Development of Students’ Technical Abilities between 1993-2022 in Finnish Comprehensive Schools

The aim of this study was to find out if there have been any changes in technical abilities among Finnish school children during the last 30 years. Technical abilities were first measured in the affective, psychomotor, and cognitive areas in the year 1993 and these results were later compared with the results from 2012 and 2022. The number of test participants was 267 in the year 1993, 317 in 2012 and 282 in 2022. The age of the student respondents was 11–13 years. The measurements were done with exactly the same research instruments in all three years. Some positive changes were found in affective area among girls’ test groups. Unfortunately, in all research groups the development was negative in the psychomotor and cognitive area. The reason for the decline could be in the reduction of craft and technology education lessons available, especially for boys. From a broader point of view, the changes can be due to the changes in society as a whole. It seems that the curriculum changes during last 30 years have not worked as they have been planned. Especially, boys underachievement is explained by the fact that, even if students work with systematic planning models and use their creativity, aesthetical design usually overshadows technological issues. It is assumed that progressive teaching and assessment favour girls and traditional methods are more congenial to boys

Changes in Attitudes Toward Craft and Technology During the Last 20 Years

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Technological Knowledge and Reasoning in Finnish and Estonian Technology Education

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TECHNO-school for Technologically Talented Underachieving Students

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Students' Attitudes Towards Craft and Technology in the Context of Finnish and Slovenian Comprehensive Schools

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The Relationship Between Pre-Service Class Teacher's Various Backgrounds and Conceptions of Good Physical Education

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A Comparative Study of Craft and Technology Education Curriculums and Students’ Attitudes towards Craft and Technology in Finnish and Estonian Schools

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Technology Education and Technological Reasoning in Finland, Estonia, and Iceland

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Students' attitudes towards technology in the context of Finnish, Slovenian, Estonian and Icelandic technology education

The research is based on a comparative study of craft and technology education curriculums and students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. The study was undertaken by the Helsinki University, University of Ljubljana, University of Tallinn and University of Iceland during years 2012-2015. A literature review was completed, in order to examine and compare the curriculums of craft and technology education in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. In addition, a quantitative survey was subsequently distributed to 864 school students. It consisted of 14 questions, which aimed to ascertain students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology. The survey showed substantial differences in students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology education among the four countries. Estonian boys had the most positive attitude towards technology, whereas the lowest attitude was found among Slovenian girls. The difference between boys and girls was definitely the smallest in Iceland. These differences may be explained by differences in the national curriculums, the different pedagogical traditions and cultural differences in the field of technology.Peer reviewe

Liikunnan lukutaidon tukeminen : Tapaustutkimus luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksistä

Physical literacy precedes and influences the physically active lifestyle, which is a key element of physical education. Especially, primary school physical education has an important task in the formation of the physically active lifestyle because it reaches all age cohorts. Classroom teachers are mainly in charge of implementing the curriculum in the primary schools. Thus, it is important to know more about their perceptions on physical literacy. Our research question was: How do classroom teacher students perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy? The data of this case study consists of four semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using content analysis. The concept of physical literacy, developed by Whitehead (1993), was used to categorize the data. Furthermore, the answers in the categories were combined in themes that the result of responses to the research question. As a key result of this study, it was found that classroom student teachers perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy as follows: 1) Motivation can be supported by atmosphere, teaching methods, contents and learning environments; (2) Physical competence and self-confidence is supported by experiences of success, developmentally appropriate physical activities and motor skills and 3) Knowledge and understanding can be supported by creating meanings and adjusted objectives, evaluation and individualization. Our results suggest that future classroom teachers have a quite broad understanding of supporting physical literacy, which is in line with their broad educational duties that differ from those of subject teachers. The results of our research are especially useful for classroom teachers. An approach that emphasizes personal potential can be one solution to challenges of immobility. In the future, it is important to study what kind of pedagogical practices based on physical literacy could lead to the development of teaching in physical education in primary schools.Physical literacy precedes and influences the physically active lifestyle, which is a key element of physical education. Especially, primary school physical education has an important task in the formation of the physically active lifestyle because it reaches all age cohorts. Classroom teachers are mainly in charge of implementing the curriculum in the primary schools. Thus, it is important to know more about their perceptions on physical literacy. Our research question was: How do classroom teacher students perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy? The data of this case study consists of four semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using content analysis. The concept of physical literacy, developed by Whitehead (1993), was used to categorize the data. Furthermore, the answers in the categories were combined in themes that the result of responses to the research question. As a key result of this study, it was found that classroom student teachers perceive the ways of supporting physical literacy as follows: 1) Motivation can be supported by atmosphere, teaching methods, contents and learning environments; (2) Physical competence and self-confidence is supported by experiences of success, developmentally appropriate physical activities and motor skills and 3) Knowledge and understanding can be supported by creating meanings and adjusted objectives, evaluation and individualization. Our results suggest that future classroom teachers have a quite broad understanding of supporting physical literacy, which is in line with their broad educational duties that differ from those of subject teachers. The results of our research are especially useful for classroom teachers. An approach that emphasizes personal potential can be one solution to challenges of immobility. In the future, it is important to study what kind of pedagogical practices based on physical literacy could lead to the development of teaching in physical education in primary schools.Peer reviewe