Arttu Mykkänen

Finnish Students' Reasons for Their Achievement in Classroom Activities: Focus on Features That Support Self-Regulated Learning.

The aim of this study was to investigate how finnish students explain factors that contribute to their achievement in classroom learning activities and whether these factors are related to support of self-regulated learning (SRL) in classroom. Over seven weeks, 24 primary school students were videotaped during their typical classroom activities in 28 lessons to capture moments when they succeeded in learning tasks. From the video observations, 62 episodes were edited and used in stimulated recall interviews in which students were asked to report the reasons they related to their achievement in learning situations. Data-driven content analysis was used to analyse the open-ended interview data. The video observation data were analysed and sorted into theory-driven categories in order to find out how SRL was supported in classrooms. The results showed that students describe achievement through the actions that they took in the learning situations, such as being able accomplish the task. The reasons given for their achievement dealt with ability to accomplish the tasks or doing academic activities in order to achieve in the task. Furthermore, the students recognised classroom activities that support SRL, acknowledging their contribution to their achievement, mostly through the support that they received from their teachers and peers.

Investigating children's emotion regulation in socio-emotionally challenging classroom situations

Decades of research have associated effective emotion and behaviour regulation with learning and social competence among young children. However, further studies on childrens use of emotion regulation in their everyday lives are required. This study focuses on investigating six- to nine-year-old childrens (N = 24) use of emotion regulation strategies in various socio-emotionally challenging classroom situations. Data consist of video recordings of different classroom situations, which were analysed using interaction analysis and theory-oriented content analysis in connection with the Multisource Assessment of Social Competence Scale questionnaire results on social competence. The results of this study indicate the differences in childrens abilities to use emotion regulation strategies appropriately in socio-emotionally challenging classroom situations. Qualitative features of childrens strategies in different situations also vary. These findings, along with those of previous studies, suggest a need for teachers to scaffold childrens developing skills of emotion regulation in school contexts.

Trajectories of resilience during dyadic task performance among children six to seven years of age

The aim of this study is to analyse resilience displayed by young children in dyadic task performance situations. Data were collected by videotaping children (aged six to seven years; N = 40) during a geometrical task performance. Results describe ways in which children confronted the challenges during task performance, and the order in which the situations often occurred. Additionally, the results show that resilience in learning situations and in peer interaction is based in many respects on supportive relationships with adults and peers and on the childrens own abilities to efficiently solve problems.

Elementary Schoolchildren’s Self- and Social Perceptions of Success

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate children’s self- and social perceptions of success to identify how success could be promoted in a classroom context. Using a participatory approach, this study explored children’s subjective experiences with success in 41 learning situations selected by researchers (Phase 1: self-perceptions) and 48 learning situations selected by participants (Phase 2: social perceptions). The participants were children (N = 17, age 6–9) from four Finnish elementary school classrooms. First, the participants were videotaped in successful classroom learning situations. Second, the participants were asked to photograph their peers succeeding in different learning situations. The participants then discussed their self- and social perceptions of success in video-stimulated recall and photo-elicitation interviews. Three success indicators, namely, task completion, sustained activity, and positive expressions and gestures, were identified from the visual data. Also, six influencing factors, namely, positive emotions, ways to work, experiences of achievement, acknowledgment from peers and teachers, previous experiences, and skills, were identified from the participants’ experiences with success, drawn from the interview data. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of children’s perceptions of what counts as success for themselves and others and introduces participatory methods for identifying children’s perceptions.