This study examines the learning processes that take place when upper secondary students apply and generate theories while drawing on their preferred music and writing songs of their own. One music theory teacher and two researchers collaborated to design an emergent sequence of lessons focusing on students' interests, questions and creative work.…

This paper discusses the theories of conceptual change and how they explain the difficulties in mathematics learning, especially in enlarging the number concept. Two studies are presented, one of which examines the research questions: What is the role of prior knowledge in students' answers to questions about the density of rational and real…

Misconceptions of Finnish secondary students about phases of the moon illustrate the separation of school learning from experience and cognition outside of school. Three approaches to overcome the encapsulation of school learning are suggested based on theories of V. V. Davydov, J. Lave and E. Wenger, and the author. (SLD)

The objective of this study was to investigate the emergence of a "mindy" (a unit of mind). The mindy is characterized as an open, organized, discrete, and kinematic mental shape. The study was the sequel to research on the emergence of mental shape (R. Laassonen, 1993). The subjects were 84 students, aged 13 to 16 years and…

Presents a model of deviant behavior at three levels: the community, the social network, and the individual. Also presents results of a study, conducted in Finland, of regional differences in deviant adolescent behavior. Reports that although the model proved incompatible with part of the empirical material, it was on the whole viable. (KH)

Issues related to the estimation of individuals' vocabulary size are discussed, including the rationale for vocabulary size research and the psychological, pedagogical, and quantitative approaches to vocabulary research and methodological problems associated with them. Some results from a large-scale assessment of Finnish comprehensive school…

This paper explores moral sensitivity in Finnish secondary school teachers and students. Moral sensitivity comprises capacities to identify and interpret different kinds of situations in the ethical framework; it is the awareness of how our actions affect other people. In the teaching profession, teachers have to consider different lines of action…

The increasing emphasis on entrepreneurship and self-employment training in vocational education and training (VET) worldwide was examined. Special attention was paid to the following themes: (1) the content and various concepts of entrepreneurship, including the distinction between external and internal entrepreneurship; (2) trends in…