Education policy and 21st Century skills

This article discusses how educational institutions should prepare their students for 21st Century job market.

Low-fidelity bench models for basic surgical skills training during undergraduate medical education

It is remarkable the reduction in the number of medical students choosing general surgery as a career. In this context, new possibilities in the field of surgical education should be developed to combat this lack of interest. In this study, a program of surgical training based on learning with models of low-fidelity bench is designed as a complementary alternative to the various methodologies in the teaching of basic surgical skills during medical education, and to develop personal interests in career choice.

Basic skills for outpatient surgery in medical graduation

Medical students must have domain of basic surgery skills before starting more advanced stages of surgical learning. The authors present a practical and reproducible system of operative techniques circuit, idealized and often applied to the fourth year medical students of a private educational institution. This method has enabled accurate assessment of students' skills, improving their performance and preparing them for more advanced stages of the surgical learning.

Construction and validation of a surgical skills assessment tool for general surgery residency program

Objective: To develop and validate an instrument for measuring the acquisition of technical skills in conducting operations of increasing difficulty for use in General Surgery Residency (GSR) programs. Methods: we built a surgical skills assessment tool containing 11 operations in increasing levels of difficulty. For instrument validation we used the face validaity method. Through an electronic survey tool (Survey MonKey(r)) we sent a questionnaire to Full and Emeritus members of the Brazilian College of Surgeons - CBC - all bearers of the CBC Specialist Title. Results: Of the 307 questionnaires sent we received 100 responses. For the analysis of the data collected we used the Cronbach's alpha test. We observed that, in general, the overall alpha presented with values near or greater than 0.70, meaning good consistency to assess their points of interest. Conclusion: The evaluation instrument built was validated and can be used as a method of assessment of technical skill acquisition in the General Surgery Residency programs in Brazil.

Device model for training of laparoscopic surgical skills

The authors present a especially constructed, lightweight, collapsible, portable and low cost model device for skills training in laparoscopic.

Maintaining Children’s Finnish Language Skills in an English Language Setting. A Study of Scottish-Finnish Families Living in Scotland

Tutkielmassa käsitellään kaksikielistä lastenkasvatusta ja siinä käytettäviä kasvatus-strategioita, erityisesti ns. OPOL-strategiaa, eli yksi henkilö – yksi kieli -strategiaa (one person – one language). Tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millä tavoin kaksikielisen perheen vanhemmat voivat tukea vähemmistökielen oppimista sellaisessa ympäristössä, jossa kielen oppimista ei tueta kodin ulkopuolella. Tutkielman alussa määrittelen keskeiset termit. Useita aiheeseen liittyviä termejä määritellään yleiskielessä eri tavoin jo termistä kaksikielisyys lähtien, joten termien rajaaminen tämän työn tarkoituksen mukaan oli tarpeen. Määrittelen myös tekstissä esiintyvät kaksikielisyyden eri tyypit ja taustat, kuten myös eri strategiat, joita kaksikielisessä kasvatuksessa voidaan käyttää. Tämän jälkeen esittelen aikaisempia kaksikielisyystutkimuksia sekä käsittelen OPOL-strategiaan liittyviä käytännön ongelmia, sekä näiden ongelmien mahdollisia ratkaisuja. Lopuksi käsittelen tutkimuksen empiiristä osiota, joka koostui sähköisestä kyselylomakkeesta sekä haastatteluista. Tutkimuksen kohderyhmä koostui Skotlannissa asuvista skotlantilais-suomalaisista perheistä, jotka pyrkivät kasvattamaan lapsistaan kaksikielisiä. Tutkimus tehtiin kahdessa osassa: ensimmäisen osan kyselylomakkeeseen vastasi 17 eri puolilla Skotlantia asuvaa suomenkielistä vanhempaa, ja toisessa osassa haastateltiin 10:tä Edinburghin ja Glasgow’n alueilla asuvaa kaksikielistä (suomi-englanti) perhettä. Molemmissa osioissa keskityttiin siihen, millä tavoin perheet tukevat lasten suomen kielen taitoa ja miten suomenkielistä syötettä yritetään lisätä. Tutkimuksen tuloksista käy ilmi, että Skotlannissa asuvat suomenkieliset vanhemmat ovat hyvin motivoituneita tukemaan lastensa kielellistä kehitystä eri tavoin, mm. lukemalla kirjoja, katsomalla elokuvia ja käymällä Suomi-koulussa. Suurin osa perheistä myös käy Suomessa säännöllisesti, mikä näyttäisikin olevan yksi keskeisimmistä kaksikielisyyttä tukevista tekijöistä. Eri perheiden lapset olivat saavuttaneet eri tasoja suomen kielessä, mikä viittaa siihen, ettei lapsen kielitaito ole seurausta ainoastaan OPOL-strategian tarkasta seuraamisesta, vaan siihen vaikuttavat myös monet muut tekijät.

The Changing Role of the CIO: Developing Skills by Means of Postgraduate Educational Programs

The objective of this research was to identify the skills and competences required by Chief Information Officers in their professional life and whether these skills can be developed by means of postgraduate education pro-grams. Although the changing role of the CIO has been studied for years by the academia, the ways of necessary skills development have not been paid significant attention. In order to obtain understanding of the topic and its main issues qualitative method was implemented and questionnaires and interviews were conducted with CIOs and other C-level executives to-gether with analysis of the curricula of postgraduate educational programs in the field of business designed for executives. Business skills and knowledge along with developed communication and leadership skills are among the most discussed and required from CIOs. According to the collected data and its further analysis, although the most important competences of an IT executive are technological, the im-portance of business related skills is emphasized by the majority of re-spondents and supported by the existing theory. Postgraduate educational programs have curricula that can develop the required competences, alt-hough not equally.

Adult education policy in the European Union during the Lisbon decade : the shift to vocational adult learning and work skills matching

This doctoral dissertation investigates the adult education policy of the European Union (EU) in the framework of the Lisbon agenda 2000–2010, with a particular focus on the changes of policy orientation that occurred during this reference decade. The year 2006 can be considered, in fact, a turning point for the EU policy-making in the adult learning sector: a radical shift from a wide--ranging and comprehensive conception of educating adults towards a vocationally oriented understanding of this field and policy area has been observed, in particular in the second half of the so--called ‘Lisbon decade’. In this light, one of the principal objectives of the mainstream policy set by the Lisbon Strategy, that of fostering all forms of participation of adults in lifelong learning paths, appears to have muted its political background and vision in a very short period of time, reflecting an underlying polarisation and progressive transformation of European policy orientations. Hence, by means of content analysis and process tracing, it is shown that the new target of the EU adult education policy, in this framework, has shifted from citizens to workers, and the competence development model, borrowed from the corporate sector, has been established as the reference for the new policy road maps. This study draws on the theory of governance architectures and applies a post-ontological perspective to discuss whether the above trends are intrinsically due to the nature of the Lisbon Strategy, which encompasses education policies, and to what extent supranational actors and phenomena such as globalisation influence the European governance and decision--making. Moreover, it is shown that the way in which the EU is shaping the upgrading of skills and competences of adult learners is modeled around the needs of the ‘knowledge economy’, thus according a great deal of importance to the ‘new skills for new jobs’ and perhaps not enough to life skills in its broader sense which include, for example, social and civic competences: these are actually often promoted but rarely implemented in depth in the EU policy documents. In this framework, it is conveyed how different EU policy areas are intertwined and interrelated with global phenomena, and it is emphasised how far the building of the EU education systems should play a crucial role in the formation of critical thinking, civic competences and skills for a sustainable democratic citizenship, from which a truly cohesive and inclusive society fundamentally depend, and a model of environmental and cosmopolitan adult education is proposed in order to address the challenges of the new millennium. In conclusion, an appraisal of the EU’s public policy, along with some personal thoughts on how progress might be pursued and actualised, is outlined.

Forest contractors entrepreneurial skills development in Finland by Forest Expertise and Innovation Network : project in 2009 - 2013

Julkaisumaa: 578 NO NOR Norja

Visual Arts Data Skills for Researchers (VADS4R)

Workshop at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Interpersonal understanding and theory of mind

En populär idé inom dagens filosofiska och psykologiska forskning om interpersonlig förståelse, är idén att vi använder en kognitiv funktion (eller metod) för att förstå andra människor, en så kallad ”theory of mind” funktion. Denna idé förekommer inom ett brett vetenskapligt fält så som inom evolutionspsykologi, inom teorier om barns utveckling, inom teorier om autism, samt inom emotionsfilosofi och moralfilosofi. Avsikten i denna studie är att se närmare på vissa inflytelserika filosofiska och psykologiska teorier om interpersonlig förståelse, teorier som också har en stark koppling till empirisk forskning. I arbetet hävdar Gustafsson att teorierna ifråga avspeglar vissa klassiska, filosofiskt problematiska, antaganden. Dessa antaganden präglar teorierna ifråga samt påverkar hur de empiriska undersökningarna byggs upp och hur resultat tolkas.

“Why share in uncertain conditions?” Factors of individual level knowledge sharing in offshoring cases

The objective of this Master’s Thesis was to research factors influencing and enhancing individual level knowledge sharing in offshore projects which often involve uncertainty of the knowledge provider’s own future. The purpose was to understand why individuals are willing to share their knowledge under these kinds of circumstances. In addition the goal was to identify obstacles to interpersonal knowledge sharing in order to understand how to mitigate their influence. The research was conducted as a qualitative multiple case study in a global IT company, and the data was gathered using semi-structured personal theme interviews within two different offshore projects. In order to a gain a wider perspective on the matter, some management representatives were interviewed as well. Data was analysed with the inductive content analysis method. Results of the study indicate that individuals are willing to share their knowledge despite of uncertainty if they are motivated, if they are provided with opportunities to do so, and if they have skills, competence and experience to share their knowledge. A strong knowledge sharing culture in the organization or team also works as a strong incentive for individual level knowledge sharing. The findings suggest that even under uncertain conditions it is possible to encourage people to share their knowledge if uncertainty can be decreased to a bearable level, a robust and personal connection and relationship between the knowledge provider and acquirer can be created and suitable opportunities for knowledge sharing are provided. In addition, based on the results the support and commitment of management and HR in addition to favourable environmental circumstances play an essential role in building a bridge between the knowledge provider and acquirer in order to create a virtual environment and space for knowledge sharing: Ba.

Johtajan vuorovaikutusosaaminen suomalais-venäläisessä esimies-alaissuhteessa

The participants in the dynamic Finnish working environment are expected to display communication skills, which is emphasized when different cultures meet. The objective of this thesis was to study the required interpersonal communication competence of leaders in a Finnish-Russian superior-subordinate relationship. The leadership was approached from a communicational perspective where leadership emerges in a dyadic relationship between leader and subordinate. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study. The data was gathered from interviews in the target organization. Four superiors and five of their subordinates were interviewed. The qualitative data gathered from the interviews was analyzed by theory-driven content analysis. The representative data was organized and coded in order to establish the main categories, which form a basis of the conclusions of the thesis. Interpersonal communication competence has a significant role alongside substance in leadership. The superiors in the workplace perceive communication as contextual. The findings indicate that there are certain tensions in the relationship between the superiors and their subordinates. The tensions are described as distance, collectiveness and emotions, and verbal expression and understanding. Leadership communication competence is about finding a balance between the tensions based on cultural differences. From the interpersonal communication research tradition point of view, the efficient and appropriate communication competence in this context consists of the knowledge of tensions and challenges, as well as the ability to manage cultural tensions and the motivation to react positively to cultural differences.