Finnish Elementary School Teachers' Attitudes Toward Gifted Education

This study examined Finnish elementary school teachers' (N = 212) attitudes toward the gifted and their education. On a general level, teachers' attitudes toward gifted education were slightly positive. Teachers saw that gifted students have social value and that they need special services. The results of teachers' attitudes toward specific gifted education options were in line with earlier Finnish research, because teachers supported differentiated teaching but were more negative toward acceleration or separating the gifted into their own groups. However, despite the strong support for differentiated teaching for the gifted, teachers' positions toward practice were more skeptical.Peer reviewe

Development of learning to learn competence across secondary education and its association with attainment in Finnish/Swedish high-stake exit exam

The Finnish Learning to learn framework comprises cognitive competencies and motivational beliefs, which both have shown to be associated with academic success in different educational settings. However, studies of the stability and development of these constructs across six year long secondary education are scarce. In addition, this study investigates the predictive power of learning to learn constructs on achievement in the high-stakes Finnish matriculation examination. Following a sample of Finnish students (N = 2712, 55 % girls, aged 13-19) from lower secondary to general upper secondary education, this study found that Finnish the learning to learn construct and the relations between its components hold rather stable over the years. However, while cognitive competence improves and shows strong rank order stability during adolescence, learning-enhancing motivational beliefs show a downward trajectory and detrimental-to-learning beliefs somewhat opposite one, found in other studies. Gender differences were found in both students' motivational beliefs and in in their achievement in the matriculation examination. The role of motivational beliefs, especially effort belief, becomes stronger when adolescents grow older and advance on their educational path.Peer reviewe

Changes and stability in daily cortisol values and their correlation to attention measured in a prolonged working task among Finnish six-year-old day-care children

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Is technology-enhanced feedback encouraging for all in Finnish basic education? A person-centered approach

In Finnish basic education, the majority of teachers give technology-enhanced feedback about learning and behaviour on a daily basis by clicking predefined options in an online platform. In this study, we explored 211003 feedback actions given by 704 teachers to 7811 pupils and their parents using latent profile analysis. Information on individual support needs was used to evaluate whether all pupils are equally encouraged by technology-enhanced feedback. We identified six subgroups for girls and five for boys. Highly encouraging feedback was given mostly to pupils who were rarely absent and who more seldom had special education needs. Negative feedback about behaviour problems was given mostly to boys and the majority of pupils were encouraged only weakly. On average, pupils received feedback according to three different profiles in a single teaching group. We concluded that technology-enhanced feedback in its current form is not equally encouraging for all.Peer reviewe

Epistemological Beliefs and Scientific Reasoning in Finnish Academic Upper Secondary Education

The guiding idea in this paper was to study how scientific reasoning correlates with epistemological beliefs and academic achievement. Based on the study at hand, we argue that the nature of epistemological beliefs is still more the product of the level of scientific reasoning than the other way round. As a practical implication we propose that teacher training programmes should consider epistemological beliefs not only as an important aspect that all learners and teachers should be aware of, but it should be recognised as a central factor that affects our formal and informal learning and teaching in all content areas of knowledge.Peer reviewe

The Probability Distribution of the Response Times in Self-paced Continuous Search Tasks

When psychologists began to use intelligence tests, they used simple, overlearned tasks to determine the pattern of individual reaction times (RT). Measures of RT variation were proposed as possible indicators of intelligence. However, a fundamental question has remained partly unanswered: Is there an existing theory that explains individual RT variation? In this paper, a theory is proposed for the response times obtained in the Attention Concentration Test. The test consists of two different conditions: a fixed condition and a random condition. For each of these conditions a different RT model was developed both based on the basic assumption, that the individual response times have an approximately shifted exponential distribution. Empirical data were obtained from two different samples (N = 362, N = 334) of Finnish students. The method used to check the validity of each model involved computing the intercept and slope of the linear regression of the standard deviation from the stationary response times on the mean corrected for shift. In this regression analysis, the standard deviation is the dependent variable and the mean corrected for the shift the independent variable. The shift parameter was estimated by using the smallest reaction time. The observed intercept and slope were compared with the predicted intercept and slope according to the proposed models. The model for the fixed condition of the test did not hold. The model for the random condition, however, did. The findings were interpreted according to the arrangement of the targets as they occurred in each bar.When psychologists began to use intelligence tests, they also used simple, overlearned tasks to determine the pattern of individual reaction times (RT). Measures of RT variation were proposed as possible indicators of intelligence. However, a fundamental question has remained partly unanswered: Is there an existing theory that explains individual RT variation? In this paper, a theory is proposed for the response times obtained in the Attention Concentration Test. The test consists of two different conditions: a fixed condition and a random condition. For each of these two conditions a different RT model was developed both based on the basic assumption that the individual response times have an approximately shifted exponential distribution. Empirical data was obtained from two different samples (N = 362, N = 334) of Finnish students. The method used to check the validity of each model involved computing the intercept and slope of the linear regression of the standard deviation from the stationary response times on the mean corrected for shift. In this regression analysis, the standard deviation is the dependent variable and the mean corrected for shift the independent variable. The shift parameter was estimated by using the smallest reaction time. The observed intercept and slope were compared with the predicted intercept and slope according to the proposed models. The model for the fixed condition of the test did not hold. The model for the random condition,however, did. The findings were interpreted according to the arrangement of the targets as they occurred in each bar.Peer reviewe