Session Information
Session 5A, Teaching and learning in higher education (4)
Papers
Time:
2004-09-23
13:00-14:30
Room:
Chair:
Christine Teelken
Discussant:
Christine Teelken
Contribution
During the last decade, pre-primary teacher education in Finland has been reformed and incorporated into university education. One central aim of the reform was to improve the status and the level of the education. The question is, however, whether the reform has only been an institutional change or whether a new learning context has been created? The aim of this study is to investigate students' learning within the reformed teacher education.Within pre-primary teacher education in Finland students have both practical and theoretical studies. The question is what differences can be found between students' learning within the two contexts? The aim is further to investigate the influence of practical and theoretical studies on students' learning.In the empirical study, students (N=126) within pre- primary teacher education at Åbo Akademi University in Finland participated. All students completed two questionnaires; 'Reflections on Learning Inventory'(Erik Meyer), and 'Study Process Questionnaire' (John Biggs). Based on the results from the quantitative study, 29 students were then selected to participate in qualitative deep-interviews; 15 surface-level and 14 deep- level students. In order to investigate the influence of the learning organisation, surface- level and deep-level students were interviewed both at the beginning and at the end of the education. In this paper, results concerning students' learning at the end of the educational program will more specifically be presented.As a result of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of data, different conceptions of learning and approaches to learning among students were identified. The conceptions and approaches found formed different categories of description and these categories finally define four category systems; 1) students' conceptions of learning in general; 2) students' conceptions of their own learning, 3) students' learning strategies as part of their approaches to learning, and 4) students' motives as part of their approaches to learning.When discussing the results of the study, five issues seem to stand out. They are:· The difference between students' conceptions of learning in general and of their own learning.· The fact that the learning context to a high degree influences students' conceptions of both their own learning and of learning in general.· The finding that students use a very different number of learning strategies.· The fact that the learning context to a high degree influences students' choice of learning strategies. · The existence of a high proportion of students with diffuse and unclear motives for using certain learning strategies within especially a practical context.In this paper, results concerning students' learning at the end of the educational program will be presented. The influence of practical and theoretical studies will be discussed and implications for the development of teacher education as a new learning context will be focused upon.
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