Escaping the subject-based class : A Finnish case study of developing transversal competencies in a transdisciplinary course

In 2014, the Finnish National Board of Education launched a new core curriculum with the aim of meeting the skills and competence requirements of the 21st century. The purpose of this case study was to find out what transversal competencies Finnish eighth graders developed and how they experienced studying in a problem-based transdisciplinary course, which was arranged for the transitional stage between the former and the new curriculum. The qualitative data consisted of questionnaires and interviews. The analysis followed the methods of qualitative content analysis. When asked about their learning, the students commented on not having learnt much, referring to the discipline-based knowledge. Instead, they had learnt skills through teamwork, problem solving, and expression of their views and opinions, an aspect that they did not clearly connect with the things to be learnt at school. Many students felt that they acquired the competencies that they would need later in their lives. The students' teamwork had a crucial impact on their learning experience. The timeframe for the integrative approach needs careful consideration; the learning process in this course was perceived as being successful because it was long enough. Our study highlights that focusing on students' views is critical when reforming curriculum.Peer reviewe

Komiat kylät pohjoisen maisemassa – Kairalan ja Luiron maisemanhoitoalueen hoito- ja käyttösuunnitelma

Kairalan ja Luiron kylät Pelkosenniemellä edustavat tyypillisiä peräpohjalaisia maatalouskyliä, joiden asutus on muodostunut jokivarteen nauhamaisesti. Taustalla siintävät tunturit ja matalammat vaarat luovat kylämaisemille komeat kehykset. Omaleimaiseksi maiseman tekevät kylien vanhat peräpohjalaiset hirsirakennukset, jotka Kairalan itäpuolta lukuun ottamatta säästyivät Lapin sodan tuhoilta. Kitisen molemmin puolin sijaitseva Kairalan kylä onkin luokiteltu valtioneuvoston periaatepäätöksessä vuonna 1995 valtakunnallisesti arvokkaaksi maisema-alueeksi. Luirojoen varrella sijaitseva Luiron kylä on määritelty maakunnallisesti arvokkaaksi maisema-alueeksi. Yli 300 vuoden kuluessa eränkäyntiin, poronhoitoon ja sittemmin karjanhoitoon perustuvat elinkeinot ovat muokanneet kylistä valtakunnallisesti merkittäviä kulttuurihistoriallisia ympäristöjä. Jokivarret ja kyläkeskukset ovat olleet pelto- ja laidunmaina ja niiltä on niitetty luonnonheinää karjan ravinnoksi. Maatalouden rakennemuutoksen ja väestön ikääntymisen myötä avarat maisemat ovat kuitenkin alkaneet pensoittua. Suunnitelma on yhdessä kyläläisten kanssa tehty kartoitus, jossa on pohdittu maiseman arvokohteita, havainnollistettu maisemassa tapahtuneita muutoksia ja inventoitu tärkeimmät hoidon tarpeessa olevat kohteet. Tämän jälkeen on pohdittu sopivia hoitotapoja ja kartoitettu taloudellisia tukimahdollisuuksia. Suunnitelman tavoitteena on innostaa asukkaita omaehtoiseen maisemanhoitoon ja kannustaa hakemaan taloudellista tukea maisemanhoitoon ja rakennusten kunnostukseen. Hankkeen on rahoittanut ympäristöministeriö ja Pelkosenniemen kunta. Kylämaisemien hoidossa kullakin maanomistajalla on lopullinen vastuu omien maidensa osalta ja maisemanhoito on luonnollisesti vapaaehtoista toimintaa. Maiseman – asuinympäristön – viihtyisyydestä huolehtiminen on kuitenkin molempien kyläyhteisöjen edun mukaista. Maisemanhoito ja vanhan rakennuskannan kunnostus tukee kylien paikallista kulttuuri-identiteettiä, virkistyskäyttöä ja matkailua. Nyt maiseman hoito- ja käyttösuunnitelman valmistuttua on Kairalan ja Luiron kylille mahdollista perustaa luonnonsuojelulain 32 §:n mukainen maisemanhoitoalue. Virallinen asema mahdollistaa kylien tekemistä tunnetuksi ja tarjoaa mahdollisuudet kehittää luonto- ja kulttuurimatkailua. Viljelijät ja paikalliset yhdistykset voivat hakea rahoitusta maisemanhoitoon maatalouden erityistukien kautta. Lisäksi kylien rakennusperinteen kunnossapitoon ja korjauksiin on mahdollista hakea avustusta Lapin ympäristökeskuksesta ja Museovirastosta. Maisemanhoitoalueen perustaminen ei tuo oikeusvaikutteisia lisärajoituksia maiden ja metsien käyttöön. Rakentaminen tapahtuu edelleen maakuntakaavan, kunnan rakennusjärjestyksen ja maankäyttö- ja rakennuslain mukaisesti. Metsätaloutta harjoitetaan entiseen tapaan metsälain mukaisesti

Expression of a human cartilage procollagen gene (COL2A1) in mouse 3T3 cells.

Expression in a recombinant system has been difficult to obtain for any of the major fibrillar collagens that require processing by eight or more post-translational enzymes. Here, two DNA constructs were designed so that the promoter region of the gene for the pro-alpha 1(I) chain of human type I procollagen drove expression of the human type II procollagen gene in mouse NIH 3T3 cells, a culture line that normally synthesizes type I procollagen but not any cartilage-specific protein such as type II procollagen. Both constructs were expressed as both mRNA and protein. In clones expressing the construct at high levels, the steady-state levels of mRNA and the production of type II procollagen were comparable to the mRNA levels and production of type I procollagen from the endogenous mouse genes. Comparison of clones containing the two constructs demonstrated that sequences extending 80 base pairs beyond the major polyadenylation signal of the gene are not in themselves sufficient for correct termination and 3\u27 processing of RNA transcripts. The results strongly suggest that specific sequences present in a downstream 3.5-kilobase SphI/SphI fragment determine the termination of the transcription. Of special importance is that the system will make it possible to examine the consequences of mutations in the human type II procollagen gene on the processing of RNA transcripts and on the functional properties of the protein simply by using the genomic DNA from leukocytes or other non-cartilaginous sources

Crafting Maths: Exploring Mathematics Learning through Crafts

This article introduces a project in a Finnish secondary school where mathematics education was combined with crafts instruction. The idea was to provide the students with an interdisciplinary real-world learning context in which they worked collaboratively on an open-ended design task. The approach was problem-based and student-centred in a way that Neumann (2013) describes to be in and with students. The teacher’s role was to allow the students to self-generate their learning and to work in partnership with them. The students were given a rather open-ended, ill-defined design task that required them to take risks, find information and collaborate. The student interviews (N=17) after the project revealed that their attitude to mathematics had become more positive. They began to understand the connections between these school subjects in an authentic learning environment. They learned to solve problems and combine theoretical and practical knowledge. Their understanding of the importance of mathematics in real-world situations increased. The project demonstrates how to arrange teaching and learning in a more holistic way instead of in a traditional subject-based approach. This kind of interdisciplinary approach demands good cooperation from both the students and the teachers. For interdisciplinary education to be further developed, support is needed for the teachers to collaborate and learn new teaching approaches

Matikkaa kässäämässä: matematiikan opiskelua käsityön avulla

Lähetetty referee-arvioitavaksi 10.2.2014This article gives an example of an art-infused experimental project in a Finnish secondary school where Mathematics education was combined with learning of Crafts. The approach was student-centered in a way that Neumann (2013) describes to be 'in' and 'with' students. The student interviews (N=17) after the project revealed that their attitude to Mathematics had turned more positive. They began to understand the connections between different school subjects in an authentic learning environment.This article introduces a project in a Finnish secondary school where mathematics education was combined with crafts instruction. The idea was to provide the students with an interdisciplinary real-world learning context in which they worked collaboratively on an open-ended design task. The approach was problem-based and student-centred in a way that Neumann (2013) describes to be in and with students. The teacher’s role was to allow the students to self-generate their learning and to work in partnership with them. The students were given a rather open-ended, ill-defined design task that required them to take risks, find information and collaborate. The student interviews (N=17) after the project revealed that their attitude to mathematics had become more positive. They began to understand the connections between these school subjects in an authentic learning environment. They learned to solve problems and combine theoretical and practical knowledge. Their understanding of the importance of mathematics in real-world situations increased. The project demonstrates how to arrange teaching and learning in a more holistic way instead of in a traditional subject-based approach. This kind of interdisciplinary approach demands good cooperation from both the students and the teachers. For interdisciplinary education to be further developed, support is needed for the teachers to collaborate and learn new teaching approaches.Peer reviewe

Impact and effectiveness of a conjugate vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease in Finland-a modelling approach

The evaluation of the public health impact of a vaccination program is essential in monitoring its policy relevance. Vaccine impact (VI) is usually assessed in a before-after design, in which data on disease burden without vaccination program is required from a historical reference period. It takes into account the indirect effects and therefore aims to describe the public health performance of the vaccination program in the population. Vaccine effectiveness (VE), measured in parallel settings, quantifies the benefit for an individual of being vaccinated but does not address the indirect effects of a vaccination program. The motivation of this paper is to gain insight into patterns of how VI and VE have manifested under large-scale use of a ten-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Finnish children. We construct a simple pseudo-dynamic model that mimics typical post-vaccination trends in the incidences of pneumococcal carriage and invasive disease in children when the proportion of vaccine-type carriage decreases. In the context of the model, we define the parameters of interest for VI and VE and explore how their expected values evolve over time. For comparison, we demonstrate the application of VI and VE estimation by using register data

Prototype of hybrid technology chipper-D4.6

INFRES - Innovative and effective technology and logistics for forest residual biomass supply in the EU (311881) is a collaborative project co-funded under the European Commission's FP7 Work Programme 2012 (FP7-KBBE-2012.1.2-01)201

Joint demonstration of the large nine axle chip truck-trailer unit and the hybrid chipper

Luken kirjat, raportit, oppaat ja esitteet. INFRES, Demoreport 17 - D4.5European Commission FP7 programme. INFRES – Innovative and effective technology and logistics for forest residual biomass supply in the EU (311881)201

Ei tämän enempää avusta alkoholiongelmiin

Kirja-arvostelu: Apu alkoholiongelmaan Kari Poikolainen, LasseMurto, RaunoMäkelä, Ilkka Taipal