Teachers' attitudes to and beliefs about web-based Collaborative Learning Environments in the context of an international implementation

"Fifty-six teachers, from four European countries, were interviewed to ascertain their attitudes to and beliefs about the Collaborative Learning Environments (CLEs) which were designed under the Innovative Technologies for Collaborative Learning Project. Their responses were analysed using categories based on a model from cultural-historical activity theory [Engestrom, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding.- An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit; Engestrom, Y., Engestrom, R., & Suntio, A. (2002). Can a school community learn to master its own future? An activity-theoretical study of expansive learning among middle school teachers. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.), Learning for life in the 21st century. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers]. The teachers were positive about CLEs and their possible role in initiating pedagogical innovation and enhancing personal professional development. This positive perception held across cultures and national boundaries. Teachers were aware of the fact that demanding planning was needed for successful implementations of CLEs. However, the specific strategies through which the teachers can guide students' inquiries in CLEs and the assessment of new competencies that may characterize student performance in the CLEs were poorly represented in the teachers' reflections on CLEs. The attitudes and beliefs of the teachers from separate countries had many similarities, but there were also some clear differences, which are discussed in the article. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved."

Collaborative Design in a Virtual Learning Environment : Three Design Experiments in Textile Teacher Education

The aim of the study was to analyze and facilitate collaborative design in a virtual learning environment (VLE). Discussions of virtual design in design education have typically focused on technological or communication issues, not on pedagogical issues. Yet in order to facilitate collaborative design, it is also necessary to address the pedagogical issues related to the virtual design process. In this study, the progressive inquiry model of collaborative designing was used to give a structural level of facilitation to students working in the VLE. According to this model, all aspects of inquiry, such as creating the design context, constructing a design idea, evaluating the idea, and searching for new information, can be shared in a design community. The study consists of three design projects: 1) designing clothes for premature babies, 2) designing conference bags for an international conference, and 3) designing tactile books for visually impaired children. These design projects constituted a continuum of design experiments, each of which highlighted certain perspectives on collaborative designing. The design experiments were organized so that the participants worked in design teams, both face-to-face and virtually. The first design experiment focused on peer collaboration among textile teacher students in the VLE. The second design experiment took into consideration end-users needs by using a participatory design approach. The third design experiment intensified computer-supported collaboration between students and domain experts. The virtual learning environments, in these design experiments, were designed to support knowledge-building pedagogy and progressive inquiry learning. These environments enabled a detailed recording of all computer-mediated interactions and data related to virtual designing. The data analysis was based on qualitative content analysis of design statements in the VLE. This study indicated four crucial issues concerning collaborative design in the VLE in craft and design education. Firstly, using the collaborative design process in craft and design education gives rise to special challenges of building learning communities, creating appropriate design tasks for them, and providing tools for collaborative activities. Secondly, the progressive inquiry model of collaborative designing can be used as a scaffold support for design thinking and for reflection on the design process. Thirdly, participation and distributed expertise can be facilitated by considering the key stakeholders who are related to the design task or design context, and getting them to participate in virtual designing. Fourthly, in the collaborative design process, it is important that team members create and improve visual and technical ideas together, not just agree or disagree about proposed ideas. Therefore, viewing the VLE as a medium for collaborative construction of the design objects appears crucial in order to understand and facilitate the complex processes in collaborative designing.

Yhteisöllisyys voimavarana yliopisto-opetuksen ja -opiskelun kehittämisessä

A sense of community as a resource for developing university teaching and learning The aim of this doctoral research was to determine how a sense of community can be a resource for developing university teaching and learning. The theoretical background is linked to social sciences, social psychology, university pedagogy and educational sciences. The thesis is comprised of two separate studies. Study I consisted of an action research project in which a model of cooperatively developing a teaching and learning culture was created and tested. The focus of study I was the university pedagogy programme of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. The results demonstrated that the theoretical framework and the methods of cooperative learning provide useful tools for developing an academic learning and teaching culture. The approach helps to create a benevolent learning atmosphere. The cooperative learning culture used in the action research project reflected the traditional academic learning culture and also caused a collision between the two cultures. The aim of study II was to determine how Open University students and Bachelor’s degree students experience their teaching-learning environment and the importance of the learning community and peer support to their studies. The results indicated that, with the exception of support from other students, the Open University students experienced their teaching-learning environments on average more positively than the Bachelor’s degree students. According to the Open University students, their own motivation and interest was the most important factor that enhanced studying. Furthermore, the most common factors delaying their studies were their life situation and a lack of time. The sense of community and social relations mainly promoted studying. Open University students experienced that they were supported by their teachers, tutors, other students, the working community, family and hobbies. The research demonstrated that the methods that make good use of communal resources are negotiation of shared goals and rules, working in various small groups, emphasis on shared and individual responsibilities and assessment of the product and the process of learning. The resources of the academic community can be developed if the members of the community develop, in addition to the communal working methods, their communal sensitivity. In other words, they should have an understanding of social psychological and sociological concepts that they can use for observing communal phenomena.

Interaction in the Multicultural Classroom : Towards Culturally Sensitive Home Economics Education

Continuous growth in the number of immigrant students has changed the Finnish school environment. The resulting multicultural school environment is new for both teachers and students. In order to develop multicultural learning environments, there is a need to understand immigrant students everyday lives in school. In this study, home economics is seen as a fruitful school subject area for understanding these immigrant students lives as they cope with school and home cultures that may be very different from each other. Home economics includes a great deal of knowledge and skills that immigrant students need during their everyday activities outside of school. -- The main aim of the study is to clarify the characteristics of multicultural home economics classroom practices and the multicultural contacts and interaction that take place between the students and the teacher. The study includes four parts. The first part, an ethnographical prestudy, aims to understand the challenges of multicultural schoolwork with the aid of ethnographical fieldwork done in one multicultural school. The second part outlines the theoretical frames of the study and focuses on the sociocultural approach. The third part of the study presents an analysis of videodata collected in a multicultural home economics classroom. The teacher s and students interaction in the home economics classroom is analyzed through the concepts of the sociocultural approach and the cultural-historical activity theory. Firstly, this is done by analyzing the focusedness of the teacher s and the students actions as well as the questions presented and apparent disturbances during classroom interaction. Secondly, the immigrant students everyday experiences and cultural background are examined as they appear during discussions in the home economics lessons. Thirdly, the teacher s tool-use and actions as a human mediator are clarified during interaction in the classroom. The fourth part presents the results, according to which a practice-based approach in the multicultural classroom situation is a prerequisite for the teacher s and the students shared object during classroom interaction. Also, the practice-based approach facilitates students understanding during teaching and learning situations. Practice in this study is understood as collaborative teaching and learning situations that include 1) guided activating learning, 2) establishing connections with students everyday lives and 3) multiple tool-use. Guided activating learning in the classroom is defined as situations that occur and assignments that are done with a knowledgeable adult or peer and include action. The teacher s demonstrations during the practical part of the lessons seemed to be fruitful in the teaching and learning situations in the multicultural classroom. Establishing connections with students everyday lives motivated students to follow the lesson and supported understanding of meaning. Furthermore, if multiple tools (both psychological and material) were used, the students managed better with new and sometimes difficult concepts and different working habits, and accomplished the practical work more smoothly . The teacher s tool-use and role as a mediator of meaning are also highlighted in the data analysis. Hopefully, this study can provide a seedbed for situations in which knowledge produced together, as well as horizontally oriented tool-use, can make school-learned knowledge more relevant to immigrant students everyday lives, and help students to better cope with both classroom work and outside activities. KEY WORDS: home economics education, multicultural education, sociocultural perspective, classroom interaction, videoanalysis

Verkkokurssilla : Opiskelijoiden kokemuksia toiminnasta yhteisöllisessä oppimisprosessissa Fle2-ympäristössä ja kokemusten näkyminen toimintaan osallistumisessa

The study examines one case of students' experiences from the activity in a collaborative learning process in a networked learning environment, and explores whether or not the experiences explain the participation or lack of participation in the activities. As a research task the students' experiences in the database of the networked learning environment, participating in its construction, and the ways of working needed to build the database, were examined. To contrast the students' experiences, their actual participation in the building of the database was clarified. Based on actual participation, groups more active and more passive than average were separated, and their experiences were compared to each other. The research material was collected from the course Cognitive and Creative Processes, which was offered to studentsof the Department of Textile Teacher Education in University of Helsinki, and students of the Departments of Teacher Education Units giving textile education in Turku, Rauma and Savonlinna in the beginning of 2001. In this course, creativity was examined from a psychological and sosiocultural context with the aim of realizing a collaborative progressive inquiry process. The course was held in a network-based Future Learning Environment (Fle 2) except for the starting lecture and training the use of the learning environment. This study analyzed the learning diaries that the students had sent to the tutor once a week for four weeks, and the final thoughts written into the database of the learning environment. Content analysis was applied as the research method. The case was enriched from another point of view by examining the messages the students had written into the learning environment with the social network analysis. The theoretical base of the study looks at the research of computer-supported collaborative learning, the conceptions of learning as a process of participation and knowledge building, and the possibilities and limitations of network-based learning environments. The research results show, that both using the network-based learning environment and collaborative ways of studying were new to the students. The students were positively surprised by the feedback and support provided by the community. On the other hand, they also experienced problems with facelessness and managing the information in the learning environment. The active students seemed to be more ready for a progressive inquiry process. It can be seen from their attitudes and actions that they have strived to participate actively and invested into the process both from their own and the community's point of view. The more passive students reported their actions to get credits and they had a harder time of perceiving the thoughts presented in the net as common progression. When arranging similar courses in the future, attention should be paid to how to get the students to act in ways necessary for knowledge building, and different from more traditional ways of studying. The difficulties of students used to traditional studying methods to adapt to collaborative knowledge building were evident on the course Cognitive and Creative Processes. Keywords: computer supported collaborative learning, knowledge building, progressive Inquiry, participation

"Monesti on tullut ajateltua, että ihana, kamala kakara!" : Huomioidaanko päiväkodissa kansainvälisesti adoptoituun lapseen ja adoptioon liittyviä erityispiirteitä?

The purpose of this study was to examine the conceptions adoptive parents and kindergarten teachers have of adopted children in day care. Earlier Finnish research concerning international adoption has discussed adoption, adopted children and adoptive parents from the point of view of identity, racism and school. There has hardly been any research in Finland concerning adoption from the point of view of day care. The study focuses on how the special characteristics of adopted children are taken into consideration in day care. The ecological theory, in which a child's growth and learning environments are studied as part of the broader environment, provided the theoretical framework for the study. The study was based also on a second theory: intercultural competence or the capacity to interact with different people taking into consideration their individual characteristics and situations so that one understands and is understood. The first research problem consisted of describing the conceptions adoptive parents and day care teachers have of the special characteristics of adopted children. The second research problem was to examine adopted parents' expectations of kindergarten and of kindergarten teachers. The third research problem was to find out what kind of support day care teachers think they need when working with adopted children. The study focused on 20 adoptive parents and 15 kindergarten teachers. Research material was collected in the form of essay writings amounting to a total of 73 pages. The respondents wrote about their experiences with the help of a supporting questionnaire. The research method was qualitative and narrative. The results of the study show that adoptive parents have similar conceptions of adopted children's special characteristics concerning their character, social competence, adaptation and appearance. Adoptive parents had a better understanding of the dynamics of attachment than kindergarten teachers, in this study. When describing the special characters of adopted children, the teachers regarded adopted children in particular as needing special support. According to the results of the study, adoptive parents feel adoption matters and adoptive parenthood are something quite new and bewildering to day care teachers. Adoptive parents did not feel they got any support from the kindergarten in their parenthood. Adoptive parents regarded as particularly important the start of day care and the familiarisation process during which adopted children need time and special support due to earlier experiences of separation and abandonment. The findings of the study show that kindergarten teachers have little knowledge of adoption and the significance of adoption for a child's growth and development. Kindergarten teachers felt at a loss in dealing with adoption issues and clearly need additional support in the matter.

Moral Professionalism in Interaction : Educators' Relational Moral Voices in Urban Schools

The aim of this study was to investigate educators relational moral voices in urban schools and to listen to what they told about moral professionalism and moral practices in challenging urban schools. Their relational moral voices were investigated through the following three questions: 1. What are the educators moral voices in relation to themselves and other people? 2. What are the educators moral voices in relation to their work and society? 3. What kind of interaction process lies between the educators moral voices and the urban school context? The research data of this study were gathered in four urban schools in Jyväskylä and Helsinki. The research schools were chosen for this study according to the criteria of the international Socrates Comenius project called Leading Schools Successfully in Challenging Urban Context: Strategies for Improvement. This study formed part of this project, which investigated successful urban schools as challenging learning environments in nine European countries and explored the principals success in leadership in particular. The data, which included 37 narratively constructed interviews with four principals and key informants selected by the principals, were gathered in interviews conducted in 2006. In other words, the data comprised three interviews with each of four principals, and interviews with two teachers, two parents, and two pupils from each school. In addition, the school deacon from one school was also interviewed. Furthermore, part of the data from one of the research schools included a medium report of the school deacon s work. This study combined the case study method, the narrative approach and the critical incident technique as the methodological framework. In addition, all of these methods served as practical tools for both analyzing and reporting the data. The educators' narrations and the results of the study appear in the original articles (Hanhimäki & Tirri 2008; Hanhimäki 2008b; Hanhimäki & Tirri 2009; Hanhimäki 2008a). The educators moral voices in relation to themselves and other people emerged through the main themes of moral leadership, the development and evaluation process, moral sensitivity, gender, values, and student well-being. The educators moral voices in relation to their work and society emerged through the main themes of multiprofessional cooperation, families and parental involvement, and moral school culture. The idea of moral interaction connected moral professionalism and the methodological combination of this study, which together emphasized social interaction and the creation of understanding and meaning in this interaction. The main point of this study was to state that the educators moral voices emerged in the interaction between the educators themselves and the urban school context. In this interaction, the educators moral professionalism was constructed and shaped in relation to themselves, other people, their work and society. The loudest relational moral voices heard through the main themes were those of caring, cooperation, respect, commitment, and professionalism. When the results were compared to the codes of ethics which guided these educators moral professional work, the ethical principles and values of the codes were clearly visible in their moral practices. The loudest message from the educators narration could be summarized in the words caring, respect and cooperation: at its best, there is just a human being and a human being with caring, respect and cooperation between them. The results of this study emphasize the need for practical approaches such as case studies and the narrative approach in teacher education to encourage educators to become moral professionals capable of meeting the needs of people of varied backgrounds. In addition, opportunities for moral, religious and spiritual education should be noticed and utilized in the plural interaction of urban schools when nurturing pupils and creating a moral school culture. Furthermore, multiprofessional cooperation and parents as the school s primary cooperation partner are needed to carry out the shared duty of moral education in urban schools. Keywords: moral professionalism, educator, relational moral voice, interaction, urban school

Kotitalouden opetustilat osana kehittyvää oppimisympäristöä : asumistoiminnot ja opetussuunnitelma muutoksen määrittäjinä

Home Economics Classrooms as Part of Developing the Environment Housing Activities and Curriculums Defining Change --- The aim of the research project was to develop home economics classrooms to be flexible and versatile learning environments where household activities might be practiced according to the curriculum in different social networking situations. The research is based on the socio-cultural approach, where the functionality of the learning environment is studied specifically from an interactive learning viewpoint. The social framework is a natural starting point in home economics teaching because of the group work in classrooms. The social nature of learning thus becomes a significant part of the learning process. The study considers learning as experience based, holistic and context bound. The learning environment, i.e. home economics classrooms and the material tools there, plays a significant role in developing students skills to manage everyday life. --- The first research task was to analyze the historical development of household activities. The second research task was to develop and test criteria for functional home economics classrooms in planning both the learning environment and the students activities during lessons. The third research task was to evaluate how different professionals (commissioners, planners and teachers) use the criteria as a tool. The research consists of three parts. The first contains a historical analysis of how social changes have created tension between traditional household classrooms and new activities in homes. The historical analysis is based on housing research, regulations and instructions. For this purpose a new theoretical concept, the tension arch, was introduced. This helped in recognizing and solving problems in students activities and in developing innovations. The functionality criteria for home economics classrooms were developed based on this concept. These include technical (health, safety and technical factors), functional (ergonomic, ecological, aesthetic and economic factors) and behavioural (cooperation and interaction skills and communication technologies) criteria. --- The second part discusses how the criteria were used in renovating school buildings. Empirical data was collected from two separate schools where the activities during lessons were recorded both before and after classrooms were renovated. An analysis of both environments based on video recordings was conducted. The previously created criteria were made use of, and problematic points in functionality looked for particularly from a social interactive viewpoint. The results show that the criteria were used as a planning tool. The criteria facilitated layout and equipment solutions that support both curriculum and learning in home economics classrooms taking into consideration cooperation and interaction in the classroom. With the help of the criteria the home economics classrooms changed from closed and complicated space into integrated and open spaces where the flexibility and versatility of the learning environment was emphasized. The teacher became a facilitator and counselor instead a classroom controller. --- The third part analyses the discussions in planning meetings. These were recorded and an analysis was conducted of how the criteria and research results were used in the planning process of new home economics classrooms. The planning process was multivoiced, i.e. actors from different interest groups took part. All the previously created criteria (technical, functional and behavioural) emerged in the discussions and some of them were used as planning tools. Planning meetings turned into planning studios where boundaries between organizations were ignored and the physical learning environments were developed together with experts. The planning studios resulted in multivoiced planning which showed characteristics of collaborative and participating planning as well as producing common knowledge and shared expertise. --- KEY WORDS: physical learning environment, socio-cultural approach, tension arch, boundary crossing, collaborative planning.

Oikeustieteen ensimmäisen vuoden opiskelijoiden haasteet opiskelussa

The aim of this dissertation was to explore factors which affect first-year law students study success. A modified Biggs s 3P model was used as the theoretical framework. The model includes both personal and contextual factors in student learning. The participants were first-year law students from the academic years 2005-2008, and the data were collected through interviews, open-ended question and electronic questionnaires. Study I explored first-year law students spontaneous descriptions of their learning activities at the beginning of their studies as well as fast study pace law students who had already finished their first year. Even though, law students are selected through a demanding entrance examination, some of the beginner students mentioned using only one or very few learning activities, which were mainly non-generative strategies. On the other hand, it was typical for the fast study pace students to mention generative strategies and elements of organised effort in studying. Study II analysed the relationship between approaches to learning and study success in terms of earned study credits and grade point average among first-year law students in three years. Organised students and students applying a deep approach earned the highest number of credits and the highest grades, whereas students applying a surface approach and unorganised students applying a deep approach received the lowest number of credits and the lowest grades. The study confirms previous findings that organised students constitute the largest cluster among first-year law students. Study III explored factors affecting the study pace of law students during their first academic year. The factors mentioned by the students were classified into four categories of self-regulation: motivation, behaviour, cognition and context. The group of fast study pace students turned out to have good skills in all areas of self-regulation. Respectively, the slow study pace group showed more individual variation, and had weaknesses in one or more areas of self-regulation. In addition, students experienced, that other activities such as working affected their study pace, this could be constitute a fifth category. However, the slow and fast study pace students felt differently about work. According to the slow study pace students, work impeded their studying because it took up too much time. For their part, the fast study pace students were able to allocate their time effectively and felt working to be useful and a counterbalanced to their studying, as well as an opportunity to apply knowledge in practice. Study IV analysed differences in law students perceptions of their teaching-learning environments after three learning periods. The students perceptions were compared with pharmacy and veterinary students perceptions of their teaching-learning environments. The results showed that the law students experienced their teaching-learning environment more negatively than the pharmacy and veterinary students. The law students experienced that alignment, teaching for understanding, staff enthusiasm and support, along with constructive feedback were areas that could be developed at the Faculty. Together the four studies indicate that both law students learning skills and the teaching-learning environment could be further developed. The results imply that managing in the demanding teaching-learning environment of law requires student to effectively employ qualitative learning activities: organised studying and a deep approach to learning and good self-regulation skills. In addition to student counselling, it is important for students study success to direct the teaching-learning environment towards a more learning-focused than content-focused approach to teaching.

Kehittämistutkimus: Tieto- ja viestintätekniikkaa kemian opetukseen

The main aim of the present study was to develop information and communication technology (ICT) based chemistry education. The goals for the study were to support meaningful chemistry learning, research-based teaching and diffusion of ICT innovations. These goals were used as guidelines that form the theoretical framework for this study. This Doctoral Dissertation is based on eight-stage research project that included three design researches. These three design researches were scrutinized as separate case studies in which the different cases were formed according to different design teams: i) one researcher was in charge of the design and teachers were involved in the research process, ii) a research group was in charge of the design and students were involved in the research process, and iii) the design was done by student teams, the research was done collaboratively, and the design process was coordinated by a researcher. The research projects were conducted using mixed method approach, which enabled a comprehensive view on education design. In addition, the three central areas of design research: problem analysis, design solution and design process were included in the research, which was guided by the main research questions formed according to these central areas: 1) design solution: what kind of elements are included in ICT-based learning environments that support meaningful chemistry learning and diffusion of innovation, 2) problem analysis: what kind of new possibilities the designed learning environments offer for the support of meaningful chemistry learning, and 3) design process: what kind of opportunities and challenges does collaboration bring to the design of ICT-based learning environments? The main research questions were answered according to the analysis of the survey and observation data, six designed learning environments and ten design narratives from the three case studies. Altogether 139 chemistry teachers and teacher students were involved in the design processes. The data was mainly analysed by methods of qualitative content analysis. The first main result from the study give new information on the meaningful chemistry learning and the elements of ICT-based learning environment that support the diffusion of innovation, which can help in the development of future ICT-education design. When the designed learning environment was examined in the context of chemistry education, it was evident that an ICT-based chemistry learning environment supporting the meaningful learning of chemistry motivates the students and makes the teacher s work easier. In addition, it should enable the simultaneous fulfilment of several pedagogical goals and activate higher-level cognitive processes. The learning environment supporting the diffusion of ICT innovation is suitable for Finnish school environment, based on open source code, and easy to use with quality chemistry content. According to the second main result, new information was acquired about the possibilities of ICT-based learning environments in supporting meaningful chemistry learning. This will help in setting the goals for future ICT education. After the analysis of design solutions and their evaluations, it can be said that ICT enables the recognition of all elements that define learning environments (i.e. didactic, physical, technological and social elements). The research particularly demonstrates the significance of ICT in supporting students motivation and higher-level cognitive processes as well as versatile visualization resources for chemistry that ICT makes possible. In addition, research-based teaching method supports well the diffusion of studied innovation on individual level. The third main result brought out new information on the significance of collaboration in design research, which guides the design of ICT education development. According to the analysis of design narratives, it can be said that collaboration is important in the execution of scientifically reliable design research. It enables comprehensive requirement analysis and multifaceted development, which improves the reliability and validity of the research. At the same time, it sets reliability challenges by complicating documenting and coordination, for example. In addition, a new method for design research was developed. Its aim is to support the execution of complicated collaborative design projects. To increase the reliability and validity of the research, a model theory was used. It enables time-pound documenting and visualization of design decisions that clarify the process. This improves the reliability of the research. The validity of the research is improved by requirement definition through models. This way learning environments that meet the design goals can be constructed. The designed method can be used in education development from comprehensive to higher level. It can be used to recognize the needs of different interest groups and individuals with regard to processes, technology and substance knowledge as well as interfaces and relations between them. The developed method has also commercial potential. It is used to design learning environments for national and international market.

"Kyl mä varmaan kohta ymmärrän." : Asunnon suunnittelu -opetusohjelma oppilaiden ajattelun ja oppimisen haastajana peruskoulun kotitalousopetuksessa

"I will soon understand." The House Planning Program as an Enhancer of Pupils´ Thinking Skills and Learning in Home Economics at Comprehensive School The aim of the research was to build a study program for home economics education in order to enhance pupils´ thinking skills. The program was based on the intervention programs or strategies known as Cognitive Acceleration (CA), which are founded on the theories of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Reuven Feuerstein. In addition, Carl Bereiter s theory of knowledge building was integrated to the research. The viewpoint of home economics was based on the multidimensional foundation of home economics science, particularly household technology and house planning. I first analyzed the kind of body of knowledge home economics science and home economics education provides for enhancing thinking skills in home economics. For the study, a CATE (Cognitive Acceleration through Technology Education) program was adapted and modified and a House Planning program was created for home economics classes. The house planning program consisted of five lessons during which pupils learned how to make functional floor plans as well as choose furniture, household appliances and materials for the home. In order to obtain the required data, various classroom experiments were arranged in 2005 with grade 9 pupils at a comprehensive school in Helsinki. All the experiments were videotaped, and five hours of the videotaped material was edited and transcribed for closer examination. The material consisted of all the video-recorded activity of the selected study group. Interaction study and content analysis were used to analyze the data. Following the experiments, a small survey was conducted to solicit pupils´ and teacher´s opinions of the program. The analysis sheds light on the nature of pupils´ interaction and knowledge building in small group activity. Special attention was given to tracking pupils´ interaction during the socalled construction zone activity. The models and qualities of teacher´s aid and support during the lessons were examined as well. The results revealed the versatility of the pupils social interaction and common knowledge building that occurred during the small group activity. The pupils discussions, including their arguments, their sharing of ideas, and the multiple perspectives that emerged reflected home economics knowledge building. The construction zone activity appeared through expressions of cognitive conflict and metacognition. Cognitive conflict was evident in the pupils´ words and involved questioning, doubting and disputing. The metacognitive activity emerged by thinking aloud, choosing the strategies, and negotiating the results. The pupils also coordinated their activity, allocated the responsibility, and systematized their work. The teacher assisted by preparing new themes for the pupils and by participating in the small group work. The teacher´s help during the small group sessions strengthened the pupils activity in the construction zone. The results showed that one can utilize the wide multidisciplinary basis of home economics, which includes scientific knowledge but also the knowledge derived from practical activity and experience. In this study practical activity was undertaken as a planning project the result of which was a plan or a new vision for the house planning situation. The study showed that the House Planning program was able to enhance the pupils´ social interaction and collaboration. The learning environment challenged the pupils in a way that could be a gateway to further developing their thinking skills. The method of analysis created in the study could be a potential tool for examining social interaction, construction zone activity, and knowledge building in other learning environments as well. Key words: home economics, house planning, classroom experiment, thinking skills,cognitive conflict, metacognition, social interaction, knowledge building

Lasten sitoutuneisuus toimintaan : kvantitatiivinen havainnointitutkimus

Children s involvement is a key quality factor in Early Years Education. As a process variable it concentrates on children s actions and experiences. The involved children are operating in their zone of proximal development. The aim of this study was to find out how the children involved themselves in the Finnish day care centres. The problems of the study were: (1) how the children are involved in different situations between the hours 8.00 and 12.00, (2) how do the skills of children whose involvement level is high differ from the skills of children whose involvement level is low and (3) how do the learning environments of the children whose involvement level is high differ from the learning environments of the children whose involvement level is low? The research method was observation and children s involvement levels were assessed using LIS-YC Scale. In addition, the kindergarten teachers evaluated the children s skills and the team workers did the evaluations of the educational settings. The data used in this study was a part of the Orientaation lähteillä research. The 802 children, who took part in the study, were from 48 different groups of eight different municipalities in Central Uusimaa. There were 18358 observations of children s involvement and the quantitative data was analyzed using correlation, cross tabulation and t-test. Children s involvement was an average at a moderate level. The involvement levels were the highest during playing time and adult guided tasks and lowest during eating and basic care situations. The level of involvement was higher if the children were adaptable, proactive, self-motivated and good players. The involvement lever was lower if the children needed some special care. The children s involvement is supported if the educators had at least once a week a meeting and if children s confidence and identity construction was frequently considered in educational discussions. Furthermore, the appreciation of the ethical issues and positive atmosphere appeared to confirm the involvement. The children s involvement is decreased if the educators had been perpetually short of time or resources or there has been lack of joy and humour in the group.