Self-rating scales in the assessment of current and childhood symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a life-long condition, but because of its historical status as a self-remitting disorder of childhood, empirically validated and reliable methods for the assessment of adults are scarce. In this study, the validity and reliability of the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the Adult Problem Questionnaire (APQ), which survey childhood and current symptoms of ADHD, respectively, were studied in a Finnish sample. Methods: The self-rating scales were administered to adults with an ADHD diagnosis (n = 38), healthy control participants (n = 41), and adults diagnosed with dyslexia (n = 37). Items of the self-rating scales were subjected to factor analyses, after which the reliability and discriminatory power of the subscales, derived from the factors, were examined. The effects of group and gender on the subscales of both rating scales were studied. Additionally, the effect of age on the subscales of the WURS was investigated. Finally, the diagnostic accuracy of the total scores was studied. Results: On the basis of the factor analyses, a four-factor structure for the WURS and five-factor structure for the APQ had the best fit to the data. All of the subscales of the APQ and three of the WURS achieved sufficient reliability. The ADHD group had the highest scores on all of the subscales of the APQ, whereas two of the subscales of the WURS did not statistically differ between the ADHD and the Dyslexia group. None of the subscales of the WURS or the APQ was associated with the participant's gender. However, one subscale of the WURS describing dysthymia was positively correlated with the participant's age. With the WURS, the probability of a correct positive classification was .59 in the current sample and .21 when the relatively low prevalence of adult ADHD was taken into account. The probabilities of correct positive classifications with the APQ were .71 and .23, respectively. Conclusions: The WURS and the APQ can provide accurate and reliable information of childhood and adult ADHD symptoms, given some important constraints. Classifications made on the basis of the total scores are reliable predictors of ADHD diagnosis only in populations with a high proportion of ADHD and a low proportion of other similar disorders. The subscale scores can provide detailed information of an individual's symptoms if the characteristics and limitations of each domain are taken into account. Improvements are suggested for two subscales of the WURS.

A Guide to Disability Statistics from the National Health Interview Survey – Disability Supplement

The National Health Interview Survey - Disability supplement (NHIS-D) provides information that can be used to understand myriad topics related to health and disability. The survey provides comprehensive information on multiple disability conceptualizations that can be identified using information about health conditions (both physical and mental), activity limitations, and service receipt (e.g. SSI, SSDI, Vocational Rehabilitation). This provides flexibility for researchers in defining populations of interest. This paper provides a description of the data available in the NHIS-D and information on how the data can be used to better understand the lives of people with disabilities.

100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York City, and Boston

[From Preface] The Consumer Expenditure Survey is among the oldest publications of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With information on the expenditures, incomes, and demographic characteristics of households, the survey documents the spending patterns and economic status of American families. This report offers a new approach to the use of Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Normally, the survey presents an indepth look at American households at a specific point in time, the reference period being a calendar year. Here, the authors use consumer expenditure data longitudinally and draw on information from decennial census reports to present a 100-year history of significant changes in consumer spending, economic status, and family demographics in the country as a whole, as well as in New York City and Boston.

Lasten vaikeiden ja stressaavien tilanteiden hallinta yläkouluun siirtymisen vaiheessa

This study examined year seven students´ proactive coping, self-efficacy and social support seeking. Proactive coping was defined as a behaviour where obstacles are seen as a challenge. In proactive coping, individuals set goals, build up resources and regulate their behaviour to achieve the goals. Self-efficacy can be seen as people’s beliefs about their capabilities. Social support seeking was divided into instrumental support seeking and emotional support seeking. According to the theoretical frame of this study self-efficacy and social support seeking were seen as resources to proactive coping (Greenglass 2002). The participants were 445 year seven students (Mo= 13 years) from seven secondary schools. The data was collected in March-May 2008. The survey consisted 37 Likert-scaled items from the Proactive Coping Inventory and from the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The survey consisted of four scales: Proactive Coping, Instrumental Support Seeking, Emotional Support Seeking and General Self-Efficacy. The participants' age, gender and studying in specialist streams were asked as background information. As a result, most of the participants (62 % girls, 38 % boys) reported fairly strong proactive coping: they can see obstacles as a challenge and they set goals and regulate their behaviour to achieve the goals. Most of the participants reported that they seek instrumental and emotional support when having troubles. Girls reported more social support seeking than did boys and the mean difference was statistically significant. Most of the participants had fairly high sense of self-efficacy. However, 4 % of the participants reported that they don’t believe in their capabilities. Some of these participants reported that they neither use proactive coping nor seek informational or emotional support when having troubles. Proactive coping correlated positively with self-efficacy and with social support seeking. In this study self-efficacy and social support seeking explained 47 % of proactive coping. It was discussed that children’s high sense of self-efficacy and social relationships can act as protective factors in transition to secondary school. When supporting children’s self-efficacy and social relationships one also assists children’s proactive coping. Proactive coping can be seen to support children’s personal growth.

Mikä jatko-opiskelijaa motivoi? Tavoitteet ja tiedeyhteisö väitöskirjaprosessissa.

Motivation has an important role in academic learning for learning is regulated by motivation. Further motivation is centrally manifested by goals. Goals reflect values and regulate individual s orientation and what they strive for. In spite of the central role of motivation in academic learning, discussions on post-graduate education has somewhat overlooked motivational processes and concentrated on the excellence of performance. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of goals PhD students have and how they experience their role in their own scientific community. It was also purpose to study how these goals and experienced roles are in relation with study each other, context, possible intentions of quitting studies and prolongation of studies. Furthermore, the aim was to investigate how different postgraduates differ in terms of how they experience their learning environment. The data was collected with the From PhD students to academic experts survey (Pyhältö & Lonka, 2006) from four complementary domains: medicine, arts, psychology and education. The survey consisted of both likert-scaled items and open ended questions. The participants were 601 postgraduate students. The goals and the experienced role in scientific community were analysed in terms of qualitative content analysis. The relation between goals and experienced role and background variables were tested using ?² and the differences between different postgraduate groups using one way analysis of variances (ANOVA). The results indicated that postgraduates goals varied based on whether they brought up goals related to the product (outcome of the thesis process), the process (thesis process as whole) or both the product and the process. Product goals consisted of for example career qualification and better status as process goals consisted for example of learning and influencing ones own discipline. The experienced role of the postgraduates differed in terms of whether the conception was organised, unorganised or controversial. Both the goals and the experienced roles were in relation with study context and commitment to the studies. The different postgraduate groups also differed in terms of how they experienced their own learning environment.

Ryhmäidentiteetin mittaaminen verkkoroolipelissä World of Warcraft

The objective of the study was to explore the dimensions of group identity in the guilds of World of Warcraft. Previous research shows that social interaction has an important role in playing games for many players. Social identities are an important aspect of self-concept and since group related cues are more salient than personal clues in computer-mediated communication, the social gaming experience was approached through group identity. In the study a new scale will be developed to measure the group identity in games. Secondary goal is to study how different guild attributes affect the group identity and third goal is to explore the connection between group identity and gaming experience and amount of play. Subjects were 1203 guild members and 106 players not in a guild. The data was gathered by an Internet survey which measured group identity with nine scales, gaming experience with three scales and guild attributes with four scales. Also various background data was gathered. The construct of group identity was analyzed with explorative factor analysis. The typical experiences of group identity was analyzed with cluster analysis and effects of guild attributes with multivariate analysis of covariance. As a result of the study a new scale was developed which measured group identity on six dimensions: self-stereotyping, public and private evaluation, importance, interconnection of self and others and awareness of content. Group identity was experienced strongest in elder middle-sized guilds that had formal rules and that emphasized social interaction. The players with strong group identity had more positive gaming experience and played World of Warcraft more per week than the players who were not in a guild or identified to guild weakly. This result encourages game developers to produce environments that enhance group identity as it seems to increase the enjoyment in games. As a whole this study proposes that group identity in guilds is constructed from the same elements as in traditional groups. If this is truly the case, guild membership may have similar positive effects on individual’s mental well-being as traditional positively evaluated group memberships have.

Jaksaako opettaja kehittyä? : Ammatillisen kehityksen ja täydennyskoulutuksen merkitys opettajien työssä jaksamisessa

The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development. In addition, the study aimed at clarifying teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on work-related well-being. The theoretical starting points of the study were based on a model of burn-out (Kalimo & Toppinen1997) and a model of teachers' professional development (Niemi 1989). Present study can be seen as an independent follow-up study for a working ability project called "Uudistumisen eväät" that was followed through in Kuopio. The study was carried out in two phases. First, the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development was charted with the help of a quantitative survey study. 131 teachers participated in the survey. Some of them were from schools that participated in the working ability project and the remainder were from other schools in Kuopio. The questionnaire consisted of self-constructed instruments of burn-out and professional development. According to the results, burn-out and professional development were strongly correlated with each other. Burn-out was summed up in three factors: emotional exhaustion, feelings of depersonalization and low feelings of personal accomplishment. Professional development was summed up in four factors: personality and pedagogical skills, learning-orientation, social skills and confronting change. Personality and pedagogical skills and skills of confronting change were correlated strongest with burn-out and its symptoms. A teacher, who has not found his/her own personal way of acting as a teacher and who considers change as something negative, is more likely to become exhausted than a teacher, who has developed his/her own pedagogical identity and who regards change more positively. In the second phase of this study, teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on well-being was investigated with the help of group interviews (n=12). According to the results, the importance of in-service training was significant on the well-being of teachers. It appeared that in-service training promotes well-being by providing teachers with motivation, professional development and the possibility of taking a break from teaching and cooperating with other teachers. It has to be based on teachers' own needs. It has to be offered to teachers frequently and early enough. If teachers are already exhausted, they will neither have enough resources to participate in training, nor will they have the strength to make good use of it in practice. Both professional development and well-being are becoming more and more essential now that society is changing rapidly and the demands set on teachers are growing. Professional development can promote well-being, but are teachers too exhausted to develop themselves? Professional development demands resources and teachers may regard it as a threat and an additional strain. When the demands are so high that teachers cannot cope with them, they are likely to suffer stress and see reduction of commitment to their work and its development as a means to survive. If teachers stop caring about their work and their own development, how can we expect them to promote pupils' learning and development? It should be considered in the planning and implementation of in-service training and in arranging teachers' working conditions, that teachers have enough time and resources to develop themselves. Keywords: Teachers, burn-out, well-being, professional development, in-service training

Datorstödda studier i hälso- och socialvård : MuPSiNet-projektet

The aim of the study was to explore why the MuPSiNet project - a computer and network supported learning environment for the field of health care and social work - did not develop as expected. To grasp the problem some hypotheses were formulated. The hypotheses regarded the teachers' skills in and attitudes towards computing and their attitudes towards constructivist study methods. An online survey containing 48 items was performed. The survey targeted all the teachers within the field of health care and social work in the country, and it produced 461 responses that were analysed against the hypotheses. The reliability of the variables was tested using the Cronbach alpha coefficient and t-tests. Poor basic computing skills among the teachers combined with a vulnerable technical solution, and inadequate project management combined with lack of administrative models for transforming economic resources into manpower were the factors that turned out to play a decisive role in the project. Other important findings were that the teachers had rather poor skills and knowledge in computing, computer safety and computer supported instruction, and that these skills were significantly poorer among female teachers who were in majority in the sample. The fraction of teachers who were familiar with software for electronic patient records (EPR) was low. The attitudes towards constructivist teaching methods were positive, and further education seemed to utterly increase the teachers' readiness to use alternative teaching methods. The most important conclusions were the following: In order to integrate EPR software as a natural tool in teaching planning and documenting health care, it is crucial that the teachers have sufficient basic skills in computing and that more teachers have personal experience of using EPR software. In order for computer supported teaching to become accepted it is necessary to arrange with extensive further education for the teachers presently working, and for that further education to succeed it should be backed up locally among other things by sufficient support in matters concerning computer supported teaching. The attitudes towards computing showed significant gender differences. Based on the findings it is suggested that basic skills in computing should also include an awareness of data safety in relation to work in different kinds of computer networks, and that projects of this kind should be built up around a proper project organisation with sufficient resources. Suggestions concerning curricular development and further education are also presented. Conclusions concerning the research method were that reminders have a better effect, and that respondents tend to answer open-ended questions more verbosely in electronically distributed online surveys compared to traditional surveys. A method of utilising randomized passwords to guarantee respondent anonymity while maintaining sample control is presented. Keywords: computer-assisted learning, computer-assisted instruction, health care, social work, vocational education, computerized patient record, online survey

Perhetaustan ja sukupuolen yhteys koulunkäyntiin

Finnish education policy has aimed at providing equal educational pathways that level educational opportunities and aims at the equity of participation. Combined with the Finnish welfare state it has succeeded in sustaining social mobility. Yet the adolescents do not necessarily have equal possibilities to achieve these educational positions. Socio-economic differences in Finland are persistent and both education and poverty are still partly inherited. This thesis concentrated on prevailing socio-economic differences on school attendance and on studying the associations between family backgrounds, gender and school attendance. The key question for this thesis was formulated as: What kind of differences in school attendance there can be found among 9th graders from Helsinki according to their family background and their gender? The core data was a school-based survey carried on in Helsinki in 2004. There were two thirds of the schools of Helsinki and 2381 respondents. The questionnaire included questions on young people s school-related experiences, school attendance, school performance and their family. The analysis had three steps: after describing the respondents the associations between school attendance and family background were analyzed using MCA (Multiple Classification Analysis). Finally the associations between school attendance, family and school environment were studied using logistic regression analysis. The results showed that schooling (school attendance) was a variety of attitudes and experiences. The analysis showed also that all the family background factors had an effect on school attendance. From the family background measurements, it seems that the perceived parental support varied most with school attendance. Apart from the school environment factors, each family-related factor is statistically significantly related to two or more school attendance factors, even when adjusted with the school environment factors. There was also a gender-related difference in school attendance. Girls seem to like school attendance more than boys; they do better at school, but are also more worried about school work. Especially the expected associations with the parental educational level, but also with perceived parental support, gender and school attendance, are important results. When they are combined with the support pupils get from firm family structure and employment status it is possible to point out some factors that are relevant when discussing the ways educational achievements are moved to next generations in good and worse.

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.

Widening Perspectives of Teacher Education : Studies on theory-practice relationship, reflection, research and professional development

This dissertation examined the research-based teacher education at the University of Helsinki from different theoretical and practical perspectives. Five studies focused on these perspectives separately as well as overlappingly. Study I focused on the reflection process of graduating teacher students. The data consisted of essays the students wrote as their last assignment before graduating, where their assignment was to examine their development as researchers during their MA thesis research process. The results indicated that the teacher students had analysed their own development thoroughly during the process and that they had reflected on theoretical as well as practical educational matters. The results also pointed out that, in the students’ opinion, personally conducted research is a significant learning process. -- Study II investigated teacher students’ workplace learning and the integration of theory and practice in teacher education. The students’ interviews focused on their learning of teacher’s work prior to education. The interviewees’ responses concerning their ‘surviving’ in teaching prior to teacher education were categorized into three categories: learning through experiences, school as a teacher learning environment, and case-specific learning. The survey part of the study focused on integration of theory and practice within the education process. The results showed that the students who worked while they studied took advantage of the studies and applied them to work. They set more demanding teaching goals and reflected on their work more theoretically. -- Study III examined practical aspects of the teacher students’ MA thesis research as well as the integration of theory and practice in teacher education. The participants were surveyed using a web-based survey which dealt with the participants’ teacher education experiences. According to the results, most of the students had chosen a practical topic for their MA thesis, one arising from their work environment, and most had chosen a research topic that would develop their own teaching. The results showed that the integration of theory and practice had taken place in much of the course work, but most obviously in the practicum periods, and also in the courses concerning the school subjects. The majority felt that the education had in some way been successful with regards to integration. -- Study IV explored the idea of considering teacher students’ MA thesis research as professional development. Twenty-three teachers were interviewed on the subject of their experiences of conducting research about their own work as teachers. The results of the interviews showed that the reasons for choosing the MA thesis research topic were multiple: practical, theoretical, personal, professional reasons, as well as outside effect. The objectives of the MA thesis research, besides graduating, were actual projects, developing the ability to work as teachers, conducting significant research, and sharing knowledge of the topic. The results indicated that an MA thesis can function as a tool for professional development, for example in finding ways for adjusting teaching, increasing interaction skills, gaining knowledge or improving reflection on theory and/or practice, strengthening self-confidence as a teacher, increasing researching skills or academic writing skills, as well as becoming critical and being able to read scientific and academic literature. -- Study V analysed teachers’ views of the impact of practitioner research. According to the results, the interviewees considered the benefits of practitioner research to be many, affecting teachers, pupils, parents, the working community, and the wider society. Most of the teachers indicated that they intended to continue to conduct research in the future. The results also showed that teachers often reflected personally and collectively, and viewed this as important. -- These five studies point out that MA thesis research is and can be a useful tool for increasing reflection doing with personal and professional development, as well as integrating theory and practice. The studies suggest that more advantage could be taken of the MA thesis research project. More integration of working and studying could and should be made possible for teacher students. This could be done in various ways within teacher education, but the MA thesis should be seen as a pedagogical possibility.

Vietnamese nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment: A cross-sectional survey

This study investigated Vietnamese nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment. The study was undertaken in two phases: 1) translation and adaptation of research instrument and 2) a cross-sectional survey was followed. Despite validity issues identified, data from two valid sub-scales and structured questions provided insights into the clinical learning environment that is the environment did not operate from an adult learner philosophy or provide a student-centred environment. The results are significant for development of clinical learning environment in Vietnam and that cultural differences between populations should be carefully considered in future research.

Systematic literature review: Research on Supported Playgroups

Overview This review of research conducted with supported playgroups was prepared for the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE). The report provides a synthesis of the research on the effectiveness of supported playgroups to improve child, parent, and community outcomes and to identify key features of supported playgroups that support effective outcomes. Supported playgroups are community-based services that provide a low intensity parenting intervention, through regular group sessions for parent-child dyads. Supported playgroups target vulnerable families who may benefit from parenting support. Supported playgroups have common goals to enhance children’s early learning and parental wellbeing. Method A search strategy was devised to identify research studies, nationally and internationally, that involved parent-child group programs for families with young children, delivered under the leadership of an employed facilitator. Academic databases and other data sources were explored for studies conducted in the period from 2004 to 2014. Summary descriptions of the research studies were developed; assessment of research methodologies was made; research evidence on the effectiveness of supported playgroups to improve child, parent, and community outcomes was identified; and comparative analyses of the implementation features of supported playgroups were completed. Findings The search strategy identified 34 research publications, reporting on 29 different programs. Twenty-six of the studies report on research conducted in Australia and eight reported on research conducted in other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Three clusters of playgroups were identified: Category 1 - Standard supported playgroups; Category 2 - Mobile playgroups; Category 3 – Supported playgroups with specific interventions. The research studies identified encompassed experimental and non-experimental research designs. The studies of standard supported playgroups and mobile playgroups were most often qualitative studies and modest in scale, in terms of the number of research participants. Experimental and quasi-experimental research designs characterised the studies identified in the category of supported playgroups with specific interventions. Overall, the research studies that were categorised as supported playgroups with specific interventions provided stronger evidence for effectiveness to improve parental behaviour in ways that are known to support children’s early developmental competence. Qualitative studies, including case studies and ethnographic research, documented important features of program delivery, such as the importance of facilitators’ interpersonal skills to positive experiences for families in the playgroups; as well as the important opportunities that the playgroups afforded to vulnerable families to reduce social isolation. Conclusions The potential for supported playgroups to improve a broad range of learning and psychosocial outcomes for children and parents was suggested by many of the research studies. However, the nature of the research designs employed means that it is not possible to conclude that there is strong evidence of the impact of supported playgroups on child, parent, and community outcomes. The qualitative studies did provide rich descriptions about the implementation processes of playgroups and also captured the variability in the delivery of the playgroups in terms of who participated, local contextual factors that impacted on the playgroup experiences, and the nature of the experiences of parents within the playgroups. Research methodologies need to be employed that address the limitations of the studies to date. This would provide more defensible evidence that supported playgroups have an impact over time on outcomes for children, families, and communities. Overall, this area of research remains relatively under-evaluated in terms of rigorous research designs. The identified research studies point to some promising research directions but do not yet enable strong claims to be made about the effectiveness of the standard playgroup or mobile playgroup models to impact on parenting outcomes. Data collected from interview and survey methodologies clearly identifies that supported playgroups are highly acceptable to families. Given the popularity of supported playgroups to engage families across diverse communities, and the reported high levels of satisfaction and benefits identified within many of the research studies, it is clear that the provision of supported playgroups is fulfilling an important community need by providing support to parents with young children. However, there is a need to strengthen the evidence base that supported playgroups are an effective early parenting intervention that improves outcomes for children, parents, and communities.

Virtuaalimaailmoja valtaamassa : verkko-opetusinnovaation leviäminen koulun maantieteeseen vuosituhannen vaihteessa

Tutkimus käsittelee verkko-opetusinnovaation leviämistä perusasteen ja lukion maantieteeseen vuosina 1998–2004. Työssä sovellettiin opetusinnovaation leviämismallia ja innovaatioiden diffuusioteoriaa. Aineisto hankittiin seitsemänä vuotena kyselylomakkeilla maantieteen verkko-opetuksen edelläkävijäopettajilta, jotka palauttivat 326 lomaketta. Tutkimuksen pääongelmat olivat 1) Millaisia edellytyksiä edelläkävijäopettajilla on käyttää verkko-opetusta koulun maantieteessä? 2) Mitä sovelluksia ja millä tavoin edelläkävijäopettajat käyttävät maantieteen verkko-opetuksessa? 3) Millaisia käyttökokemuksia edelläkävijäopettajat ovat saaneet maantieteen verkko-opetuksesta? Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että tietokoneiden riittämätön määrä ja puuttuminen aineluokasta vaikeuttivat maantieteen verkko-opetusta. Työssä kehitettiin opettajien digitaalisten mediataitojen kuutiomalli, johon kuuluvat tekniset taidot, informaation prosessointitaidot ja viestintätaidot. Opettajissa erotettiin kolme verkko-opetuksen käyttäjätyyppiä: informaatiohakuiset kevytkäyttäjät, viestintähakuiset peruskäyttäjät ja yhteistyöhakuiset tehokäyttäjät. Verkko-opetukseen liittyi intensiivisiä myönteisiä ja kielteisiä kokemuksia. Se toi iloa ja motivaatiota opiskeluun. Sitä pidettiin rikastuttavana lisänä, joka haluttiin integroida opetukseen hallitusti. Edelläkävijäopettajat ottivat käyttöön tietoverkoissa olevaa informaatiota ja sovelsivat työvälineohjelmia. He pääsivät alkuun todellisuutta jäljittelevien virtuaalimaailmojen: satelliittikuvien toistaman maapallon, digitaalikarttojen ja simulaatioiden käytössä. Opettajat kokeilivat verkon sosiaalisia tiloja reaaliaikaisen viestinnän, keskusteluryhmien ja ryhmätyöohjelmien avulla. Mielikuvitukseen perustuvat virtuaalimaailmat jäivät vähälle sillä opettajat eivät juuri pelanneet viihdepelejä. He omaksuivat virtuaalimaailmoista satunnaisia palasia käytettävissä olevan laite- ja ohjelmavarustuksen mukaan. Virtuaalimaailmojen valtaus eteni tutkimuksen aikana digitaalisen informaation hyödyntämisestä viestintäsovelluksiin ja aloittelevaan yhteistyöhön. Näin opettajat laajensivat virtuaalireviiriään tietoverkkojen dynaamisiksi toimijoiksi ja pääsivät uusin keinoin tyydyttämään ihmisen universaalia tarvetta yhteyteen muiden kanssa. Samalla opettajat valtautuivat informaation kuluttajista sen tuottajiksi, objekteista subjekteiksi. Verkko-opetus avaa koulun maantieteelle huomattavia mahdollisuuksia. Mobiililaitteiden avulla informaatiota voidaan kerätä ja tallentaa maasto-olosuhteissa, ohjelmilla sitä voidaan muuntaa muodosta toiseen. Internetin autenttiset ja ajantasaiset materiaalit tuovat opiskeluun konkretiaa ja kiinnostavuutta, mallit, simulaatiot ja paikkatieto havainnollistavat ilmiöitä. Viestintä- ja yhteistyövälineet sekä sosiaaliset informaatiotilat vahvistavat yhteistyötä. Avainsanat: verkko-opetus, internet, virtuaalimaailmat, maantiede, innovaatiot

Teacher Education, School Effectiveness and Improvement : A Study of Academic and Professional Qualification on Teachers' Job Effectiveness in Nigerian Secondary Schools

This academic work begins with a compact presentation of the general background to the study, which also includes an autobiography for the interest in this research. The presentation provides readers who know little of the topic of this research and of the structure of the educational system as well as of the value given to education in Nigeria. It further concentrates on the dynamic interplay of the effect of academic and professional qualification and teachers' job effectiveness in secondary schools in Nigeria in particular, and in Africa in general. The aim of this study is to produce a systematic analysis and rich theoretical and empirical description of teachers' teaching competencies. The theoretical part comprises a comprehensive literature review that focuses on research conducted in the areas of academic and professional qualification and teachers' job effectiveness, teaching competencies, and the role of teacher education with particular emphasis on school effectiveness and improvement. This research benefits greatly from the functionalist conception of education, which is built upon two emphases: the application of the scientific method to the objective social world, and the use of an analogy between the individual 'organism' and 'society'. To this end, it offers us an opportunity to define terms systematically and to view problems as always being interrelated with other components of society. The empirical part involves describing and interpreting what educational objectives can be achieved with the help of teachers' teaching competencies in close connection to educational planning, teacher training and development, and achieving them without waste. The data used in this study were collected between 2002 and 2003 from teachers, principals, supervisors of education from the Ministry of Education and Post Primary Schools Board in the Rivers State of Nigeria (N=300). The data were collected from interviews, documents, observation, and questionnaires and were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods to strengthen the validity of the findings. The data collected were analyzed to answer the specific research questions and hypotheses posited in this study. The data analysis involved the use of multiple statistical procedures: Percentages Mean Point Value, T-test of Significance, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Cross Tabulation. The results obtained from the data analysis show that teachers require professional knowledge and professional teaching skills, as well as a broad base of general knowledge (e.g., morality, service, cultural capital, institutional survey). Above all, in order to carry out instructional processes effectively, teachers should be both academically and professionally trained. This study revealed that teachers are not however expected to have an extraordinary memory, but rather looked upon as persons capable of thinking in the right direction. This study may provide a solution to the problem of teacher education and school effectiveness in Nigeria. For this reason, I offer this treatise to anyone seriously committed in improving schools in developing countries in general and in Nigeria in particular to improve the lives of all its citizens. In particular, I write this to encourage educational planners, education policy makers, curriculum developers, principals, teachers, and students of education interested in empirical information and methods to conceptualize the issue this study has raised and to provide them with useful suggestions to help them improve secondary schooling in Nigeria. Though, multiple audiences exist for any text. For this reason, I trust that the academic community will find this piece of work a useful addition to the existing literature on school effectiveness and school improvement. Through integrating concepts from a number of disciplines, I aim to describe as holistic a representation as space could allow of the components of school effectiveness and quality improvement. A new perspective on teachers' professional competencies, which not only take into consideration the unique characteristics of the variables used in this study, but also recommend their environmental and cultural derivation. In addition, researchers should focus their attention on the ways in which both professional and non-professional teachers construct and apply their methodological competencies, such as their grouping procedures and behaviors to the schooling of students. Keywords: Professional Training, Academic Training, Professionally Qualified, Academically Qualified, Professional Qualification, Academic Qualification, Job Effectiveness, Job Efficiency, Educational Planning, Teacher Training and Development, Nigeria.