Laatutyöhön sitoutumisen edellytykset ammattikorkeakoulussa

The goal of this research was to establish the necessary conditions under which individuals are prepared to commit themselves to quality assurance work in the organisation of a Polytechnic. The conditions were studied using four main concepts: awareness of quality, commitment to the organisation, leadership and work welfare. First, individuals were asked to describe these four concepts. Then, relationships between the concepts were analysed in order to establish the conditions for the commitment of an individual towards quality assurance work (QA). The study group comprised the entire personnel of Helsinki Polytechnic, of which 341 (44.5%) individuals participated. Mixed methods were used as the methodological base. A questionnaire and interviews were used as the research methods. The data from the interviews were used for the validation of the results, as well as for completing the analysis. The results of these interviews and analyses were integrated using the concurrent nested design method. In addition, the questionnaire was used to separately analyse the impressions and meanings of the awareness of quality and leadership, because, according to the pre-understanding, impressions of phenomena expressed in terms of reality have an influence on the commitment to QA. In addition to statistical figures, principal component analysis was used as a description method. For comparisons between groups, one way variance analysis and effect size analysis were used. For explaining the analysis methods, forward regression analysis and structural modelling were applied. As a result of the research it was found that 51% of the conditions necessary for a commitment to QA were explained by an individual’s experience/belief that QA was a method of development, that QA was possible to participate in and that the meaning of quality included both product and process qualities. If analysed separately, other main concepts (commitment to the organisation, leadership and work welfare) played only a small part in explaining an individual’s commitment. In the context of this research, a structural path model of the main concepts was built. In the model, the concepts were interconnected by paths created as a result of a literature search covering the main concepts, as well as a result of an analysis of the empirical material of this thesis work. The path model explained 46% of the necessary conditions under which individuals are prepared to commit themselves to QA. The most important path for achieving a commitment stemmed from product and system quality emanating from the new goals of the Polytechnic, moved through the individual’s experience that QA is a method of the total development of quality and ended in a commitment to QA. The second most important path stemmed from the individual’s experience of belonging to a supportive work community, moved through the supportive value of the job and through affective commitment to the organisation and ended in a commitment to QA. The third path stemmed from an individual’s experiences in participating in QA, moved through collective system quality and through these to the supportive value of the job to affective commitment to the organisation and ended in a commitment to QA. The final path in the path model stemmed from leadership by empowerment, moved through collective system quality, the supportive value of the job and an affective commitment to the organisation, and again, ended in a commitment to QA. As a result of the research, it was found that the individual’s functional department was an important factor in explaining the differences between groups. Therefore, it was found that understanding the processing of part cultures in the organisation is important when developing QA. Likewise, learning-teaching paradigms proved to be a differentiating factor. Individuals thinking according to the humanistic-constructivistic paradigm showed more commitment to QA than technological-rational thinkers. Also, it was proved that the QA training program did not increase commitment, as the path model demonstrated that those who participated in training showed 34% commitment, whereas those who did not showed 55% commitment. As a summary of the results it can be said that the necessary conditions under which individuals are prepared to commit themselves to QA cannot be treated in a reductionistic way. Instead, the conditions must be treated as one totality, with all the main concepts interacting simultaneously. Also, the theoretical framework of quality must include its dynamic aspect, which means the development of the work of the individual and learning through auditing. In addition, this dynamism includes the reflection of the paradigm of the functions of the individual as well as that of all parts of the organisation. It is important to understand and manage the various ways of thinking and the cultural differences produced by the fragmentation of the organisation. Finally, it seems possible that the path model can be generalised for use in any organisation development project where the personnel should be committed.

Laadukasta yliopisto-opetusta kehittämässä : Laadukkaan yliopisto-opetuksen kehittäminen ja yliopistopedagogisen koulutuksen yhteys opetuksen kehittämiseen Helsingin yliopiston opettajilla

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the development of high-quality university teaching among the teachers of the University of Helsinki. Furthermore, the relation of university pedagogical training to development of teaching was analyzed. This study introduces a new perspective to the research of quality of university teaching by considering quality from the teaching development perspective. The individual level examination was done from teacher's perspective. The development of high-quality university teaching was approached through three factors of teaching development defined by Biggs (2003). These factors are 1) the level of thinking about teaching on which the teaching development is based on (can also be called the quality model), 2) the methods for and 3) the impediments to teaching development. The research of Trigwell and Prosser (1996), Lindblom-Ylänne, Nevgi and Postareff (2004) and Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne and Nevgi (2007) and the ideas of Ramsden (1992) have been central sources to this study. Methods. This study was a survey study. The data was collected with an electronic questionnaire in the spring of 2007. The sample consisted of 655 person of which some had and some had not university pedagogical training. Total of 251 answered the study. The data was mainly analyzed with SPSS statistical programme. Item analysis, principal component analysis, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests, correlation and crosstabulation were the methods used to analyze the data. Results and conclusions. According to the results it seems that the teachers of the University of Helsinki have good basis for developing high-quality university teaching. The 3rd level of thinking about teaching, which emphasizes student-centred features, could be identified on majority of the teachers. The use of teaching development methods was comprehensive. Most frequently used methods were related to the enhancement of content knowledge. In general the impediments to teaching development were not considered to be very significant. The most significant impediments were the factors related to lack of appreciation of teaching and factors related to lack of time meant for the planning and developing of teaching. Differences were found according to sex, teaching experience, degree, position and faculty. This study also showed that university pedagogical training seems to have a positive relation to the development of high-quality university teaching among the teachers of University of Helsinki. According to the results when the amount of teachers university pedagogical training increased, the 3rd level of thinking about teaching could be identified more often. Teachers also used more often teaching development methods related to cooperation and active participation and enhancement of pedagogical skills. Furthermore, they considered the factors related to lack of pedagogical skills and motivation to be lesser impediments to teaching development.

Kivaa ja hyödyllistä, mutta jo se riittää : Yläasteen kielikylpyoppilaiden käsityksiä ruotsinkielisestä kielikylpyopetuksesta Helsingissä

The aim of this study was to find out how immersion students experience immersion education, how they feel about the implementation of immersion education methods and what role immersion plays in immersion students’ lives outside the school context. In addition, the influence of sex, grade level, school and type of immersion education on students’ perceptions was studied. The population included all students at the lower secondary level in Helsinki who participated in Swedish immersion education during 2002–2003. The sample consisted of 128 students who represented two different forms of immersion: 47% of the students had previously participated in early total immersion while 53 % of the students had taken part in early partial immersion. The data were gathered through a questionnaire and interviews. All 128 students answered the questionnaire, and 10 students were chosen to focus interviews through purposive sampling. In addition, students’ parents were invited to fill in a questionnaire where students’ background information was requested. The data were collected during the spring of 2003. Principal Component Analysis and one-way variance analysis were used as statistical analysis methods. Also frequencies, average, correlations and cross tabs were studied. In the PCA a right-angled varimax-rotation was performed separately to every thematic entity that arose from the theoretical background. Sum variables were formed from the Principal Components by summing up all the items that received over .400 charges for the specific Principal Component. Significance testing of the mean was performed with F and t-tests. Results indicate that immersion students in lower secondary school experience immersion quite diversely as a whole. Students are satisfied with the fact that they are in the immersion class but not with the amount of teaching in Swedish. Students feel it is very important and useful to learn Swedish bearing in mind their future studies and working life. The students estimate their language skills to be very high. Yet they prefer using Finnish during classes. The fact that teachers use Swedish does not considerably affect how well the students learn the factual content in various subjects, especially if the student knows Swedish well. Theoretical subjects seemed to cause most problems. Swedish played only a very small part in students’ lives outside the school context and it was used merely when travelling abroad and in different kinds of guiding situations. Unless the students were talked to in Swedish, they kept on speaking Finnish. When asked about students’ experiences no statistically significant differences between sexes were found in this study. On the contrary, in some cases their grade level but especially their school and form of immersion had clear statistically significant differences on students’ perceptions.

The effects of human induced disturbances on the sediment geochemistry of Baltic Sea embayments with a focus on eutrophication history

Historical sediment nutrient concentrations and heavy-metal distributions were studied in five embayments in the Gulf of Finland and an adjacent lake. The main objective of the study was to examine the response of these water bodies to temporal changes in human activities. Sediment cores were collected from the sites and dated using 210Pb and 137Cs. The cores were analyzed for total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic phosphorus (OP), inorganic phosphorus (IP), biogenic silica (BSi), loss on ignition (LOI), grain size, Cu, Zn, Al, Fe, Mn, K, Ca, Mg and Na. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to summarize the trends in the geochemical variables and to compare trends between the different sites. The links between the catchment land use and sediment geochemical data were studied using a multivariate technique of redundancy analysis (RDA). Human activities produce marked geochemical variations in coastal sediments. These variations and signals are often challenging to interpret due to various sedimentological and post-depositional factors affecting the sediment profiles. In general, the sites studied here show significant upcore increases in sedimentation rates, TP and TN concentrations. Also Cu, which is considered to be a good indicator of anthropogenic influence, showed clear increases from 1850 towards the top part of the cores. Based on the RDA-analysis, in the least disturbed embayments with high forest cover, the sediments are dominated by lithogenic indicators Fe, K, Al and Mg. In embayments close to urban settlement, the sediments have high Cu concentrations and a high sediment Fe/Mn ratio. This study suggests that sediment accumulation rates vary significantly from site to site and that the overall sedimentation can be linked to the geomorphology and basin bathymetry, which appear to be the major factors governing sedimentation rates; i.e. a high sediment accumulation rate is not characteristic either to urban or to rural sites. The geochemical trends are strongly site specific and depend on the local geochemical background, basin characteristics and anthropogenic metal and nutrient loading. Of the studied geochemical indicators, OP shows the least monotonic trends in all studied sites. When compared to other available data, OP seems to be the most reliable geochemical indicator describing the trophic development of the study sites, whereas Cu and Zn appear to be good indicators for anthropogenic influence. As sedimentation environments, estuarine and marine sites are more complex than lacustrine basins with multiple sources of sediment input and more energetic conditions in the former. The crucial differences between lacustrine and estuarine/coastal sedimentation environments are mostly related to Fe. P sedimentation is largely governed by Fe redox-reactions in estuarine environments. In freshwaters, presence of Fe is clearly linked to the sedimentation of other lithogenic metals, and therefore P sedimentation and preservation has a more direct linkage to organic matter sedimentation.

FTIR-spektroskopia kasviuutteiden analysoinnissa

FTIR-spektroskopia (Fourier-muunnosinfrapunaspektroskopia) on nopea analyysimenetelmä. Fourier-laitteissa interferometrin käyttäminen mahdollistaa koko infrapunataajuusalueen mittaamisen muutamassa sekunnissa. ATR-liitännäisellä varustetun FTIR-spektrometrin käyttö ei edellytä juuri näytteen valmistusta ja siksi menetelmä on käytössä myös helppo. ATR-liitännäinen mahdollistaa myös monien erilaisten näytteiden analysoinnin. Infrapunaspektrin mittaaminen onnistuu myös sellaisista näytteistä, joille perinteisiä näytteenvalmistusmenetelmiä ei voida käyttää. FTIR-spektroskopian avulla saatu tieto yhdistetään usein tilastollisiin monimuuttuja-analyyseihin. Klusterianalyysin avulla voidaan spektreistä saatu tieto ryhmitellä samanlaisuuteen perustuen. Hierarkkisessa klusterianalyysissa objektien välinen samanlaisuus määritetään laskemalla niiden välinen etäisyys. Pääkomponenttianalyysin avulla vähennetään datan ulotteisuutta ja luodaan uusia korreloimattomia pääkomponentteja. Pääkomponenttien tulee säilyttää mahdollisimman suuri määrä alkuperäisen datan variaatiosta. FTIR-spektroskopian ja monimuuttujamenetelmien sovellusmahdollisuuksia on tutkittu paljon. Elintarviketeollisuudessa sen soveltuvuutta esimerkiksi laadun valvontaan on tutkittu. Menetelmää on käytetty myös haihtuvien öljyjen kemiallisten koostumusten tunnistukseen sekä öljykasvien kemotyyppien havaitsemiseen. Tässä tutkimuksessa arvioitiin menetelmän käyttöä suoputken uutenäytteiden luokittelussa. Tutkimuksessa suoputken eri kasvinosien uutenäytteiden FTIR-spektrejä vertailtiin valikoiduista puhdasaineista mitattuihin FTIR-spektreihin. Puhdasaineiden FTIR-spektreistä tunnistettiin niiden tyypilliset absorptiovyöhykkeet. Furanokumariinien spektrien intensiivisten vyöhykkeiden aaltolukualueet valittiin monimuuttuja-analyyseihin. Monimuuttuja-analyysit tehtiin myös IR-spektrin sormenjälkialueelta aaltolukualueelta 1785-725 cm-1. Uutenäytteitä pyrittiin luokittelemaan niiden keräyspaikan ja kumariinipitoisuuden mukaan. Keräyspaikan mukaan ryhmittymistä oli havaittavissa, mikä selittyi vyöhykkeiden aaltolukualueiden mukaan tehdyissä analyyseissa pääosin kumariinipitoisuuksilla. Näissä analyyseissa uutenäytteet pääosin ryhmittyivät ja erottuivat kokonaiskumariinipitoisuuksien mukaan. Myös aaltolukualueen 1785-725 cm-1 analyyseissa havaittiin keräyspaikan mukaan ryhmittymistä, mitä kumariinipitoisuudet eivät kuitenkaan selittäneet. Näihin ryhmittymisiin vaikuttivat mahdollisesti muiden yhdisteiden samanlaiset pitoisuudet näytteissä. Analyyseissa käytettiin myös muita aaltolukualueita, mutta tulokset eivät juuri poikenneet aiemmista. 2. kertaluvun derivaattaspektrien monimuuttuja-analyysit sormenjälkialueelta eivät myöskään muuttaneet tuloksia havaittavasti. Jatkotutkimuksissa nyt käytettyä menetelmää on mahdollista edelleen kehittää esimerkiksi tutkimalla monimuuttuja-analyyseissa 2. kertaluvun derivaattaspektreistä suppeampia, tarkkaan valittuja aaltolukualueita.

Jos olisin viisas niin siivoisin : Lasten luovat prosessit päiväkodissa

It has been found usually to talk in the early childhood education in connection with the creativity about arts and skills and about play. In this treatise, the creativity is approached besides play but also from the point of view of the creativity of the everyday. The starting point for the study is the view according to which the creativity is complex interaction between a creative person and an environment. The theoretical body of the study is the Componential theory of creativity of Amabile (1996). The process which is open and product which is new and suitable or acceptable were defined creative. In the opinion of many researchers, the creativity is a phenomenon that has determined in a certain time and place so the creativity is examined from the point of view of the social constructionism. As creative processes in the day nursery it has been defined pretend play, child´s involvement and children´s agentive perception which is based on the Children´s agentive perception theory of Reunamo (2007). The purpose of the study is to clarify how the child's personal factors and the social environment affect the creative processes of children in the day nursery. This Master's thesis is based on the Children' s agentive perception uncovered study led by Jyrki Reunamo (2010) which was carried out in the spring of 2010 in Keski-Uusimaa and in Hämeenlinna and Taiwan. From the study, a name has also been used "on the sources of Orientation", a research project and development project. The study includes the children's evaluation sector, the observation sector, the children's interview sector and the evaluation sector of the pedagogic environment. 891 Children 1-7 year-old by age participated in the study. All the sectors which belong to the study of Reunamo were utilized in this treatise and the Finnish day nurseries or preschool groups which had participated in the study were marked off as the target group. The main component analysis, sum variables, the correlation coefficients, Mann-Whitney s U-test and Kruskall-Wallas test were used for the statistical examination of the quantitative material. In this treatise it was noticed, both the personal properties of the child and a social environment, that they affected all the examined creative processes which also had a significant connection with each other statistically. The definition of creativity was filled best by the participative answers. However, the number of the participative answers was only 8% in the questions concerning adults. That raised the question whether an attempt should be made to have effect so that the children's better participation also in the interaction with the adults would be possible in the educational culture of the day nursery. In the further study, the conscious building of the social environment which supports the creativity from a social constructionism point of view could indeed be an interesting task. The treatise is suitable for an examination of the interaction between the child's person and a social environment especially from the point of view of the creativity.