Helena Thuneberg

Contributions of data mining for psycho‐educational research: what self‐organizing maps tell us about the well‐being of gifted learners

This article explores applications of the Self‐Organizing Maps method (SOM) to psycho‐educational data. The study examines the psychological well‐being, self‐regulatory and motivational styles of pupils at elementary and middle school (N 795). The presentation of the method appears in cases which are related to general education, special needs and giftedness. The aim of this article is to show that SOM provides a unique means with which to visualize, comprehend and interpret psycho‐educational data. The SOM method is a convenient method used to identify and study exceptional subgroups and non‐linear correlations, as well as to examine theoretical assumptions. The results showed that high academic achievement is related to anxiety, as well as to external and internal pressure, in some gifted subgroups. Such a result is obviously socially constructed and for this reason calls for further study.

Scientific Reasoning, School Achievement and Gender: a Multilevel Study of between and within School Effects in Finland

The relationships between reasoning and school achievement were studied taking into account the multilevel nature (school- and class-levels) of the data. We gathered data from 51 classes at seven schools in metropolitan and Eastern Finland (N = 769, 395 males, 15-year-old students). To study scientific reasoning, we used a modified version of Science Reasoning Tasks, tapping control-of-variable schemata. Analyses were conducted by MLwiN2.10 multilevel modelling. The present results showed that the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of schools for scientific reasoning is 7% and that the corresponding ICC of classes is 10%. Whereas the first finding confirms earlier PISA results, the second finding provides new insights into class variation within schools. In practice, class composition seems to be an efficient solution to meeting the differing needs of individual students.

Mathematical thinking skills, self-concept and learning outcomes of 12-year-olds visiting a Mathematics Science Centre Exhibition in Latvia and Sweden

Teaching mathematics in informal settings is a relatively new phenomenon, but it has gained more attention due to the recent changes in the society. The aim of the present quantitative study was to compare the learning outcomes of Latvian and Swedish 12-year-olds when they visited a science centre mathematics-art exhibition originally designed in Estonia. The results showed that in general, prior knowledge of the exhibition contents was the strongest predictor of post-test results in both countries but that mathematical thinking skills and self-concept had a small added value in explaining the post-test results. The results of the study give some of the first pieces of evidence of the effectiveness of out-of-school mathematics teaching in a science exhibition context, providing a good basis for further

Learning with dinosaurs: a study on motivation, cognitive reasoning, and making observations

ABSTRACT Dinosaurs have been a very popular science topic since signs of their presence on earth were first discovered. They have represented so-called ‘edutainment’ for some people. Learning from informal sources and in- an out-of-school environment can be effective and motivating. In this study, 12-year-old pupils (N = 366) visited a dinosaur science centre exhibition in Finland. Pupils were tested with standardised tests of motivation as defined by self-determination theory, cognitive skills, and interest via pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests during a six-month period. Findings show that pupils learned from the science centre visit and enjoyed the experience. The factors explaining their post-test knowledge in addition to their previous knowledge were (1) general cognitive competence, (2) liking studying biology at the science centre, (3) participation in a dinosaur demonstration, and (4) gender. As there was no difference between boys and girls in general cognitive competences, the knowledge results of boys and girls equally related to their cognitive competence. Autonomy also influenced situational motivation both directly and indirectly, which in turn had a strong effect on liking studying in the exhibition. It also influenced the post-test knowledge indirectly. In the lowest school achievement group, participation in the dinosaur demonstration increased knowledge in the post-test.

To know or not to know: uncertainty is the answer. Synthesis of six different science exhibition contexts

This meta-article aims to explore the role of uncertainty in knowing in informal science learning contexts. Subjects (N=2591) were sixth-graders from four countries. In addition to the correct and incorrect questionnaire alternatives, there was a “don’t know” option to choose if uncertain of the answer. The unique path-analysis finding showed that the role of motivation was uniformly positive on correct and negative on uncertainty of answers. In all contexts the number of correct answers increased, incorrect and uncertain answers decreased. Interestingly, although there was no more difference in knowledge pro boys after the intervention, the girls were still more uncertain. Abstract

Hands-On Math and Art Exhibition Promoting Science Attitudes and Educational Plans

The current science, technology, engineering, art, math education (STEAM) approach emphasizes integration of abstract science and mathematical ideas for concrete solutions by art. The main aim was to find out how experience of learning mathematics differed between the contexts of school and an informal Math and Art Exhibition. The study participants () were 12-13 years old from Finland. Several valid questionnaires and tests were applied (e.g., SRQ-A, RAVEN) in pre- and postdesign showing a good reliability. The results based on General Linear Modeling and Structural Equation Path Modeling underline the motivational effects. The experience of the effectiveness of hands-on learning at school and at the exhibition was not consistent across the subgroups. The lowest achieving group appreciated the exhibition alternative for math learning compared to learning math at school. The boys considered the exhibition to be more useful than the girls as it fostered their science and technology attitudes. However, for the girls, the attractiveness of the exhibition, the experienced situation motivation, was much more strongly connected to the attitudes on science and technology and the worthiness of mathematics. Interestingly, the pupils experienced that even this short informal learning intervention affected their science and technology attitudes and educational plans.

How Do Finns Know? Educational Monitoring without Inspection and Standard Setting

The Finnish educational system was decentralised in the 1980s and the 1990s. The school inspection system was dissolved and the municipalities as organisers of education were given responsibility for monitoring the effectiveness of education and securing that every child has equal possibilities in proceeding through the 9-year basic education consisting of primary education and lower secondary education. A national model for sample-based curricular and thematic assessments was created to ensure equity of education in different parts of the country. Unlike many other countries, Finland decided not to have a comprehensive standardised testing system, and the goals set in the national Core Curriculum were not considered as standards either. Thus, matriculation examination at the end of academic track of upper secondary education remained as the only high-stakes test, but due to extensive possibilities for subject selection and the normative approach still applied in grading the exams, it only produces a limited amount of information that can be used in monitoring the trends of pupil performance. This chapter gives an overview of educational quality monitoring during basic education in Finland, presenting first a short historical review of how the monitoring system has received its current form. Next, the national sample-based assessment system is described before introducing the local ways of monitoring the equity and functionality of basic education. These include the screening of support needs and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the provided support that has been claimed to be one of the explanations behind Finland’s success in international comparisons. Finally, we will discuss whether quality monitoring without standard setting can work and what standard setting could contribute to the Finnish education system.

Changes and Stability in Daily Cortisol Values and Their Correlation toAttention Measured In a Prolonged Working Task among Finnish Six-Year-OldDay-Care Children

Recently, there has been growing interest in studying stress reactivity in children which is usually accomplished by detecting atypical daily patterns of salivary cortisol. It is assumed that chronic high or low levels of stress hormones are detrimental to attentional performance, a behaviour strongly suggested to be at the core of learning. In the present study, we firstly examined the stability of daily changes in the stress hormone, cortisol. The levels of cortisol were measured five times per day, during one day in autumn and one day in spring. The second aim of our study was to explore whether attention measured in prolonged working tasks was associated with daily cortisol change. Three day care centres in Metropolitan Helsinki, Finland participated in this study and 59 6-year-old preschool children (24 girls, 35 boys) comprised the study sample. The results revealed that the childrens daily cortisol variation—in particular, from morning to pre-school and from morning to evening show stability—and this stability was detectable over a six-month period. Children who had lower daily variation in cortisol values in both autumn and spring demonstrated poorer attention. We discuss possible explanations for these findings and implications for early identification.