Perceptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes of First Year Third-Level Students: An Empirical Study of Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Finnish, and Irish Students

The contemporary skillset of undergraduates includes a degree of sophistication in the application of ICT within their daily lives as well as within the higher education environment. The assumption of the student as a digital native, with the ability to cognitively process information in an ICT focused educational environment, is omnipresent in higher education. It has been suggested this assumption does not aid learning and adds an additional burden on the student. This study investigated whether experiences and perceptions, of mathematics and online assessment, are common to students studying in different countries and their respective higher education systems. The purpose of the investigation was to determine what issues influence the attitudes of students in the application of ICT for the online assessment of mathematics in the first year of undergraduate programmes. The investigation was conducted online by means of a quantitative questionnaire, consisting of 16 survey items, using Google Forms to self-selecting students (n=374) across several academic disciplines including engineering, business studies, media, and tourism. The survey was delivered in English to the majority students and translated to Russian for the Russian students to enable each group to reply in their own native language. The questionnaire design utilized a 6-point Likert scale where students were asked to express their experiences and perceptions of mathematics and online assessment in their chosen programme of study. The data was exported to IBM SPSSv24 and regression analyses were conducted to ascertain possible associations and relationships between the two student groups in the case study. The results of the investigation reveal some peculiar features and the respective investigation outcomes of the investigation will be utilized in the design of learner-centered assessments and shared with international partners

Arbuscular mycorrhiza as part of sustainable agriculture

Here we present some results from two studies of mycorrhizal functioning in conventional vs. organic agriculture and also of the impact of various standing crops

Managing Sonchus arvensis using mechanical and cultural methods

Perennial sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis L.) represents an increasing problem in Finland. Options for mechanical and cultural control of S. arvensis were studied in a field experiment on clay soil under organic production. The experiment consisted of different crop sequences: spring cereal (barley, Hordeum vulgare L., in 2001, oats, Avena sativa L., in 2002) with or without inter-row hoeing and/or stubble cultivation, bare fallow, fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), and ley with mowing. In 2003 the entire field was sown to spring wheat. Crop plant and Sonchus shoot density and dry mass prior to cereal harvest and crop yield were assessed. The control effect was rated: bare fallow > ley > cereal with or without inter-row hoeing > poor growth fibre hemp. Bare fallow was an effective but costly way to reduce S. arvensis infestation. Introduction of a regularly mown green fallow or silage ley in the crop rotation is advisable. Mechanical weed control by inter-row hoeing in cereals limits S. arvensis growth. Infestation might also be reduced by stubble cultivation in autumn. When managing S. arvensis using mechanical and cultural methods, appropriate options, including a competitive crop, should be chosen for the specific field and rotation

Sonchus arvensis - a challenge for organic farming

Perennial sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis L.) represents an increasing problem in Finland. Options for mechanical and cultural control of S. arvensis were studied in a 3 year field experiment on clay soil under organic production

Teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan roolinaulakko

Tässä opinnäytetyössä tutkitaan aluksi roolin käsitettä mm. sosiaalipsykologisen rooliteorian ja Jacob Levy Morenon rooliteorian kautta. Työssä pohditaan, missä yhteyksissä sanaa ”rooli” voidaan käyttää, mitä se tarkoittaa ja miten rooleja omaksutaan. Niiden lisäksi tekstissä tutkitaan rooleja ryhmässä sekä roolien aiheuttamia ristiriitoja. Pääteemana opinnäytetyössä on teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan roolinaulakko, joka on mielikuva vaatenaulakosta. Kuten normaalistakin vaatenaulakosta, roolinaulakosta löytyy takkeja, puseroita sekä erilaisia asusteita, mutta tässä tapauksessa ne kuvaavat teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan eri rooleja. Naulakosta löytyy teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan perusrooleja, kuten ohjaaja ja opettaja, sekä osarooleja kuten kurinpitäjä sekä kuuntelija. Roolinaulakon rakenteena ovat mm. teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan identiteetti sekä persoonallisuus. Jokaisella roolinaulakko on erilainen riippuen omista mielenkiinnon kohteista. Tässä tekstissä käsitellään kirjoittajan omaa mielikuvaa roolinaulakosta ja käytetään roolinaulakkoa apuna teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan eri roolien sekä niiden yhdistelmien hahmottamisessa.This thesis looks at the concept of a role by means of the role theories of social psychology and Jacob Levy Moreno. There is also discussion about when can the term ”role” be used, what does that term mean, and how are roles assumed. In addition, this thesis examines roles in a group and the conflicts caused by those roles. The main theme of this thesis is the drama instructor’s so-called role rack, meaning an idea of a coat rack. This coat rack contains coats, tops and various accessories, as coat racks commonly do. However, in this thesis these pieces of clothing depict the diverse roles of a drama instruc-tor. In the rack, one can find the basic roles of a drama instructor, for instance an instructor or a director. In addition, there can be found role elements such as a disciplinarian or a listener. The constituents of the role rack are for example the identity and the personality of the drama in-structor. Every role rack is different depending on the interests the drama instructor. This thesis dis-cusses the author’s personal image of the role rack, and the preceding term is used as a tool in outlining the drama instructor’s various roles and the combinations of those roles

Kymppiluokan merkitys nuoren koulutuspolulla

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on tuoda esille nuorten kokemuksia kymppiluokasta, koska peruskoulun ja toisen asteen nivelvaiheessa nuoret eivät ole saaneet jatkokoulutuspaikkaa tai ovat keskeyttäneet koulu-tuksen sen sopimattomuuden vuoksi. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen eli laadullinen tutkimus, koska siinä keskitytään nuorten kokemuksiin. Tut-kimuksen kohdejoukkona toimii viisi (5) erään Varsinaissuomalaisen kaupungin kymppiluokkalaista, joilta aineisto kerättiin avoimilla haastatteluilla. Tutkimusongelmaksi muodostui: Millainen merkitys kymppiluokalla on nuoren koulutuspolulla? Tutkimus osoitti nuoren joutuvan vaikeiden päätösten eteen, vajailla tiedoilla ja taidoilla siitä mihin omilla arvosanoilla on mahdollista päästä. Peruskoulussa nuorilla ei ole motivaatiota opiskeluun, koska ei ole vielä ymmärrystä opintojen tärkeydestä. Kymppiluokalla numeroiden korottaminen ja oman uravalinnan etsintä korostuu ja on itsestään selvää. Töitä täytyy kuitenkin tehdä, koska ihan itsestä on kiinni kuinka tulevaisuudessa käy. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta kymppiluokan olevan hyvä tukimuoto ilman jatkokoulutus-paikkaa jääneelle nuorelle. Sen tuomat mahdollisuudet eri uravalintojen kokeiluille ja peruskoulun päät-tötodistuksen numeroiden korottamiselle ovat avanneet uusia ovia ja ikkunoita siellä opiskeleville nuorille. Sen merkitys näin ollen koulutuspolulla on huomattava, koska ilman kymppiluokkaa suurin osa näistä nuorista olisi koulupudokkaita ja mahdollisuus syrjäytymiseen yhteiskunnasta olisi suuri.The purpose of this thesis is to examine adolescents’ experiences of the supplementary class of the tradi-tional educational curriculum. An adolescent enters this supplementary class when they have failed to receive a place in a higher educational program, such as high school or vocational school. This study is a qualitative study, as it focuses on adolescents' experiences. The target group contains five (5) youths who are studying in a supplementary class in Finland. The data was collected using open in-terviews. In the thesis I was looking an answer to following research problem: What kind of impact sup-plementary class gives for young people’s higher education? The study showed that today's youth face difficult decisions regarding their higher education possibilities. When taking into account their own grades, they do not have the required knowledge and skill set to successfully determine their educational path. Youth do not have enough motivation to study at the pri-mary school level, as they do not yet understand the importance of education. Raising grades and deter-mining one's own career path are examples of the curriculum material covered during in the supplemen-tary class. Young people must do the work themselves, as their future is in their own hands. No one else's. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that the supplementary class is indeed a good support measure for the youth that are left without a place in a higher educational program. Its potential to help with raising a young person’s grades, as well as the opportunity for a young person to explore various kinds of education, opens new doors for them. Its value in their educational path has been significant, as without this form of support, these adolescents could easily become marginalized

The role of primary visual cortex in unconscious visual processing

Lesion in primary visual cortex (V1) causes blindness in the visual field that is processed by the damaged area. Some patients with V1 lesion can unconsciously process the stimuli presented in their blind visual field. This kind of processing can be observed, for example, using a paradigm in which a patient is required to make a guess about the visual stimulus that he or she reports not seeing. If the accuracy of the responses is better than chance, it can be interpreted as unconscious processing, which is a measurable effect on behavior without conscious perception. This phenomenon of unconscious processing without V1 is commonly referred to as blindsight. The findings of unconscious processing without V1 in blindsight patients cannot be straightforwardly generalized to neurologically healthy people. Neural plasticity changes these patients’ brains; therefore, blindsight could be explained by these neural changes. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a method used to study the function of a cortical area in neurologically healthy people. With TMS, it is possible to interfere with the normal functioning of the brain. TMS of V1 can suppress the conscious perception of a visual stimulus. In this thesis, I studied whether the unconscious processing of visual stimuli is possible in neurologically healthy participants when the conscious perception of the stimulus is suppressed by TMS of V1. I found that both conscious and unconscious processing of visual information depend on V1 in neurologically healthy participants. Unconscious processing was observed only with the simplest task, in which participants responded to stimulus appearance. In this task, unconscious processing was observed only when the early activation of V1 was intact. The unconscious processing of chromaticity and motion was not observed when the stimulus was suppressed by TMS of V1. Therefore, I conclude that unconscious visual processing depends on V1 in neurologically healthy participants.Aivovaurio primaarilla näköaivokuorella (V1) aiheuttaa sokeuden siihen osaan näkökenttää, jonka prosessoinnista vaurioitunut aivokuoren osa vastaa. Jotkut tällaisista primaarin näköaivokuoren vauriosta johtuvasta sokeudesta kärsivistä potilaista pystyvät kuitenkin tiedostamattomasti prosessoimaan visuaalisia ärsykkeitä, jotka on esitetty sokealle näkökentälle. Tällaista prosessointia voidaan mitata esimerkiksi pyytämällä koehenkilö esittämään paras arvaus visuaalisen ärsykkeestä, jota hän ei raportoi nähneensä. Mikäli vastaustarkkuus on arvaustodennäköisyyttä parempi, voidaan todeta, että visuaalinen ärsyke vaikutti henkilön käyttäytymiseen tiedostamattomalla tasolla. Tästä ilmiöstä käytetään yleisesti nimeä sokeanäkö. Neurologisilla potilailla tehdyistä havainnoista ei kuitenkaan voida suoraan tehdä päätelmiä, jotka yleistyisivät koskemaan kaikkia ihmisiä. Potilaiden aivoissa tapahtuu plastisiteetin vuoksi muutoksia, jotka voivat selittää näitä säästyneitä visuaalisia kykyjä. Transkraniaalisella magneettistimulaatiolla (TMS) voidaan tutkia neurologisesti terveiden koehenkilöiden aivojen osien funktioita, sillä TMS häiritsee hetkellisesti aivojen normaalia viestinvälitystä. Primaarille näköaivokuorelle kohdistetut TMS-pulssit häiritsevät tietoista näkemistä. Tässä tutkielmassa selvitin, onko tiedostamaton prosessointi mahdollista, kun ärsykkeen tietoista havaintoa on häiritty primaarin näköaivokuoren stimulaatiolla. Tutkimuksissamme havaitsimme, että sekä tietoinen että tiedostamaton näköinformaation prosessointi vaativat primaarin näköaivokuoren toimintaa neurologisesti terveillä. Tiedostamatonta näköinformaation prosessointia havaittiin ainoastaan yksinkertaisimmassa tehtävässä, jossa koehenkilö reagoi ärsykkeen ilmestymiseen. Silloinkin ainoastaan, kun aikaista prosessointia primaarilla näköaivokuorella ei häiritty. Liikkeen ja värin prosessointia mittaavissa kokeissa tiedostamatonta prosessointia V1-stimulaation aikana ei havaittu. Tiedostamaton näköinformaation prosessointi riippuu siis primaarin näköaivokuoren toiminnasta neurologisesti terveillä koehenkilöillä

Competencies for rural nursing practice

This study sought to identify nursing competencies most associated with good nursing practice in Critical Access Hospitals. The Delphi panel for this study consisted of seven rural health nurse experts who were currently employed as a Director of Nursing in a Critical Access Hospital. A survey instrument was developed for each of the three Delphi rounds. The Round One instrument consisted of two open-ended focus questions. The four classification headings used for the identified competencies included Clinical/Technical Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Communication/Interpersonal Skills, and Management/Organizational Skills. The Round Two survey instrument was a compilation of the competencies received from the Round One instrument. The panelists were asked to rate the competency utilizing anchored scale. The Round Three survey instrument was dissimilar for each participant. The panel member was asked to rate the competency within one scale interval of the median or place their unique Round Two rating in this column and indicate why they believed their rating was more realistic. In the first round, a total of 149 competencies were submitted by the panel. These competencies were consolidated into 101 unique competencies. At the completion of the Round Two survey, one item was added and two competencies were combined into one competency. The third and final round resulted in a group consensus ranging from 71% to 100% on a total of 102 competencies. This research identified competencies unique to the Critical Access Hospital rural environment utilizing the Delphi approach. Nurses practicing in the rural setting are viewed more as generalists as opposed to specialists. Specific nursing areas including hospital nursing administration and nursing education can utilize the results of this study in planning for and promoting competent nursing practice in the rural environment. The researcher recommended additional studies that would further exemplify the uniqueness of rural nursing

Paavo Kallio (1914-1992)

Professor Paavo Kallio died on 11 June 1992 in Turku, Finland. He was a botanist, a scholar on subarctic and arctic nature, and an enthusiastic supporter of international research in northern areas. ... In the mid-1950s he organized field excursions for students to Lapland, and as a result of these trips a site for a field station was chosen in the northernmost part of Finnish Lapland at Kevo in Utsjoki (69 45 N). Even after retiring from his professorship, Paavo Kallio, the founder and the long-term head (1956-76) of the Kevo Subarctic Research Institute of the University of Turku, continued to serve as chairman of the board at Kevo (1977-84). ... Professor Kallio also founded three forest-line arboreta at Kevo, where tree-line trees from different parts of the Holarctic region have been planted. ... Kallio's aim was to make Kevo (and the biogeographical province Inari Lapland, 23 000 km² in area) into a 'known point," a well-studied reference site for subarctic Fennoscandia. ... He also supported research on the two most important animals in the native Sami people's daily life, reindeer and salmon. Kallio was an activist in the founding of the Sami Museum in Inari and acted as an expert in the planning of the Arctic Center in Rovaniemi. In addition to his scientific papers, he published numerous popular articles and books on nature and biological research in the northern Holarctic region. ..