University teachers' approaches to teaching and their pedagogical use of ICT : A comparative case study of Finland, Japan and India

The purpose of this study was to explore what salient characteristics can be found in some university teachers’ approaches to teaching in Finland, Japan and India, and in what ways university teachers in Finland, India and Japan use ICTs (information and communication technologies) in their own teaching. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate what ICT applications these same teachers use in their teaching. The data were collected via an electronic survey and interviews. The participants (N=21) were university teachers from Finland (N=8), Japan (N=10) and India (N=3). Their approaches to teaching were explored by applying the ATI (approaches to teaching inventory) and its modified version focusing on the use of ICTs in teaching. The study reported in this paper was a pilot study, thus the results are based on the limited number of respondents. The ATI and ATI_ICT subscales and ICT inventory applied in this study have been confirmed to be valid. The university teachers in Japan and Finland differed in their approaches to teaching: The Finnish teachers scored higher on the CCSF (conceptual change orientated, student-focused) approach to teaching than the Japanese teachers, while the Japanese teachers scored higher on the ITTF information transmitting, teacher-focused) approach to teaching. Two Indian teachers were classified as having a teacher-focused approach to teaching, while the third was classified as having a student-focused approach to teaching. The teachers’ differences in their use of ICTs related more to their disciplinary status than to their cultural background. approaches to teaching; use of ICT in teaching; Japan; Finland; IndiaPeer reviewe

Self-regulation in higher education: Students’ motivational, regulational and learning strategies, and their relationships to study success

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Why is active learning so difficult to implement : the Turkish case

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Development Paths of University Teachers during a Pedagogical Development Course

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Active Learning and Self-Regulation Enhance Student Teachers’ Professional Competences

The study identifies the relationships between active learning, student teachers’ self-regulated learning and professional competences. Further, the aim is to investigate how active learning promotes professional competences of student teachers with different self-regulation profiles. Responses from 422 student teachers to an electronic survey were analysed using statistical methods. It was found that the use of active learning methods, such as goal-oriented and intentional learning as well as autonomous and responsible group work, are strongly and positively related to the achievement of professional competences. To develop the best competences, student teachers need high learning motivation and excellent self-regulation strategies. The mean scores in professional competences of highly motivated student teachers with excellent self-regulated learning were significantly higher when their experiences of active learning increased. Moreover, student teachers with high motivation and moderate self-regulation also benefited significantly from the use of active learning methods.Peer reviewe

Developing as a teacher in the fields of science and technology

In universities, development as a teacher may be contradicted with developing as a researcher. Most previous studies have investigated pedagogical development merely as a result of pedagogical training and ignored the dual teacher-researcher identity. This study examines what kind of meaningful experiences are perceived to have triggered and influenced the process of developing as a teacher in the fields of science and technology. The data were gathered by interviewing 10 academics who had participated in a pedagogical training offered by a Finnish technical university between 1999 and 2009. Based on a narrative analysis utilizing dimensions of transformative learning, the results highlight the influence of the working environment and experiences, and imply that teacher development process in the fields of science and technology can be better understood in terms of becoming a teacher, rather than as a continual, conscious development process. The resulting teacher-researcher identity provides a basis for pedagogical development.Peer reviewe

Veterinary students' experience of stress during educational transition phases and its effect on self-regulation

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University teaching staff as learners of the pedagogical use of ICT

The aim of the article is to increase the understanding of how university teachers think about pedagogy in web-based teaching. The orientation to pedagogy that teachers have in their instruction is evident from their thoughts about student learning. The focus of this study is on the pedagogy that the teachers displayed in their collegial interaction during a web-based staff training course. The objective of this course was to enhance the teachers’ pedagogical skills in their web-based teaching. The qualitative data consisting of the teachers’ web-based discussions provides insight into their conceptions of what constitutes good teaching and learning. These conceptions can be understood in light of the theoretical model of meaningful learning (Jonassen, 1995). Furthermore, deepening a teacher’s understanding by taking the learner’s position appears to be a powerful tool in understanding the prerequisites for the successful use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching. The results show that teachers were more focused on how to facilitate student collaboration in their web-based teaching and less on how to contextualise the content or how to facilitate the transferability of the content taught into other contexts and situations. The teachers’ own experiences of what it means to be a learner in a web-based environment may be an essential learning experience through which they realise that when teaching in web-based environments, it is necessary that every choice they make be justifiable in terms of pedagogy

From needs to deeds : where is pedagogy in changing the working and learning environments on a university campus?

This paper took a pedagogical campus developer’s look into a campus retrofitting process. The paper presents a case study of a major Finnish research-intensive university. The data consist of semi-structured interviews of information-rich key stakeholders identified using snowball sampling method. The findings suggest that co-design should be followed through the whole retrofitting process with sufficient communications between stakeholders. The study introduces the concept of learning landscape reliability, putting digital age basic needs in the centre of learning landscape usability.Peer reviewe

Miksi julkaista suomenkielellä? : Pääkirjoitus

Non peer reviewe