Helena Aittola

Is Education Getting Lost in University Mergers

Mergers are common phenomena in higher education institutions. Improving educational quality is typically one of the stated goals of university mergers. Yet, little information exists about how merging institutions approach this goal. This paper presents results from a study of planning documents created prior to four mergers in the Finnish higher education system. These documents show that there was little concrete attention given to the educational issues related to the mergers. Most attention was placed on administrative issues and issues related to research. When educational issues were mentioned, it was almost always in the form of vague goals with few details provided about how the goals were to be reached. We conclude that this lack of attention to the educational aspect of mergers is a significant weakness of the planning process in these mergers.

Evaluation and Quality Assurance in Finnish and Italian Universities in the Bologna Process

Abstract The purpose of the study is to describe the evaluation and quality assurance practices employed in the basic units of Finnish and Italian universities and analyse the impact of the Bologna process on quality assessment. The data consist of interviews (n=30) conducted in Finland and Italy. The results suggest that: (1) evaluation and quality assurance were primarily seen in connection with the educational provision of the university; (2) although the respondents were familiar with evaluation, they were unsure about the procedures and effects of quality assurance in their unit; and (3) despite the harmonising aim of the Bologna process, evaluation, and quality assurance appeared to maintain their cultural and institutional features.

Doctoral Education and Doctoral Theses - Changing Assessment Practices

Most European countries are today highly interested in the quality of doctoral education. Undoubtedly, the Bologna Process has also given impetus to a reassessment of national doctoral education systems. There is a need to find comparable indicators measuring the efficiency and quality of doctoral education systems and educational practices alike. At the centre of the doctoral education agenda are not only national research funding systems, research training and doctoral programmes but also issues involving international collaboration and mobility (Enders and de Weert 2004; Tomusk 2006). It is widely accepted that doctoral candidates and doctoral theses make a major contribution to the creation of new knowledge in their particular fields of academic study (Hakala 2005; Welle-Strand 2000). Additionally, doctoral candidates should be recognised as prospective researchers who will have an essential role in national research systems in the near future. In general, doctoral education faces a challenge stemming from the interplay between internal and external determinants of science and scholarship. Although there may be a universal consensus of some kind on the standards that a doctoral thesis should meet, the nature of theses can vary. That is, a doctoral thesis may be traditionally defined as a piece of pure academic research while at the same time more practice-oriented and vocational dissertations are also accepted (McAlpine and Norton 2006; Wallgren 2003). Moreover, the thesis assessment process, assessment methods and the role of preliminary thesis examiners vary according to national regulations (Morley et al. 2002). Traditionally doctoral degrees have been based on independent study. The Finnish graduate school system was established in 1995. The aim of the reform was to reorganize doctoral education to make it more systematic and efficient. Although the organisations and practices of the different programmes do vary, the evaluation of the Finnish doctoral education system as a whole (Dill et al. 2006) confirms that they provide high-quality research learning environment for their doctoral students.

Finnish adult students’ perspectives on short-cycle study programmes: motives and evaluations

ABSTRACT We investigated how students in Finland perceive short-cycle higher education programmes. In line with the European trend, Finland has piloted short-cycle study programmes in order to attract adult students into higher education. We found that the students were mainly satisfied with their studies, and that their orientations to studies and learning were extrinsic in nature. The strengths of the programme were perceived as related to the flexibility of the studies, the variety of teaching methods, and the extensive contents of the studies. The main challenges were associated with difficulties in using information and communications technology (ICT) within the studies, and issues with time management. The study sheds light on how more open higher education structures and study processes can promote participation in higher education among adult students.

Doctoral education reform in Finland – institutionalized and individualized doctoral studies within European framework

ABSTRACT In Europe, doctoral education systems have been systematically reformed. These reforms are aimed at improving the quality of research and the competitiveness of European countries. In Finland, the reform project of doctoral education started vigorously in the mid-1990s which has contributed significantly to the emergence of more structured doctoral training. The starting point for this article was a recent national follow-up evaluation of doctoral education in Finland. The results are based on qualitative analysis of a survey and interview data collected in the evaluation. The results showed that Finnish universities are launching the university-wide graduate school model. Each university is building a single or several graduate schools consisting of doctoral programmes compatible with the university’s research strategies and profiles. Today, there is an apparent need to increase doctoral students’ participation in the reform processes. It can be argued that there is discrepancy between the official statements of the doctoral students’ key position in promoting research excellence within the European context and the actual doctoral training practices at institutional level. Therefore, we need to explore doctoral students’ study conditions from their own perspective, in order to get a better picture of how the new university-wide graduate schools and doctoral programmes promote doctoral graduation in academic, pedagogical and cultural terms.