Finnish Students Research Articles

Peer relations and tensions in the school life of Finnish and Korean students: a cross-cultural perspective

ABSTRACTDrawing on cross-cultural qualitative research in comprehensive (primary and middle) schools in Finland and Korea, this article explores students’ peer relationships as well as tensions and negotiations that occur between student agency and school control. Based on school observations and interviews with students and teachers, this article illuminates the meaning of friendship and patterns of peer interactions among students, both within and between genders. It also reveals how school control and student agency manifest in the issues of space, time, and appearance. The findings imply that students develop gendered identities and roles through peer relations and socialisation in school. This article also interprets sociocultural uniqueness and commonality concerning interdependency and independency observed in peer relationships. Finally, the article illustrates that while control over the appearance of students seems to be different in each country, the students’ school lives are tightly controlled by regulations of time and space in both countries.

Can you put your finger on it? The effects of writing modality on Finnish students’ recollection

Digitalisation has changed and broadened the ways people write. In higher education, typing is a common practice both for note-taking and for completing written assignments, relegating pen and pape...

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour during outdoor learning and traditional indoor school days among Finnish primary school students

ABSTRACTIn this study, we aimed at comparing Finnish primary school students’ physical activity and sedentary time during outdoor-learning and traditional school days. Outdoor learning is defined as purposeful and planned learning experiences in the outdoors . The study population consisted 20 students in grades 1–6 at one primary school. Physical activity was measured objectively by hip-worn accelerometers. The amounts of physical activity and sedentary time were compared for the same students between five school days with outdoor learning and four traditional school days. The study’s main findings show that, moving from traditional classroom teaching to an outdoor-learning environment decreases students’ sedentary time and increases light- and moderate-intensity physical activity during the school day. No differences were observed in leisure-time physical activity on school days with or without outdoor learning. Thus, outdoor learning is an effective complement to traditional classroom teaching in promoting physically active children.

Teachers as frontline agents of integration: Finnish physical education students’ reflections on intercultural encounters

ABSTRACTBackground and purpose: This article focuses on how future Physical Education and Dance teachers may be better prepared to work in increasingly diverse education environments. It also discusses how tertiary institutions might address issues of social inclusion and cultural pluralism within their programmes, courses and assignments. The authors critically reflect on an experiential learning intervention in Jyväskylä, Finland, in which trainee PE teachers facilitated kinaesthetic language-learning workshops for asylum seekers. The applied use of physical education and dance in this context was aimed at providing a distinct opportunity to consider a PE teacher’s professional competence and role as an agent of integration.Methods: Adopting an interpretive approach, the authors sought to understand students’ experiences, rather than to determine the causes behind, and results emerging from, the experience. Through a qualitative, open, yet structured set of questions they gathered the trainee PE teachers’ reflections on their experiences related to the workshops. The data were analysed through a collaborative, interpretive process. The analysis was supported by pertinent theories on, e.g. transformative learning in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the meanings of this intercultural encounter for the trainee teachers. The authors have sought to understand how a learning intervention may function as a transformative experience, shifting professional dispositions towards social inclusion and cultural integration.Results: The interpretive process resulted in a thematic structure that contains the following four themes: (1) Preconceptions of others, (2) Questioning the relevance, (3) Positive affirmation and (4) Pedagogical practices in motion.Conclusion: This study has sought to identify the ways in which intercultural encounters may support PE teacher trainees’ dispositions towards working with asylum seekers, and migrants in general. The findings suggest that not all students feel that such encounters are relevant to the role of a PE teacher. The authors conclude that courses on interculturality need to be developed for encouraging trainee teachers towards such encounters and applied uses of physical education and dance. For many students, however, the experience appeared to contribute to a process of transformation, in which they were developing professional competences that are amenable to the idea of being an agent of integration.

Study guidance experiences, study progress, and perceived learning outcomes of Finnish university students

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, the massification and diversification of higher education have generated new challenges for the guidance of university students. The present study focuses on students’ experiences of guidance in relation to their study progress and perceptions of their learning outcomes. The data (n = 4916) were collected from 2010–2013 through yearly Internet surveys whose targeted respondents were the students of a Finnish University. According to the results, general study guidance was a very strong predictor of students’ self-assessed development of their academic and generic skills as well as working life orientation. It also decreased the probability of slow progress in studies. Significant differences between disciplines were found: the Faculty of Education outperformed other faculties in regard to students’ satisfaction with the guidance and the students’ evaluations of their own learning outcomes. The main result of the study is that guidance can play a significant role in students’ academic success.

Objectively measured physical activity, body composition and physical fitness: Cross-sectional associations in 9- to 15-year-old children

The aim of this study was to examine and quantify the cross-sectional associations of body composition (BC), physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (ST) with physical fitness (PF) in children and adolescents. A sample of 594 Finnish students (56% girls), aged 9–15 (12.4 ± 1.3 years) were selected for a study performed in 2013. The measurements of the Move! monitoring system for physical functional capacity were used to measure cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness and fundamental movement skills. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and ST were measured objectively with an accelerometer and BC by a bioelectrical impedance analysis. Fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were calculated to represent height-adjusted BC. Associations were explored with a linear regression model. In general, FMI had statistically significant negative associations, while FFMI and MVPA had positive associations with PF. No statistically significant associations were observed between ST and PF. In general, FMI had the strongest association with PF, although some variation occurred with sex and PF component. However, associations were practically relevant only in 20-m shuttle run, push-up, curl-up and 5-leaps test. For example, approximately 5 kg increase in fat mass in 155 cm tall children was estimated to correspond to 8 laps in 20-m shuttle run. Similar increase in fat-free mass corresponded to +4 and +6 laps, and 10 min increase in daily MVPA +3 and +2 laps in 20-m shuttle run, in boys and girls, respectively. Understanding these associations is necessary when interpreting children’s PF and designing interventions.

Reading comprehension from grade 1 to 6 in two shallow orthographies: comparison of Estonian and Finnish students

The aim was to examine reading comprehension among elementary school students in two shallow orthographies, Estonian and Finnish. Participants were 619 Estonian children (50% boys) and 292 Finnish children (52% boys) whose reading comprehension was assessed in first, second, third, and sixth grades. The results showed that reading comprehension among Estonian and Finnish children was at a similar level by the end of first grade but Finnish children started to have better performance from second grade onward. These findings suggest that the roots of Finnish students’ strong reading skills are nurtured from the very beginning of elementary school. The potential cross-country differences in reading instruction are discussed.

Sex-Free and Sex-Related Components of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) Neuroticism Scale among Finnish and Turkish Students

Previous studies have suggested that the Neuroticism scale (N) of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) reflects two different dimensions, of which the first is sex-related (N-S) and the second sex-free (N-A). The N-S component is characterized by social sensitivity and worry while N-A reflects moodiness, irritability and boredom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the internal structure of the N scale in samples of 320 Finnish and 230 Turkish students. The bi-dimensional structure suggested by Francis had an acceptable fit to data in the Finnish and Turkish samples. Higher N-S and N scores correlated with being a woman in the Turkish sample. Neither N nor N-S scores were related to sex in the Finnish sample. ANOVA results showed the main effect of sex on N and N-S scores and the main effect of culture (Finnish vs. Turkish) on N and N-A. Turkish women scored higher in N and N-S scales than the other groups. The possible cultural and social reasons for the sex differences on the N scale score were discussed.

Assessing Online Collaborative Problem Solving Among School Children in Finland: A Case Study Using ATC21S TM in a National Context

Online collaborative problem-solving tasks were piloted in five Finnish schools participating in the Assessment and Teaching of Twenty-first Century Skills (ATC21S TM ) project. Process stream data from online tasks were captured from 480 Finnish students who explored dyad problem spaces. The log file data were explored to identify indicative behaviours of collaborative problem solving (CPS), which were coded into a series of dichotomous indicators. The Rasch simple logistic model was used to analyse student performance across the social and cognitive dimensions of CPS. Analysis of the Finnish data indicated that the construct can be interpreted using a two-dimensional model, matching the findings of the total cohort of 4,078 students. Further analysis of the data provided evidence that gender has no statistical impact on Finnish students’ CPS abilities in the social or cognitive dimensions. Analysis of the differences in student abilities across grades within and between schools suggested that upper-year students had stronger CPS skills.

Comparing antecedents for Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish youths’ agentic beliefs in informal online learning

Technology has become an ever-present factor in virtually every contemporary situation, and digital media has gained a significant role in the lives of young people. This article explores and compares the antecedents for agentic beliefs in informal online learning amongst young people in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The promotion of such agentic beliefs in informal online learning is an important task for school systems that seek to prepare young people for responsible citizenship, capable of directing their own lives and supporting others. A sample of 3045 urban Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian students in general study programs (15–17-year-olds) participated in a cross-sectional questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used for analysis. We discovered that the patterns in some of these relations were astonishingly similar in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. In each of these countries, online culture, defined in terms of free choice and self-actualisation by using internet, is positively associated with agentic beliefs and with time online. A duality in school and internet orientation demonstrates that the educational systems in these three countries face challenges to build bridges between the attitudes of youth and the emphasis on knowledge found in traditional educational subjects. Furthermore, the agentic beliefs of youngsters in these three countries differ depending on the degree to which youths value education.

Documenting pedagogical support measures in Finnish IEPs for students with intellectual disability

The individual education plan (IEP) is an essential part of special education and is used widely in Western countries for documenting both the learning goals and support measures for children with special needs. This study focused on the documentation of support measures in the IEPs of Finnish students with intellectual disability (ID) (N = 21). The documents contained 195 expressions of support measures analysed by content analysis. The results showed that most support measures in the IEPs were general pedagogical principles from the research literature. In general, the expressions were not described thoroughly, although there were some specific expressions of support measures amplified by descriptions of the activity, person in charge or context. Further research is needed on how to best support teachers in documenting IEPs.

16-17-vuotiaiden suomalaisnuorten puheäänen korkeus

Puheäänen korkeuteen (F0) vaikuttavat anatomisten ja biologisten tekijöiden lisäksi erilaiset sosiokulttuuriset ja behavioraaliset käyttäytymismallit. Äänenkäytön kannalta epäoptimaaliset mallit voivat johtaa jopa äänihäiriöihin. Tutkimus selvitti, mikä on suomea äidinkielenään puhuvien 16–17-vuotiaiden nuorten puheäänen korkeus ääneen luettaessa ja spontaanipuheessa. Lisäksi tutkittavilta mitattiin lukunopeus, F0 vokaalifonaatiossa, ja heiltä kerättiin äänenkorkeuden itsearvio. Tuloksia verrattiin Aino Sallinen-Kuparisen (1985) tutkimukseen, jossa havaittiin puhujien sukupuolen ja koulutustaustan vaikuttavan F0:an.
 Suomalaisnuorten puhekäyttäytyminen näyttäisi muuttuneen 30 vuodessa: Sallinen-Kuparisen (1985) tutkimuksessa ammattikoulutytöt puhuivat lukiotyttöjä korkeammalta ja sukupuolten välillä esiintyi eri puhetehtävissä eri strategioita, mutta tässä tutkimuksessa koulutustausta tai sukupuoli ei ollut yhteydessä äänenkorkeuden säätelyyn puheessa. Tyttöjen F0 oli luennassa 216 Hz ja spontaanipuheessa 213 Hz. Poikien F0 oli kansainvälisesti verrattuna matala: lukunäytteissä 101 Hz ja spontaanipuheessa 97 Hz. Mahdollisesti poikiin vaikuttaa täysi-ikäisyyden kynnyksellä sosiaalinen normi, joka arvostaa matalan puheäänen käyttöä. Matalaa puheääntä suosittiin myös itsearvioissa: valtaosa tutkittavista arvioi puhekorkeutensa keskivertoa matalammaksi.

Finnish and Turkish Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward the Elderly

Introduction: This study was aimed to compared nursing students’ attitudes toward the elderly at two universities in Finland and Turkey. Materials and methods: A descriptive and comparative design was used. The study population included first and second year nursing students (N=1124). From this population, we selected a sample of 345 students, each of whom agreed to participate. We collected study data from a questionnaire form and the Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Older People scale. Results: The students’ mean age was 21.1 ± 4.2 and 83.5% were females. Considering the low dimensions, the Finnish students’ positive mean score was 59.3 ± 6.2 and that of the Turkish students was 60.6 ± 8.8. The mean negative score of Finnish students was 62.4 ± 5.5 and that of Turkish students was 59.1 ± 9.7. The Finnish students’ negative attitude mean score was statistically higher than that of the Turkish students (p < 0.005). Conclusion: Nursing students’ attitudes toward the elderly were moderate. Adding more curricula focused on geriatrics and geriatric patient care into the nursing education program, symposiums, panels, and conventions and increasing the available in-service training on geriatric issues is important to positively improve these students’ attitudes toward the elderly.

What Are Good Leaders Made Of? Finnish School Children’s Descriptions of Leadership

The purpose of this research was to analyze Finnish students’ descriptions of good leaders and leadership. The study had two research questions: (1) What kinds of characteristics does a good leader have according to Finnish students’ perceptions and (2) how do the students describe the emphases of leadership activities? This was a qualitative study that applied the narrative research approach. The data consisted of essays written by 38 sixth-graders from one Finnish school. The data collection method used empathy-based frame stories to prompt essays. The main characteristics of a good leader were friendliness, diligence and enthusiasm, and deliberation and determination. Three emphases in leadership activities could be found in the essays: decision-making and responsibility for results, caring, and enjoyment of the leader’s work. The study contributes new viewpoints to the authentic leadership theory and less studied perspectives in the field of leadership studies in general.

“Can I do well in mathematics reasoning?” Comparing US and Finnish students’ attitude and reasoning via TIMSS 2011

ABSTRACTThis study investigated differences between the US and Finland in terms of how students’ attitude is related to mathematical reasoning skills through the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. Attitude towards mathematics was observed via 3 TIMSS contextual variables: liking mathematics, valuing mathematics, and confidence in mathematics. Scores for mathematical reasoning were collected from the TIMSS 2011 database. We used hierarchical linear modelling to construct multilevel models with interactions of the attitude variables. Findings showed that confidence in mathematics had the strongest positive relationships with mathematical reasoning in both countries. Finnish students generally reported stronger positive relationships between confidence in mathematics and reasoning than US students. Strong relationships between confidence and reasoning remained visible when examining valuing and liking mathematics. Findings provide important implications regarding the complex interactions between attitude towards mathematics and reasoning, critical for mathematics educators and policymakers to consider in an increasingly competitive international environment.

A Business Writing OIL (Online International Learning)

Online International Learning (OIL) helps to integrate soft skills into the academic curriculum, as well as providing students with international interaction opportunities. In this article, we evaluate the extent to which telecollaborative writing tasks between UK-based (mostly Chinese) and Finnish students over an online platform can benefit academic writing learning experience and contribute to curriculum and materials design in EAP. In the article, there are two groups of learners from different geographical contexts, Finland and the UK. The Finland-based students are almost all Finnish, while those studying in the UK are mostly from China. In both cases, the target language is English. The students in Finland worked in pairs to create authentic case study materials, and the students in the UK, in what we characterize as “stimulus writing”, produced reports based on the case studies they had been given.

Perception of Workload and its Relation to Perceived Teaching and Learning Environments among Finnish and Chinese University Students

Earlier research has shown that an excessive workload has a substantial negative effect on students' well being. The present study examines how Finnish and Chinese university students' perceptions of workload are related to their perceptions of the teaching and learning environments (TLE). This is done in order to determine whether the perceived workload of students could be reduced by improving the quality of their TLE. Also the levels of experienced workload of Finnish and Chinese students are compared in this study. The group of participants consisted of 3035 Finnish students and 2309 Chinese students. Since this work is cross-cultural in nature, the adequacy of the level of structural equivalence of the research instrument was confirmed, and, when appropriate, the effect of different response styles on the results was taken into account. Both standard and robust statistical methods were used for the analyses. The results show that in both the Finnish and the Chinese groups the students' perceptions of their workload and TLE are significantly but rather weakly related. Furthermore, irrespectively of whether the response styles are accounted for or not, the results indicate that Chinese students perceive a heavier workload than do Finnish students.

Kolmetoistavuotiaiden nuorten käsityksiä luonnontieteellisestä tutkimuksesta

VASI (views about the scientific inquiry) questionnaire was applied to a sample of 149 7th grade students. When assessing each aspect of VASI, pupils' views were categorized into one of four categories: informed, mixed, naive, and unclear. According to the diagnostical test, 7th grade students did not possess informed conceptions of NOS in average, while certain questions were better understood. E. g., question #4 which measured the possession of the VASI aspect "Data does not equal evidence" was relatively well understood indicating that Finnish students had good reading ability and logical deduction skills without prior explicit teaching of VASI concepts. FULL ARTICLE IN FINNISH.

Burnout among Finnish and Chinese university students.

In this study the levels of experienced burnout of Finnish and Chinese university students are compared using School Burnout Inventory (SBI). This study is motivated by earlier studies, which suggest that the level of student burnout is different in the culturally distinct Finnish and Chinese university systems, but which are based on different research instruments for the two groups. The sample studied consisted of 3,035 Finnish students and 2,309 Chinese students. Because of the cross-cultural nature of this study the level of structural equivalence of SBI between the cultural groups was examined and the effect of different response styles on the results was taken into account. Both standard and robust statistical methods were used for the analyses. The results showed that SBI with two extracted components is suitable for cross-cultural analysis between Finnish and Chinese university students. Virtually no difference was found in experienced overall burnout between the Finnish and Chinese students, which means that both university systems contain factors causing similar levels of student burnout. This study also verified that controlling for the response styles is important in cross-cultural studies as it was found to have a distinct effect on the results obtained from mean-level comparisons.

How Finnish and Swedish Learners’ Academic Self-Control Relates to Time Spent Online in Class, Perceptions of Educator Qualities, and School Appreciation: A Cross-Sectional Comparison

In school settings, self-control is central to the ability of learners to complete their academic work successfully. Learners’ self-control is directly influenced by the ways in which educators execute their work, including their instructional explanations, their classroom management, and the expectations that they express to their learners. Our research on this phenomenon investigated Finnish and Swedish learners in upper secondary schools. Not only is the use of digital technology very different in these two countries; the autonomy and status of educators are as well. This article compares the empirical significance of antecedents of learners’ academic self-control in the two national settings by surveying 2191 learners in Swedish and Finnish schools. Our analysis applies structural equation modeling to two cross-sectional datasets, and the results reveal that the associations between educators’ instructional explanations, classroom management, and their high expectations on the one hand and learners’ academic self-control on the other are stronger overall among Finnish students than among Swedish students. Furthermore, the association between digital technology use and learners’ perceptions of conflict between school norms and Internet opportunities are much stronger in the Swedish sample than the Finnish sample. Lastly, we discuss the meaning of these results and their possible implications for research and practice.