media’s discursive practice emphasized the freedom and rights, still governing the youth to the path that was seen as ‘the right choice’. The results are in line with the previous research on marketized education and individualistic responsibility.
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(2022)The aim of this study is to examine how much other than Finnish or Finnish as a second language subject teachers use literature education in multidisciplinary teaching and how much they collaborate with Finnish or Finnish as a second language teachers. Previous studies show that while teachers attach great importance to multidisciplinary teaching, cross-subject collaboration requires a lot of extra work from teachers. Research shows that reading literature is holistically linked to the better performance of pupils at school. This study provides information on how much teachers cooperate in literature and what kind of collaboration is. The investigation will also examine the reasons why there is no cooperation. The data of this study have been based on the Finnish and Swedish responses of the survey data sent to other subject teachers in the Lukuklaani project, which received 611 answers. Among the answers to the survey sent to other subject teachers, I looked at the questions that had been used to investigate the literary education carried out by subject teachers. With regard to the answers to closed questions, I examined qualitative indicators and open answers through qualitative content analysis. The results of my research showed that the other subject teachers use very little of literary education in their teaching. In multidisciplinary learning modules, literary education was used as an upwardly differentiated material and in deepening the knowledge of the subject through non-fiction. The reason why literature education was not utilised was that the subject taught by the subject teacher was not involved in the school's multidisciplinary teaching, or that multidisciplinary learning modules were limited. Subject teachers cooperated with Finnish or Finnish as a second language teachers most often every academic year or less often. Closer cooperation was less common. Cooperation was carried out in the teaching of multidisciplinary learning entities, the teaching and evaluation of writing and literacy, language maintenance, expressive skills and the organization of school parties. The reason for the lack of cooperation was the unwillingness of Finnish teachers and the lack of time. The study shows that subject teachers do quite a bit of multidisciplinary cooperation, but do not express a reluctance to cooperate.
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(2023)Household chores are an important part of household functioning. Their significance is also examined in the perspective of household production. Domestic work upbringing, however, has been studied only marginally and no definition of the concept of domestic work upbringing was found in previous scholarly publications. However, previous scientific publications suggest that household chores have an educational dimension. This thesis fills this identified knowledge gap and examines the practices and educational principles of mothers' domestic work upbringing. Additionally, it explores the goals that mothers aim to achieve through the domestic work upbringing they provide. The data for this qualitative study was collected through an online questionnaire. The online questionnaire was open on a Facebook group ‘ÄiTyLIt’ for two weeks in March 2023. The online questionnaire for parents of children under 12 years of age consisted primarily of open-ended questions. The survey data includes 214 mothers' responses, which I have analyzed by means of theoretical content analysis. Atlas.ti analysis software was used to assist the analysis. The mothers' practices and educational principles of domestic work upbringing were di-verse. They can be categorized as child-centered, functional, verbal, time-based and reward-based practices and principles. In addition, some mothers reported using a chore list or a reward chart as a tool for domestic work upbringing. Many mothers reported that they consider the age and skill level of the child, as well as the child's own desire, enthusiasm or personality when raising a child to do household chores. Plenty of the mothers in this study did housework together with their children. This was often based on routine and a desire for an equal division of labor. Furthermore, many mothers praised, encouraged and thanked their children for doing household chores. The aims of domestic work upbringing were mainly focused on the child's own life skills and the shared household. Mothers especially wanted to teach children skills of independence, responsibility, self-help and doing one’s own share. Moreover, mothers wanted to communicate to their children that household chores are part of everyday life and for everyone in the household. In conclusion, it can be proposed that through domestic work upbringing mothers want to contribute to the well-being of both the child and the household, which may also have a positive impact on societal action as a whole.
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(2021)The purpose of this study is to describe what kind of understanding pre-service class teachers have about thinking skills and teaching thinking in primary school. In addition, I am interested to find out whether or not the students in the field of educational sciences and the students in the field of educational psychology differ in their perceptions of thinking. The study examines thinking skills from the perspective of cognitive processes and uses the Integrated Model developed by Moseley and his group (2005a) to support the definition. The study was conducted as a phenomenographic study. The data consisted of 12 individual interviews and was collected in February 2021 from pre-service class teachers. Data analysis was performed using phenomenographic analysis. The study showed that the pre-service class teachers perceive thinking skills as a complex concept for which there was not seen a clear definition. Thinking skills were described as individual and evolving skills whose interrelationships were described in different ways. Thinking skills were perceived as tools that a person uses to perform various tasks. The teaching of thinking skills was seen as an investment for the future, as it was believed to promote learning and cultivate citizenship. Teaching was seen to take place mainly through pedagogical means. According to the subjects, thinking skills should be developed through diverse ways, with an emphasis on co-operation and supporting student agency. In addition, the importance of the teacher, the school and the learning environment was emphasized. Teaching thinking was also seen challenging. The students in the field of educational psychology and in the field of educational sciences largely followed a common line in their perceptions of thinking, but differences were found at the subcategory level. The most significant difference can be considered as the lack of creative thinking in the responses of educational psychology students. In addition, the study found that the pre-service class teachers had challenges in defining thinking skills as well as justifying pedagogical choices. This could suggest that they lack the metacognitive and pedagogical knowledge of thinking skills that Zohar (2005) considers as a prerequisite for teaching thinking skills. In the future, it would be good to further study the abilities of pre-service class teachers in terms of teaching thinking skills.
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(2023)Objectives In this Master's thesis, intervention studies targeting development of academic giftedness were examined. The objective of the research was to discover effective interventions based on scientific evidence. In the theoretical sections of the study, it is examined (1) what components the theoretical models and definitions of the giftedness concept are built upon, (2) how academic gifted potential can be identified in schools and what kind of support needs are associated with it, and (3) the most common forms of intervention used in the education of academically gifted students are depicted. (4) The final part of the theoretical framework examines the provision of support within the context of the Finnish school system. In the research section (5), through a systematic literature review, the effects of educational interventions aimed at developing academic giftedness are examined and the obtained results are compared with previous research evidence. Finally, the study examines the applicability of evidence-based interventions in the context of the Finnish inclusive school and special education. This research was carried out as part of the special education studies at the University of Helsinki and is based on evidence-based support measures for groups and individuals in need of special solutions. Methods The acquisition of research material was carried out through a systematic literature review. Database searches were conducted in ERIC (ProQuest), ASC (EBSCO), Science Direct (Elsevier), PsycInfo (Ovid), Web of Science (Abstract), Scopus (Elsevier), and JSTOR da-tabases. The research included peer-reviewed intervention studies from the years 2000-2023. The studies targeted primary school-aged children and included data on effects, efficacy, and statistical significance concerning the impacts of interventions aimed at supporting academic giftedness. The theoretical framework of the research was constructed through a literature review. Meta-analyses and extensive systematic reviews were utilized to reinforce the research's theoretical framework and to evaluate the results. In total, fourteen studies met the defined search criteria. These studies are marked with an asterisk in the bibliography. The quality assessment process (EPHPP) reduced the number of studies that made it into the final synthesis to ten (10) intervention studies. Research Questions: 1. What types of effects have intervention studies demonstrated in interventions targeted at the education of academically gifted students? 2. Does prior review research evidence align with the findings of this study regarding the effectiveness of different intervention types? Results. (T1) The study found evidence of positive effects of the examined interventions on students' academic achievements, thinking skills, and socio-emotional variables such as motivation and attitudes. The results of the study reinforce earlier evidence of the diverse benefits of enrichment interventions aimed at academically gifted students. (T2) For different forms of interventions, the results of the study corroborated earlier evi-dence on the effectiveness of content enrichment in supporting academic giftedness. The study also found evidence of the benefits of psychosocial interventions and systematic instructional adaptation.
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