Pertti Väisänen

Confronting the technological pedagogical knowledge of Finnish Net Generation student teachers

The research reported here is concerned with a critical examination of some of the assumptions concerning the ‘Net Generation’ capabilities of 74 first‐year student teachers in a Finnish university. There are assumptions that: (i) Net Generation students are adept at learning through discovery and thinking in a hypertext‐like manner (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005; Prensky, 2001); and (ii) when they enter the teaching profession, members of this generation will be able to transfer these characteristics into their teaching practices (Prensky, 2001). The research is formulated around an extended framework for student teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge. The students designed learning modules incorporating the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The learning modules were subjected to document and artefact analysis incorporating concept‐driven coding. Supplementary data were collected through a questionnaire concerned with the students’ adoption of new technologies. The findings suggest that assumptions about Net Generation student teachers’ abilities to adopt and adapt ICT in their teaching are highly questionable and that greater attention should be given to the development of their technological pedagogical knowledge.

Pre-service teachers' experiences of ICT in daily life and in educational contexts and their proto-technological pedagogical knowledge

Many pre-service teachers are members of the net generation and are expected to be familiar with different ICTs, yet several studies have indicated that they are not necessarily able to use them for teaching and learning. The notion of teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) is central to this concern. In this study we use the responses of 146 pre-service teachers to open-ended questions about the experiences and knowledge of ICT and pedagogy they brought with them when they entered university teacher training. The data were analysed qualitatively with content analysis based on an integrative framework generated from a number of theoretical perspectives. Derived categories and subcategories were used to construct a framework for ‘proto-TPK’ as a basis for establishing a starting point for the coordinated development of TPK with students in their university training and early careers.

Consumption of special diet among Finnish adolescents in 1979-2001: repeated national cross-sectional surveys.

Summary.Objective: To study consumption of special diet (disease-related and non disease-related) among Finnish adolescents during 1979–2001.Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to nationally representative samples of 12- (except in 1979), 14-, 16-, and 18-year-olds in 1979, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001.Results: The total number of respondents was 33998. The response rate declined from 78% in 1979 to 70% in 2001. Consumption of special diet increased from 1979 to 2001: in 14- year-old girls from 4% to 24%, boys from 1% to 12%; 16-yearold girls from 5% to 29%, boys from 3% to 11%; and 18-year-old girls from 9% to 30%, boys from 3% to 16%. An increase was observed both in the consumption of disease-related diets (diabetic, lactose intolerance, allergies), and in non disease-related diets (weight reducing, sports and body-building, vegetarianism, other).Conclusions: Adherence to special diet is partly explained by an increased prevalence of certain diseases (lactose intolerance, allergies, diabetes). Increase in vegetarianisms and diets related to body weight or shape are most likely explained by fads, ideals created by media, and by growing ecological awareness.Zusammenfassung.Das Einhalten spezieller Diäten durch finnische Jugendliche: wiederholte nationale Querschnittserhebung, 1979–2001Fragestellung: Untersuchung der Einhaltung von Diäten durch finnische Jugendliche im Zeitraum von 1979–2001.Methoden: Schriftliche Befragung ausgewählter Stichproben von 12-, 14-, 16-, und 18-Jährigen in ganz Finnland in den Jahren 1979 (ohne 12-Jährige), 1993, 1997, 1999 und 2001.Ergebnisse: Insgesamt 33998 Jugendliche antworteten. Die Rücklaufquote sank von 78% im Jahr 1979 auf 70% im Jahr 2001. Der Anteil an Jugendlichen, die eine spezielle Diät einhalten, stieg zwischen 1979 und 2001 bei 14-jährigen Mädchen von 4% auf 24%, bei 14-jährigen Jungen von 1% auf 12%; bei 16-jährigen Mädchen und Jungen von 5% auf 29% resp. von 3% auf 11%; bei 18-jährigen Mädchen von 9% auf 30% und bei gleichaltrigen Jungen von 3% auf 16%. Sowohl die Einhaltung von krankheitsbedingten Diäten (Diabetes, Laktose-Intoleranz, Allergien) als auch von Diäten ohne Krankheitsbezug (Gewichtsabnahme, Sport und Bodybuilding, Vegetarismus o.ä.) ist häufiger geworden. Die beobachtete Zunahme könnte aufgrund einer geringfügigen Modifikation der Fragestellung im Jahr 1999 etwas grösser als in Realität ausfallen.Schlussfolgerungen: Die wachsende Bedeutung von Diäten im Jugendalter lässt sich zum Teil durch eine steigende Prävalenz gewisser Krankheiten erklären (Laktose-Intoleranz, Diabetes). Der zunehmende Vegetarismus und das Einhalten von Diäten zur Kontrolle von Körpergewicht oder -form dürften vor allem durch Modeerscheinungen, von Medien geschaffene Ideale und ein wachsendes ökologisches Bewusstsein zu erklären sein.Résumée.Suivi d’un régime spécifique parmi les adolescents finlandais: enquêtes nationales répétées (1979–2001)Objectifs: Etudier le suivi de régimes spécifiques par les adolescents finnois entre 1979 et 2001.Méthodes: Des questionnaires auto-administrés ont été envoyés à des échantillons nationaux représentatifs d’adolescents de 12, 14, et 18 ans en 1979, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001 (12 ans pas inclus en 1979).Résultats: 33998 réponses ont été reçues. Le taux de réponse est passé de 78% en 1979 à 70% en 2001. Le suivi d’un régime spécifique a augmenté entre 1979 et 2001: chez les adolescentes de 14 ans de 4 à 24%, chez les garçons de 1 à 12%; chez les adolescentes de 16 ans de 5 à 29%, chez les garçons de 3 à 11%; chez les adolescentes de 18 ans de 9 à 30%, chez les garçons de 3 à 16%. Cette augmentation a été observée aussi bien pour les régimes en lien avec une maladie (diabète, intolérance au lactose, allergie) que pour d’autres régimes (régime amaigrissant, en lien avec la pratique d’un sport ou de body-building, régime végétarien, etc.)Conclusions: Le fait de suivre un régime spécifique s’explique partiellement par une prévalence augmentée de certaines maladies (intolérance au lactose, allergies, diabète). L’augmentation de la pratique d’un régime végétarien et de régimes en lien avec le poids corporel est très probablement à mettre en lien avec la mode, les idéaux relayés par les médias et par une conscience écologique de plus en plus répandue.

Student teachers' discourse about digital technologies and transitions between formal and informal learning contexts

This research is a contribution to issues of digital technology use at the interface of formal and informal learning contexts. The research was conducted in the discourse tradition and investigates Finnish teacher training students’ ‘manners of speaking’ as resources for, and obstacles to, making pedagogical changes in response to the potential of digital technology. Findings revealed that the resources and obstacles associated with transitions between formal and informal learning contexts are concerned with students’ engagement in: (i) linking formal and informal activities, (ii) avoiding uncertainty, and (iii) participating in shared work practices. This research argues that risk taking is an opportunity in making the associated pedagogical changes. Risk taking can be developed in teacher education by critically evaluating how to support students in their use of digital technology at personal, group and cultural levels.

Upper secondary and vocational level teachers at social software

This study focuses on upper secondary and vocational level teachers as users of social software i.e. what software they use during their leisure and work and for what purposes they use software in teaching. The study is theorised within a technological pedagogical content knowledge framework, the emphasis is especially on technological knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. Four hundred thirty seven teachers were surveyed using an online questionnaire with Likert scaled statements and open-ended questions. Results suggest that the number of different types of social software actively used for teaching is small and that the potential of social software as a tool for supporting collaborative learning has not yet been realised. Discussion of the results is framed in the context of teachers’ developing technological pedagogical content knowledge.

A Survey on the Permanence of Finnish Students’ Arithmetical Skills and the Role of Motivation

This study concerns the permanence of the basic arithmetical skills of Finnish students by investigating how a group ( ) of the eighth and eleventh year students and the university students of humanities perform in problems that are slightly modified versions of certain PISA 2003 mathematics test items. The investigation also aimed at finding out what the impact of motivation-related constructs, for example, students’ achievement goal orientations, is and what their perceived competence beliefs and task value on their performance in mathematics are. According to our findings, the younger students’ arithmetical skills have declined through the course of ten years but the older students’ skills have become generic to a greater extent. Further, three motivational clusters could be identified accounting for 7.5 per cent of students’ performance in the given assignments. These results are compatible with the outcomes of the recent assessments of the Finnish students’ mathematical skills and support the previous research on the benefits of learning orientation combined with the high expectation of success and the valuing of mathematics learning.