Opiskelijavalintojen kehittäminen kasvatustieteessä : tutkimus- ja kehityshankkeen loppuraportti

Measuring and Supporting Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Towards Computers, Teaching, and Technology Integration

This paper reports on two studies designed to examine pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Study I investigated the measurement properties of a self-efficacy beliefs questionnaire comprising scales for computer self-efficacy, teacher self-efficacy, and self-efficacy towards technology integration. In Study I, 200 pre-service teachers completed the self-efficacy questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a modified measurement model consisting of the three hypothesized self-efficacy scales. Study II reports on an intervention to clarify the effects of digital video composition experiences on these same three self-efficacy variables. Participants were 22 pre-service teach…

Motivationaaliset ulottuvuudet tutkivassa nettilukemisessa

Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin kuudesluokkalaisten nettilukemisen motivationaalisia ulottuvuuksia ja niiden yhteyttä tutkivan nettilukemisen tehtävässä menestymiseen. Tutkimukseen osallistui 426 kuudesluokkalaista oppilasta. Nettilukemisen motivationaalisia ulottuvuuksia mitattiin Yhdysvalloissa validoidulla mittarilla. Tutkivan nettilukemisen taitoja arvioitiin verkkopohjaisella tehtävällä, jossa oppilaat tutkivat energiajuomien terveysvaikutuksia. Tehtävä mittasi oppilaiden tiedonhakutaitoja, arviointitaitoja, taitoa laatia synteesi usean nettitekstin pohjalta sekä taitoja muodostaa ja kommunikoida perusteltu kanta tutkimastaan asiasta. Konfirmatorisessa faktorianalyysissä havaittiin neljä n…

University Applicants’ Critical Thinking Skills: The Case of the Finnish Educational Sciences

This study investigates the quality of the critical thinking skills of applicants (n = 77) seeking entry to the faculty of educational sciences in a Finnish university and how these skills are associated with the applicant’s age, previous higher education experience, and matriculation and entrance examination scores. The data consist of the applicants’ responses to problem-solving tasks and their matriculation and entrance examination scores. Critical thinking skills were measured with comparison and argumentation tasks. The results indicate that comparison of the texts and analysis of the arguments they contained were more difficult tasks than putting forward arguments both for and against…

Lukiomenestyksen ja yliopisto-opintojen aloitushetken iän yhteys yliopisto-opinnoissa menestymiseen ja opintojen etenemiseen : seurantatutkimus

Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, missä määrin lukion opintomenestys selittää yliopisto-opinnoissa menestymistä ja opintojen etenemistä. Aineisto muodostui 120:n vuonna 2006 opintonsa aloittaneen liikuntatieteiden tai kielten yliopisto-opiskelijan takautuvista opintotiedoista. Tutkittavista kerättiin lukiosuoritusten arvosanat, ja heidän yliopisto-opintojensa etenemisnopeutta ja suoritustasoa seurattiin vuoteen 2015 saakka. Aineisto analysoitiin korrelaatio- ja regressioanalyyseilla. Regressioanalyysissa selvisi, että tutkittavien lukion päättötodistuksen arvosanojen keskiarvo ja ikä opintojen aloitushetkellä selittivät yliopistossa suoritettujen arvosanojen keskiarvoa. Mitä parempi keskiar…

Online Research and Comprehension Performance Profiles Among Sixth-Grade Students, Including Those with Reading Difficulties and/or Attention and Executive Function Difficulties

This study identified online research and comprehension (ORC) performance profiles of 436 sixth-grade students (206 girls) aged 12–13 years. We included learner groups with different learning-related difficulties and explored how students’ reading habits were represented in various performance profiles. First, students’ ORC performance was examined with a validated web-based assessment measuring their skills in locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating information. Second, reading fluency and teacher-rated attention and executive function (EF) difficulty scores were used to form learner groups: (1) students with reading difficulties, (2) students with attention and EF difficulti…

Multiple mini-interviews as a selection tool for initial teacher education admissions

This study investigates the reliability of multiple mini interviews (MMIs) to select students for classroom and special education teacher programs (n = 418) using intraclass correlations and cross-classified multilevel modeling. The results indicated mostly small effects of clustering of applicants to different interviewers and five-station circuits. The largest variance components in the MMI total score were for applicants (63.3%) and measurement error (20.6%), while the variance component for the interviewer was relatively small (11.6–14.4%). The applicants' and interviewers' perceptions were positive. This study provides evidence for the use of MMIs as a reliable tool for initial teacher…

Valintakokeen ja lukion opintomenestyksen merkitys yliopisto-opintojen menestyksen ennustajina

Utriainen, J. Valintakokeen ja lukion opintomenestyksen merkitys yliopisto-opintojen menestyksen ennustajina. Jyväskylän yliopisto. Opettajankoulutuslaitos. Kasvatustieteen pro gradu -tutkielma (63 s.) Tutkimus oli osa Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitoksen Opiskelijavalintojen ja opiskeluprosessien kehittämishanketta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää valintakokeiden ja aikaisemman opintomenestyksen yhteyttä tulevaan opintomenestykseen yliopistossa. Tutkittavat olivat Jyväskylän yliopistossa vuonna 2006 (N=120) opintonsa aloittaneita humanistisen, sekä liikunta- ja terveystieteiden tiedekunnan opiskelijoita. Tutkimusaineistona olivat opiskelijoiden valintakokeiden esseevastaukset, tiedot luki…

Student evaluations of the credibility and argumentation of online sources

This study investigated upper secondary school students’ skills in evaluating the credibility and argumentative content of a blog text and a YouTube video. Both sources concerned child vaccination, the blog text opposing and the YouTube video supporting it. Students rated each source as credible, fairly credible or non-credible, justified their ratings, and analyzed the argumentation of both sources. Their justifications were analyzed for trustworthiness and expertise and their argument analyses for identification of the main position of the source and the reasons supporting it. Students’ justification skills proved fairly weak, and they also struggled with recognizing unbalanced argumentat…

Assessing complexity in learning outcomes : a comparison between the SOLO taxonomy and the model of hierarchical complexity

An important aspect of higher education is to educate students who can manage complex relationships and solve complex problems. Teachers need to be able to evaluate course content with regard to complexity, as well as evaluate students’ ability to assimilate complex content and express it in the form of a learning outcome. One model for evaluating complexity is the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The aim of this analysis is to address the limitations of the SOLO taxonomy in detecting the more subtle differences of the learning outcomes and to clarify the concept of learning modes. This is done by analysing the SOLO taxonomy by means of the model of hierarchical comp…

Validation of a modified version of the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire

Providing teaching-learning environments that foster university studentsö learning is an essential task of higher education. Valid and reliable tools for assessing them are therefore needed. This study investigates the measurement properties of a modified version of the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). Two independent data-sets (N = 1637 and N = 1711) were collected from Finnish university students. Confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a modified measurement model for the ETLQ, consisting of 11 factors. The first three factors assessing the teaching-learning environment – Teaching for Understanding, Disciplinary Understanding and Supportive Teaching – were indi…

Reading to Learn From Online Information: Modeling the Factor Structure

Identifying the factor structure of online reading to learn is important for the development of theory, assessment, and instruction. Traditional comprehension models have been developed from, and for, offline reading. This study used online reading to determine an optimal factor structure for modeling online research and comprehension among 426 sixth graders (ages 12 and 13). Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to evaluate an assessment of online research and comprehension based on a widely referenced theoretical model. Student performance reflected the theoretical constructs of the model, but several additional constructs appeared, resulting in a six-factor model: (a) locating infor…