In this article we will present a reflexive way of producing a narrative analysis on teaching and learning that involves all participants of the pedagogical process. Our theoretical contribution rests on the concept "lived pedagogy", adapted from Max van Manen's term "lived experience". Like van Manen, we start by asking the…

This paper reports an action research case study in which a traditional lecture based, face to face "Network Management" course at the University of Lapland's Faculty of Social Sciences was developed into two different course versions resorting to case based teaching: a face to face version and an online version. In the face to face…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate evidence for the use of web discussion in the assessment of work-based learning in practical nurse education. The paper seeks to investigate what kind of conclusions can be drawn from the students' learning and learning processes, especially from their ability to reflect by analysing web…

Purpose: The theoretical aim of the research in this paper is to conceptualize learning in the context of communicative action research, specifically in the context of democratic dialogue. The empirical aim is to show how and in which conditions action research projects, based on democratic dialogue, work. Design/methodology/approach: In the…

This article describes the basic elements of an intensive action research process. The process started from an educational programme offered to professional groups interested in the problems in developing the public sector as a forum that would transcend the boundaries separating different work organisations. The introduction of the programme…

This article describes a programme of autonomous language learning (ALMS) introduced at Helsinki University Language Centre in 1994. The programme was developed to encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning in terms of deciding what they need and wish to learn, setting goals and objectives, achieving these objectives, and…

This study is part of an action research project titled "Promotion of School Community Staff's Occupational Wellbeing in Co-operation with Occupational Health Nurses" (2001-04), which aims to promote occupational wellbeing by actions that maintain the staff's ability to work in 12 school communities in Eastern Finland. This paper…

In this paper, we present the results from a two-part study. We analyze 60 programs written by novice programmers aged 16-19 after their first programming course, in either Java or Python. The aim is to find difficulties independent of the language used, and such originating from the language. Second, we analyze the transition from a…

Eila Burns undertook the enquiry that is the subject of this article while studying for her MEd degree at the University of Birmingham. She is now a lecturer in teacher education at Jyvaskyla University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The project she describes here aimed to assess the effectiveness of peer tutoring and the advantages of the…

Gender equality is a widely recognized value. Still, on the practical level, it is not easy to achieve true gender equality. Gender has proved to be a complicated issue both for research and practice. Gender change projects trying to make changes in detected disadvantages have repeatedly run into a problem: it is difficult to put gender issues on…

Self-evaluation requires teachers to have an ability to systematically reflect on their own pedagogical activities; action research supports and helps teachers in this process. This article explores the use of action research by teachers to improve both their own expertise and their educational environment. The article begins with a discussion of…

This qualitative case study describes a portfolio program in the teaching of English as a foreign language in two Finnish upper secondary schools. Approximately 100 students participated in the portfolio program, whose topic area was culture. First, the purpose of this action research was to try out and develop portfolios in foreign language…

Describes a "Culture and Foreign Language" action research project that consisted of two years teaching experience with Finnish uppersecondary school pupils. (21 references) (CK)

The understanding of expert knowledge as shared, distributed and contextualised has gained ground. The case description in this article focuses on developing expert knowledge in a situation in which both knowledge needs and the definition of expertise fields changed radically in the public sector within a social crisis. The article examines an…

This action research study developed, explored, and analyzed the use of digital portfolios as a multiperspective ecological assessment method in primary education learning environments in Finland. Participating in the study were kindergarten and primary school teachers who were challenged and encouraged to utilize networking and digital portfolios…