Parents resourcing children’s early development and learning

Parents deal with a complex web of choices when seeking and using knowledge and resources related to their young children’s literacy development. Information concerning children’s learning and development comes in many forms and is produced by an increasingly diverse range of players including governments, non‐government organisations and commercial businesses. This study used a survey, interview and artefact collection to investigate mothers’ and fathers’ reported activities in seeking, accessing, producing and circulating information and resources related to children’s learning and development. Differences were found relating to parent gender and level of education. Parents’ resourcing activities are also shaped by their particular goals for their children.     

Teacher-perceived temperament and educational competence as predictors of school grades

Associations between teacher-perceived temperament, educational competence (EC), and school grades in mother language (ML) and mathematics (Math) were assessed in 3212 students (1619 girls) in Secondary School (aged 13–19) taken from a nationally representative Finnish sample. Temperament was assessed with scales from the TABC-R and DOTS-R batteries. EC consists of cognitive ability, motivation, and maturity. Activity, persistence, distractibility, inhibition, and negative emotionality were significantly associated with both ML and Math grades. EC turned out to mediate the relationship between temperament and school performance and moderated the relationship of activity to Math. The findings show a high association between teacher-rated temperament and school performance and indicate a strong “halo effect” between temperament, EC, and school grades.     

Exploring gender roles’ effects of Turkish women teachers on their teaching practices

The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender roles of women teachers affect their practices in the classrooms. Participants in the study were 75 female teachers working in elementary schools in Adana, Turkey. Findings indicated that gender roles of women teachers have important effects on their educational practices. Women teachers explained how their gender roles affect their profession mostly in terms of “also being a mother” in both positive and negative directions. The main points in teachers’ explanations were “being a mother and a spouse”, “stress”, “close relationships with students and parents” and “lack of authority and issues of confidence”.     

Factors affecting bioscience students’ academic achievement

The examination of academic progression has become an essential tool for measuring the effectiveness of educational systems. Research concerning the relationship between student learning and how they progress in their studies, however remains scarce. The aim of this study is two-fold: Firstly, the study aims to analyse first-year bioscience students’ perceptions of their teaching–learning environment and their approaches to learning as well as the relationship of these to academic achievement as measured by students’ progression in studies and how they succeed. Secondly, the present study explores factors students feel either enhance or impede their studying as well as the relationship of those factors with their approaches to learning and academic achievement. The data consist of responses from 188 first-year students who began their studies in the fall 2007 and 2008. The data were collected in a Finnish context with a modified and shortened version of the Experiences in Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). The analyses were carried out using factor analysis, one-way ANOVA and structural equation modeling. According to the results, organised studying was related to both academic progression and study success. In addition, academic progression was positively related to peer support. Furthermore, most of the students found that problems in time management impeded their studies and that pre-set schedules enhanced them. Results indicate that social support and self-regulation skills are important for academic achievement.     

Associations Between Teacher-Rated Versus Self-Rated Student Temperament and School Achievement

This study examined whether teacher-rated versus self-rated student temperaments are different in relation to the school grades in Maths and Mother language (ML) instruction in a nationally representative sample of Finnish Secondary School students (n?=?1,063, mean age 15.1 years). The results indicated that teacher-rated temperament was more strongly associated with students' Maths and ML grades than self-rated temperament. All the teacher-rated temperament traits were associated with school grades, accounting for 38% and 45% of the variance in Maths and ML, respectively. Of the self-rated temperaments, high task orientation and its components, high persistence and low distractibility, were associated with better school grades both in Maths and ML. Low reactivity and low negative emotionality were associated only with better ML grades, whereas high inhibition was associated only with better Maths grades. A temperament-conscious education needs to be taken into account in future teacher training.     

The relationship between student learning process,study success and the nature of assessment: A qualitative study

Assessment has an important role in affecting students’ learning, but qualitative studies regarding this relationship are rather scarce. In addition, course grades do not necessarily reflect the quality of learning outcomes. The aim is to qualitatively examine why high and low achieving students in the same course study differently according to the assessment method and how they explain their behaviour. Altogether 24 students were interviewed in this study. Analyses were conducted with inductive content analysis. The results indicate that course grades do not necessarily reflect qualitative learning outcomes due to the nature of the assessment. In addition, the present study suggests that self-regulation and motivation are important factors in studying and might prevent the negative effect of inappropriate assessment.     

Dissonant study orchestrations of high-achieving university students

This study focuses on the dissonant study orchestrations of high-achieving university students. Advanced psychology students’ dissonant study orchestrations were compared with previous findings of advanced medical students orchestrations. Further, the relation of study orchestrations to study success was examined. The subjects were 28 advanced psychology students at the University of Helsinki, Department of Psychology who returned a task booklet of learning; of these, 24 students completed a questionnaire concentrating on the students’ interests, expectations and evaluation of the curriculum. All students were high achievers who had gone through a demanding selection process. The subjects completed three questionnaires concentrating on their study practices, conceptions of knowledge, expectations, and evaluation of the instruction in the Department of Psychology. The results showed that seven out of 28 students expressed a dissonant study orchestration. The results further showed that students’ individual study orchestrations were not related to study success. A comparison between advanced medical and psychology students showed that although the profiles of dissonant study orchestrations were technically similar among medical and psychology students, content analyses revealed that reasons for the development of dissonant study orchestrations were different.     

Investigating the impact of teacher education strategies on preservice teachers' TPACK

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers' perceptions of the support their teacher education programs provide for developing their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The research was conducted with 215 preservice teachers in the last year of teacher education programs and teaching certificate programs in three universities in Turkey. Data sources were the synthesis of qualitative evidence (SQD) scale that was validated in the Turkish context as part of this study and the TPACK-practical scale. The strategies investigated in the SQD-model included: using teacher educators as role models; reflecting on the role of technology in education; learning how to use technology by design; collaboration with peers; scaffolding authentic technology experiences; and providing continuous feedback. The linear regression analysis revealed a positive relation between teacher education strategies and preservice teachers' TPACK. Reflection and teacher educators' as role models were the most frequently used teacher education strategies in teacher education programs included in this study. Results provided recommendations for further research on the connection between the teacher education strategies and the development of preservice teachers' TPACK in teacher education programs.     

Exploration of individual study paths of successful first-year students: an interview study

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The aim of the present study was to explore the individual profiles of successful, rapidly progressing first-year university students. The participants...     

Cultural policy indicators: reflections on the role of official statisticians in the politics of data collection

Cultural policy indicators are being constructed in many countries today as a consequence of reforms in public governance aimed at increasing cost-effectiveness and general efficiency as well as transparency and accountability. Drawing upon a project of the Finnish Ministry of Education, the article discusses the responsibilities of official statisticians in regard to the collection and processing of data to be used as “evidence” of the outcomes of cultural policies. Official statisticians are bound by an ethical code that emphasises the objective and independent production of information on different aspects of the economy and society. Direct involvement with the construction of cultural policy indicators may threaten the integrity of official statisticians, because such work would require close collaboration with administrators and decision makers who have their own particular interests in the cultural field. Moreover, the system of cultural statistics, which was established internationally at the turn of the 1970s, has a history of providing justification for public cultural policies. The Finnish project, in which two officials from Statistics Finland functioned in the role of commissioned experts, was officially about societal effectiveness indicators but was extended to encompass arguments for cultural policy. The final report even went as far as to propose that cultural considerations could be mainstreamed through indices and evaluation schemes covering all policy sectors. The article shows how easily official statisticians are drawn into the politics of data collection in the field of culture even when precautions are in place. The article concludes that the code of ethics of official statisticians serves as an indispensable buffer against partiality, but, to put this ideal fully into action, cultural statisticians need to develop reflexive practices that combine an applied approach and critical discourse. Such practices are similar to those outlined recently by cultural policy researchers.