Science teachers and technology teachers developing electronics and electricity courses together

We analyse the effectiveness of our 'Get Electronics' project, where our aim was to support 60 science teachers and 60 technology teachers in their efforts to co-operate and arrange courses in basics of electricity and electronics. The research problems consider the importance of the study of the basics of electricity and electronics at the comprehensive school and how we succeeded in promoting elective courses in this field by producing new learning materials and by organizing in-service training. Our survey had an ex post facto design with a study group and a non-equivalent control group. The results showed that the study group teachers had been more active in developing and improving their teaching, they had organized more courses, and they had co-operated more actively than had teachers in the control group. We also analyse the features that made our project successful.     

Linguistic and Spatial Skills Predict Early Arithmetic Development via Counting Sequence Knowledge

Utilizing a longitudinal sample of Finnish children (ages 6–10), two studies examined how early linguistic (spoken vs. written) and spatial skills predict later development of arithmetic, and whether counting sequence knowledge mediates these associations. In Study 1 (N = 1,880), letter knowledge and spatial visualization, measured in kindergarten, predicted the level of arithmetic in first grade, and later growth through third grade. Study 2 (n = 378) further showed that these associations were mediated by counting sequence knowledge measured in first grade. These studies add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of written language for arithmetic development. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that linguistic and spatial skills can improve arithmetic development by enhancing children's number‐related knowledge.     

The effect of using a mobile literacy game to improve literacy levels of grade one students in Zambian schools

This intervention study was conducted to document conditions under which a computer based literacy game (GraphoGame?) could enhance literacy skills of first grade students in an African city. The participants were first grade students from Government schools (N = 573). These students were randomly sampled into control (N = 314) and various intervention groups (N = 259). GraphoGame? was administered on cellphones to students at their schools under supervision. Each student in the study was assessed using a battery of locally developed cognitive tests that measured emergent literacy skills (Orthography test), decoding competence (Spelling test), vocabulary (Picture Vocabulary Test—PVT) and arithmetic (Zambia Achievement Test—ZAT). There was a positive effect of the game for the Spelling test—which closely targeted the skill GraphoGame? is designed to promote. The most effective intervention combined exposure of both the teachers and the students to the game. Initial letter knowledge was a good predictor of final letter knowledge on GraphoGame?.     

Strategy‐based development of teacher educators' ICT competence through a co‐operative staff development project

An ICT strategy and an implementation plan for teacher education were created in a co‐operative process. Visions and expectations of staff members and students were registered by questionnaires and by making notes during sessions in which the strategy was created. Thereafter, an implementation document, where the staff development programme and plans of how to develop ICT infrastructure and to integrate ICT to teacher education, was created. A large programme for staff ICT skills development was implemented and a new infrastructure (a new domain and websites etc.) was developed over a two‐year period. On the basis of staff self‐evaluation data, staff ICT skills developed substantially and ICT use as part of teacher education grew more versatile. On the basis of our experiences and the data collected during the project, a list of properties needed for a successful staff development project is given.

Une stratégie TIC et un plan de mise en ?uvre relatifs à la formation des enseignants ont été mis en place dans le cadre d'un processus coopératif. Les visions et les attentes des membres du personnel et des étudiants ont été répertoriées au moyen de questionnaires et en prenant des notes lors des sessions durant lesquelles la stratégie a été mise en place. Après cela, un document de mise en ?uvre portant sur le programme de développement du personnel et sur les plans visant à améliorer l'infrastructure TIC et à intégrer les TIC dans la formation des enseignants a été rédigé. Un programme extensif portant sur le développement des compétences en matière de TIC du personnel a été mis en ?uvre et une infrastructure nouvelle (nouveau domaine, sites Internet etc.) a été développée sur une période de deux ans. Sur la base des données d'auto‐évaluation du personnel, les compétences TIC du personnel ont connu une amélioration substantielle et le recours aux TIC dans la formation des enseignants est devenu plus varié.

Eine ICT‐Strategie und ein Realisierungsplan für die Lehrerausbildung wurden in einem kooperativen Prozess aufgebaut. Visionen und Erwartungen der Personalmitglieder und der Studenten wurden durch Fragebögen und Erfassung von Notizen in den Sitzungen ermittelt, in denen die Strategie erarbeitet wurde. Danach wurde ein Realisierungsdokument erstellt, das das Personalentwicklungsprogramm und die Pläne zur Entwicklung der ICT‐Infrastruktur und zur Integration der ICT in die Lehrerausbildung beinhaltete. Es wurde ein umfangreiches Programm für die Entwicklung der ICT‐Kenntnisse des Personals realisiert und eine neue Infrastruktur (eine neue Domain und Websites usw.) über einen Zeitraum von zwei Jahren entwickelt. Aufgrund der Selbstbewertungsdaten des Personals entwickelten sich ihre ICT‐Kenntnisse wesentlich und die Anwendung der ICT als ein Teil der Lehrerausbildung wurde vielseitiger.

En un proceso cooperativo se han creado una estrategia de TIC (Tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación) y un plan de implementación para la formación de profesores. Se han registrado los puntos de vista y las expectativas de los miembros del personal y de los alumnos mediante cuestionarios y tomando notas durante las sesiones en las que se creó la estrategia. Posteriormente, se redactó un documento de implementación, con el programa de desarrollo del personal y los planes sobre cómo desarrollar la infraestructura de TIC e integrar las TIC en la formación del profesorado. Se implementó un programa más grande para el desarrollo de las aptitudes en TIC del personal y se desarrolló una nueva infraestructura (nuevos dominio y sitios web, etc.) en un período de dos años. Sobre la base de los datos de la autoevaluación del personal, las aptitudes en TIC del personal se desarrollaron considerablemente y el uso de las TIC como parte de la formación del profesorado fue más versátil.     

Cross‐lagged associations between kindergarten teachers' causal attributions and children's task motivation and performance in reading

The present study investigated whether kindergarten teachers' causal attributions would predict children's reading‐related task motivation and performance, or whether it is rather children's motivation and performance that contribute to teachers' causal attributions. To investigate this, 69 children (five to six years old at baseline) and their teachers were examined twice during the kindergarten year. Teachers filled in a questionnaire measuring their causal attributions twice during the kindergarten year. Information about the children's reading‐related task motivation and performance was gathered at the beginning of and at the end of the kindergarten year. The results showed that the higher the task motivation and performance in reading the children showed, the more the teachers attributed their success to ability and effort, and the less they attributed it to teachers' help. Teachers' ability and effort attributions for success, in turn, predicted a high level of children's subsequent task motivation in reading. Moreover, teachers seldom attributed high‐achieving children's failure to lack of ability or effort.     

Theory and practice in Finnish teacher education: a rhetorical analysis of changing values from the 1960s to the present day

Our aim in this article is to examine the relationship between theory and practice in Finnish teacher education from the 1960s to the present. We identify four different periods to represent this relationship based on our analysis of national committee and evaluation reports. Theory and practice gradually converged, culminating in a research-based agenda that reflects the current situation. This relationship between theory and practice also reflects the ideal teacher of different times and what a teacher’s working orientation should be. We use rhetorical analysis and the concept of a ‘philosophical pair’ introduced by Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca to interpret this development.     

Contributors

Biography

Contributors     

Linear feature extraction for ranking

We address the feature extraction problem for document ranking in information retrieval. We then propose LifeRank, a Linear feature extraction algorithm for Ranking. In LifeRank, we regard each document collection for ranking as a matrix, referred to as the original matrix. We try to optimize a transformation matrix, so that a new matrix (dataset) can be generated as the product of the original matrix and a transformation matrix. The transformation matrix projects high-dimensional document vectors into lower dimensions. Theoretically, there could be very large transformation matrices, each leading to a new generated matrix. In LifeRank, we produce a transformation matrix so that the generated new matrix can match the learning to rank problem. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets show the performance gains of LifeRank in comparison with state-of-the-art feature selection algorithms.     

Transferring a Teaching Learning Sequence Between Two Different Educational Contexts: the Case of Greece and Finland

In the present paper, we report on the idea of exchanging educational innovations across European countries aiming to shed light on the following question: how feasible and useful is it to transfer an innovation across different national educational settings? The innovation, in this case, Inquiry-Based Teaching Learning Sequences, is recognized as a crucial component of renewal science teaching in European countries. Two local working groups from two different Universities, in Finland and Greece, were created consisting of researchers and experienced primary teachers. The transfer from Greece to Finland was rather challenging because of the differences between the two educational contexts. The initial, as well as the revised Teaching Learning Sequence, were implemented for 11–12-year-old students including the content to be taught, that is Floating-Sinking phenomena and density, and the learning environment aspects such as learning Control of Variables Strategy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was implemented in order to formulate concrete recommendations on feasible and useful aspect. The feasible aspect adduces answers to the query of “how” this transfer worked in practice. Concerning this aspect, the recognition of what is innovative for each national partner was recognized as a crucial factor for the design and revision of both Teaching Learning Sequences. The useful aspect illuminates students’ improvement in the achievement of conceptual as well as procedural knowledge. The results revealed that the psychological paths that bring about this success are ecumenical and independent of the history of the educational group.     

A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students’ views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the well-established school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context and also add new dimensions to the original.