Scenarios of quality assurance of stakeholder relationships in Finnish higher education institutions

Although the role and significance of the external stakeholders of higher education institutions has grown in recent years, quality assurance of stakeholder relationships remains a new phenomenon in the management practices of higher education institutions and in higher education research. Based on interviews and expert panel data, this article analyses the internal and external stakeholders’ perceptions of scenarios of the quality assurance of stakeholder relationships in Finnish higher education institutions. It especially focuses on exploring how institutions can balance internal and external stakeholders’ perspectives with regard to quality assurance. The results show that an essential challenge for Finnish higher education institutions is to develop flexible quality assurance practices capable of balancing the academic goals of the institutions and the needs of the external stakeholders. This also requires seeking balance between the centralised coordination and the differentiated practices of disciplines and academic units inside institutions.     

University teachers＇ approaches to teaching and their pedagogical use of ICTs： A comparative case study of Finland,Japan and India

The purpose of this study was to explore what salient characteristics can be found in some university teachers＇ approaches to teaching in Finland, Japan and India, and in what ways university teachers in Finland, India and Japan use ICTs （information and communication technologies） in their own teaching. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate what ICT applications these same teachers use in their teaching. The data were collected via an electronic survey and interviews. The participants （N=21） were university teachers from Finland （N=8）, Japan （N=I0） and India （N=3）. Their approaches to teaching were explored by applying the ATI （approaches to teaching inventory） and its modified version focusing on the use of ICTs in teaching. The study reported in this paper was a pilot study, thus the results are based on the limited number of respondents. The ATI and ATI ICT subscales and ICT inventory applied in this study have been confirmed to be valid. The university teachers in Japan and Finland differed in their approaches to teaching： The Finnish teachers scored higher on the CCSF （conceptual change orientated, student-focused） approach to teaching than the Japanese teachers, while the Japanese teachers scored higher on the ITTF （information transmitting, teacher-focused） approach to teaching. Two Indian teachers were classified as having a teacher-focused approach to teaching, while the third was classified as having a student-focused approach to teaching. The teachers＇ differences in their use of ICTs related more to their disciplinary status than to their cultural background.     

Discriminatory power of water polo game-related statistics at the 2008 Olympic Games

The aims of this study were (1) to compare water polo game-related statistics by context (winning and losing teams) and sex (men and women), and (2) to identify characteristics discriminating the performances for each sex. The game-related statistics of the 64 matches (44 men's and 20 women's) played in the final phase of the Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008 were analysed. Unpaired t-tests compared winners and losers and men and women, and confidence intervals and effect sizes of the differences were calculated. The results were subjected to a discriminant analysis to identify the differentiating game-related statistics of the winning and losing teams. The results showed the differences between winning and losing men's teams to be in both defence and offence, whereas in women's teams they were only in offence. In men's games, passing (assists), aggressive play (exclusions), centre position effectiveness (centre shots), and goalkeeper defence (goalkeeper-blocked 5-m shots) predominated, whereas in women's games the play was more dynamic (possessions). The variable that most discriminated performance in men was goalkeeper-blocked shots, and in women shooting effectiveness (shots). These results should help coaches when planning training and competition.     

Use of Social Networking Sites by Academic Librarians in Six Selected States of Nigeria

The attractiveness of social networking sites (SNSs) has extended to almost all professionals in numerous human organizations including the library. Librarians as a result of this development are now making use of these sites to connect to other libraries and librarians both within and outside their environment. However, it is observed that the use and benefits derived from social networking sites by Nigerian librarians, generally, and those in academic libraries, particularly, has not been well documented. It is against this backdrop that this study examined the use of social networking sites to both the libraries and the librarians in selected academic libraries in six Nigerian States. A survey research design approach was adopted. The simple random study drew upon 200 academic librarians from academic libraries across six selected States in Nigeria. Five research questions were raised and answered by the study. The results demonstrate that Facebook and Twitter are mostly use by academic librarians. Academic librarians are making use of SNSs on a weekly basis and partially on a daily basis. Many potential benefits of SNSs were indicated both to the librarians and their libraries such as creating opportunity to connect with people across the globe, which includes those that have never been seen and those that one is not sure of coming in contact with. It was also found that SNSs give opportunity for academic libraries to incorporate SNSs as a means of creating more interactive user centered library and information services. Examples of the defects identified associated with SNSs include sexual harassment, cybercrime, fraud, and spreading of spam. It is expected that the outcomes of this study will serve as pioneer data upon which future related studies will be anchored.     

A comparative analysis of primary teacher professionalism in England and Finland

Policy‐makers' conceptions of teacher professionalism currently differ markedly in England and Finland. In England they are shaped by agendas associated with the drive to raise standards and ‘commercialized professionalism’ whilst in Finland they are influenced by notions of ‘teacher empowerment’. This article analyses findings on the theme of teacher professionalism derived from re‐interviewing a sample of English and Finnish teachers in 2001 as a follow‐up to earlier ethnographic research in six schools in each country during 1994–1996. Issues of professionalism are addressed through three broad themes: the impact of curriculum and pedagogical reforms; working together to implement these reforms; and accountability and control. It is argued that in each country teachers' conceptions of their professionalism were undergoing reconstruction. These conceptions were shaped by past and present ideology, policy and practice and displayed multiple and situational dimensions.     

Factors related to study success in engineering education

Recent studies on student learning in higher education have paid attention to the relationships between characteristics of the learning environment and students' study orientations and study success. The purpose of the present paper is to examine these relationships in university level engineering education. The data were collected from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, by means of an Internet survey (n=394). Grade point average, credits per semester and students' qualitative evaluation of their learning outcomes were used as indicators of study success. The findings of the study indicate that students' perceptions of their learning environment were related to their study orientations which, in turn, were related to study success. Having a deep study strategy was the most important predictor of study success. Having a surface strategy, doubt about one's abilities and lack of regulation were factors negatively related to study success. Meaning-oriented and self-regulated students using a deep strategy showed the best success in their studies and externally regulated students using a surface strategy the worst. The findings of the study suggest that the learning environments in Lappeenranta University of Technology encourage deep learning.     

Perception and Use of YouTube by Music Lecturers and Librarians in Selected Tertiary Institutions in Kwara State,Nigeria

This study examined the music lecturers and librarians use and perception of YouTube in selected Kwara State tertiary institutions. Survey approach was adopted to conduct the study. The sample comprised 35 respondents (20 librarians and 15 music lecturers). Three research questions were answered while data were analyzed using percentage, frequency count, and cross tabulation. YouTube was used by the music lecturers mostly for teaching, research and learning, enhancing learning experience, and engaging students with the contents of music lessons. Librarians on the other hand use YouTube mostly as reference point for events and occurrences, teaching tool for library instruction; and for communicating other libraries.     

Promoting University and Industry Links at the Regional Level: Comparing China’s Reform and International Experience

Abstract

This paper intends to learn from international experiences in order to facilitating China’s ongoing regional university transformation with an ultimate goal to enhance the role of university in regional economic development and innovation. In so doing, this paper compares major models of universities of applied sciences (UAS) around the world from the perspective of the Triple Helix Model with an emphasis on the nature of university-industry relation implied by each model, and then exploring their relevance for China’s UASs transformation. It is concluded that the Finnish model is the most relevant to China. By comparing the Finnish and Chinese practices, a number of recommendations are solicited to Chinese policy-makers.     

Validation of portable 2D force binding systems for cross-country skiing

The aim of the present study was to design, construct and scientifically validate a two-dimensional force measurement binding system for cross-country skiing. The system consists of two force measurement bindings. One binding was designed for analysing classic skiing (vertical and anterior–posterior [along the ski] force components) and the other one for skate (freestyle) skiing (vertical and medio-lateral [transverse to the ski] force components). Validation was accomplished using a three-step process: (1) accuracy tests for the sensors in two temperatures, (2) sport-specific imitation jump test on standard force plates in a laboratory and (3) comparing the system against force measurement reference systems that are currently used when skiing on snow. During sport-specific imitation jumps, differences in peak forces and impulses between the classic binding and the reference systems ranged from 8.0 to 19.9 % and were two to three times greater compared to differences between the skate binding and the reference systems (range ?5.9 to 5.5 %). However, high similarity coefficients were observed with both bindings (classic binding 0.990–0.996, skate binding 0.996–0.999) compared to the reference systems. Based on these results, the skate binding was shown to be fully valid for use in field measurements of skate skiing, whereas some improvements have to be performed in the construction and sensor placements for the classic binding (vertical as well as anterior–posterior force component).     

Sex-Role Stereotypes and Causal Attributions for Success and Failure in Motor Performance

This experiment investigated the relationship between sex-role stereotypes and causal attributions. Eighty fourth-grade boys and girls competed at a motor skill task against either boys or girls—either winning or losing. Subsequently, subjects assigned causality of their success or failure to various attributional factors. The data confirmed the following hypothesis derived from the literature on the sex-role stereotypes: Boys are less likely to claim the lack of their own abilities and the presence of the opponents' (girls') abilities as causes of their failures when they lose to girls than when they lose to boys. Girls showed a tendency (nonsignificant) to accept the lack of their abilities and the presence of the opponents' (boys') abilities as causes of their failures to a greater extent after losing to boys than after losing to girls. The results further revealed that mere performance against competitors of the same sex increased boys' stereotypes about their superiority over girls.