Anne Nevgi

Bio: Anne Nevgi is an academic researcher from University of Helsinki. The author has contributed to research in topics: Teaching method & Educational technology. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 66 publications receiving 2607 citations.

How approaches to teaching are affected by discipline and teaching context

Abstract: Two related studies are reported in this article. The first aimed to analyse how academic discipline is related to university teachers’ approaches to teaching. The second explored the effects of teaching context on approaches to teaching. The participants of the first study were 204 teachers from the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and 136 teachers from the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University who returned university teaching inventories. Thus, altogether there were 340 teachers from a variety of disciplines in Finland and the UK. The second study involved only the Finnish sample. The results showed that there was systematic variation in both student‐ and teacher‐focused dimensions of approaches to teaching across disciplines and across teaching contexts. These results confirm the relational nature of teachers’ approaches to teaching and illustrate the need, in using inventories such as the Approaches to Teaching Inventory, to be explic...

A follow-up study of the effect of pedagogical training on teaching in higher education

Abstract: The present follow-up study examines the effect of university teachers’ pedagogical training on approaches to teaching and self-efficacy beliefs measured by Approaches to Teaching Inventory and an additional part measuring motivational strategies. The effect of pedagogical training on teaching is analysed among 35 teachers who had not participated in pedagogical courses after the first measurement in 2004 as well as among 45 teachers who had acquired more pedagogical training after the first measurement. The results showed that there were more positive changes in the measured scales among teachers who had acquired more credits of pedagogical courses since the year 2004 than among teachers who had not acquired more credits. The results of the first and second measurements are compared.

From strategic planning to meaningful learning: diverse perspectives on the development of web‐based teaching and learning in higher education

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a study on strategic planning and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and describes the level of quality awareness in web-based teaching at the University of Helsinki. Questionnaire survey data obtained from deans and institutional leaders, ICT support staff, teachers and students (n = 333) at the University indicate that strategic planning has proceeded well, and all the faculties of the University have developed virtual university strategies in order to continue existing ICT initiatives, to further increase the use of ICT in teaching and to assure student information literacy. The data indicate that all the faculties and institutions have monitored and reported the use of ICT in teaching, but quality assurance or enhancement as tools for monitoring were mentioned less frequently. The available ICT training was found satisfactory to meet the actual training needs of the teachers, but their lack of time was judged to be the main obstacle to their participation in it. The teachers identified two basic functions of ICT in teaching: (1) distribution of course material via the web, and (2) the creation of interactive and collaborative learning opportunities. The male teachers and students consistently estimated that their ICT skills were stronger when compared with the judgements made by female teachers and students. The teachers generally felt that the greatest problems arose from students’ lack of time management skills and from deficiencies in the usability of the technology. The students did not perceive lack of time management as a problem. Rather, they experienced isolation, loneliness and the lack of practical ICT usability to be the main obstacles to learning. The teachers had a higher assessment of students’ learning than the students did. The greatest difference between teachers and students concerned the contextual nature of learning in a virtual environment. The fact that the teachers’ views were markedly more positive signals a distinct challenge for pedagogy.

Academic Self-Beliefs and Prior Knowledge as Predictors of Student Achievement in Mathematics: A Structural Model.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between prior knowledge, academic self‐beliefs, and previous study success in predicting the achievement of 139 students on a university mathematics course. Structural equation modelling was used to explore the interplay of these variables in predicting student achievement. The results revealed that domain‐specific prior knowledge was the strongest predictor of student achievement over and above other variables included in the model and, together with previous study success, explained 55% of the variance. Academic self‐beliefs strongly correlated with previous study success and had a strong direct influence on prior knowledge test performance. However, self‐beliefs predicted student achievement only indirectly via prior knowledge. The results imply that both prior knowledge and self‐beliefs should be taken into account when considering instructional support issues, because they can provide valuable insights about the future performance of the students.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

Abstract: A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education).

Education at a Glance

Abstract: A detailed review of the education sector in Australia as in the data provided by the 2006 edition of the OECD's annual publication, 'Education at a Glance' is presented. While the data has shown that in almost all OECD countries educational attainment levels are on the rise, with countries showing impressive gains in university qualifications, it also reveals that a large of share of young people still do not complete secondary school, which remains a baseline for successful entry into the labour market.