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LEARNING THROUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

in elementary and middle schools

In the Finnish school system the between-school differences are the lowest in the world (PISA 2006). However, it is not generally known that there are between-class differences within schools in Finland. Consequently, it is important to study school and class level effects in relation to attention, thinking, psychological well-being and achievement for understanding schooling as a way of meeting the between-student variation.

Our first purpose is to renew the current school practices of identification of attention problems and to create theory and research-based intervention models. We will challenge the current ADHD-identification methods which are based on DSM-IV and ICD-10. These are problematic because criteria do not per se reveal attention capacity of the students.

Secondly, we are interested in abstract thinking and it's correlations to attention and school achievement. The ACT (Ven, Gremmen & Smit 2005) is a form of the measure of the automatic inhibition of attention. Attention as a high-order mental function affects executive processes, and, thus, connects this study of attention to Piagetian study of formal thinking (cf. Russell 1999).

Because psychological well-being of students is considered the preconditon of successful learning and development (cf. Skinner & Edge 2002), it frames the whole project.


We work in a close contact with our national and international collaborators and are interested in creating new multidiciplinary contacts as well.

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Themes of the Study:

Sub-project #1: Attention Concentration Test (ACT) and its properties

Sub-project #2:  Basic psychological needs and self-regulation

Sub-project #3: Correlation between attentional capacity, psychological well-being, self-regulation, formal operations and school achievement

Sub-project #4: SOM-cluster approach on attentional capacity, psychological well-being, self-regulation and formal operations

Multilevel modeling is used to analyze the role of individual, class and school level variance in the studied models. Background variables: gender, general versus special and selective education, age-cohorts, and city.

 

 

 

Special Education &
Centre of Educational Assessment
P.O. Box 26 (Teollisuuskatu 23)
FI-00014 Helsinki
Finland

Research group:

Helena Thuneberg, Ph.D (Researcher)

#1: Psychological well-being

#2: Attention, Self-regulation

#3: Self-concept of teacher

#4: Dyslexia

#5: Quantitative Methods (Self-Organizing Maps, Multilevel Modeling-MLWin)

Helena.Thuneberg@Helsinki.fi

 

Risto Hotulainen, Ph. D (University lecturer)

#1: Attention

#2: Self-concept

#3: Gifted education

#4: On-line learning

#5: Quantitative Methods (Self-Organizing Maps, MLWin; learning phase)

Risto.Hotulainen@Helsinki.fi

 

Jarkko Hautamäki, Ph.D (Professor)

#1: Learning to Learn

#2: Cognitive Development

#3: Educational Assessment

#4: PISA

#5: Quantitative Methods (Self-Organizing Maps, Multilevel Modeling-MLWin)

Jarkko.Hautamaki@Helsinki.fi

 

Keywords: attention, cognitive development (Piaget), psychological well-being, school achievement, self-regulation, PISA

Research collaboration & partners

Selected Publications in English

(enlarged in pdf format)

Thuneberg, H. & Hart, L. (in press). Connections between Psychological Well-Being, Academic and Prosocial Self-Regulation and Achievement at School, article in process in Learning and Individual differences.

Aunio, P., Hautamäki, J. & Van Luit, J.E.H. (In press) Mathematical-thinking intervention programmes for preschool children with normal and low number sense.

Aunio, P., Niemivirta, M., Hautamäki, J., Van Luit, J.E.H., Shi, J. & Zhang, M. Young Children’s Number Sense in China and Finland. (Accepted for publication).

Thuneberg, H. (in press). Changes in Academic and Prosocial Self-Regulation from the Sixth to the Ninth Grades in Piaget is dead, Vygotsky is still alive, or? (Eds.) Aunio, P., Jahnukainen, M., Kalland, M., & Silvonen, J.

Adey, P., Csapo, B., Demetriou, A., Hautamäki, J. & Shayer, M. 2007. Can we be intelligent about intelligence? Why education needs the concept of plactic general ability Educational Research Review

Thuneberg, H. 2007. Is a majority enough? Psychological well-being and its relation to academic and prosocial motivation, self-regulation and achievement at school. Research Report 281, dissertation research. Yliopistopaino 2007.

Hotulainen, R. & Lappalainen, K. 2007. Correlation Between Identified Academic Potential and Talent Development; Results from the 15-year Study. In Tirri K. (ed.) Values and Foundations of Gifted Education (57-76). Bern: Peter Lang.

Lappalainen, K. & Hotulainen, R. 2007. An Age Group's Nine Year Long Change in Educational and Employment Position: How Students with EBD have Managed after  Finishing their Comprehensive School. Teoksessa Herz, B. & M. Kuorelahti (eds.) Cross-Categorical Special Education Needs in Finland and Germany. Waxmann: Berlin, 113-122.

Hotulainen, R. & Lappalainen, K. 2007. Correlation between Pre-School Verbosenso Motor Status and Self-Perceptions of Young Adults; Results from 15-year Longitudinal Study. In M. Kuorelahti, & K. Lappalainen (eds.) At the Grass' Root Level - research and Visions (80-98). Joensuu: Joensuun Yliopistopaino.

Thuneberg, H. & Hotulainen, R. 2006 “Contributions of the Data Mining for the Psycho-Educational Research: What do Self Organizing Maps Tell about Well-being of the Gifted Learners?”. High Ability Studies 1, pp. 87-100 June.

Hautamäki, J. Kupiainen, S., Arinen, P., Hautamäki, A., Niemivirta, M., Rantanen, P. & Scheinin. P. 2006. Learning-to-learn Assessment in Finland – versatile tools to monitor and improve effectiveness and equity of the educational system. In R. Jakku-Sihvonen 6 H. Niemi (Eds..), Research-based teacher Education in Finland – reflections by Finnish teacher educators. Research in Educational Science 25. Turku. Finnish Educational Research Association.

Thuneberg, H. 2005. Self-Determination, Motivation and the Fulfillment of the Psychological Needs at School. Published conference paper in www.isec2005.org.uk/isec/abstracts/papers_n/ index_n.shtml, Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress ISEC 2005, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, 1st - 4th August 2005, Inclusive Technology Ltd, 1-903618-29-0.ISEC 2005,11 pages.

Schofield, N. & Hotulainen, R. 2004. Does All Cream Rise? The Plight of Unsupported Gifted Children. Psychology Science, 46(3), 379-386.

Thuneberg, H. 2004. Le grandi città Europee contro la dispersione / Espoo, teoksessa Lotta alla dispersione e orientamento / Fight against school failure and guidance. What’s new in European cities. Published by the Fondazione di San Paolo per la Scuola, I Quaderni 3, p. 81-84.

Aunio, P., Ee, J., Lim, A., Hautamäki, J., & Van Luit 2004. Young Children’s Number Sense in Finland, Hong Kong and Singapore. International Journal of Early Years Education, 12, 3, 195-216.

Carlstedt, B., Gustafsson, J.-E., Hautamäki, J. 2004. Intelligence – theory, research, and testing in the Nordic countries. Teoksessa R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), International Handbook of the Psychology of Human Intelligence. London: Cambridge University Press, 49-78.

Hotulainen, R. & Schofield, N. 2003. Identified pre-school potential giftedness and its relation to academic achievement and self-concept at the end of Finnish comprehensive school, High Ability Studies, 14(1), 55-70.

Hotulainen, R. 2003. Does the Cream always rise to the top? Correlations between Pre-School Academic Giftedness and Perceptions of Self, Academic Performance and Career Goals, after Ten Years of Finnish Comprehensive Schooling. Scientific publications in Education 84. Joensuu: Joensuun Yliopistopaino.

Kyttälä, M., Aunio, P., Lehto, J.E., van Luit, J. & Hautamäki, J. 2003. Visuo-spatial working memory and early numeracy. Educational and Child Psychology, 20, 65-76.

Hautamäki. J. & Kupiainen, S. 2002. The Finnish Learning-to-Learn Assessment Project. A concise report with key results prepared for the Workshop on Learning-to-Learn Assessment, Brussels, May 14th 2002. www.edu.helsinki.fi/arviointikeskus/brysseli.pdf

Lehto, J., Scheinin, P., Kupiainen, S. ja Hautamäki, J. 2001. National survey of reading comprehension in Finland. Journal of Research in Reading, 24 (1), pp. 99-110.

Sternberg, R., Castejón, J.L., Prieto, M.D., Hautamäki, J., & Grigo­renko, E.L. 2001. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (Multiple-Choice Items) in Three International Samples: An Empirical Test of the Triarchic Theory. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, Special Issue, 17 (1), 1-16.

Hautamäki, A., Hautamäki, J. 2001. Children's Self-Concept as Gendered and Contextual: Socio-Moral Self-Concepts among 12-year-old Finnish Girls and Boys. Teoksessa M. Hedegaard (Ed.), Learning in Classroom: A Cultural-Historical Approach. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

 

Ruoho, K. & Hotulainen, R. (in press). Pädagogische Prophylaxe im Vorschulater - eine Chance zur Verbesserung von lern- und Lebenserfolgen.

 

Selected Publications in Finnish

(enlarged in pdf format)

Hotulainen, R. & Lappalainen, K. (in press) Perhetausta ja erityisopetukseen osallistuminen selittämässä nuorten aikuisten vahvuuksia ja koulutukseen/työelämään sijoittumista.[Family background and part-time special education and their correlation to perceived strengths and educational/vocational placements of the young adults]

Lappalainen, K., Hotulainen, R., Kuorelahti, M. & Thuneberg. H. 2008. Vahvuuksien tunnistaminen ja tukeminen sosioemotionaalista kompetenssia rakentamassa [Strengts and their support as essential elementents of developing socioemotional competence]. Teoksessa K. Lappalainen, M. Kuittinen & M. Meriläinen Pedagoginen hyvinvointi (pp. 78-98). Kasvatusalan tutkimuksia 41, Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura.

Thuneberg, H. 2007. Psyykkinen hyvinvointi ja sen yhteys kouluoppimiseen. Didacta varia 2007, 12(2), 104-107.

Lappalainen, K. & Hotulainen, R. 2007. ”Jospa sitä joskus sais oikeita töitä” –
Seurantatutkimus peruskoulussa arvioitujen tukitarpeiden yhteydestä nuorten koulutukseen ja työhön sijoittumiseen. [Special Educational Needs and Their Correlations to Educational Choices and Occupational Transfer of Young Adults: a Longitudinal study]. Kasvatus [Education] 38 (3), 242-256.

Thuneberg, H. 2006.  ”Konstit on monet. Äidinkielen opetus ja yksilölliset tarpeet”, teoksessa Kulmakivi Luokanopettajan äidinkieli ja kirjallisuus OTAVA. 

 Thuneberg, H. 2006. “Alakoulun lukiopetuksesta” teoksessa Lukivaikeudesta lukitaitoon (toim. Takala & Kontu), ilm. Yliopistokustannus. s. 177-201.

Arinen, Karjalainen, Kaivola, Mäkelä, Valkonen, Thuneberg, 2006: ”Lasten ja nuorten käsityksiä tieteestä ja tutkijoista” http://www.tiede.fi/images/tiedostot/1169462567tutkijakuvaraportti1012006.pdf.  Koulutuksen arviointikeskus. Helsinki 2006.

Lappalainen, K. & Hotulainen, R. 2006. Toisen asteen koulutuksen kautta työelämään – vai työelämän kautta toisen asteen koulutukseen? [Transition to the working life after vocational secondary schooling – or vice versa?].  In K. Ruoho (ed.) Tehtävänä erityispedagoginen näkökulma (58-76). Scientific publications in Education 143. Joensuu: Joensuun yliopistopaino.

Hotulainen, R. 2005. Lapsen vahvuuden tukeminen. Uskomukset älykkyydestä ja lahjakkuudesta osana oppimista [Supporting strengths in children. Beliefs about Intelligence and Giftedness in Learning Process]. In Kontu. E, & Suhonen, E. (eds.) Erityispedagogiikka ja varhaislapsuus (135-149). Helsinki: Palmenia kustannus.

Thuneberg, H. 2005. ”Psyykkinen hyvinvointi päiväkodissa” teoksessa Erityispedagogiikka ja varhaislapsuus in Kontu, E. & Suhonen, E (eds.) Erityispedagogiikka ja varhaislapsuus (95-108), Helsinki: Palmenia kustannus.

Kuusela. J. & Hautamäki., J. 2005. Mitataan oppilaita, mutta päätellään koulusta. In H.K.Lyytinen & A. Räisänen (Eds.), kehittämissuuntaa arvioinnista. Koulutuksen arviointineuvoston julkaisuja 6. Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen arviointineuvosto.

Hautamäki, J., Kupiainen, S., Arinen, P., Hautamäki, A., Niemivirta, M., Rantanen, P., Ruuth, M., & Scheinin, P. 2005. Oppimaan oppiminen ala-asteella 2. Tilanne vuonna 2004 ja muutokset vuodesta 1996. Oppimistulosten arviointi 1/2005. Helsinki: Opetushallitus.

Thuneberg, H. 2005. ”Akateeminen itsesäätely koulussa”. Joensuun yliopiston verkkojulkaisussa Yhtenäistyvät vai erilaistuvat oppimisen ja koulutuksen polut” , toim. Havu-Nuutinen, S. ja Heiskanen, M. ISBN: 952-458-655-X, s. 76-90.

Hotulainen, R. 2004. Oppilaiden erityisten vahvuuksien huomioonottamisesta teoksessa [How to Support Special Strengths in Learners]. Teoksessa Atjonen, P. & Kansanen, P. (eds.) Osaava opettaja. Keskustelua 2000-luvun opettajankoulutuksen ydinaineksesta (77-93). Joensuu: Joensuun yliopistopaino.

Hautamäki, J. & Kuusela, J. 2004. Diagnostisen päättelemisen pulmista ja keinoista – matemaattiset oppimisvaikeudet. Teoksessa P. Räsänen, P. Kupari, T. Ahonen & P. Malinen (toim.), Matematiikka – näkökulmia opettamiseen ja oppimiseen. Jyväskylä;: Niilo Mäki Instituutti. 255-273. ISBN 951-39-1940-4

Hautamäki, J., Kupiainen, S., Mehtäläinen, J. Rantanen, P. & Ruuth, M. 2004. Peruskoululaisten oppimaan oppi­misen arviointi osana yleissivistävän koulutuksen arviointistrategiaa. Helsingin kaupungin opetusviraston julkaisusarja A2:2004. Helsinki: Opetusvirasto.

Hautamäki, J., Arinen, P., Hautamäki, A., Kupiainen, S., Lindblom, B., Mehtäläinen, J., Niemivirta, M., Rantanen, P. & Scheinin, P. 2003. Oppimaan oppiminen ylä-asteella 2. Tilanne vuonna 2001 ja muutokset vuodesta 1997. Oppimistulosten arviointi 6/2003. Helsinki: Opetushallitus.

Hautamäki. J., Lahtinen, U., Moberg, S. ja Tuunainen, K. 2001. Erityisopetuksen perusteet. Helsinki: WSOY.

Kuusela, J. & Hautamäki, J. 2001. Lahjakkaiden opetus. Teoksessa M. Jahnukainen (toim.), Lasten erityishuolto ja -opetus Suomessa. 11. Täysin uudistettu laitos. (pp. 320-329). Helsinki: Lastensuojelun keskusliitto.

 

Uusia julkaisuja:

Lappalainen, K., Hotulainen, R., Kuorelahti, M. & Thuneberg. H. 2008. Vahvuuksien tunnistaminen ja tukeminen sosioemotionaalista kompetenssia rakentamassa [Strengts and their support as essential elementents of developing socioemotional competence].

Pedagoginen hyvinvointi (mainos)

 

 

Presentations & related pages

Ad van der Ven

(homepage)

publications

 

EG-lab

Child Study Center

Yale University

 

Self-Organizing Maps

(Teuvo Kohonen homepage)

& our practical implication:

High ability studies

Mary Ainley
The University of Melbourne
(SOM-applications in the context of motivation)

 

CICERO network

The Brain, Learning & Education Network by CICERO (in English);

AOK in Finnish

 

Strength-based assessment

with

Matti Kuorelahti (JyU)

Kristiina Lappalainen (JoY)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presentations:

Special Support in Education: Finland in PISA study

 

 

Psychological well-being at school(e.g. SOM-clusters)

 

ECHA 2008 (attention, abstract thinking & GPA)

Kasvatustieteen päivät 09: KTA-Vahvuudet

 

Related links:

Attention Concentration Test (ACT) introduction

 

Self-Determination Theory

 

Learning to Learn Framework

 

KELPO-kehittämistoiminta
The national reform of special education in which

Centre of Educational Assessment has an evaluation/research role

 

Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundation (grant for Attention study in 2006)

Finnish Cultural Foundation (3 year grant for Psychological well-being at school study)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updates and questions related to this page and links: Risto.Hotulainen@Helsinki.fi