Hyvinvointi-, hius- ja kauneusalan ammatteihin opiskelevat kriittisinä nettilukijoina

2023

Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ammatillisen koulutuksen opiskelijoiden (hyvinvointi-, hius- ja kauneusala) kriittistä nettilukutaitoa. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin aikaisemman tiedon, tekstien lukemisjärjestyksen ja perustelutaitojen yhteyttä siihen, kuinka hyvin opiskelijat osasivat arvioida luotettavia (varmentaminen) ja epäluotettavia (kyseenalaistaminen) nettitekstejä sekä erottaa luotettavat tekstit epäluotettavista. Tutkimukseen osallistui 82 opiskelijaa, joista valtaosa oli 15–18-vuotiaita. Opiskelijat lukivat ja arvioivat kaksi luotettavaa ja kaksi epäluotettavaa tekstiä sokerin vaikutuksista. Opiskelijat arvioivat kirjoittajan asiantuntijuutta, tarkoitusperiä, julkaisupaikkaa ja evidenssin la…

The Different Role of Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs in the Development of Adolescents' Mathematics and Literacy Task Values

2015

This study examined how interest and importance values concerning mathematics and literacy develop from grade 7 to grade 9 in comprehensive school and to what extent gender, in addition to mothers’ and fathers’ beliefs about the abilities of individual children, predicts the level of and changes in these values. A total of 206 Finnish students (100 girls, 106 boys) were followed from grade 7 to grade 9, just before an important transition from compulsory comprehensive school to secondary education occurs in the Finnish context. Students’ parents participated in the study when the students were in grade 7. The results of multivariate latent change models showed that interest and importance v…

Professional agency in a university context: Academic freedom and fetters

2020

Professional agency is an urgent topic in academic contexts, albeit relatively unexplored, and elaborated with contradictory conclusions on its extent and characteristics. To contribute to the discussion, this multimethod study investigated professional agency within a Finnish university. We utilised questionnaire data and interviews to explore agency, as manifested in influencing at work, developing work practices, and negotiating professional identity. We found that overall, these three dimensions of agency were manifested fairly substantially, and in a similar manner among the academic staff. The study further emphasises the social nature of professional agency, and presents theoretical …

Mothers’ non-standard working and childcare-related challenges : A comparison between lone and coupled mothers

2016

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to particularly focus on lone-mother families, comparing the childcare-related challenges experienced by working lone mothers and coupled mothers in three European countries in the context of a 24/7 economy and non-standard working hours (e.g. evening, night and weekend work). Design/methodology/approach – This study utilises survey data from Finnish, Dutch and British working mothers (n=1,106) collected as part of the “Families 24/7” research project. Multivariate regression analysis is used to analyse the associations between childcare-related challenges, maternal non-standard working, lone motherhood and country of residence. Findings – The results…

Las citas como práctica del uso de las fuentes : las citas de fuentes en línea seleccionados por los estudiantes en sus trabajos

2020

This study examined upper secondary school students’ citations of self-selected online sources in their essays. Students (n = 140) conducted online inquiry about either effects of social media on people’s quality of life (SM) or allowance of genetic manipulation of organisms (GMO). Students, working either individually or in pairs, explored online sources with the help of a graphic organizer, after which they composed their essays. To capture the quality of citations identified in the essays, they were evaluated in terms of accuracy and richness of source features. Further, regression analysis was used to examine the effect of topic, grade level and work mode on the number and quality of ci…

Sourcing on the internet: Examining the relations among different phases of online inquiry

2021

This study examined students’ engagement in sourcing throughout online inquiry, that is, when they specified the information need, formulated search queries, evaluated online texts, and composed a written product. Participants were 167 upper secondary school students. Students completed an online inquiry task in a restricted online environment that utilized authentic online texts. Students’ prior topic knowledge and reading fluency was measured and controlled for in the analysis. The results showed that students engaged in sourcing even in the earliest phases of online inquiry. A sequential regression analysis indicated that the more frequently students engaged in sourcing in specifying the…

Socioeconomic and attitudinal differences between service users of private and public early childhood education and care in the Finnish context

2023

The marketisation and privatisation of welfare services such as early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been a global trend in recent decades. Earlier research suggests that market-based ECEC provision often leads to inequalities and stratification of service users. In Finland, as in other Nordic countries where provision of ECEC has traditionally been a public responsibility, ECEC services have also been undergoing marketisation and privatisation. Until now, especially in Finland, little has been known about service users of public and private ECEC or parental decisions between public and private ECEC. This study addresses that gap by showing that the clientele of private and public…

Is timing everything? : a longitudinal perspective on adult transitions, their antecedents, and psychological implications

2012

How do educational reforms change the share of students in special education? Trends in special education in Finland

2019

Recent European and global trends in education have been to promote inclusive education and expand education, resulting in the increased provision of special education. In promoting inclusive education, recent special education reforms have also aimed to curtail the rise in identification rates for students in special education, for example, by focusing more on early support and discontinuing fiscal incentives to identify students with special educational needs. Using official special education statistics, we studied how Finland’s special education system reforms changed the share of students in special education. In addition, we examined variations in special education provisions among mu…

Emotional Agency at Work: The Development and Validation of a Measure

2022

Despite intensive research on agency in education and work environments, the topic remains underexplored through the lens of emotions. This study conducted the development and validation of a quantitative measure to explore emotional agency in working life. Empirical data (N = 240) were collected via a web-based survey within the professional domains of healthcare and real estate services. The participants’ age, educational level, and gender corresponded to the domain-specific and general employee distribution in Finland. The questionnaire items were based on a theoretical construct of emotional agency at work. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that emotional agency includes two dimensi…

Development of math anxiety and its longitudinal relationships with arithmetic achievement among primary school children

2019

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the development of two separable aspects of math anxiety, anxiety about math-related situations and anxiety about failure in math, and their cross-lagged relationship with arithmetic achievement. The mean level of anxiety about math-related situations decreased among second, third, and fourth graders, and the level of anxiety about failure in math declined among third, fourth, and fifth graders. The rank-order of individuals was more stable in arithmetic achievement than in either aspect of math anxiety. Arithmetic achievement predicted later anxiety about failure in math, but neither aspect of math anxiety predicted later achievement. The result…

Dynamic properties of successful plural leadership configuration: An exploratory process-study

2023

Our article introduces an exploratory process study of successful plural leadership configuration in searching for alternative solutions to wicked problems. The study was executed within four educational organisations that solved challenging wicked problems arising from today’s changing contexts. We argue that plural leadership configuration is a dynamic process when people in diverse organisational positions, roles, and levels design profitable endeavours through their ideas and activities, bring about desirable outcomes within diverse conditions and outline the future. We searched for potential systemic patterns, characteristics, and structure within this dynamic process. To find these p…

Can reading fluency and self-efficacy of reading fluency be enhanced with an intervention targeting the sources of self-efficacy?

2018

Abstract The first aim of the study was to analyze whether reading fluency and self-efficacy of reading fluency (SE-rf) are malleable for children (Grades 3–5) with deficits in fluent reading via a 12-week special education program targeting both reading fluency and the sources of SE-rf (SE-program). The second aim was to investigate whether changes in SE-rf are related to changes in reading fluency. The SE-program (n = 40) was contrasted with the SKILL-program (n = 42) providing training solely in reading fluency. The groups showed equal improvements in reading fluency. Positive change in SE-rf emerged only in the SE-group, and this change was associated with changes in fluency, but the as…

It runs in the family?

2022

AbstractFamily background has been shown to be a strong determinant of educational attainment, yet relatively little is known about the role that family background plays in PhD attainment or in the selection into academic careers. In this study, we estimate sibling correlations from Finnish full population register data to comprehensively assess the importance of family background in selection into academia. Our results show that family background accounts for over a third of the overall variation in becoming a PhD and subsequently an academic — a share which is up to four times as large as implied by conventional comparisons by parental education. However, we did not find evidence that fam…

Students’ evaluation of information during online inquiry: Working individually or in pairs

2019

Varying information quality and an increase of misinformation on the Internet accentuates the importance of supporting students’ competencies to critically evaluate information. This study compared how individuals and pairs of secondary students worked to evaluate the quality of online information across two inquiry topics. Two similar studies were conducted with 140 Finnish (Study I) and 52 US (Study II) students. Students were asked to conduct an online inquiry and then write an essay about one of two topics: allowing the genetic modification of organisms (GMO) or the effects of social media on people’s quality of life (SM). Students worked either individually or in pairs. Their work was …

Literacy instruction activities and their associations with first graders’ reading performance in two transparent orthographies

2020

The aim of the study was to analyse literacy instruction activities and their associations with the reading performance of first graders in Estonia and Finland, two countries that share similar orthographies and educational systems but differ in the onset of formal reading instruction. The contents of 33 Literacy lessons in first grade spring were analysed and students’ (NEST = 415, NFIN = 154) reading performance was assessed in first grade autumn and spring. The results showed that there were more similarities than differences between the countries in literacy instruction activities, but some country-specific interaction effects were found between students’ reading performance and content…

Promoting sixth graders’ credibility evaluation of Web pages: An intervention study

2020

Abstract This study investigated whether a teacher-led intervention program on online inquiry improved sixth graders' performance in a credibility evaluation task. Students (N = 342) were divided into two conditions, an intervention group (190 students) and a control group (152 students). The intervention program (21 × 45 min lessons) was implemented during a six-week course as a part of normal schoolwork. The program included explicit teaching of online inquiry skills: searching for information (3 lessons), evaluating credibility of information (3 lessons), and synthesizing information (3 lessons). In addition, the skills taught were applied in two online inquiry projects comprising 12 les…

Specificity of Reading Self-Efficacy Among Primary School Children

2018

We investigated the specificity of reading self-efficacy among second- to fifth-grade children in Finland (N = 1,327). Bandura (1997 Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: Freeman. [Google Scholar] ) theorized that efficacy beliefs can be assessed at different levels of specificity; however, empirical support for this view is scarce among young children. Efficacy beliefs targeting reading-related activities were assessed at three specificity levels (general, intermediate, and specific). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that these specificity levels are separable, but correlated, and the structure was invariant across gender and grade level. Self-effic…

Acting Agentically at Work: Developing a Short Measure of Professional Agency

2021

Although professional agency has become an increasingly crucial issue in work organizations, investigators lack a brief instrument to measure it. This paper introduces a short measure to explore professional agency at work. Our aim was to shorten the original 17-item Professional Agency Measure, while also exploring its usability for cross-validating questionnaire datasets, and investigating the relationship between professional agency and work engagement. Three dimensions of professional agency emerged, with three items per dimension, across the domains of healthcare, real estate services, and information technology (all within Finland). All the dimensions (Influencing at work, Participati…

Student Engagement, Truancy, and Cynicism

2021

Abstract Truancy in upper secondary education is a widespread problem, which contributes significantly to school dropout risk. However, the underlying mechanisms of truancy have remained unstudied. This longitudinal study of 1853 Finnish students examined how initial levels and changes in student engagement from primary (Grade 6) to lower secondary school (Grades 7 and 9) predicted truancy in upper secondary education, and whether cynicism (losing interest in school) mediated the relationship between engagement and truancy. Growth curve models showed that high engagement levels in primary school and increases in engagement over time predicted less truancy in upper secondary education. Cynic…

Trajectories of change in reading self-efficacy: A longitudinal analysis of self-efficacy and its sources

2021

The beliefs children hold about their capabilities as readers are known to influence their reading achievement. The aim of this study was to extend previous work by examining trajectories of change in reading self-efficacy among primary school students (N = 1327) and the relations between the trajectories of self-efficacy and their hypothesized sources over 11 months. Using growth mixture modeling, we identified four trajectories of change in reading self-efficacy, involving increasing, stable, and declining trends. These trajectories of change in reading self-efficacy were associated with students’ varying experiences with the four sources of self-efficacy over time. Higher levels of maste…

Yksivuotiaiden lasten huoltajien subjektiivisen varhaiskasvatusoikeuden rajaamiseen liittyvät asenteet ja niitä selittävät tekijät

2018

Long-Term Reward Patterns Contribute to Personal Goals at Work Among Finnish Managers

2016

The research addresses the impact of long-term reward patterns on contents of personal work goals among young Finnish managers ( N = 747). Reward patterns were formed on the basis of perceived and objective career rewards (i.e., career stability and promotions) across four measurements (years 2006–2012). Goals were measured in 2012 and classified into categories of competence, progression, well-being, job change, job security, organization, and financial goals. The factor mixture analysis identified a three-class solution as the best model of reward patterns: high rewards (77%), increasing rewards (17%), and reducing rewards (7%). Participants with reducing rewards reported more progressio…

Examining the structure of credibility evaluation when sixth graders read online texts

2023

Background Previous research indicates that students lack sufficient online credibility evaluation skills. However, the results are fragmented and difficult to compare as they are based on different types of measures and indicators. Consequently, there is no clear understanding of the structure of credibility evaluation. Objectives The present study sought to establish the structure of credibility evaluation of online texts among 265 sixth graders. Methods Students' credibility evaluation skills were measured with a task in which they read four online texts, two more credible (a popular science text and a newspaper article) and two less credible (a layperson's blog text and a commercial tex…

Confident, cautiously confident or concerned? Working life profiles, capabilities, and expectations for work-family reconciliation among young Finnis…

2022

The uncertainties and growing social inequality young adults face in the labour market call for research on the link between young women’s expectations about working life and the real options they have in seeking to combine work with care. Drawing on Sen’s capabilities approach, this study contributes to filling this gap in the literature by examining how women in emerging adulthood in Finland foresee their future career and working life, and how these expectations are associated with socioeconomic and partnership characteristics and their expectations for work-family reconciliation. Survey data obtained from 527 young women aged 18–29 were analysed using latent profile analysis. Three dist…

Äitien palvelutyytyväisyyden rakentuminen ja yhteistyökokemukset varhaiskasvatuksessa

2021

Artikkelissa tutkitaan äitien tyytyväisyyttä noin yksivuotiaan lapsensa varhaiskasvatuspalveluun tarkastelemalla palvelutyytyväisyyden ulottuvuuksia. Lisäksi tutkitaan äitien ja varhaiskasvatuksen henkilökunnan välisen yhteistyön sekä palveluntarjoajan (yksityinen vs. kunnallinen) yhteyttä äitien palvelutyytyväisyyteen. Lopuksi tarkastellaan, eroaako yhteistyön yhteys palvelutyytyväisyyteen palveluntarjoajan mukaan. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu CHILDCARE-hankkeen kyselytutkimukseen osallistuneiden varhaiskasvatuksessa olevien yksivuotiaiden äitien vastauksista (N = 549). Analyysimenetelminä käytettiin eksploratiivista faktorianalyysia sekä hierarkkista lineaarista regressioanalyysiä. Äitien tyy…

Development of Participation in and Identification With School: Associations With Truancy

2020

This longitudinal study covering two educational transitions examined 1,821 Finnish students’ participation in and identification with school and their associations with students’ academic achievement and truancy. The students were surveyed (a) at the end of primary school, (b) at the beginning of lower secondary school, (c) at the end of lower secondary school, and (d) in the first year of upper secondary education. In alignment with the participation-identification model, higher levels of participation in school activities at the end of primary school predicted higher levels of identification (i.e., feelings of belonging and valuing school) at the end of lower secondary school. This asso…

History teaching in Finnish general upper secondary schools: Objectives and practices

2019

In Finland, the trend towards a new kind of history teaching emphasizing the understanding of historical knowledge and historical thinking skills began in the mid-1990s, when history teaching objectives were defined much more broadly in the curriculum than previously. In this article, we examine how, in over twenty years since the changes in curriculum objectives were made, general upper secondary school teachers have come to value the curriculum objectives of history teaching and how these have impacted on their teaching. The data for this article were collected by a semi-structured survey in 2016. Using counts, percentages, means, standard deviations and medians, a descriptive exploration…

Timing of Adult Transitions

2011

Regarding the differences in timing of adult transitions (i.e., completion of education, full-time employment, having an intimate relationship, having a child) and their relation to childhood antecedents and adulthood psychological functioning, 282 participants were examined. The study was based on the ongoing Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development in which the same individuals have been followed from age 8 to mid-adulthood. Three groups were formed: On-Time Transitions (all transitions by age 27), Late Transitions (at least one transition after age 27), and Partial Transitions (not all transitions at age 42). Participants with all transitions (On-Time o…

Jotain sinne päin : lukion historian opetuksen arviointikulttuuri

2020

Historianopetuksen tavoitteet nykyisessä lukiossa ovat laajat ja keskittyvät sisältöjen, historian taitojen sekä demokratiakansalaisuuden oppimiseen. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme, millaisia arviointimenetelmiä lukion historianopettajat käyttävät ja kuinka ne suhteutuvat opettajien näkemyksiin historian opetuksen tavoitteista. Tutkimus perustuu vuonna 2016 kerättyyn kyselyaineistoon, joka kerättiin lukion historianopettajilta (N = 151). Kysyimme heidän näkemyksiään lukion historianopetuksen tavoitteista, heidän käyttämistään opetusmenetelmistä sekä arviointitavoista. Tulosten mukaan opettajat painottavat sisältötietojen hallintaa riippumatta siitä, mitä tavoitetta he pitävät opetuksessa …

Sixth graders evaluating online texts : self-efficacy beliefs predict confirming but not questioning the credibility

2023

This study investigated how sixth graders’ credibility evaluation self-efficacy was associated with their ability to evaluate the credibility of online texts. Students (N = 265, Mage = 12.45) worked in a web-based environment, where they read and evaluated two more credible texts and two less credible texts that required confirming and questioning the texts’ credibility, respectively. Students were asked to evaluate the author’s expertise, the author’s benevolence, and the quality of evidence in each text. They were also asked to assess their credibility evaluation self-efficacy during the task. The structural equation model indicated that students’ self-efficacy was positively associated w…

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

2018

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…

Patterns of adult roles, their antecedents and psychosocial wellbeing correlates among Finns born in 1959

2012

The study aimed to identify patterns of adult role combinations across the transitional domains of housing, educational attainment, work, partnership, and parenthood at age 27, and to investigate their antecedents and concurrent psychosocial well-being correlates. Data were derived for 354 Finns (born in 1959) from the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. Three latent classes were identified: Work-orientation with delayed parenthood ( WO ; 46%; completed adult transitions of independent living, education, work, and partnership), Traditional work and family (35%; completed all five adult transitions), and Academic track with no children ( AT ; 19%; completed in…

Daily rhythms of young children in the 24/7 economy : A comparison of children in day care and day and night care

2017

The study explored temporal variation in children’s moods and compared children in regular day care with those in day and night care in Finland. To examine variation in children’s experiences, a mobile diary was used. The participants comprised 32 young children and their parents and day care personnel. Adults evaluated children’s moods three times daily over 1 week. A clear weekday–weekend rhythm was found among children in day care, who displayed more negative moods, due to frequent hurried mornings. Children in day and night care had more irregular mood rhythms. Boys were evaluated as displaying more negative moods than girls. peerReviewed

Partnership formation and dissolution over the life course: applying sequence analysis and event history analysis in the study of recurrent events

2015

We present two types of approach to the analysis of recurrent events for discretely measured data, and show how these methods can complement each other when analysing co-residential partnership histories. Sequence analysis is a descriptive tool that gives an overall picture of the data and helps to find typical and atypical patterns in histories. Event history analysis is used to make conclusions about the effects of covariates on the timing and duration of the partnerships. As a substantive question, we studied how family background and childhood socio-emotional characteristics were related to later partnership formation and stability in a Finnish cohort born in 1959. We found that high se…

Students' abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts: The role of internet‐specific epistemic justifications

2021

Previous evaluation studies have rarely used authentic online texts and investigated upper secondary school students' use of evaluation criteria and deep reasoning. The associations between internet-specific epistemic justifications for knowing and credibility evaluation of online texts are not yet fully understood among adolescents. This study investigated upper secondary school students' (N = 372) abilities to evaluate self-selected authentic online texts and the role of internet-specific epistemic justifications in students' evaluation performance when solving a health-related information problem. Students selected three texts with Google Custom Search Engine and evaluated their credibil…

Adolescents' credibility justifications when evaluating online texts.

2022

AbstractResearch has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online evaluation tasks. This study extended current knowledge by examining students’ abilities to justify the credibility of online texts from different perspectives, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of students’ credibility evaluation ability. We examined how upper secondary school students (N = 73; aged 16 to 17) evaluated author expertise, author intention, the publication venue, and the quality of evidence when reading four texts about the effects of sugar consumption in a web-based environment. Additionally, we examined how …

Principals’ views on changes in the provision of support for learning and schooling in Finland after educational reform

2019

Recently, the large-scale reforms of special education have been carried out in many countries. This study focuses on the latest Finnish reform of special education in compulsory education. As principals lead educational reforms in schools, their role in the implementation of reform is significant. The study explores principals’ views on the changes in support arrangements after the educational reform. We used latent class analysis to identify the subgroups of principals who share similar views. In addition, we examined the relationship between the subgroups and individual, school, and municipal level factors using multinomial logistic regression analysis. Four subgroups were identified: im…

Citing as a sourcing practice: students’ citing self-selected online sources in their essays (Las citas como práctica del uso de las fuentes: las cit…

2020

This study examined upper secondary school students’ citations of self-selected online sources in their essays. Students (n = 140) conducted online inquiry about either effects of social media on people’s quality of life (SM) or allowance of genetic manipulation of organisms (GMO). Students, working either individually or in pairs, explored online sources with the help of a graphic organizer, after which they composed their essays. To capture the quality of citations identified in the essays, they were evaluated in terms of accuracy and richness of source features. Further, regression analysis was used to examine the effect of topic, grade level and work mode on the number and quality of ci…

Reading self-efficacy and reading fluency development among primary school children: Does specificity of self-efficacy matter?

2019

Abstract Efficacy beliefs relate to effort and persistence devoted to learning. Therefore, efficacy beliefs might be especially important in achieving skills that require persistent practice, such as fluent reading. Although reading self-efficacy has been positively linked to reading comprehension, less is known about its relationship to reading fluency . The relationship between reading self-efficacy studied at three specificity levels and reading fluency development was examined among Finnish primary school students ( N = 1327). The results showed that self-efficacy related positively to reading fluency and its development. The association was dependent on the specificity of the self-effi…

Mothers’ return-to-work reasons and work–family conflict : does a partner involved in childcare make a difference?

2021

Facilitating mothers’ work–family reconciliation upon their return to work can be considered a viable means of enhancing women’s overall employment participation. This study examined return-to-work reasons among mothers with a one-year-old child, how these reasons are related to mothers’ background characteristics, work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) and whether having a partner home caring for the child protects against such conflicts. Results based on survey data collected from Finnish working mothers (N = 573) in 2016 showed four dimensions of return-to-work reasons: personal importance of work, work- and career-related worries, dissatisfaction with stay-at-ho…

The Role of Academic Performance, Self-Concept of Ability and Gender in Adolescents’ Educational Plans in Finland

2014

Dynamics between student vs. teacher perceptions of mathematics task-orientation and mathematics performance among adolescents

2017

This study examined the dynamics between perceptions of mathematics task-orientation and mathematics performance among Finnish adolescents over a period of two last years of secondary school. Task-orientation in math was assessed at the beginning of grade 8 and again at the end of grade 9 using both student and teacher-reports. At the same time points, students' mathematics performance was evaluated via standardized test. The cross-lagged associations of task-orientation and mathematics performance were examined taking account the possible impacts of general cognitive ability, technical reading skills, reading comprehension and gender. The results showed that a high level of mathematics per…

A new model for the relations between longitudinal personality profiles and psychological functioning through middle age

2014

Personality traits and psychological functioning were assessed three times between the ages from 33 to 50 years (average N = 250) in the Finnish Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. Five longitudinal personality profiles were extracted: Resilient, Overcontrolled, Undercontrolled, Reserved, and Ordinary. The Resilients (neuroticism low, other traits high) were higher in optimism and personal control over development than the Overcontrolleds (neuroticism high, other traits low) at all ages, whereas the Overcontrolleds were higher in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Other profiles were between them in these characteristics. The Undercontrolleds (high openness and…

A Novel Instrument to Measure the Multidimensional Structure of Professional Agency

2018

This study aimed to construct and validate a quantitative measurement instrument to determine the structure of professional agency in working life. Empirical data (N = 589) were collected via a web-based, theoretically informed questionnaire, within the professional domains of education, healthcare, rescue services, and information technology. The questionnaire items incorporated theoretically based dimensions of professional agency. The structure of professional agency was initially analysed via exploratory factor analysis. Thereafter, using exploratory structural equation modelling, the structure of professional agency was investigated with a view to confirmation and validation. The resul…

Math anxiety and its relationship with basic arithmetic skills among primary school children

2017

Background Children have been found to report and demonstrate math anxiety as early as the first grade. However, previous results concerning the relationship between math anxiety and performance are contradictory, with some studies establishing a correlation between them while others do not. These contradictory results might be related to varying operationalizations of math anxiety. Aims In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of math anxiety and its relationship with basic arithmetic skills in primary school children, with explicit focus on two aspects of math anxiety: anxiety about failure in mathematics and anxiety in math-related situations. Sample The participants comprised 1…

Kotiin jääneiden lasten huomiointi päiväkodeissa kevään 2020 covid-19-poikkeusolojen aikana

2022

Suomessa asetettiin keväällä 2020 covid-19-pandemiasta johtuen poikkeusolot, jolloin kunnat vapautettiin varhaiskasvatuksen järjestämisvastuusta ja suositeltiin lasten jäämistä kotiin varhaiskasvatuksesta, jos se perheille oli mahdollista. Enemmistö lapsista jäi kotiin ja heille järjestettävästä varhaiskasvatustoiminnasta tehtiin ratkaisuja paikallisesti. Tämä on saattanut asettaa lapsia eriarvoiseen asemaan. Tutkimuksessamme tarkastelemme, kuinka päiväkodit huomioivat poikkeusolojen aikana päiväkodista kotiin jääneitä lapsia sekä mitkä lapseen tai perheeseen liittyvät tai kontekstuaaliset tekijät selittivät huomioinnin todennäköisyyttä. Analysoimme 5-6-vuotiaiden lasten vanhemmilta syksyll…

Fathers’ Leave Take-Up in Finland : Motivations and Barriers in a Complex Nordic Leave Scheme

2019

Despite being the first country in the world to introduce paternity leave in 1978, Finland’s current national leave scheme is complex with regard to incentivizing fathers’ take-up. Taking the unique Finnish leave scheme as a case example, this article examines fathers’ motivations and barriers to leave. Although research on fathers’ take-up of leave in divergent leave policy contexts has increased dramatically, fathers’ motivations and barriers to leave have remained underresearched. The article reports on a survey sample of 852 Finnish fathers of infants who were taking paternity, parental, and other forms of leave, drawn from the Population Register Center. Results show that less than 20%…

Teaching sourcing during online inquiry – adolescents with the weakest skills benefited the most

2022

AbstractSourcing - identifying, evaluating, and using information about the sources of information - assists readers in determining what to trust when seeking information on the Internet. To survive in the post-truth era, students should be equipped with sufficient sourcing skills. This study investigated the efficacy of a teacher-led intervention aimed at fostering upper secondary school students’ (N = 365) sourcing during online inquiry. The intervention (4 × 75 min) was structured in accordance with the phases of online inquiry: locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating information. During the intervention, teachers demonstrated why and how to source, and students practiced s…

Family and work-related risk factors in children's social–emotional well-being and parent–educator cooperation in flexibly scheduled early childhood …

2023

Non-standard work schedules (NSWS) have become typical, but their associations with childcare arrangements and children's well-being are unknown. This study explores how risk factors are associated with the social–emotional well-being of girls and boys using flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care. Furthermore, the study investigates whether well-functioning cooperation between parents and educators buffers the negative effects of the risk factors. This study, which is a part of a larger survey carried out in three European countries, reports Finnish parents' (N = 146) perspectives. The results showed that high parental stress was associated with low child well-being. Strong p…

Students’ Interpretations of a Persuasive Multimodal Video About Vaccines

2021

The present study investigated students’ (N = 404) interpretations of the main message and use of modes in a persuasive multimodal video on vaccines. It also examined whether students’ topic knowledge, language arts grades, and self-identified gender were associated with their interpretations. Students analyzed a YouTube video in which two entertainers demonstrated the importance of vaccinating children. Students’ interpretations of the usefulness of vaccines varied in terms of quality of reasoning, which was associated with students’ topic knowledge. Notably, many students’ interpretations of the use of modes were incomplete, or they did not even mention certain modes in their response. Th…

Prosociality as a mediator between teacher collaboration and turnover intention

2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of prosociality, which is defined in terms of helping and benefitting others, between teacher collaboration and their turnover intentions. Prosociality was measured as prosocial impact and prosocial motivation.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey of 260 elementary and junior high school teachers in Japan. A structural equational model was employed to examine the mediating roles of prosocial impact and prosocial motivation in the relationships between teacher collaboration and their turnover intention.FindingsThe results, first, supported the hypotheses: the high perception o…

You have a Message from Illi! : The Mobile Diary in Researching Children’s Daily Experiences

2017

Thus far, daily diary studies have mostly focused on adults and adolescents, while only a few have researched young children. In this methodological article, we introduce and evaluate a mobile diary application, “You have a message from Illi”, designed to capture young, under-school-age children’s daily experiences at home and in day care, in the context of a 24 h economy where parents work nonstandard hours and child care is arranged accordingly. We also compare childrens’ mood ratings reported by both the children themselves and adults. Children recruited either from day care centers (N = 15) or day and night and care centers (N = 17) carried smartphones with them for 1 week and reported …

Does Multi-Component Strategy Training Improve Calculation Fluency Among Poor Performing Elementary School Children?

2018

The aim of the present study was to extend the previous intervention research in math by examining whether elementary school children with poor calculation fluency benefit from strategy training focusing on derived fact strategies and following an integrative framework, i.e., integrating factual, conceptual, and procedural arithmetic knowledge. It was also examined what kind of changes can be found in frequency of using different strategies. A quasi-experimental design was applied, and the study was carried out within the context of the school and its schedules and resources. Twenty schools in Finland volunteered to participate, and 1376 children were screened in for calculation fluency pro…

Pitkittäisaineistojen faktorimalleista ja niiden rakentamisesta sekä sovellus "Vanhemmat, opettajat ja lapsen oppiminen" -tutkimukseen

2007

Konsultoivan varhaiserityisopettajan perhelähtöiset toimintatavat

2018

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan konsultoivien varhaiserityisopettajien yhteistyötä lapsen vanhempien kanssa. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten konsultoivat varhaiserityisopettajat toteuttavat perhelähtöistä työtä. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin, miten konsultoivan varhaiserityisopettajan mahdollisuus vaikuttaa omaan toimintatapaansa perheiden kanssa on yhteydessä työn perhelähtöisyyteen. Tutkimuksen aineisto on kerätty kyselylomakkeella, joka lähetettiin kaikille Suomen varhaiserityisopettajille, jotka tekevät konsultoivaa työtä ilman omaa lapsiryhmää (N = 637). Kyselyyn vastasi 368 varhaiserityisopettajaa (58 %). Perhelähtöisen työn ulottuvuuksia muodostui eksploratiivisen faktorianalyysin …