No abstract

In 2014, the Finnish National Board of Education launched a new core curriculum with the aim of meeting the skills and competence requirements of the 21st century. The purpose of this case study was to find out what transversal competencies Finnish eighth graders developed and how they experienced studying in a problem‐based transdisciplinary course, which was arranged for the transitional stage between the former and the new curriculum. The qualitative data consisted of questionnaires and interviews. The analysis followed the methods of qualitative content analysis. When asked about their learning, the students commented on not having learnt much, referring to the discipline‐based knowledge. Instead, they had learnt skills through teamwork, problem solving, and expression of their views and opinions, an aspect that they did not clearly connect with the things to be learnt at school. Many students felt that they acquired the competencies that they would need later in their lives. The students’ teamwork had a crucial impact on their learning experience. The timeframe for the integrative approach needs careful consideration; the learning process in this course was perceived as being successful because it was long enough. Our study highlights that focusing on students’ views is critical when reforming curriculum.

In this study, we investigated how students manage their lack of/insufficient understanding of the content of a mathematical task with the aim of reaching shared understanding and epistemic balance in peer interaction. The data consist of recordings collected during a mathematics project (6 × 75 minutes) in a Finnish lower secondary school. The findings, drawing on conversation analysis, showed two markedly different sequence trajectories: (1) how interaction between a K+ and a K− (more/less knowledgeable) student proceeded relatively smoothly when these positions were accepted by both participants, and consequently the K+ led epistemic work by designing turns that resembled teachers' practices and (2) how the K+/K− interaction became extended when a K− challenged the K+'s knowledge claims and, furthermore, how a K− steered the epistemic work using polar and wh-interrogatives. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the ways the management of epistemic imbalance can progress during peer group work.

This article reports the results of a study that investigated junior high school students' experiences with learning in mathematics lessons that were based on self-guidance, use of technology, and minimalist instruction. The study was part of a ClassPad project and data were obtained from reports written by the 23 students after the ClassPad project ended. A model describing the student's process of mastering doing and learning mathematics through acquiring expertise processes was constructed by using grounded theory method. The mastery of doing and/or learning was reached either with satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Two different learning profiles, one concluding with students feeling satisfied with their learning and the other concluding with students feeling unsatisfied illustrated the students' typical processes. The findings further revealed that when the teacher's role was minimized and the students had the opportunity to self-guide their learning in an environment with various materials and easy-to-use technology, student-centered learning occurred.