Search results for "Mathematics EDucation"

The representation of reality in teaching: A 'mimetic didactic' perspective on examples in plenary talk

2016

ABSTRACTUsing an observation study in Norwegian lower-secondary school classrooms this paper explores how subject matter and students’ real-world experiences are linked within the use of examples in teaching. The theory of “mimetic didactics” claims that giving students the possibility to interpret examples as both subject matter and something that is relevant to their own lives becomes a possibility through imaginative “as-if” experiences. The study finds that “as-if” experiences in the data are created by identifying with others and through a context-dependent knowledge base. The topics in the examples actualise being human within the political, economic and existential realm and offer po…

Strategic Processing of Chinese Young English Language Learners in an International Standardized English Language Test

2018

Strategic competence is acknowledged to be able to explain variations in language test performance. Research with adult language test-takers has shown that strategic competence has dual components: strategic knowledge and strategic processing. Of the two components, strategic processing, which is state-like, unstable, and tends to fluctuate from contexts to contexts, is more closely related to language test performance. To date, none of the existing studies investigates strategic processing with children English language learners (ELLs) and explores the relationship between strategic processing in all the four skills of language learning and the test performance. Addressing these gaps, the …

From face-to-face to blended learning using ICT

2016

This study examines the development of the education model created in connection with the Master Studies in Mathematical Information Technology. The model has developed from the first stage, where there was only face-to-face teaching supported with Learning Management System, to a stage where studying is possible also fully in online and students may choose themselves how much to take advantage of technology in their studies. The examination of the development of the education model is made from the viewpoints of accessibility, increased role of technology and interaction. In earlier studies, the education model has been evaluated for example from the viewpoints of changes in the participat…

University Teachers’ Conceptions of Their Role as Developers of Technology-Rich Learning Environments

2017

This phenomenographic study examines how a diverse group of university teachers conceptualised their role as developers of technology-rich learning environments at one university in Finland. The research findings illustrate a variety of conceptions. Five qualitatively different ways of understanding teachers’ roles regarding the development of technology-rich learning environments were found: 1) innovator, 2) early adopter, 3) adaptive, 4) sceptic and 5) late adopter. In order to connect the whole set of interconnected roles to a theory of change, Everett Rogers’ innovation diffusion theory was exploited in the last phase of analysis. Finally, hierarchically structured categories were creat…

‘What’s the Moment Thingy?’– On the Emergence of Subject-Specific Knowledge in CLIL Classroom Interaction

2017

Situated in the European CLIL context where mainstream schools may opt for teaching content subjects through the medium of a foreign or second language, this paper explores secondary school physics classrooms, taught through English in Finland. The focus is on the role of classroom interaction in the emergence of subject-specific knowledge during six consecutive lessons, with particular attention to how one key concept in physics, ‘moment’, is handled. This micro-longitudinal approach shows that while the students are struggling between the everyday and the academic meanings of the word ‘moment’ throughout, there are also clear signs of progression. These signs show, for example, in student…

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…

2021

Abstract Research-based discussions about 21st-century skills are currently needed; 21st-century skills refer to skills that today's students are expected to possess for successful future careers. The ways students perceive these skills or what kind of dispositions they have in this regard are significant. This paper provides an overview of the development of pre-service teachers' perceived 21st-century skills and dispositions. The quantitative data was collected in three phases during 2014, 2015, and 2016 at three Finnish universities. The number of respondents at each measurement point varied from 209 to 267. Data were analysed using latent growth curve modeling. The study focuses on stud…

DESIGNING & PILOTING ONLINE TESTS AS PART OF A TEACHER COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT

2019

Approaches for competence assessment are becoming increasingly important to plan school development goals, especially during complex educational changes. This paper outlines authors’ experience and recommendations from the designing and piloting of teacher online tests as part of a wider competence management process. A developed theoretical model of a universal teacher competence profile is presented. Tests represent four thematic parts related to teacher performance in classroom to facilitate: student cognitive activation, student self-regulation, student collaboration, and leveraging digital. Test questions were developed based on a framework of teacher performance assessment that consis…

Teacher Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Finland

2019

This chapter first provides a short description of the historical background and development of special education teacher training in Finland. The relationship between special education and teaching pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is covered by chronologically presenting the main events, turning points, publications, and people that have had a significant effect on the education of pupils with ASD in Finland. This is followed by a description of the organization of teacher training, in general, and the particular characteristics of teaching pupils with ASD. In the context of ASD, it is essential to examine questions concerning the link between learning as social practice and the …

Frequency of co‐teaching in different teacher categories

2010

Co‐teaching – or the use of more than one teacher in a classroom – has been commonly recommended as a means to promote inclusive education. The aim of the present study was to survey the actual frequency of co‐teaching among different teacher categories in the comprehensive school level in one Finnish city. The data were collected through a questionnaire answered by two representative samples of teachers including 117 resource room teachers in the first survey, and 317 teachers of various teacher categories in the second. The results showed that co‐teaching was a widespread phenomenon among resource room teachers and special class teachers but less frequent among other teacher groups. Overa…