Voices of Researchers, Educational Developers and Students in Supporting Study Paths in Finnish Higher Education Päivikki Jääskelä and Pia Nissilä University of Jyväskylä Department of Teacher Education

Knowledge producing system as a whole Guidance as a systemic entity – The focus of this conference Holistic approach to research - Gibbons & al. (1994) Our theoretical starting point Instead of demarcations between science and non-science, research is seen as more heterogeneus set of knowledge practitioners  Who is participating in producing knowledge related to studying and guidance in higher education?

Heterogeneus voices from 2000 to 2008 Researchers: Referee-articles in national and international scientific journals, and dissertations Educational developers: Articles in national pedagogical journals in higher education (universities and universities of applied sciences) Students: masters theses and theses in universities of applied sciences

What themes do different knowledge producers deal with? What are the research themes related to studying, pedagogy and guidance in HE? What themes educational delevopers write about? What kind of themes students are interested in?

Data from different databases Search from national databases by keywords: Union cataloques containing Finnish articles (ARTO) dissertations, master’s theses, monographs and compilations (LINDA) Ca. 20 subject keywords associating studying and learning in higher education, teaching and guidance, working life, competence and expertice, student exhange and practical training, academic and professional identity. In addition, some truncated keywords were used. Systematic search for articles by Finnish reseachers from international journals classified in ”Arts and humanities” and ” Social Sciences” Over 20 e-journals eg. Higher Education, Learning and Instruction, International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance. Systematic search for articles from national journals Two referee-journals and two pedagogical journals Supplementary search from Eric database

Analysis Content analysis is based on titles (national publications and theses) and titles and abstracts (international journal articles) We aimed at getting multiple dimensions of the data, therefore we classified each title as many categories it belongs to (categories do not exclude each other)

Data ( ) (Articles Dissertations) Total frequency 1655 (Pedagogical articles) (Thesis)(Monographs Compilations) Number of sources Type of sources

Preliminary themes emerged from data Studying: Learning skills, styles and strategies, study orientation, study motivation, self- regulation, self-assesment, learning outcomes, study success, study stress, problems of learning, socialization to study community, students’ union activities, academic self-beliefs, critical thinking and argumentation, students’ prior knowledge and pre-understanding, study activity, abandonment, change of main subject, student exchange, different ways to study, writing thesis, collaborative learning, social interaction, students’ experiences of equality, absence Pedagogy and guidance: Different methods of teaching and guidance (eg. peer tutoring and tutoring by staff, dialogical pedagogy), pedagogical arrangements, different guidance services, guidance of PSP, teaching experiments, course or curriculum development (eg. problem-based learning), development of learning environment (eg. virtual learning enviroment), accessibility Education and working life: Practical training, expertise and competence, professional identity, orientation to entrepreneurship, working life experiences, tranfer to working life, job acquisition, relationship between HE and working life Studying in relation to student’s life as a whole: Studying in relation to family (eg. motherhood), work, military service, professional sport or musicianship, freetime, fysical or psychological well-being, loneliness, standard of living, experiences as foreign students

How about themes by different voices? RESEARCHERS (n=317) Pedagogy and guidance Studying Education and working life EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPERS (n=140) Pedagogy and guidance Studying Education and working life STUDENTS (n=925) Studying Education and working life Pedagogy and guidance Student’s life as a whole Note: Larger font size and bold style indicate the level of emphasis within each voice.

What about the preliminary results in relation to the conference theme ”guidance system as a systemic entity”? Approach of the conference is in line with our theoretical framework: holistic view of learning, pedagogy and guidance system Viewpoint of student Study path as a whole Studying in relation to student’s life as a whole (psychosocial well-being, working life orientation) Pedagogy and guidance services as a systemic entity (curriculum development, and whole higher education institution as a learning environment including eg. career guidance, health care system, pedagocical and guidance practices, library services) The study is a part of Finnish ESF-project ”Developing guidance and working life skills in HE” (started at 2009) – Purpose of this study is to produce pre-understanding of the phenomena

Critical findings from the holistic view of learning, pedagogy and guidance system The views of students is not emphasized: only 24 % of the research, and 4 % of the educational developing work cover the theme; on the other hand 61 % of the master’s thesis handle this theme Study path appeared as fragments eg. conserning beginning of the studies or transfer to working life, but not as a whole Research and developmental work concentrated on studying as such, not on it’s relation with student’s life as a whole; on the other hand 11 % of the students were interested in this theme Pedagogy and guidance services as a systemic entity:There is a lot of research and developmental work concerning pedagogical development and development of seperate guidance services, but not a system as a whole

Finally: Preliminary results call for more systemic approach: If we want to understand and support students as whole human beings in their study paths, could we develop our guidance system more collaboratively? Thank You! and