“Do you mean besides researching and studying?” Finnish teacher educators’ views on their professional development

Professional development of teacher educators has not been researched very much in Finland, although interest in teacher educators has started to increase globally in recent decades. This study investigates 15 Finnish teacher educators’ views on their professional development. The results indicate that research plays a significant role in the Finnish teacher educators’ conceptions. They considered research to be an integral part of their work, as it is part of their assigned tasks. This differs from many countries, where researching and high-quality scientific contribution is not necessarily a big part of teacher educators’ work. These teacher educators also viewed research as a means to develop professionally, both through producing and consuming research. Formal professional development, such as professional development courses, did not play a significant role for these teacher educators, though studying either by reading research or participating in free-time education seemed to be more important. The results also indicate that Finnish teacher educators are under pressure to produce high-quality research and to advance in their careers. This is due to business ideology in leadership, i.e. management by results in the Finnish university sector.Peer reviewe

Teacher Education Matters : Finnish Teacher Educators’ Concerns, Beliefs, and Values

The professional development of teacher educators is gaining increasing interest globally. However, not so many studies have been carried out in the Finnish context, which is somewhat surprising considering that the Finnish education system and teacher education has gained so much interest worldwide. This study investigates Finnish teacher educators’ concerns, beliefs and values. The results show that teacher educators experienced a variety of concerns in their work, in the beginning mainly dealing with the position and being a novice, and later they became more concerned with heavy workloads and practical teaching-related matters. The teacher educators studied considered the students’ education to be the most important aspect of their work. The research-based nature of teacher education was also felt to be very important, along with its community aspects, and their own specialization. In general, Finnish teacher educators considered their work to be important.Peer reviewe

Finnish teacher educators’ preferences for their professional development – Quantitative exploration

Education makes a difference and teacher educators are an important part of that circle. However, there is very little research done in Finland on teacher educators' professional development. The main purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of three scales that measure the components of teacher educators' professional development, namely (a) developmental needs, (b) preferred ways of fulfiling those needs and (c) hindrances to fulfiling developmental needs. The differences between different occupational groups were also discussed. The survey was distributed in May 2019 to all eight Finnish universities that offer teacher education. The final sample size was 354. Using scale development techniques, we succeeded in generating items to all three inventories. We also tested the psychometric properties and the construct validity of the inventories. Our study revealed that teacher educators are not a homogenous group. Different occupational groups have different professional development interests.Peer reviewe

Motivaatio-orientaatiot fysiikan opiskelussa: Itsemääräämisteorettinen lähestymistapa

The first objective of the present study was to test the factorial validity of the inventory designed to measure students’ motivation to study physics in school. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), it was hypothesised that the four factors of External Regulation, Introjected Regulation, Identified Regulation and Intrinsic Motivation account for the covariances among the items of the inventory. It was also expected that gender moderates the factorial validity of the inventory. A sample of 3626 Finnish comprehensive school students was used. A multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MLCFA) was used to investigate the fit of the hypothesised four-factor model. The second objective of the present study was to investigate different educational correlates of the four motivation factors. Girls had a statistically higher mean score than did boys for all four factors. Otherwise only minor gender differences were found. Implications for physics teaching are discussed.Peer reviewe

Promoting Students’ Interest and Motivation Towards Science Learning : the Role of Personal Needs and Motivation Orientations

This study aimed to design a teaching sequence for science education that enabled lower secondary school students to enhance their motivation towards science. Further, it looked to examine the way the designed teaching sequence affected students with different motivational profiles. Industry site visits, with embodied theory-based motivational features were included as part of the designed teaching sequence. The sequence was implemented in Finland and Greece with 54 participants, 27 from each country. Quantitative data was collected using the Evaluation of Science Inquiry Activities Questionnaire, based on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory but did not map the expected outcomes. Interviews, however, showed that students with different motivational profiles found aspects within the module that met their psychological needs as explained by Self-Determination Theory. The results offer a perspective to adolescents’ psychological needs along with some insights into how students mediate the way they value an activity in the context of science education.Peer reviewe

"Oli lupa hetki pysähtyä’" : Akateeminen vertaisryhmä opettajankouluttajien ammatillisen kehittymisen tukena

Opettajankouluttajat kokevat vertaisryhmän hyödylliseksi ammatilliselle kehittymiselleen. Ryhmässä käsiteltävien aiheiden tulisi nousta opettajankouluttajien omasta arjesta, ja kollegan työn seuraaminen tukee omaa kehittymistä.Non peer reviewe

Curiosity and exploration: A conceptual overview and structural modeling

Many attempts have been made to measure curiosity or intrinsic motivation. However, there is no consensus on what curiosity is. In the present study, five previously constructed curiosity inventories were translated to Finnish and modified to be convenient for fifth-graders. The main purpose of the study was to clarify the concept of curiosity. Using conceptual analysis and the results of previous studies, it was possible to construct nine alternative conceptual models of curiosity. The corresponding statistical models were expected to account for the covariances among 15 subscales measuring curiosity-related exploratory behavior. However, before proceeding to the subscale level, the structures of the inventories were tested at the item level. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the fit of the alternative models. The four-step logic suggested by Stanley A. Mulaik was used in testing the models. A sample of 529 Finnish fifth-graders from southern Finland was used. This sample was divided according to sex (263 girls and 277 boys). The best-fitting model was a three-factor model with two trait factors and one method factor. The trait factors were termed Curiosity and Sensation Seeking. Several mild moderation effe cts were found. The theme "What to do when an unrestricted model fails?" was also discussed

“Varmasti kyl sain luennoista enemmän irti mitä ei ois saanu…lähiopetuksella”: Monimenetelmällinen tutkimus tilastollisten menetelmien etäopetuksesta keväällä 2020

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on monimenetelmällisen sekvenssitutkimuksen mallin mukaisesti selvittää, oliko Kvantitatiiviset tutkimusmenetelmät 1 -kurssin suoriutumisessa eroa perinteisen ja etäopetuksen välillä. Kurssi järjestettiin etäopetuksena keväällä 2020, jolloin Suomen yliopistot joutuivat koronapandemian vuoksi siirtymään hyvin nopealla aikataululla etäopetukseen. Aiempien perinteistä ja etäopetusta keskenään vertaavien tutkimuksien tulokset ovat olleet ristiriitaisia. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset sen sijaan osoittivat, että etäopetus vaikutti positiivisesti opiskelijoiden akateemisen suoriutumiseen. Tutkimuksen kvalitatiivisen haastatteluaineiston mukaan opiskelijoiden hyvät kokemukset etäopetuksesta liittyivät esimerkiksi luentotallenteiden tuoman ajan ja paikan riippumattomuuteen, jolloin oli mahdollista kerrata ja tehdä muistiinpanoja laadukkaammin. Etäopetuksen huonoihin puoliin kuuluivat vuorovaikutuksen puute, oman työskentelyn organisoimisen haasteet ja tietotekniset ongelmat. Tulokset kyseenalaistavat ne yleiset uskomukset, joiden mukaan pandemian aikana annetulla etäopetuksella olisi ollut pelkästään negatiivinen vaikutus oppimiseen. Artikkelissa pohditaan, miten etäopetuksen negatiiviset vaikutukset voidaan yliopisto-opiskelussa minimoida sekä mitkä ovat toimivia ja hyviä käytänteitä etäopetukseen

Pupil interest in physics: A survey in Finland

Factors interrelating with interest in physics learning are gender, perceived relevance, contents and contexts of physics, and teaching methods. Finnish ninth grade secondary school pupil interest in physics in different contexts was investigated with a survey conducted in connection with the international ROSE project. The sample consisted of 3626 pupils (median age 15) in 61 schools. Means of all items that belong to school physics context for both girls and boys were under the middle of the scale. The most interesting things (especially for girls) were connected with human being and the less interesting (especially for girls) were connected in artefacts and technological processes. Astronomical context was rather interesting for both genders. The main message of the study is that interesting new curricular approaches and textbooks can be developed by combining technological and human or astronomical contexts