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Concerns have been expressed that the engagement shown by committed individuals is not fully utilized by their organizations while there is insufficient knowledge of which conditions facilitate teaching collaboration and lead to improvements in university education. Portfolios of 43 life science academics applying to enter to the University of Helsinki Teachers' Academy were analyzed through content analysis. Five categories of interactive or collaborative practices emerged from the data: (1) Interacting with peers for personal development, (2) Sharing good teaching practices, (3) Teaching together, (4) Producing educational artefacts, (5) Developing education systematically. The practices occurred in both formal and informal settings, and both settings were present in all categories. In contrast with the formal practices, the informal practices were described in an enthusiastic way. The engagement shown by the scholarly teachers was mostly realized in informal settings. There is probably unrealized potential in the scholarly teachers' teaching-related practices through which they could contribute to the development of teaching in academia. Formal communities related to teaching should be developed to promote deeper collaboration and to foster the participants' feeling of personal commitment and ownership.

This paper explores the value of a research-based student inventory from the quality assurance point of view in two culturally different European higher education institutions for veterinary education. Perceived heavy workload is a well-known problem in veterinary studies and is a challenge to the quality of learning. First- and third-year students in both institutions responded to an inventory consisting of items regarding their approaches to learning, self-efficacy, study workload and the teaching-learning environment. There were differences in students' approaches to learning and perceived workload between the two institutions. In both contexts, the strongest predictor of the workload turned out to be the surface approach to learning. Self-efficacy showed a positive correlation with the deep approach to learning and organised studying. The strengths of the teaching-learning environment varied between the institutions. Moreover, the present study discusses how the gained information could be used in improving the teaching-learning environment and students' learning.

Time and effort management skills have proved to be very important in studying, as they provide a foundation for both study success and engagement in university studies across the world. The paper focuses on how these skills develop during university studies in veterinary medicine, and examines possible changes in relation to students' experiences of the teaching-learning environment and study success. The results suggest that students' experience of interest and relevance of the subject matter explained the changes in their time and effort management skills. Moreover, students who scored high in these skills during their Bachelor's studies succeeded well in their later studies. The findings highlight the need to support the development of students' time and effort management skills from the very beginning of university studies. Moreover, the teachers should pay greater attention to the relevance of the subject matter, as it may also support the development of these skills.

Teachers' conceptions of teaching, including assessment practices, are substantial in directing student learning. Our article refers to assessment at tertiary level biological education. We studied life science (more specifically microbiology-related) teachers' assessment discourse describing how they understood assessment as part of their teaching, how they justified their assessment practices, and how they saw their own as well as the students' role in the assessment processes. We identified three categories of teachers' assessment discourse based on the level of reflection and pedagogical awareness, action and partnership. Within each category, we present characteristic features found in three themes: assessment practices, student learning and purpose of assessment. But awareness of the teachers' different conceptions of assessment is valuable from an educational point of view. We suggest that pedagogical education, peer and institutional support, as well as interaction with the wider higher education community, all play an influential role in the development of assessment practices. Our results indicate that assessment practices at the course level must be carefully considered before changing the focus on assessment "for" learning instead of assessment of learning.

In this study, 28 university students from two different fields--the humanities and veterinary medicine--were interviewed. The aim was to explore the role of individual interest and future goals during the first two years of university study through retrospective interviews. The results showed that, while support from the learning environment was necessary, in most cases study had to some degree been based on individual interest. A heavy workload was found to hinder interest-based studying in veterinary medicine, whereas clear future goals helped these students to remain committed. Even though individual interest played an important role in the humanities, a lack of future goals diminished students' commitment to their studies.

This study explores factors affecting the study pace of law students during their first academic year. The participants comprised two student groups: those whose number of study credits were the lowest and highest. Altogether, 25 students (11 with a slow and 14 with a fast study pace) were interviewed. The factors affecting study pace mentioned by the students were the same in both groups and could be classified into five categories: motivation, behaviour, cognition, context and other involvements. The group of fast study pace students turned out to be fairly homogeneous. They were highly motivated, planned and organised their study schedules accurately, used various study strategies and had good metacognitive skills. On the contrary, the group of slow study pace students showed more individual variation. Lack of volition and difficulties in time management were the most typical weaknesses of the slow study pace students. (Contains 2 tables.)