Väitöskirjatutkijat akateemisessa maailmassa

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan akateemisen maailman reunaehtoja, joihin väitöskirjatutkijat törmäävät tohtoriopinnoissa sekä sitä, millaisia erilaisia polkuja asiantuntijuuteen reunaehdot viitoittavat. Tohtorikoulutusta asiantuntijuuden rakentumisen kontekstina on aiemmin tarkasteltu eri osa-alueiden, kuten ohjauksen tai rahoituksen, näkökulmasta. Sen sijaan tässä artikkelissa tavoittelemamme holistinen, yksilöllisiä ja systeemisiä ehtoja yhdistävä tarkastelu on ollut vähäistä. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu Tietoarkiston avulla kerätyistä väitöskirjatutkijoiden (N = 54) kirjoitelmista, joissa he kuvaavat kokemuksiaan asiantuntijana toimimiseen sisältyvistä mahdollisuuksista ja haasteista. Aineis…

Everyday Family Life and Multiple Roles of the Female Doctoral Students

Combining work and family life, and the challenges and solutions connected to it is a topical and globally significant subject. In the article I examine how the under 40-year-old female doctoral students with a family succeed in combining their roles as a mother and a doctoral student in their own everyday lives. A number of large and simultaneous challenges condense in the everyday life of an under 40-year-old female doctoral student with a family. In the examination I concentrate on the everyday challenges of the female doctoral student, on the interface of the family and the doctoral studies and on the choices made in everyday life. The qualitative research material consisted of the them…

Elementary School Teachers' Experiences of Implementing the Teacher Classroom Management Method - Case Study in Finland

The diversity of pupils and their different difficulties challenge teachers' skills and methods in teaching. Some behavioral challenges require rapid intervention and a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach from the teachers. An internationally recognized tool, TCM (Teacher Classroom Management), aims to support pupils' socio-emotional development, improve teacher-pupil interaction, and strengthen school-home cooperation. This pilot study examines teachers' experiences of TCM in Finnish primary school context. The study is qualitative, and the data (N=16) was collected through focus group interviews. According to the results, the teacher's strengthened group management skills wer…

Zero-Achievers Non-Progressing Studies in Finnish Open University : Three Preventive Factors

Current education policy responds to changes and needs in working life by guiding individuals at different stages of working careers to develop their skills in the spirit of lifelong learning. More and more are applying with hope and enthusiasm to the Open University to strengthen their competence but are unable to get their studies completed. The article explores factors related to the non-progression of studies by students at the Open University in Finland. We call non-progressing students zero-achievers who enroll in studies but do not complete a single credit during the period of course. This research is a descriptive mixed methods study. The research data was collected by an online sur…

Tiheä, tavallinen ja joustava

Combining work with family life is a topical and socially important question. This article examines how under-40-year old female PhD students with a family manage to combine the roles of a mother and a doctoral student in their everyday life and how they deal with the major and simultaneous challenges these roles bring. The focus is on the everyday challenges female PhD students face and the choices they have to make at the interface of family and study. This article is part of research examining the life course and future thinking of female PhD students. Nowadays the atmosphere of planning is all-pervasive. Individuals are expected to plan their life course carefully. They should plan thei…

Developing Students Well-Being and Engagement in Higher Education during COVID-19—A Case Study of Web-Based Learning in Finland

COVID-19 rapidly and extensively changed the normal everyday practices of societies, and there is no going back to the past. Universities also had to adapt and re-establish their normal routines, from policies to practices. In this article, we explore university students’ experiences of web-based learning, their well-being, and engagement during the pandemic. As a theoretical framework, we use the concept of the university student engagement inventory (USEI), which includes behavioral, cognitive, and emotional dimensions. The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic from university students (N = 35) via an online survey and analyzed using a thematic content analysis. According to th…

Cross-national achievement surveys and educational monitoring in Finland

This chapter provides information on results of international achievement surveys and their use in monitoring educational outcomes in Finland. The educational monitoring system in Finland differs from that of many other countries. So far, little attention has been paid to its lack of standardised measurements and official control. Furthermore, Finnish education policies are strongly driven not by the aim to reach high rankings in international assessments but rather by the emphasis on quality and equity of education. This chapter describes the Finnish education system, its core curriculum for basic education and teacher training. We also review international achievement survey results and t…

Tohtoriopiskelijan yksilöllinen ja elämänkulullinen asiantuntijuus

Tohtorikoulutukseen, eli korkeimpaan asiantuntijakoulutukseen, sekä tohtoreihin kohdistuu globaalisti suuria ja jatkuvasti uudistuvia odotuksia. Myös suomalainen koulutus- ja yliopistokenttä asemoituu uudelleen laajempia jatkuvan oppimisen mahdollisuuksia luotaessa (esim. OKM 2017a). Jo pitkään on tavoitteena ollut, että tohtorikoulutuksen pitäisi tuottaa yhä tehokkaammin yhä jalostetumpaa asiantuntijajoukkoa, jolla on digitaalisen ja globaalin ajan vaatimuksia vastaavat asiantuntijan tiedot ja taidot sekä tulevaisuutta ennakoivia innovatiivisia visioita. Toisaalta samaan aikaan tohtorit kohtaavat työelämässä epätietoisuutta asiantuntijuutensa luonteesta ja jopa työllistymishaasteita. Myösk…

Adult students in web-based thesis seminars : insights and challenges for supervision

We examine the web-based thesis seminars in the context of academic adult education in our article which presents and reflects on the development of web-based teaching. Our reflection is based on our own web-based teaching experiences in the open university and in the class teachers' adult education programme aiming at the Master's degree, and in the feedback material that has been collected from the students. We first examine web-based seminars from the point of view of educational equality and accessible learning environments. Then we will analyse the requirement of scientificity of university context and the objectives related to the interaction and the adult educational solutions in web…

Tiheä, tavallinen ja joustava : tohtoriksi opiskelevan perheellisen naisen arki

Yhä useampi yliopisto-opintonsa päättänyt perheenäiti ryhtyy tekemään väitöstutkimusta. Tohtoriksi opiskeleville perhe tuo pätkittäiseen arkielämään jatkuvuutta. Vaikka tutkimustyö imaisee ja koukuttaa, tohtoriopiskelija haluaa pitää arjessaan sekä perheen että tutkimustyön. Yhdistäminen onnistuu, jos ajalliset resurssit on suunniteltu tarkasti ja perhe antaa äidille tukensa. peerReviewed

Positiivisten kohtaamisten merkityksellisyys kouluyhteisöissä

Kouluille on asetettu kasvavassa määrin merkittäviä yhteiskunnallisia tehtäviä. Yhtenä koulun tehtävänä on valmistaa uusia sukupolvia uudistamaan yhteiskuntaa. Tätä tehtävää haastaa monin tavoin kompleksiset ja kiihtyvät muutosprosessit. Oleellista onkin luoda kestävä pohja jatkuvalle oppimiselle ja hyvinvoinnille jo varhaisista kouluvuosista alkaen. nonPeerReviewed

Considerations for discontinuing the doctoral studies: towards personal, comprehensive and meaningful solutions

Doctoral studies have become more popular and commonplace globally. Great expectations and effectiveness pressures are directed at doctoral education and the doctors, at the same time the doctoral students' multi-dimensional individuality is easily lost. Also, the doctoral students' motives to begin their studies and their future outlook have diversified. The reasons to begin a thesis project are not necessarily the burning enthusiasm for research and the desire for knowledge but are instead more ordinary. The diminishing of the internal motivation as the reason to begin the doctoral studies is also reflected in the attitudes of the participants towards the process. In the article, I examin…

Doctoral students' everyday experiences in the changing contexts

Doctoral education is a part of society´s operation, which is affected by multiple factors and development. Many studies examine doctoral education from the macro level with the emphasis on financing, effectiveness or internationality, and separated from the context. Forming a comprehensive understanding also needs an examination at the micro level and making visible the doctoral students´ experiences. It is valuable to pay attention to the everyday and concrete level of operation. I concentrate on the personal lifecourse experience of the women and on the stories based on them and how the macro and micro level are in constant dialogue. I examine the new everyday conventions made by women t…

Perheellisen naistohtoriopiskelijan arki, elämänkulku ja tulevaisuusajattelu

TCM-ryhmänhallintamenetelmän käyttöönotto : laadullinen monitieteinen pilottitutkimus opettajien kokemuksista

• Kun ryhmässä on esimerkiksi käyttäytymisellään reagoivia oppilaita, tarvitaan nopeaa puuttumista sekä moniammatillisen ja monitieteisen näkökulman hyödyntämistä. • TCM-ryhmänhallintamenetelmän tavoitteena on tukea oppilaan sosioemotionaalista kehitystä, parantaa opettajan ja oppilaan vuorovaikutusta sekä vahvistaa koulun ja kodin yhteistyötä. • Opettajan ryhmänhallintataidot heijastuvat myönteisesti kaikkiin luokan oppilaisiin. • Opettajan myönteinen viestintä koteihin voi edistää vuorovaikutusta ja helpottaa hankalien asioiden hoitoa. • TCM-menetelmän implementointi kouluyhteisöön vaatii tukea. • Kollegiaaliset kokemukset ja uudistuneet ryhmänhallintataidot vahvistavat opettajan työssä j…

Student Teachers’ Views on Media Education Related to New Literacy Skills

High quality media education promotes media literacy and ensures citizens' smooth participation and engagement in the digital society. Digital media include powerful communication and interaction platforms that require new literacy skills. This study examines what new literacies can be found in the opinion writings of student teachers in relation to media literacy. The research material consists of 37 Finnish student teachers' opinion writings produced during the Media Education 2020 course. The aim of the study is to explore how student teachers identify new literacies as part of media education and how these new literacies are reflected in their opinion writings. As a result of the resear…

E-Exam Questions and Meaningful Learning

Traditionally exams are seen as one of the important learning situations and as possibilities to verify the learning processes in universities. In academic contexts exams are used actively, and they still play an important role. From a pedagogical point of view, exams are also criticized – do exams promote high-quality learning? Current learning theories highlight the active role of the individual learner and skills for future working life. At the same time the changes in the operating environment are huge and the pace of development is high, which also challenges academic practices. Digital revolution forces and allows for learning in different contexts. Different web-based solutions are d…

Web-based Andragogy in Open University : Enhancing the Meaningful Learning Process of Research Skills

The research examines adult students studying on a web-based qualitative research methodology course in the Finnish open university context. The research questions concern adult student experiences of supportiveness of the learning environment, their studying orientations, and their relationship to andragogical assumptions of self-direction and collaboration. The research material consists of 47 learning diaries and was analysed by using abductive content analysis. The course script, initial stage orientation, teacher’s meta speech and sensitive supervision were experienced supportive for studying and learning. Three different studying orientations were summarised: the effectiveness orienta…

Avoimen yliopiston nollasuorittajat – miksi opinnot eivät etene?

Nykyinen koulutuspolitiikka vastaa työelämän muutostarpeisiin ohjaamalla työuran eri vaiheissa olevia aikuisia kehittämään osaamistaan jatkuvan oppimisen hengessä. Moni hakeutuu toiveikkaana avoimeen yliopistoon, mutta yllättävän monen opinnot eivät etene lainkaan. Kutsumme näitä opiskelijoita nollasuorittajiksi. Tutkimus selvittää avoimen yliopiston nollasuorittajien opintojen etenemättömyyden syitä. Tutkimus toteutettiin syksyllä 2018 verkkokyselynä. Vastauksia saatiin 185 vastausprosentin ollessa 45. Tulosten mukaan etenemättömyyttä selittää kolme tekijää: 1) elämänalueiden yhteensovittamisen vaikeudet, 2) puutteet akateemisissa opiskelutaidoissa ja 3) passiivisuus ohjaukseen hakeutumise…

Aikuistuvan yliopisto-opiskelijan tulevaisuudensuunnitelmat

Tarina väitöskirjan takana : tutkimusta elämänkulussa, arjessa ja vähän tulevaisuudessakin

Tutkimuksen tekemisen opiskelu, eli väitöskirjan teko, tuottaa tutkijan pätevyyden. Muodollisen pätevyyden lisäksi väitöstutkimus muodostuu yksilölliseksi prosessiksi, limittyy arkeen ja elämänkulkuun ja jalostaa yksilöllistä asiantuntijuutta. Väitöskirjat kertovat vain yhden version tutkimuksen teon moninaisista vaiheista. Ne välittävät onnistuneiden tutkimuksellisten valintojen tarinaa. Taustalla on kuitenkin useita kerroksia erilaisia käytännöllisiä vaiheita ja tarinoita. Usein nämä kiinnostavimmat tarinat jäävät dokumentoimatta, mutta välittyvät valitulle kuulijajoukolle suullisina legendoina. Tutkimuksen teon metodisten prosessikuvausten takana on lukuisia samaistuttavia, opettavaisia …

Fungal communities decline with urbanization : more in air than in soil

Increasing evidence suggests that degradation of biodiversity in human populated areas is a threat for the ecosystem processes that are relevant for human well-being. Fungi are a megadiverse kingdom that plays a key role in ecosystem processes and affects human well-being. How urbanization influences fungi has remained poorly understood, partially due to the methodological difficulties in comprehensively surveying fungi. Here we show that both aerial and soil fungal communities are greatly poorer in urban than in natural areas. Strikingly, a fivefold reduction in fungal DNA abundance took place in both air and soil samples already at 1 km scale when crossing the edge from natural to urban h…

Doctoral studies in individual point of view - mixing the macro and the micro levels in everyday life in Finland

Doctoral studies in global time and change - female doctoral student and individual lifecourse in Finland

Multiple global changes in the form of knowledge and the change in the doctoral education create the need to examine the current practices of doctoral degree. The change forces discussion about the future of doctoral education and the future of the prospective doctors. The doctoral education has to answer the demands set for it. Forming a comprehensive understanding requires an examination at the micro and macro level. In this article I examine the lifecourse of the under 40-year-old female doctoral student with a family and the significance of doctoral studies at the individual level. I concentrate on the personal lifecourse experiences of the women and on the chronological stories which a…

Difficult but Valuable! Learning in Student-centered Assessment Feedback Practices in Higher Education

Aims: The aim of this study is to fill a gap in research on students' experiences of learning in student-centered assessment feedback practices. The article examines what students tell us about their learning in the context of student-centered feedback practices in higher education during online learning.
 Study Design: The study was conducted as a qualitative online survey among Finnish university students (N=35). The relationship between learning and assessment was explored in the context of formative and summative assessment practices during an online learning environment. The data was analysed using a discursive approach.
 Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducte…

Experiences of combining doctoral studies and everyday family life

How to combine work and family life and find individually best solutions in everyday life, is a topical and globally significant subject. In this article I immerse to how the under 40-year-old female doctoral students with a family succeed in combining their important roles as a mother and a doctoral student in their own everyday lives. Many simultaneous challenges encounter in the everyday life of an under 40-year-old female doctoral student with a family. In the examination I concentrate on the everyday challenges of the female doctoral student, on the interface of the family and the doctoral studies and on the choices made in everyday life. nonPeerReviewed

Expertise as Capital - Experienced and Estimated by Doctoral Students

There is a great and constantly renewed expectation of doctoral education, the highest level of specialist training, and of doctors globally. The Finnish education and university field is also re-positioned to create greater opportunities for continuous and sustainable learning. The goal for a long time has been that doctoral education should increasingly produce a more sophisticated teams of experts with expert knowledge and skills that meet the demands of digital and global, as well as forward-looking innovative visions. On the other hand, at the same time, doctors face uncertainty about the nature of their expertise and even the challenges of employment in their working life. However, th…

Student Teachers' Perceptions of the Connection between Literacy, Equality and Digitalization

Digitalization has many implications for the development of equality in societies and is also reflected in education. In a digitalized world, literacy is an essential skill for both individual and societal development. This study explores Finnish student teachers' perceptions of the connection between literacy, equality, and digitalization. The research material consists of professional opinion pieces written by student teachers (N=37). The qualitative study examined student teachers' perceptions of literacy, equality, and digitalization. Student teachers' perceptions concerned pupils' polarizing backgrounds for learning, literacy instruction and the challenge of differentiating classes, de…

Highest Academic Educational Expertise and Working Career

21st century skills are multidimensional and highly demanding, especially in highest academic level. Academic education is facing new challenges and expectations which are set e.g. by working life and individuals in academic contexts. Universities are trying to balance between new demands and older academic traditions. Individuals in highest academic contexts are facing global change and requirements in their everyday life. Academic education should enable participation in working life and give good generic and field specialized skills. The highest academic education and working life do not share the same understanding of expertise skills. In my paper I will discuss the highest academic edu…

Developing Web-based Academic Adult Education: Learning Experiences as Starting Points for Planning and for Continuous Development

Different innovative web-based solutions for adult learning have made wide-ranging global breakthroughs. Increasingly flexible initiatives are expected in the future from web-based solutions in education and in developing expertise. Global changes reach individuals in their everyday lives, and web-based education enables the realization of lifelong learning in many ways. Traditionally, academic adult students' most central challenge has been the practical difficulties in participation: many connecting factors and responsibilities overlap in their busy everyday lives. New web-based teaching solutions have enabled participation in academic studies more equally and for an increasingly wider gr…

Adult Students in the Open University : Systematic Feedback and Continuous Development

The Open University is internationally significant adult educator. Open Universities have an important role as an enabler for continuous self-development for individual adult students. Also the Open University students' feedback is an important factor in continuous and systematic development. The Open University collects annually systematic feedback and reflections from academic adult students. The results of questionnaires are exploited in the continuous development and as part of the Open University Quality System. nonPeerReviewed

First Stages of Adult Students Relationship to Scientific Knowing and Research in the Open University's Web-Based Methodology Course

The adult students who participate in the web-based studies of the open university have in many ways heterogeneous starting points for studying and learning, for example, the educational backgrounds, the acquired work experience, the general academic skills and the objectives of the future can vary considerably. The adult students striving from the different starting points pursue their own individual objectives and the set educational dimensions of the academic education. In the academic adult education, individuality and the adult student's autonomy are emphasized and at the same time, diverse knowledge, skills and understanding are sought after. One key objective of the higher education …

Typical and Individual Doctoral Processes and Lifecourses: The Types of Narratives of the Project Manager, the Survivor and the Seeker

One task of the doctoral education is, globally as well as nationally, to produce and renew the highest expertise and knowledge in a high quality and efficient way. Even though in this global time the high-quality knowledge and skills are a competition factor which the success of the societies is expected to be able to lean on, also the doctoral students and their individual factors are significant. The accelerating global change is strongly reflected at the individual level: an attempt is made to respond to the changing expectations and to prepare individually and diversely. The individual doctoral students and the graduating doctors come from different everyday lives and contexts. The gra…

Building individual expertise in doctoral studies - the significance of everyday experiences and changing contexts

High expectations for skiils are directed at doctors and doctoral students in the fast changing global time. Innovative soiutions to the genuine problems of society are expected of the new doctors. The expectations for skills that accumuIate through the evcryday experiences and difflrent contexts, and the requirements for experts in working life are experienced as partially conllicting by the doctoral students themselves. The expertise of doctoral students is individual — it forms in the long term in difkrent everyday contexts and is built from several individual elemenis. The experienccs and expertise of doctoral students forms diff’erentiy in diffirent contexts. The everyday experiences a…

Irti tavanomaisesta – miten pedagogiikkaa kehitetään aikuiskoulutuksessa

Jyväskylän yliopistossa on käynnissä JYULearn-työskentely, jolla kehitetään yliopisto-opetusta. Myös Kokkolan yliopistokeskuksessa ideoidaan tapoja edistää oppimisen monipaikkaisuutta sekä uusien opetuskäytäntöjen käyttöönottoa, pedagogisesti ja digitaalisesti tarkoituksenmukaisella tavalla. Aihe herättää intohimoja puolesta ja vastaan – ja hyvä niin! Yliopistokeskuksen kasvatustieteen asiantuntijat kertovat tässä jutussa, miten opetuksen teknologinen kehittäminen suhteutuu oppimiseen aikuiskoulutuksessa. nonPeerReviewed