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In order to address the requirements of future education in different fields of academic professional activity, a model called Academic Apprenticeship Education was initiated in Finland in 2009. The aim of this article is to analyse the development of expert networks in the context of a 1-year Academic Apprenticeship Education model in the field of energy efficiency, which is a new and rapidly developing knowledge-intensive field. We examined the creation of networking ties among all course participants, the process of networking in small groups, and individual participants’ networking activity. Data was collected by administering a social networking questionnaire in the beginning and at the end of the training to all course participants (n = 87) and analysed using social network analysis and repeated measures ANOVA. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with organizers of the training to examine how the operational practices of the training supported networking. The results indicated that there was little change in the networking ties among all course participants. However, those small groups that were able to communicate appeared to create internal linkages. At the individual level, more new ties emerged for private sector actors than for public sector actors. In conclusion, we propose that a consolidated educational model should be created for the Academic Apprenticeship Education model in general. The quality of education might be better assured if the current ad hoc networks were not the only way to organise knowledge exchange among participants.

This study explored university students’ views of whether they will need research skills in their future work in relation to their approaches to learning, situational orientations on a learning situation of quantitative methods, and difficulties experienced in quantitative research courses. Education and psychology students in both Finland (N = 46) and the USA (N = 122), who thought that they would need research skills in their future work, differed significantly from the students who were not sure whether they would need these skills. The students, who considered research skills important for their future work, were more task-oriented, used a deeper approach to learning and experienced fewer difficulties in the learning of research skills than other students. This finding implies that experiences in learning, learning approaches and situational orientations are related to expectations about future work. For instruction, this means that if we were somehow able to change students’ experiences and orientations towards research into a more positive direction, students might be better prepared for their future work.