Tieteidenvälisillä poluilla : kokemuksia tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien ohjauksesta ja arvioinnista

Verkkoversio: Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto, Helsingin yliopisto, 2022.Tämän vertaisarvioidun tutkimuksen yleisenä tutkimustehtävänä on tuoda yliopistopedagogiseen keskusteluun tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien ohjauksen ja arvioinnin keskeisiä haasteita sekä kehitysehdotuksia. Tarkemmin kysymme, millaisia kokemuksia ja näkemyksiä opiskelijoilla, ohjaajilla ja arvioijilla on tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien ohjauksesta ja arvioinnista. Erityisesti tarkastelemme keräämästämme kyselyaineistosta esiin nousseita aiheeseen liittyviä haasteita ja niiden syitä sekä kehittämisideoita. Kesällä 2019 lähetettyyn kyselyyn vastasi opiskelijan roolissa yhteensä 205 henkilöä, ja heidän vastauksensa kattoivat kaikkiaan 256 erillistä tieteidenvälistä tutkielmaa. Ohjaajan/arvioijan roolissa kyselyyn vastasi 105 henkilöä, ja vastaukset koskivat yhteensä 189 tutkielman ohjausta tai arviointia. Molemmat vastaajaryhmät käsittelivät alempia tutkielmia (esim. kandidaatintutkielma), ylempiä tutkielmia (esim. pro gradu -tutkielma) ja väitöskirjoja. Sanalliset vastaukset analysoitiin lähilukemiseen perustuvalla aineistolähtöisellä sisällönanalyysillä. Opiskelijoiden ikä-, sukupuoli- ja tiedekuntajakaumaa verrattiin Helsingin yliopiston koko opiskelijakuntaa koskeviin tietoihin vuosilta 2009–2019. Ohjaajien ja arvioijien vertailuaineistona käytimme Helsingin yliopiston koko henkilökuntaa koskevia, vuosien 2010–2019 tietoja. Syventääksemme käsitystämme tutkielmien arviointiin liittyvistä kriteereistä ja ohjeista Helsingin yliopistossa, kävimme kattavasti läpi niitä esitteleviä dokumentteja. Opiskelijoiden vastauksissa oli runsaasti sekä negatiivisia ja kriittisiä että positiivisia kuvauksia tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien ohjaus- ja arviointiprosesseista. Ensin mainittuja oli enemmän, mikä saattaa osittain selittyä sillä, että kyselytutkimuksissa ylipäätään tuodaan enemmän esiin kritiikkiä ja epäkohtia kuin hyviä asioita. Ohjaajien ja arvioijien vastauksissa kokonaiskuva oli neutraali: myönteisten ja kielteisten kuvausten määrässä ei ollut selviä eroja. Molemmat ryhmät nostivat esiin paljon haasteita ja pohtivat niiden syitä ja ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja. Ongelmallisina ja toimivina koetut asiat olivat samantapaisia molemmilla vastaajaryhmillä ja tutkielman tyypistä riippumatta. Opiskelijoilla alempien tutkielmien tekijöiden vastaukset olivat lyhyempiä, kun taas väitöskirjan tekijät usein raportoivat myös löytämiään ratkaisuja ongelmiin. Tämä liittynee pidempään tutkielmaprosessiin ja karttuneeseen kokemukseen. Ohjaajien/arvioijien vastauksissa oli enemmän eroavaisuuksia kuin opiskelijavastauksissa, ja etenkin väitöskirjojen ohjaajien/arvioijien vastauksissa nousi esiin runsaasti nimenomaan väitöskirjojen erityispiirteitä. Erittelimme vastauksista kuusi isoa teemaa, joista kolme nousi esiin molempien ryhmien vastauksissa. Ensinnäkin korostettiin, että tieteidenvälisyydellä on keskeinen rooli ja merkitys tutkielmien ohjauksessa ja arvioinnissa sekä tieteellisessä työskentelyssä ylipäätään; siihen tulisi suhtautua avoimen positiivisesti ja pyrkiä luomaan siihen liittyviä perinteitä. Toiseksi painotettiin yhteistyön ja raja-aitojen madaltamisen merkitystä kaikilla tasoilla yksittäisistä ihmisistä koko yliopistoyhteisöön ja kaikkien tahojen – tiedekuntien, tieteenalojen ja oppiaineiden, ohjaajien, arvioijien ja opiskelijoiden – sisällä ja välillä. Kolmas molempien ryhmien esiin nostama keskeinen teema oli ohjaukseen ja arviointiin toivottu pedagoginen linjakkuus ja tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien arviointikriteerien selkeyttäminen. Näiden lisäksi erityisesti opiskelijat nostivat esiin neljäntenä teemana sen, että tieteidenvälisten tutkielmien rajaamiselle tulisi antaa riittävästi aikaa tutkielmaprosessin alussa. Ohjaajien ja arvioijien vastauksista nousi esiin vielä kaksi lisäteemaa. Viidentenä teemana he käsittelivät ohjaajien ja arvioijien oman position ja sen luomien rajoitteiden merkityksen ymmärtämistä. Kuudenneksi ohjaajat ja arvioijat toivat esiin työtaakkaan, kuormittavuuteen ja resursseihin liittyviä kysymyksiä: esimerkiksi toisten tiedekuntien opiskelijoiden ohjaamista toivottiin otettavan huomioon työajassa ja/tai palkitsemisessa ja tieteidenvälisesti kokeneimpien ohjaajien toivottiin tukevan vähemmän kokemusta omaavia. Tutkimus nostaa esiin monia haasteita, joita ei tietääksemme ole aiemmassa kirjallisuudessa sanoitettu vastaavalla tavalla empiiriseen aineistoon pohjaten. Myös kehitysehdotuksia esitetään runsaasti, ja niitä on koottuna kirjan viimeisessä luvussa. The main research objective of this peer-reviewed study is to contribute to the ongoing pedagogical debate on the key challenges and development proposals for the supervision and assessment of interdisciplinary theses at the university. More specifically, we inquire into the experiences and perceptions of students, supervisors and assessors regarding the supervision and assessment of interdisciplinary theses. Based on the survey data collected, we particularly assess the challenges and their causes as well as ideas for development. Our survey was conducted in the summer of 2019. A total of 205 students responded to the survey questions, and their answers covered 256 separate interdisciplinary theses. A total of 105 supervisors/assessors responded to the survey questions, and their answers covered the supervision or assessment of a total of 189 theses. Both responder groups covered theses at the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or doctoral degree levels. The verbal responses were analysed via close-reading, data-driven content analysis. We compared the age, gender and faculty distribution of the students with data for the entire student body of the University of Helsinki from 2009 to 2019. As comparison data for supervisors and assessors, we used data for the entire staff of the University of Helsinki from the years 2010 to 2019. To deepen our understanding of the criteria and guidelines for the assessment of theses at the University of Helsinki, we reviewed a comprehensive set of these documents. The students' responses were rich in both negative and critical feedback and also offered positive descriptions of the guidance and assessment processes for interdisciplinary theses. The responses, though, tended to be more negative and critical in nature, which may partly be explained by the fact that surveys in general often reveal more critical perspectives than positive points. The overall picture was neutral in terms of the responses by supervisors and assessors: there were no clear differences in the number of positive and negative descriptions. Both groups highlighted many challenges and reflected on their causes and possible solutions. The issues perceived as problematic and those described as working well were similar for both groups of respondents, regardless of the type of thesis. The answers by students concerning their bachelor’s level theses were shorter, while the answers concerning doctoral level theses also included solutions to identified problems, which may be related to the longer thesis process and the experience gained. There were greater differences in the responses by supervisors/assessors than in the student responses, and the responses by those supervising/assessing doctoral level theses in particular revealed a large number of characteristics specific to the writing process. We identified six major themes in the responses, three of which emerged in the responses of both groups. First, the participants stressed that interdisciplinarity plays a key role and is important to the supervision and assessment of theses and in scientific work in general; it should be openly encouraged and efforts should be made to create a tradition of interdisciplinarity. Second, they emphasised the importance of cooperation and of lowering barriers at all levels, from those faced by individuals to those pertaining to the entire university community and within and between all actors — faculties, disciplines and subjects, supervisors, assessors and students. The third key theme raised by both groups was the desire for pedagogical coherence in guidance and assessment and the need to clarify the criteria for assessing interdisciplinary theses. In addition to these three themes, a fourth theme raised by students especially was that sufficient time should be given for refining the research focus of their interdisciplinary theses at the beginning of the research process. Two further themes emerged from the responses of supervisors and assessors. The fifth theme concerned understanding the importance of their positions and the resulting constraints. The sixth and final theme had to do with their workload, stress and available resources. For example, they would like to see the supervision of students from other faculties accounted for in terms of time and/or rewards. Additionally, they also would like interdisciplinary supervisors with more experience to provide better support to those with less experience. The study raises a number of challenges that, to our knowledge, have not been similarly articulated in previous studies based on such empirical evidence. There are also many suggestions for improvement, which are summarised in the final chapter of the book.VertaisarvioitupeerReviewe

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Can Be Prevented by Lifestyle Intervention : The Finnish Gestational Diabetes Prevention Study (RADIEL) A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE To assess whether gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) can be prevented by a moderate lifestyle intervention in pregnant women who are at high risk for the disease. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Two hundred ninety-three women with a history of GDM and/or a prepregnancy BMI of >= 30 kg/m(2) were enrolled in the study at RESULTS A total of 269 women were included in the analyses. The incidence of GDM was 13.9% in the intervention group and 21.6% in the control group ([95% CI 0.40-0.98%]; P = 0.044, after adjustment for age, prepregnancy BMI, previous GDM status, and the number of weeks of gestation). Gestational weight gain was lower in the intervention group (20.58 kg [95% CI 21.12 to 20.04 kg]; adjusted P = 0.037). Women in the intervention group increased their leisure time physical activity more and improved their dietary quality compared with women in the control group. CONCLUSIONS A moderate individualized lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence of GDM by 39% in high-risk pregnant women. These findings may have major health consequences for both the mother and the child.Peer reviewe

Effects of estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate on expression of the cell cycle proteins cyclin D1, p21 and p27 in cultured human breast tissues

Estrogen and progesterone are key regulators of normal breast epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. They are also involved in the initiation and progression of breast tumorigenesis. Several experimental studies have demonstrated that steroid hormones affect cell cycle proteins associated with tumor initiation and progression. Hormone replacement therapy (HT) is widely used to alleviate climacteric symptoms among postmenopausal women. Little is known, however, about cell cycle protein regulation during hormonal treatment of human breast tissue (HBT). In this study we aimed to evaluate the effects of 17 beta-estradiol (E-2) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on cultured HBTs representing samples from reduction mammoplasty of premenopausal (pre-HBT) and postmenopausal (postm-HBT) women, and from peritumoral tissue (peritum-HBT) after breast tumor surgery among postmenopausal patients. Explants of HBT were cultured for 14 days in medium supplemented with E-2, MPA or E-2 + MPA. Expression of cyclin D1, p21 and p27 was assessed by immunohistochemical staining of explants cultured for 2 and 14 days. Further, Ki-67 staining was performed to evaluate correlation between proliferation and cell cycle regulatory protein expression. Our results showed that HBTs studied were positive for ER alpha, ER beta and PR (>= 10% of the cells stained). The level of p21 was lower (p < 0.001) in pre-HBT than in postm-HBT, whereas p27 levels were higher (p < 0.05) in pre-HBT than in postm-and peritum-HBT. The level of Ki-67 positive cells was higher in pre-HBT than in post-HBT. Interestingly, level of p21 positive cells showed an opposite pattern. Treatment with E-2 increased the relative number of cyclin D1-staining cells and decreased that of p27-staining cells in postm-HBT (p < 0.05), but not in pre-HBT. All hormone regimens (E-2, MPA, E-2 + MPA) increased the number of p21-positive cells in postm-HBTs at 14 days and E-2 even at 2 days. In pre-HBT p21 staining was increased (p < 0.05) in explants cultured with E-2 for 14 days but no response was observed in cyclin D1 and p27. The number of cyclin D1-staining cells was clearly higher (p < 0.05) in peritum-HBT than in non-tumorous pre-or postm-HBT, but the response cyclin D1 to all hormonal treatments in peritum-HBT was the same as in postm-HBT. Moreover, we found that E-2, MPA, E-2 + MPA in vitro increased numbers of Ki-67 positive cells in post-HBTs at 14 days and E-2 also in pre-HBT. Stimulated proliferation rate was associated with increase of cyclin D1 and p21-positive cells and reduced numbers of p27, especially in post-HBTs. Taken together, our results suggest that cell cycle regulatory proteins are more sensitive to exogenous hormone treatment in postm-HBT than in pre-HBT

Effects of estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate on morphology, proliferation and apoptosis of human breast tissue in organ cultures

Background: Human breast tissue undergoes phases of proliferation, differentiation and regression regulated by changes of the levels of circulating sex hormones during the menstrual cycle or aging. Ovarian hormones also likely play a key role in the etiology and biology of breast cancer. Reports concerning the proliferative effects of steroid hormones on the normal epithelium of human breast have been conflicting. Some studies have shown that steroid hormones may predispose breast epithelial cells to malignant changes by stimulating their proliferation, which is known to be regulated tightly by stromal cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 17 beta-estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate on proliferation, apoptosis, expression of differentiation markers and steroid hormone receptors in breast epithelium using an in vitro model of freshly isolated human breast tissue, in which a proper interaction of breast epithelium and stroma has been maintained. Methods: Human breast tissues were obtained from women undergoing surgery for breast tumours. Peritumoral tissues were excised and explants were cultured for 3 weeks in medium supplemented with E-2 or MPA or with E-2+ MPA. Endpoints included histopathological, histomorphometric and immunohistochemical assessment of the breast explants. Results: Culture of breast explants for 14 or 21 days with steroid hormones increased proliferative activity and the thickness of acinar and ductal epithelium. E-2-treatment led to hyperplastic epithelial morphology, MPA to hypersecretory single-layered epithelium and E-2+ MPA to multilayered but organised epithelium. The proliferative response to E-2 in comparison to control ( p < 0.001) was more pronounced than to MPA ( p < 0.05) or E-2+ MPA ( p < 0.05) at 7 and 14 days for Ki-67 and PCNA. E-2 treatment also decreased the proportion of apoptotic cells after 7 ( p < 0.01) and 14 ( p < 0.01) days. In addition, the relative number of ER alpha, ER beta and PR positive epithelial cells was decreased by all hormonal treatments. Conclusion: Organ culture system provides a model for studying the direct effects of steroid hormones and their analogues on postmenopausal human breast tissue

Effects of estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate on morphology, proliferation and apoptosis of human breast tissue in organ cultures

Abstract Background Human breast tissue undergoes phases of proliferation, differentiation and regression regulated by changes of the levels of circulating sex hormones during the menstrual cycle or aging. Ovarian hormones also likely play a key role in the etiology and biology of breast cancer. Reports concerning the proliferative effects of steroid hormones on the normal epithelium of human breast have been conflicting. Some studies have shown that steroid hormones may predispose breast epithelial cells to malignant changes by stimulating their proliferation, which is known to be regulated tightly by stromal cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 17β-estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate on proliferation, apoptosis, expression of differentiation markers and steroid hormone receptors in breast epithelium using an in vitro model of freshly isolated human breast tissue, in which a proper interaction of breast epithelium and stroma has been maintained. Methods Human breast tissues were obtained from women undergoing surgery for breast tumours. Peritumoral tissues were excised and explants were cultured for 3 weeks in medium supplemented with E2 or MPA or with E2+MPA. Endpoints included histopathological, histomorphometric and immunohistochemical assessment of the breast explants. Results Culture of breast explants for 14 or 21 days with steroid hormones increased proliferative activity and the thickness of acinar and ductal epithelium. E2-treatment led to hyperplastic epithelial morphology, MPA to hypersecretory single-layered epithelium and E2+MPA to multilayered but organised epithelium. The proliferative response to E2 in comparison to control (p was more pronounced than to MPA (p or E2+MPA (p at 7 and 14 days for Ki-67 and PCNA. E2 treatment also decreased the proportion of apoptotic cells after 7 (p and 14 (p days. In addition, the relative number of ERα, ERβ and PR positive epithelial cells was decreased by all hormonal treatments. Conclusion Organ culture system provides a model for studying the direct effects of steroid hormones and their analogues on postmenopausal human breast tissue. Addition of E2 or MPA or E2+MPA to breast explants caused characteristic changes in morphology, stimulated epithelial proliferation, lowered apoptosis ratio and decreased the relative number of epithelial cells expressing ERα, ERβ and PR.</p

The somatic growth of a regional birth cohort of 351 preterm infants during the first two years of life

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