Activating instruction: How to foster study and thinking skills in higher education

New instructional procedures have been developed and applied at the University of Helsinki, Department of Psychology since 1986. The aim of these procedures has been to enhance effective study skills. The idea is to stimulate active learning in students by so called activating instruction, which is theoretically based on a combination of Vygotsky’s ideas, applied cognitive science, and process-oriented instruction. In many courses, students have been able to choose a preferred form of instruction among the new and the traditional methods. A six-year longitudinal study was conducted in order to see, what kinds of choices psychology students (N=114) made and how these choices were connected with their academic progress. On the basis of student’s evaluations, the new methods differed significantly from traditional methods. Students associated the development of study skills and understanding more often with activating instruction than with traditional courses. The number of activating courses taken was related to success in final exam and thesis writing. Those who participated in activating instruction studied slower during the first three years of their studying, but were more successful in the long term.     

Innovators and innovated: Newspapers and the postdigital future beyond the “death of print”

Along with other cultural organizations, newspapers, through waves of digital disruption, have become subject to a dominant narrative of crisis. But newspapers have long participated in change. A constructivist approach, qualified by consideration of media materiality, draws attention to diverse but essential processes of innovation around them. We see a contraflow of migration from digital to print, opening up a shared media space; bonding strategies are bringing multimedia to ink on paper, while bridging via boundary objects such as QR (Quick Response) codes are connecting the two. Among other initiatives, development of automation of news production and experiments with transparency are further evidence of an active embrace of change by newspapers that calls into question the discourse on their demise. This analysis inductively develops a nuanced account of the role of the newspaper as an object and as an institution. It suggests a hybrid, multifaceted, enduring presence of print in the complex media ecology of the future.     

Global and local priorities in higher education policies: a headache at the national level?

In November 2001 the Finnish Ministry of Education published a working group report on the internationalisation strategy for higher education, and shortly after another report concentrating on the local dimensions and effects of higher education. In the era of internationalisation and globalisation, local concerns seem to be so great that the Ministry intends to add a third mission in the University Act along with the traditional quests of research and teaching. Thus, in the future, Finnish universities are obliged to act in collaboration with their local environment. This paper analyses the proposals and argumentation of the two reports, aiming, in particular, at discovering the intersections and contact surfaces of the global and local. Finnish developments and discussion will be analysed against the ideas of glonacal agency heuristic presented by Marginson and Rhoades.     

National Evaluation of Bologna Implementation in Finland: Procedures and outcomes

Finland has performed, as one of the first Bologna countries, a national evaluation of the outcomes of the implementation of the Bologna process. The evaluation was organized by the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council and performed by an independent expert group during 2010. In general, the reform was conceived as a significant development project which was carried out in a well-organized manner in a relatively short period of time. A closer look at the details show, however, that many of the objectives of the reform were not achieved. This article describes the background and procedures of the evaluation and discusses the main results and conclusions for Finnish higher education policy. The reception, success and implications of the evaluation will also be discussed.

     

A different glimpse into mobilities: On the interrelations between daily spatial mobility and social mobility

We explore the link between daily spatial mobility and social mobility, taking changes in the contemporary labor market and family as examples. We propose a new theoretical approach to mobility that is defined as a productive force of social labor. Analyzing the relationship between daily spatial mobility and social mobility, we show that spatial mobility has become a strategy of compensation for the lack of social mobility. Explanations for the increase in daily spatial mobility are also provided. Lastly, we reveal how spatial mobility has the capacity to produce major social change, taking the family as an example.     

Bicycle model on climate change education: presenting and evaluating a model

Abstract

This article presents and evaluates a model made for climate change education – the bicycle model. The model was created based on an extensive literature review, from which, essential aspects of climate change education were drawn out. The bicycle model is a representation of holistic climate change education and emphasizes the importance of the following aspects: knowledge, thinking skills, values, identity, worldview, action, motivation, participation, future orientation, hope and other emotions, and operational barriers. In this study, the model is also evaluated by climate education researchers and educators. The evaluation was done through documented group discussions and an electronic questionnaire. The findings suggest that the model is useful in developing climate change education policy, research and practice. The findings also give insight into expert's perceptions on climate education. Finally, the article discusses how this model could be developed further.     

Pre-service Teachers’ Knowledge and Perceptions of the Impact of Mitigative Climate Actions and Their Willingness to Act

Research in Science Education - A 44-item questionnaire was created to examine pre-service teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of the impact of mitigative climate change actions and how...