General description on research questions, objectives and theoretical framework Laurea is Finland’s fourth-largest university of applied sciences, located in the Helsinki metro-politan area. It has approx. 500 staff and 8,000 students. The pedagogical framework at Lau-rea is called Learning by Developing (LbD). LbD is Laurea’s innovative pedagogical operating model, which redefines the learning process as a research and development process. Learn-ing is based on real life, an investigative approach and face-to-face encounters, and leads to innovations. (Kallioinen, 2007.) The theoretical framework of the LbD model derives from in-quiry-based learning. The LbD model has only been used for a few years. Because it is ap-plied comprehensively throughout Laurea, gaining evidence-based data on its use is crucial. The purpose was to investigate how suitable LbD is for the Social Services and Health Care field, in particular for students of Nursing and develop a comprehensive model for first aid in-struction. The case study was first aid instruction. Research questions: • What do graduating Nursing students think about first aid instruction implemented ac-cording to LbD? • How do first-year Nursing students rate the graduating Nursing students first aid teach-ing? • What are Nursing students’ opinions regarding the use of LbD for Nursing instruction? Nursing students graduating from the case project (2008-2009) taught a first aid module to first-year Nursing and Public Health Nursing students. In the implementation, the final-year Nursing students (the project’s mentors) paired up with first-year students (the actors) to teach them first aid theory and instruct them in practical exercises. The aim was that after the module, the actors would recognise the first aid needs of patients and be able to provide emergency first aid and basic resuscitation for patients of varying ages. In the case project, mentors also instructed secondary school pupils in the theory of first aid. After the session, the pupils attended Laurea for practical instruction. The practical sessions were overseen by the actors. The mentors and a first aid teacher supervised the practical sessions and guided the actors.

Methods/methodology The LbD project was conducted as qualitative action research. Action research is used to solve diverse practical problems, enhance social practices and improve understanding of these. Action research is usually a change process that affects all participants and therefore requires commitment from all those involved. Action research is applied to improve and de-velop existing operations or activities. (Metsämuuronen, 2003.) Data was gathered in the form of written evaluations and learning diaries, which will be ana-lysed using interpretative content analysis. The actors provided a written evaluation of the mentors' first aid instruction. The mentors kept a learning diary throughout the process. The mentors will compile a report of their personal evaluations and learning diaries, and use the evaluations of their instruction efforts to create models for first aid instruction.

Expected Outcomes/results Feedback on the LbD-based instruction varied. 1) The actors Wished mentors were more committed to the instruction, as their approach seemed unenthusiastic. Those involved in the secondary pupils’ sessions thought their first aid skills and knowledge had improved, and that the learning experience had been worth-while. 2) The mentors were disappointed by the absence of teachers during lessons; lecturers veri-fied lesson structures and contents, but did not participate. Mentors also felt that project plan-ning and implementation were disorganised. Those involved in secondary-level sessions felt improvements in their first aid skills and knowledge. 3) The secondary-school teachers were happy with the mentors’ theory teaching, and teach-ers and pupils were pleased with the practical first aid sessions. The pupils were clearly en-couraged by positive feedback on their practical work.