Promoting Programming Learning. Engagement, Automatic Assessment with Immediate Feedback in Visualizations

The skill of programming is a key asset for every computer science student. Many studies have shown that this is a hard skill to learn and the outcomes of programming courses have often been substandard. Thus, a range of methods and tools have been developed to assist students’ learning processes. One of the biggest fields in computer science education is the use of visualizations as a learning aid and many visualization based tools have been developed to aid the learning process during last few decades. Studies conducted in this thesis focus on two different visualizationbased tools TRAKLA2 and ViLLE. This thesis includes results from multiple empirical studies about what kind of effects the introduction and usage of these tools have on students’ opinions and performance, and what kind of implications there are from a teacher’s point of view. The results from studies in this thesis show that students preferred to do web-based exercises, and felt that those exercises contributed to their learning. The usage of the tool motivated students to work harder during their course, which was shown in overall course performance and drop-out statistics. We have also shown that visualization-based tools can be used to enhance the learning process, and one of the key factors is the higher and active level of engagement (see. Engagement Taxonomy by Naps et al., 2002). The automatic grading accompanied with immediate feedback helps students to overcome obstacles during the learning process, and to grasp the key element in the learning task. These kinds of tools can help us to cope with the fact that many programming courses are overcrowded with limited teaching resources. These tools allows us to tackle this problem by utilizing automatic assessment in exercises that are most suitable to be done in the web (like tracing and simulation) since its supports students’ independent learning regardless of time and place. In summary, we can use our course’s resources more efficiently to increase the quality of the learning experience of the students and the teaching experience of the teacher, and even increase performance of the students. There are also methodological results from this thesis which contribute to developing insight into the conduct of empirical evaluations of new tools or techniques. When we evaluate a new tool, especially one accompanied with visualization, we need to give a proper introduction to it and to the graphical notation used by tool. The standard procedure should also include capturing the screen with audio to confirm that the participants of the experiment are doing what they are supposed to do. By taken such measures in the study of the learning impact of visualization support for learning, we can avoid drawing false conclusion from our experiments. As computer science educators, we face two important challenges. Firstly, we need to start to deliver the message in our own institution and all over the world about the new – scientifically proven – innovations in teaching like TRAKLA2 and ViLLE. Secondly, we have the relevant experience of conducting teaching related experiment, and thus we can support our colleagues to learn essential know-how of the research based improvement of their teaching. This change can transform academic teaching into publications and by utilizing this approach we can significantly increase the adoption of the new tools and techniques, and overall increase the knowledge of best-practices. In future, we need to combine our forces and tackle these universal and common problems together by creating multi-national and multiinstitutional research projects. We need to create a community and a platform in which we can share these best practices and at the same time conduct multi-national research projects easily.

Conditions for EFL learning and professional development : Finland-Swedish learner and teacher perspectives

Engelskans dominerande roll som internationellt språk och andra globaliseringstrender påverkar också Svenskfinland. Dessa trender påverkar i sin tur förutsättningarna för lärande och undervisning i engelska som främmande språk, det vill säga undervisningsmålen, de förväntade elev- och lärarroller, materialens ändamålsenlighet, lärares och elevers initiala erfarenheter av engelska och engelskspråkiga länder. Denna studie undersöker förutsättningarna för lärande och professionell utveckling i det svenskspråkiga nybörjarklassrummet i engelska som främmande språk. Utgångsläget för 351 nybörjare i engelska som främmande språk och 19 av deras lärare beskrivs och analyseras. Resultaten tyder på att engelska håller på att bli ett andraspråk snarare än ett traditionellt främmande språk för många unga elever. Dessa elever har också goda förutsättningar att lära sig engelska utanför skolan. Sådan var dock inte situationen för alla elever, vilket tyder på att det finns en anmärkningsvärd heterogenitet och även regional variation i det finlandssvenska klassrummet i engelska som främmande språk. Lärarresultaten tyder på att vissa lärare har klarat av att på ett konstruktivt sätt att tackla de förutsättningar de möter. Andra lärare uttrycker frustration över sin arbetssituation, läroplanen, undervisningsmaterialen och andra aktörer som kommer är av betydelse för skolmiljön. Studien påvisar att förutsättningarna för lärande och undervisning i engelska som främmande språk varierar i Svenskfinland. För att stöda elevers och lärares utveckling föreslås att dialogen mellan aktörer på olika nivå i samhället bör förbättras och systematiseras.

Kasvatus on kasvamaan saattamista. Kasvatusfilosofinen tutkimus J. A. Hollon sivistyskasvatusajattelusta

Tutkimukseni käsittelee J. A. Hollon (1885–1967) sivistyskasvatusajattelua. Hollo oli monitoiminen kulttuurivaikuttaja, joka toimi kriitikkona, kirjailijana, suomentajana ja kasvatustieteilijänä. Häntä voidaan pitää J. V. Snellmanin rinnalla yhtenä merkittävimpänä suomalaisena kasvatusajattelijana. Hänen kasvatusajattelustaan ei ole kuitenkaan aiemmin tehty väitöskirjatason tutkimusta. Tutkimuskysymykseni ovat seuraavat: 1. Millainen on Hollon näkemys kasvatuksesta, kasvatuksen maailmasta ja kasvatuksen teoriasta? 2. Mikä on Hollon käsitys kasvattajan ja kasvatettavan merkityksestä kasvatustapahtumassa? 3. Mitä asioita sisältyy sivistyskasvatuksen eli kasvamaan saattamisen elementteihin? Tutkimukseni on kasvatusfilosofinen. Tutkimusmenetelmäni on systemaattinen analyysi ja lähestymistapani on hermeneuttinen. Tutkimukseni pääaineistona ovat Hollon kasvatusta koskevat kirjoitukset, joista tärkeimmät ovat Mielikuvitus ja sen kasvattaminen I-II (1918, 1919), Kasvatuksen maailma (1927), Kasvatuksen teoria (1927) ja Itsekasvatus ja elämisen taito (1931). Hollon mukaan kasvatuksen maailma on suhteellisen itsenäinen elämänmuoto (Lebensform), jolla on oma ontologinen erityislaatunsa, so. sui generis. Kasvatusoppia ei pidä redusoida psykologiaan tai filosofiaan, koska sillä tavoin se menettää tieteellisen itsenäisyytensä. Hollon mielestä kasvatuksen teoria on teoria käytäntöä varten. Kasvatuksen teorian luomisessa tulee ottaa huomioon kasvatuksen maailman erityispiirteenä oleva kokonaisvaltainen näkökulma ja elämän palvelemisen päämäärä. Kasvattaminen on aina myös eettistä toimintaa. Kasvatuksen tavoitteena on hyvä elämä. Hollon mukaan kasvattajan tehtävä on luoda kasvatettavalleen eheä sivistyksellinen perusta. Tämä voi tapahtua vain laaja-alaisen sivistyskasvatuksen avulla, jonka runkona on antiikin humanistinen sivistysperinne. Sivistyskasvatukseen kuuluvat älyllinen, eettinen, uskonnollinen, esteettinen ja toiminnallinen kasvatus. Mielikuvituksen avulla kasvattaja voi yhdistää kasvatuksen osa-alueet eheäksi kokonaisuudeksi. Ilman mielikuvitusta erilaiset ilmiöt olisivat pirstaleisina, toisistaan erillisinä osina ihmisen mielessä. Opettajan persoona on merkittävä tekijä kasvatuksessa. Se tulee ottaa huomioon opettajankoulutuksen eli kasvattajan kasvattamisen valinnoissa. Opettaja-kasvattajan on tärkeää opiskella laajasti humanistisia opintoja, koska kasvatuksessa on kysymys ihmisestä. Ennen kaikkea kasvattajan eettistä ja esteettistä kykyä tulee harjoituttaa. Näin hän oppii käyttämään mielikuvitustaan kasvatustapahtumassa siten, että hän tulee kasvatuksellisesti näkeväksi kasvamaan saattajaksi, joka ymmärtää sen, mikä kussakin tilanteessa vaatii erityistä huomiota. Tutkimukseni osoittaa, että Hollon henkitieteellinen ja fenomenologis-hermeneuttinen kasvatusnäkemys ei ole vain vastaparadigma empiiriselle kasvatustieteelle, vaan myös nykyajan teknis-taloudelliselle eetokselle, joka yhtäältä uhkaa välineellistää kasvatuksen ja toisaalta väärällä tavoin tieteellistää kasvatuksen tutkimuksen. Tämän takia kasvatusoppi kysymyksineen uhkaa siirtyä kasvatuskeskustelussa syrjemmälle, jopa hävitä kokonaan. Kasvatuksen ja kasvatuksen tutkimuksen vaarana on niiden liiallinen sitouttaminen tuotantoelämän jatkeeksi, minkä seurauksena on ihmisyyden toteuttamisen vaikeutuminen. Tutkimuksen lopuksi esitän ideaalikoulunäkemykseni, joka perustuu osittain Hollon kasvatusnäkemykseen. Hollon näkemys on yhä ajankohtainen ja merkittävä kontribuutio kasvatusta, sen teoriaa ja käytäntöä koskevaan keskusteluun.

Individual learner, peer group and teacher roles in fostering autonomous language-learning behaviour

Julkaisumaa: Bulgaria

Opettajattareksi sopimaton? Diskurssianalyysi seminaarien naisoppilaiden poikkeavuuden tulkinnasta ja kontrollista Suomessa 1860 -1960 -luvuilla

Tutkimus sijoittuu konstruktivismin ja kasvatuksen historian alueille. Tutkin diskurssianalyysin keinoin miten opettajiksi opiskelevien tyttö- ja naisoppilaiden poikkeavuuden tulkintoja on luotu, ylläpidetty ja uusinnettu 1860-1960 -lukujen Suomessa. Huomio on siinä miten opettajaseminaarien tyttö- ja naisoppilaiden käyttäytymistä on tulkittu poikkeavaksi opettajakokousten pöytäkirjojen teksteissä; miten poikkeavuutta on luotu diskursseilla - ja miten diskurssit ja niiden tulkinnat ovat olleet sukupuolitettuja. Tutkimusaiheeseen diskurssianalyysi soveltuu niin metodiksi kuin viitekehykseksikin, koska poikkeavuuden, normaalin ja epänormaalin rakentuminen tapahtuu kielenkäytön, vuorovaikutuksen ja sosiaalisen toiminnan keskinäisissä suhteissa. Pyrkimyksenä on tietoisuuden lisääminen niistä prosesseista, joissa näitä poikkeavuuden tulkintoja luotiin. Aineistoni koostuu rangaistustapauksista, jotka ovat kirjattu viiden opettajaseminaarin opettajakokousten pöytäkirjoihin vuosien 1863 - 1962 välisenä aikana. Rikkomustapauksia on yhteensä 1436, joista 194 tyttöoppilaiden tekemiä. Ajanjakso alkaa kansalaisyhteiskunnan ja kansanopetuksen synnystä ja päättyy peruskoulun alkuvaiheisiin. Vaikka seminaarien virallinen ja julkinen säännöstö oli kohdistettu yhtälailla nais- ja miesoppilaille, sisälsivät diskursseihin kätkeytyvät normistot seminaarien tyttö- ja naisoppilaille omat erilliset rajat, joiden ylittäminen teki heistä poikkeavia. Tyttö- ja naisoppilaiden poikkeavuus opettajaseminaareissa on ollut poikkeamista Jumalan säätämästä järjestyksestä, jossa naisella on määrätty paikkansa, asemansa ja tehtävänsä. Kun poika- ja miesoppilaiden normeista ja seminaarien säännöistä poikkeamisia on käsitelty opettajakokouksissa rikoksina, on tyttö- ja naisoppilaiden rikkeitä pyritty näkemään sairauden kaltaisina moraalia ja ymmärrystä heikentävinä tiloina. Ennen kaikkea ne ovat olleet rikkomuksia oikeanlaista naiseutta eli ”tosinaiseuden” mallia vastaan. Naisopettajuuden malli kansan äitinä ja mallikansalaisena sekä nöyrän, alistuvan, vaatimattoman ja säyseän ”tosinaisen” mallit olivat lähes yhdenmukaiset ja ne ovat luoneet ja ylläpitäneet tyttö- ja naisoppilaiden toiseutta. Diskurssit, joilla tätä toiseutta ylläpidettiin, elivät opettajaseminaarien pöytäkirjateksteissä liki sadan vuoden ajan vain painotuserojen muuttuessa hieman. Toivon työni herättävän pohdintaa siitä, mitä saattaisivat olla oman aikamme vastaavanlaiset itsestäänselvyydet, jotka otamme annettuina ja jotka kyseenalaistamattomina totuuksina rajoittavat niin kasvatettavien kuin kasvattajienkin omaksi itsekseen tulemista.

University students’ regulation of learning and text processing – examples from medical and teacher education

The general aim of the thesis was to study university students’ learning from the perspective of regulation of learning and text processing. The data were collected from the two academic disciplines of medical and teacher education, which share the features of highly scheduled study, a multidisciplinary character, a complex relationship between theory and practice and a professional nature. Contemporary information society poses new challenges for learning, as it is not possible to learn all the information needed in a profession during a study programme. Therefore, it is increasingly important to learn how to think and learn independently, how to recognise gaps in and update one’s knowledge and how to deal with the huge amount of constantly changing information. In other words, it is critical to regulate one’s learning and to process text effectively. The thesis comprises five sub-studies that employed cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental designs and multiple methods, from surveys to eye tracking. Study I examined the connections between students’ study orientations and the ways they regulate their learning. In total, 410 second-, fourth- and sixth-year medical students from two Finnish medical schools participated in the study by completing a questionnaire measuring both general study orientations and regulation strategies. The students were generally deeply oriented towards their studies. However, they regulated their studying externally. Several interesting and theoretically reasonable connections between the variables were found. For instance, self-regulation was positively correlated with deep orientation and achievement orientation and was negatively correlated with non-commitment. However, external regulation was likewise positively correlated with deep orientation and achievement orientation but also with surface orientation and systematic orientation. It is argued that external regulation might function as an effective coping strategy in the cognitively loaded medical curriculum. Study II focused on medical students’ regulation of learning and their conceptions of the learning environment in an innovative medical course where traditional lectures were combined wth problem-based learning (PBL) group work. First-year medical and dental students (N = 153) completed a questionnaire assessing their regulation strategies of learning and views about the PBL group work. The results indicated that external regulation and self-regulation of the learning content were the most typical regulation strategies among the participants. In line with previous studies, self-regulation wasconnected with study success. Strictly organised PBL sessions were not considered as useful as lectures, although the students’ views of the teacher/tutor and the group were mainly positive. Therefore, developers of teaching methods are challenged to think of new solutions that facilitate reflection of one’s learning and that improve the development of self-regulation. In Study III, a person-centred approach to studying regulation strategies was employed, in contrast to the traditional variable-centred approach used in Study I and Study II. The aim of Study III was to identify different regulation strategy profiles among medical students (N = 162) across time and to examine to what extent these profiles predict study success in preclinical studies. Four regulation strategy profiles were identified, and connections with study success were found. Students with the lowest self-regulation and with an increasing lack of regulation performed worse than the other groups. As the person-centred approach enables us to individualise students with diverse regulation patterns, it could be used in supporting student learning and in facilitating the early diagnosis of learning difficulties. In Study IV, 91 student teachers participated in a pre-test/post-test design where they answered open-ended questions about a complex science concept both before and after reading either a traditional, expository science text or a refutational text that prompted the reader to change his/her beliefs according to scientific beliefs about the phenomenon. The student teachers completed a questionnaire concerning their regulation and processing strategies. The results showed that the students’ understanding improved after text reading intervention and that refutational text promoted understanding better than the traditional text. Additionally, regulation and processing strategies were found to be connected with understanding the science phenomenon. A weak trend showed that weaker learners would benefit more from the refutational text. It seems that learners with effective learning strategies are able to pick out the relevant content regardless of the text type, whereas weaker learners might benefit from refutational parts that contrast the most typical misconceptions with scientific views. The purpose of Study V was to use eye tracking to determine how third-year medical studets (n = 39) and internal medicine residents (n = 13) read and solve patient case texts. The results revealed differences between medical students and residents in processing patient case texts; compared to the students, the residents were more accurate in their diagnoses and processed the texts significantly faster and with a lower number of fixations. Different reading patterns were also found. The observed differences between medical students and residents in processing patient case texts could be used in medical education to model expert reasoning and to teach how a good medical text should be constructed. The main findings of the thesis indicate that even among very selected student populations, such as high-achieving medical students or student teachers, there seems to be a lot of variation in regulation strategies of learning and text processing. As these learning strategies are related to successful studying, students enter educational programmes with rather different chances of managing and achieving success. Further, the ways of engaging in learning seldom centre on a single strategy or approach; rather, students seem to combine several strategies to a certain degree. Sometimes, it can be a matter of perspective of which way of learning can be considered best; therefore, the reality of studying in higher education is often more complicated than the simplistic view of self-regulation as a good quality and external regulation as a harmful quality. The beginning of university studies may be stressful for many, as the gap between high school and university studies is huge and those strategies that were adequate during high school might not work as well in higher education. Therefore, it is important to map students’ learning strategies and to encourage them to engage in using high-quality learning strategies from the beginning. Instead of separate courses on learning skills, the integration of these skills into course contents should be considered. Furthermore, learning complex scientific phenomena could be facilitated by paying attention to high-quality learning materials and texts and other support from the learning environment also in the university. Eye tracking seems to have great potential in evaluating performance and growing diagnostic expertise in text processing, although more research using texts as stimulus is needed. Both medical and teacher education programmes and the professions themselves are challenging in terms of their multidisciplinary nature and increasing amounts of information and therefore require good lifelong learning skills during the study period and later in work life.

In search of good relationships to music : understanding aspiration and challenge in developing music school teacher practices

This study focuses on teacher practices in publicly funded music schools in Finland. As views on the aims of music education change and broaden, music schools across Europe share the challenge of developing their activities in response. In public and scholarly debate, there have been calls for increased diversity of contents and concepts of teaching. In Finland, the official national curriculum for state-funded music schools builds on the ideal that teaching and learning should create conditions which promote ‘a good relationship to music’. The meaning of this concept has been deliberately left open in order to leave room for dialogue, flexibility, and teacher autonomy. Since what is meant by ‘good’ is not defined in advance, the notion of ‘improving’ practices is also open to discussion. The purpose of the study is to examine these issues from teachers’ point of view by asking what music school teachers aim to accomplish as they develop their practices. Methodologically, the study introduces a suggestion for building empirical research on Alperson’s ‘robust’ praxial approach to music education, a philosophical theory which is strongly committed to practitioner perspectives and musical diversity. A systematic method for analysing music education practices, interpretive practice analysis, is elaborated with support from interpretive research methods originally used in policy analysis. In addition, the research design shows how reflecting conversations (a collaborative approach well-known in Nordic social work) can be fruitfully applied in interpretive research and combined with teacher inquiry. Data have been generated in a collaborative project involving five experienced music school teachers and the researcher. The empirical material includes transcripts from group conversations, data from teacher inquiry conducted within the project, and transcripts from follow-up interviews. The teachers’ aspirations can be understood as strivings to reinforce the connection between musical practices and various forms of human flourishing such that music and flourishing can sustain each other. Examples from their practices show how the word ‘good’ receives its meaning in context. Central among the teachers’ concerns is their hope that students develop a free and sustainable interest in music, often described as inspiration. I propose that ‘good relationships to music’ and ‘inspiration’ can be understood as philosophical mediators which support the transition from an indeterminate ‘interest in music’ towards specific ways in which music can become a (co-)constitutive part of living well in each person’s particular circumstances. Different musical practices emphasise different aspects of what is considered important in music and in human life. Music school teachers consciously balance between a variety of such values. They also make efforts to resist pressure which might threaten the goods they think are most important. Such goods include joy, participation, perseverance, solid musical skills related to specific practices, and a strong sense of vitality. The insights from this study suggest that when teachers are able to create inspiration, they seem to do so by performing complex work which combines musical and educational aims and makes general positive contributions to their students’ lives. Ensuring that teaching and learning in music schools remain as constructive and meaningful as possible for both students and teachers is a demanding task. The study indicates that collaborative, reflective and interdisciplinary work may be helpful as support for development processes on both individual and collective levels of music school teacher practices.