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The present study examines antecedents of university students' academic emotions (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002) in the context of self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; 2000), using realtime assessment and intra-individual analyses. We investigated whether daily autonomous and controlled-motivated educational goals predicted students' academic emotions. University students (N = 55) completed smartphone diaries over 14 consecutive days. The two-week intensive longitudinal data were organized in a hierarchical three-level structure, with situations (Level 1) nested within days (Level 2) nested within students (Level 3). Students' goal motivation was assessed in morning questionnaires, and academic emotions in three daytime questionnaires. The results of the multilevel structural equation models showed that setting self-determined autonomous educational goals predicted positive emotions, whereas controlled motivation predicted negative emotions in everyday academic situations, applying both to within-person processes and between-person differences. Both kinds of goal motivation, autonomous and controlled, were associated with determination in students' daily lives. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introducción.. En este estudio exploramos el desarrollo de las habilidades de aprendizaje social y emocional (SEL) de los docentes, mediante el uso de MET [Maestros Eficaz y Técnicamente preparados] (Gordon Training International) como intervención con dos grupos de docentes. También quisimos abordar el modelo de Gordon desde la perspectiva de la psicología educativa moderna. Los efectos de la intervención MET sobre los docentes fueron examinados utilizando el modelo de Kirkpatrick y Kirkpatrick (2006), ya que consideramos importante observar diversos aspectos de los resultados de la intervención, incluyendo las reacciones, el conocimiento, la aplicación del conocimiento (habilidades) y el bienestar general de los participantes.Método. Los docentes participantes en el MET eran tutores (n=20) de un centro de primaria y profesores de materia (n=23) de un centro de secundaria de Finlandia. El grupo de comparación comprendió profesores de materia (n=26) de un centro de secundaria que no participaron en MET. Las diferencias estadísticas de los resultados posteriores a la prueba se examinaron con ANOVA unidireccional de muestra dependiente.Resultados. En el grupo de comparación no se encontraron diferencias entre las mediciones previas y posteriores a la prueba. Entre los participantes las reacciones hacia el MET fueron positivas. Además hubo resultados significativos en otros dos aspectos: mejoraron tanto el conocimiento como la aplicación del conocimiento. El bienestar general de los docentes medido al final de la intervención mostró cambios menores.Conclusión. MET pareció alcanzar sus objetivos, pues los docentes aprendieron a aplicar habilidades de SEL durante la intervención.

Adolescents are active users of Facebook and are spending an increasing amount of their daily time on its use. Several recent studies have advocated the need to integrate Facebook use into our existing educational practices. However, at the same time, scholars and educators are wary of the fact that intensive Facebook use (IFU) may not translate into educational uses, learning outcomes and academic well-being. IFU represents an important service use concept that evaluates any user's emotional attachment, connectivity and integration with Facebook use. To address this gap, the present study investigated the role of different Facebook U&G and educational affordances in predicting the IFU among adolescents. A cross-sectional study with 942 adolescent Facebook users from India was conducted. The study results suggest that content U&G did not, while process, technology and social U&G did, play significant roles in predicting IFU. In comparison to Facebook U&G, different educational affordances, namely perceptions of Facebook use in Mathematics, Science and English education, perceptions of its formal use in classrooms and academic information seeking and sharing, did not significantly predict IFU. The study concludes with various theoretical and practical implications for scholars, educational solution developers, pedagogical experts as well as education policy makers.

Prior extensive literature on Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has linked their use with psychosocial well-being. Facebook use has also been associated with different attributes of psychosocial well-being. However, the extant literature is inconclusive regarding the nature of the relationship shared by the different attributes of psychosocial well-being and Intensity of Facebook Use (IFU). Furthermore, the prior literature has also revealed inconsistent findings concerning this relationship. To address this gap, this study investigated the significant role of different attributes of psychosocial well-being associated with Facebook use, namely civic-political participation, satisfaction of life, bridging and bonding of social capital, and online sociability on IFU. A total of four cross-sectional surveys were undertaken with adolescent and young-adult Facebook users from India over a period of one year. The results suggest that online sociability was the strongest, and life satisfaction was a non-significant predictor of IFU of both adolescents and young adults across all four studies. The bonding and bridging of social capital was a significant predictor of the IFU of high social economic condition (SES) adolescents, unlike young adults. Furthermore, bridging was, but bonding of social capital was not, a significant predictor of the IFU of low SES adolescents.

1.IntroductionAlthough the Finnish educational system has gotten plenty of global attention as one of the best in the world (Sahlberg, 2014), it still faces many challenges (EU Parliament, 2015). For instance, the PISA results are diminishing, especially in rural areas and among boys (OECD, 2013). Even worse, Finnish adolescents were ranked very low on their liking for school (OECD, 2013). Consequently, reforms in teacher education and school have been suggested by emphasizing 21st Century skills, student-activating methods, inquiry-, project-, problem- and phenomenon-based learning (EU Parliament, 2015).The new national core curriculum also emphasizes on using digital technologies in school in meaningful and inclusive ways. Learning 21st skills is necessary for all citizens in a continually changing society and meaningful use of novel technologies and digital practices are seen as key factors in developing these abilities (Trilling & F adal, 2009). It appears, however, that even though digital technologies have developed exponentially during the recent years, schools have, to some extent, failed to really make use of their full potential. The current knowledge-intensive society needs people who can collaboratively solve complex problems with novel tools and methods, but the conventional knowledge practices at school are considered to be the major hindrance to creating such a workforce (Robinson, 2011). Due to the fact that pedagogical use of technologies is still far from optimal in Finland, heavy users of socio-digital technologies appear to be feeling alienated and bored at school (Salmela-Aro, 2016). Towards that end, we are still struggling with lack of evidence on the relationship between using technologies and academic well-being. Therefore, in this study we are examining how and how much digital technologies are used for learning, students' attitudes towards technologies, perceptions of school and how these are connected to academic well-being.1.1.Digital technologies and learning in schoolTechnology is going to challenge our ability for renewal. It will influence not only economic or social relations but the whole development of the human species (Sitra, 2016). There will be approximately 5 billion internet users by 2020 and every user would have approximately 5 network connected devices (Frost & Sullivan, 2014). Digitalization and globalization has changed our practices, communication and thinking (De Paoli, 2015). In an international and integrated world of cultures and economics every member of community should find better ways to compete and collaborate (Heifetz, Linsky & Grashow, 2009).The concept of 'digital native' (Prensky, 2001) refers those children and young people who have been born into the digital world and have grown up surrounded by novel technology. They cannot recall the world without digital technologies. The term itself is debatable and being a digital native, does not necessarily indicate sophisticated use of technology in educational settings (Hakkarainen, Hietajarvi, Alho, Lonka & Salmela-Aro, 2015). The big question remaining is, how to ensure that school can teach and provide 21st century skills for learners to acquire to cope with the constantly changing world and future work requirements (McFarlane, 2015). Interaction, collaboration, problem solving, social skills are going to be even more important in the future both in education and in work life. In the near future "born global" will be the standard (EK, 2011) and abilities for lifelong learning, professional development and continuous renewal of community and individuals are premises to work, learning and development (Stahle, 2004).Although enriched with novel technologies, people tend to continue working the customary way, by exchanging information and performing tasks, now only in virtual space. Traditions and cultures at work appear quite conservative and unchangeable (De Paoli, 2015). …

Along with the rapid development of digital technology and the increasing proportion of knowledge work, work is becoming decreasingly defined by time and place, and more diverse in terms of both. As digital tools and multi-locational spaces become focal parts of human performance, the optimal use of these resources requires not only the ability to mechanically use them, but also the ability to develop useful behavioral strategies and practices related to them. In fact, modern work requires new kinds of skills from both employees and employers, and useful work practices need to be developed at both the individual and organizational level. This study presents a training program that aims to support well-being and productivity at multi-locational knowledge work by developing the participants’ awareness skills and behavioral strategies related to knowledge work, digital tools and physical spaces as well as by facilitating the development process in the participating organizations. Fifteen trainees from eight organizations attended the program and a larger sample of employees (n = 189) responded to the questionnaires. The approach of the study was design research, and we applied mixed methodology: ANOVAs and qualitative content analysis. This study shows the organizations’ and individuals’ diverse needs regarding using multi-locational spaces and digital tools. It concludes that individuals and organizations can benefit from training in the use of modern spaces and tools in ways that support productivity and well-being. From the theoretical and practical perspective, the study contributes to the current understanding of how to utilize multi-locational spaces and digital tools in ways that support the productivity and well-being of employees.

The focus of the current study was to examine teachers’ well-being in terms of work engagement and burnout by using a person-oriented approach. The participants (n = 149, 70.5% female) were subject-matter teachers from 22 schools from metropolitan Helsinki area in Finland. The first aim was to examine the kinds of profiles we can identify based on work burnout and engagement among teachers. The second aim was to study how the identified profiles differed in job-related demands and resources and personal resources in terms of resilience. Based on the demands-resources model, we expected to find profiles that differ in terms of key resources and demands. The sample was acquired as a convenience sample and the data was collected using online self-report questionnaires. The measures were work engagement, work burnout, work demands/resources (workload and control) and resilience as the personal resource. In addition, changes and effects of the economic circumstances were accounted for with two binary variables assessing the effect on class sizes and material resources. We identified two profiles among teachers: engaged (30%) and engaged-burnout (70%) profiles. We found that those in the engaged profile group had more job and personal resources, such as control and resilience, whereas those in the engaged-burnout profile group experienced more work demands, such as workload. ISSN:1664-1078

We explored doctoral students’ writing profiles using a person-centred approach. We also studied differences between profiles in terms of experienced well-being and perceptions of the learning environment. The participants of our study (n = 664) were PhD students from three faculties at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The Writing Process Questionnaire (Lonka et al. Journal of Writing Research, 5(3), 245-269 2014) was used to measure writing conceptions and problematic writing. Well-being was measured by MED NORD, adapted to the doctoral context (Lonka et al. Medical Teacher, 30, 72-79 2008; Stubb et al. Studies in Continuing Education, 33(1), 33–50 2011), and Perceptions of the learning environment, using specific items from Dahlin et al. Medical Education, 39, 594–604 (2005). PhD students with similar patterns of writing variables were identified through latent profile analysis (LPA). We conducted one-way ANOVAs to examine group differences with respect to well-being and perceptions of learning environment. We identified three writing profiles: Growth-Transforming (51%), Ambivalent (40%), and Fixed-Blocking (9%) groups. The Fixed-Blocking group reported a lack of interest the most often and also reported receiving the least feedback. The Growth-Transforming group was the most and the Fixed-Blocking group the least satisfied with their studies. It appeared that epistemic beliefs related to research writing were most decisive in differentiation among PhD students. Blocks were related to beliefs in innate ability. We concluded that although problems in writing are quite common, epistemic beliefs may be even more decisive in terms of successful research writing.

This study contributes to the research on the differences in young peoples' approaches to socio-digital participation (SDP). We first investigated the differences in SDP between three samples of Finnish students (i.e., elementary school 6th grade, n = 741; high school 1st year, n = 1317; higher education 1st year, n = 1232) and then looked at how these differences are associated with academic well-being. We used exploratory structural equation modeling to investigate the factor structure of SDP and further structural relations to study engagement and study burnout. Despite some differences between the three student cohorts regarding the factor structure of SDP, the same five dimensions of participation were identified in all of them: social networking oriented participation, knowledge-oriented participation, media-oriented participation, action gaming, and social gaming. In the high school sample also a sixth factor, blogging-oriented participation, differentiated from the knowledgeoriented dimension. Taken together, using digital technologies to communicate and maintain social networks (social networking), was consistently either related to lower study engagement or to higher study burnout. Playing of action and sports games (action gaming) was related in all samples either to lower engagement or higher cynicism. Using digital tools to gain and share knowledge (knowledge-oriented) was, in contrast, related to higher study engagement. The results demonstrate that students' digital activities reflect multiple dimensions that are differently related to academic well-being. This study sheds light on the complexity of young peoples' SDP orientations and their related outcomes such as socio-emotional and motivational functioning.

The positive psychology movement values good atmosphere and flourishing in the classroom. In order to do this, it is important to develop teachers’ social and emotional learning (SEL) as a part of expertise, because teachers are in key position to create supportive and engaging learning environment. Even though promoting SEL as a means to create a flourishing classroom is often recommended in the literature, there is not much multi-national evidence about the development of the teachers’ competencies associated with SEL. Previous research indicates that it is difficult to aid students to flourish without teachers having the necessary skills to scaffold them. Focusing merely on cognitive outcomes is not helping, but instead, we need to train the teachers to support autonomy, agency and self-efficacy in classrooms to build sustainable success and happiness among youth. The whole classroom culture should be developed to support positive encounters. This chapter describes studies on SEL interventions on teachers. The participants of the first study were Finnish teachers who attended to Gordon’s Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) workshops, based on humanistic psychology. For assessing teachers’ development of SEL, a new method, Dealing with Challenging Interaction (DCI) was developed. DCI helps to capture the real-life challenging situations at teacher’s work in various settings. In all, after the TET intervention the teachers really started using the studied skills, and they were more likely to support their students’ autonomy and agency than the teachers in the comparison groups. The next step was to carry out global investigations about the Lions Quest teacher workshops. These studies revealed increased readiness to develop teachers’ SEL competencies worldwide. Finally, various SEL interventions in nine European countries were looked at. So far, using mixed-method approach in several countries has produced consistent results with satisfactory effect sizes. The research methods appear ecologically valid, yet generalizable in various cultures and contexts. In all, these studies demonstrated that teachers benefit from SEL training. Diverse interventions appeared to increase teachers’ readiness to implement SEL. Especially, teachers’ sense of competence in teaching SEL increased. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to present an intervention protocol, based on the SEL interventions described above that aims at enhancing teachers’ social and emotional learning. The final aim is to develop classroom cultures that promote flourishing in both teachers and students. The present research adds to both theoretical and practical understanding of teachers’ continuing professional development worldwide.

espanolIntroduccion: La tendencia global de los nuevos curriculos de muchos paises de la OCDE indica que las habilidades de interaccion social son cada vez mas importantes. Los educadores deben comenzar a fomentar el desarrollo de las competencias sociales de los alumnos, lo que requiere el desarrollo de sus propios conocimientos y habilidades. Este estudio investigo el posible cambio en el conocimiento de los docentes, su conocimiento aplicado y su percepcion de competencia durante los talleres Lions Quest (LQ). Para medir esto, los participantes res- pondieron a la encuesta de LQ. Metodo: Reunimos diez muestras de 2120 participantes en nueve paises. Del total de partici- pantes, 1206 docentes asistieron a los talleres LQ para docentes (grupo de intervencion). Los datos de comparacion se recopilaron de 914 docentes que no participaron en el LQ; se calcu- laron las puntuaciones de la suma media de las medidas de multiples items, y estas fueron utilizadas como variables en los analisis posteriores. Especificamos un diseno mixto multiva- riado en el que examinamos el efecto de la intervencion con respecto al cambio medio de las variables a traves del tiempo en los diferentes grupos. En cuanto a la muestra, exploramos las diferencias de medias intra-grupo entre las puntuaciones pre-test y pos-test y evaluamos los tamanos del efecto de la intervencion. Resultados: Los resultados indicaron que la intervencion tuvo un efecto positivo en los parti- cipantes en todas las muestras menos una, y que los docentes se beneficiaron de la formacion continua en aprendizaje social y emocional (ASE). Discusion y Conclusion: Los resultados del presente estudio indican que merece la pena in- cluso una intervencion de relativamente corto plazo y bajo coste en el ASE de los docentes. Un ASE adecuado permite afrontar mas facilmente los desafios dentro y fuera de la escuela, ahora y en el futuro, tanto para los docentes como para sus alumnos. EnglishIntroduction: The global trend of new curricula in many OECD countries indicates that so- cial interaction skills are becoming increasingly important. Educators need to start fostering the development of learners’ social competences, which requires development of their own knowledge and skills. This study investigated the possible change in teachers’ knowledge, their applied knowledge, and their sense of competence during the Lions Quest (LQ) work- shops. For us to measure this, the participants responded to the LQ inquiry. Method: We collected ten samples from 2120 participants in nine countries. Of all the partic- ipants, 1206 teachers attended the LQ teacher workshops (intervention group). Comparison data were collected from 914 teachers not participating in the LQ, and the mean sum scores from the multi-item measures were computed and used as variables in further analyses. We specified a multivariate mixed design, in which we examined the effect of the intervention with regard to mean change over time across groups in the variables. Sample-wise, we ex- plored the within-group mean differences between pre- and post-test scores and evaluated the effect sizes for the intervention. Results: The results indicated that the intervention had a positive effect on the participants across all samples apart from one, and that teachers benefitted from continuous training on social and emotional learning (SEL). Discussion and conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that even a relatively short-term, low-cost intervention in teachers’ SEL is worthwhile. Successful SEL enables teachers and their students to face challenges more easily, inside and outside school, now and in the future.

Studies of how students experience their Ph.D. education have been promoted as an indicator to improve doctoral programmes (assessment-oriented studies) and/or to enhance understanding of career development among this collective (research-oriented studies). Interest in the latter group has increased in recent years as researcher development has become a field of study in the context of higher education. In this respect, a database of studies measuring the Ph.D. experience could be of use to researchers. We therefore conducted a review of 53 empirical studies, focusing only on large-scale research based on data obtained from questionnaires and scales, published between 1991 and 2018. In terms of results, we provide an overview of studies conducted in the last 27 years, reveal the core elements that are traditionally considered in measuring the Ph.D. experience, and identify some gaps and contributions in clarifying this generic term. Directions for future research are offered.

Given the importance of entrepreneurial thinking and acting as a meta-skill in the future world of work, we focus on the emerging entrepreneurial mind-set in the transition to adulthood. We study the role of personality characteristics and age-appropriate entrepreneurial competencies (leadership, self-esteem, creativity, and proactivity motivation) in the prediction of entrepreneurial alertness and career intention. Using two-wave longitudinal data from high schools in Helsinki, Finland (N = 523), we tested a mediation model with competencies as mediators between personality and entrepreneurial alertness and intention. The findings suggest that entrepreneurial alertness and career intention (a) are rather independent career development constructs of the emerging entrepreneurial mind-set, (b) are both an expression of an entrepreneurial personality structure, and (c) are predicted by different underlying competencies: leadership and self-esteem mediated the personality-entrepreneurial intention link, and leadership, creativity, and proactivity motivation the personality-entrepreneurial alertness link. Consistent with the balanced skill approach to entrepreneurship, the intraindividual variety of these competencies was also a valid mediator; it did not show incremental predictive power though. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The past few years have witnessed the emergence of research examining online regret experience. The presence of online regret generates negative use experience and even leads to service switching and discontinuity. However, to date, only limited research has examined the conceptualization of this new yet very important phenomenon in the field of technology use. To address this research gap, the present study has examined the relative influence of SNS brand participation, technology accessibility attributes (including Facebook usage parameters) and problematic Facebook use in predicting regret experience regarding Facebook use. A pen-and-paper cross-sectional survey was administered to 804 adolescent Facebook users (aged 13-18 years). The study results suggest that adolescent users with varying technology accessibility did not differ in their online regret experience, but excessive Facebook users and those actively participating in brand communities tended to experience higher regret. Other findings suggest that two variables, namely parents' perceptions of problematic Facebook use and conflict with friends due to Facebook use, were significant predictors of online regret experience. This study presents different theoretical and practical implications for both research and practice. Limited prior research has investigated the conceptualizations of online regret.Online regret generates leads to service switching and discontinuity.804 adolescent Facebook users participated in this cross-sectional study.Link between participation, accessibility, problematic use and regret was examined.Predictors were excessive use, active participation and problematic use of Facebook.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the core dimensions of user experiences in a physical and technologically embedded learning environment (LE) designed to support active student-led inquiry-based studies and collaborative knowledge creation in higher education. Design/methodology/approach The paper integrated the USEframe of usability of built environments and the inquiry-based engaging learning environment (ELE) to test and develop the usability and pedagogy of future LEs. A group of ten teacher students was studied and interviewed semi-structurally after a seven-week inquiry-based course unit. The findings were considered in light of the two frameworks. Findings The physical and embedded LEs provided the students with socio-digital affordances that promoted experienced study engagement, knowledge co-creation and sharing and a sense of safety and belonging in the scientific community. The application of the ELE model and the agile physical setting complemented and supported each other and promoted learning. Practical implications The results shed light on how to integrate understanding the user process, user experience and use of embedded LEs to develop usability of new LEs. Originality/value The living lab provides different stakeholders with tangible information about usability and helps the designers in concrete streamlining of pedagogy and physical LEs.

Recent research shows an increased concern with well-being at school and potential problems associated with students' use of socio-digital technologies, i.e., the mobile devices, computers, social media, and the Internet. Simultaneously with supporting creative social activities, socio-digital participation may also lead to compulsive and addictive behavioral patterns affecting both general and school-related mental health problems. Using two longitudinal data waves gathered among 1702 (53 % female) early (age 12-14) and 1636 (64 % female) late (age 16-18) Finnish adolescents, we examined cross-lagged paths between excessive internet use, school engagement and burnout, and depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling revealed reciprocal cross-lagged paths between excessive internet use and school burnout among both adolescent groups: school burnout predicted later excessive internet use and excessive internet use predicted later school burnout. Reciprocal paths between school burnout and depressive symptoms were also found. Girls typically suffered more than boys from depressive symptoms and, in late adolescence, school burnout. Boys, in turn, more typically suffered from excessive internet use. These results show that, among adolescents, excessive internet use can be a cause of school burnout that can later spill over to depressive symptoms.

High goal coherence of a course has a positive effect on the participant's competence development. However, studies on the goal coherence of the youth development programmes are scarce. The participants were 153 teachers who attended to the LQ teachers’ workshop. They filled in the questionnaire before and after the training. In addition, 61 teachers who comprised the comparison group answered also to the questionnaire twice but they did not participate in the LQ. The LQ questionnaire consisted of two elements, namely, how participants experienced the importance of the goals and their perceived competence in promoting the LQ goals. Four pairs of variables describing the participants’ perceived importance of a course goal and the participants’ perceived competence towards implementing it were produced in exploratory factor analysis. The coherence values for variable pairs using distance values were calculated by subtracting the perceived importance from the perceived competence for each goal. The coherence increased at the second measurement point among both the intervention and comparison groups. The LQ intervention resulted in a significantly increased coherence in the ‘safe environment’ and ‘promoting SEL’ variable pairs among training participants compared with the comparison group. Participating in the LQ training did not, however, increase the coherence significantly with regards to the ‘help others’ or ‘healthy life’ variable pairs compared with the comparison group. This piece of research highlights an interesting means of investigating the effectiveness of teacher training.

Facebook users practice different strategies for managing their online self-presentation. Among the different available techniques, untagging is the most popular and frequently utilized. However, literature on the subject has not examined the untagging practices among adolescent Facebook users. In addition to this, there is no current knowledge of the differences between adolescent Facebook users who do and do not untag photos. The present study addresses this gap through a cross-sectional survey that involved 380 adolescent Facebook users (aged 12-18 years). The current study examines these differences in terms of adolescents' demographic attributes, digital imaging accessibility, online regret experience and management of digital photos. The study findings suggest that older males, extroverts, and those who perceive online information to be public, have more experience of taking and sharing photos, spend more time taking photos, practice strict protection of photos, demonstrate a negative perception of cloud storage, and rarely keep backups, are likely to untag photos. In addition to this, sociability and time lapse, in terms of realizing regretful experiences, significantly predicted the tendency among adolescents to untag photos. The study concludes by identifying various theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Limited prior research on differences between those who do and do not untag photos.Prior literature has not studied the untagging practices among adolescent Facebook users.Cross-sectional survey that was organized with 380 adolescent Facebook users (aged 12-18) years).Adolescents differed in demographics, accessibility, regret experience and management of digital photos.Sociability and time lapse in realising regretted experience predicted the tendency to untag.

Implementing 21st century skills at school, including social and emotional learning (SEL), has become increasingly important in many countries. The present study investigated in four countries the development of teachers’ SEL, through which people develop their social and emotional intelligence, by using internationally widely-used Lions Quest (LQ) teacher workshops as an intervention. Possible changes in teachers’ attitudes, values, knowledge, and skills during the LQ were explored. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using data from the pre-test responses of two countries. This analysis produced three factors. The created factor structure was further confirmed using pre-test data from another two countries. Repeated measures ANOVA (GLM), giving its ability to perform overall comparisons in one step, and the specified follow-up comparisons were used to examine the gain scores between and within groups, and to statistically control for some characteristics. The results showed that the teachers perceived the importance of the LQ goals as more important after participating in the LQ teachers’ workshop. In addition, they felt more competence in implementing the LQ content in their classrooms. Further, teachers valued the LQ higher after the workshop. In the comparison group, however, no changes were found. In conclusion, LQ appears to fulfill the expectations of supporting teachers in implementing LQ content, including 21st skills and SEL, in the classroom.

Background: Adolescence is a time of ongoing neural maturation and cognitive development, especially regarding executive functions. In the current study, age-related differences in the neural correlates of different executive functions were tracked by comparing three age groups consisting of adolescents and young adults. Methods: Brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) from 167 human participants (13- to 14-year-old middle adolescents, 16- to 17-year-old late adolescents and 20-to 24-year-old young adults; 80 female, 87 male) while they performed attention and working memory tasks. The tasks were designed to tap into four putative sub-processes of executive function: division of attention, inhibition of distractors, working memory, and attention switching. Results: Behaviorally, our results demonstrated superior task performance in older participants across all task types. When brain activity was examined, young adult participants demonstrated a greater degree of overlap between brain regions recruited by the different executive tasks than adolescent participants. Similarly, functional connectivity between frontoparietal cortical regions was less task specific in the young adult participants than in adolescent participants. Conclusions: Together, these results demonstrate that the similarity between different executive processes in terms of both neural recruitment and functional connectivity increases with age from middle adolescence to early adulthood, possibly contributing to age-related behavioral improvements in executive functioning. These developmental changes in brain recruitment may reflect a more homogenous morphological organization between process-specific neural networks, increased reliance on a more domain-general network involved in executive processing, or developmental changes in cognitive strategy.

5th ICEEPSY International Conference on Education & Educational Psychology in Kyrenia Cyprus (Oct 22-25, 2014)/ guest editors: Zafer Bekirogullari, Melis Minas. There is a hypothesized gap between the technology-mediated practices of adolescents and school, hindering student motivation and well-being. This study examined how students’ school motivation is associated with ICT-use. Previous research has shown that achievement goal orientations are related to students’ academic and emotional functioning. Simultaneously, adolescents engage in various socio-digital activities on a daily basis. Our aim is to integrate these two approaches to examine whether students with different motivational profiles display different patterns of socio-digital participation. The participants were Finnish high school students (N=1342) who filled in a self-report questionnaire assessing school motivation and ICT-use both in and out of school. We examined the structural validity of the measurement model by confirmatory factor analyses, classified the students by latent profile analyses and examined group and gender differences by ANOVAs. Four groups were identified: indifferent, success-oriented, mastery-oriented, and avoidance-oriented. The groups differed in their generalized motivational beliefs and there were meaningful differences in terms of their orientations to socio-digital participation: e.g. indifferent students were more likely to engage in hanging-out and gaming, avoidance-oriented students were the least engaged in academic activities. Also, there were some interesting group × gender interaction effects. We found that students’ indifference towards school is associated with ICT-engagement outside of school (gaming and hanging-out). We conclude that there appears to be evidence of discontinuities between today's schools and their students, raising a question of whether the indifference is the cause or the outcome. Furthermore, the findings raise new insights on achievement goal and gender interaction effects.

The qualitative changes in teachers’ responses in challenging situations were analysed during a four-day Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) course, which aimed at improving teachers’ interpersonal dynamics with pupils, parents and colleagues. The participants were 21 teachers from one elementary and 23 teachers from one secondary school attending a TET course in Finland. Qualitative abductive content analysis was used to classify the data. Frequencies based on this analysis were also looked at. After TET the teachers described the behaviour of their pupils and expressed their feelings and the actual consequences of that behaviour, instead of using generalized labels and subjective interpretations of the pupils’ behaviour. They were also more likely to support pupils’ autonomy and agency by acknowledging pupils more, by increased listening or by asking pupils to participate actively in problem solving. This study deepens our understanding of the nature of the qualitative shift in teachers’ thinking durin...

Thesis work is the first important research where the PhD candidate has to take primary responsibility for their work. Sometimes it is forgotten, or at least not enough attention is paid to the fact, that for many PhD students it is also the first time they have to face such a complex, ultimately self-regulated learning task (Sachs, 2002, p.99) as thesis writing. But what do the protagonists think about it? There is a gap in the literature concerning studies that focus on PhD students’ writing conceptions as a main target. The aim of this study was to validate the structure of the Writing Process Questionnaire developed by Lonka and her colleagues (Lonka et al., 2014). To do this, we asked two groups of 631 Spanish and 431 Mexican PhD students to complete the questionnaire, and used Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) to assess the validity of a hypothesized 6-factor model, and to test its invariance across the two groups. The results confirmed the broad 6-factor structure of the questionnaire but indicated that the knowledge transforming sub-scale needed to be revised into a more specific knowledge creation factor. This modified structure generalized across both the Spanish and Mexican samples. We suggest that the revised structure for the knowledge transforming factor reflects the fact that these two groups of Spanish-speaking PhD students perceive the development of knowledge in writing as a solitary rather than a collaborative process. Our research provides evidence that the Writing Process Questionnaire is a reliable and generalizable measure, having shown strong invariance properties in the two populations studied. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

Gaming experience has been suggested to lead to performance enhancements in a wide variety of working memory tasks. Previous studies have, however, mostly focused on adult expert gamers and have not included measurements of both behavioral performance and brain activity. In the current study, 167 adolescents and young adults (aged 13–24 years) with different amounts of gaming experience performed an n-back working memory task with vowels, with the sensory modality of the vowel stream switching between audition and vision at random intervals. We studied the relationship between self-reported daily gaming activity, working memory (n-back) task performance and related brain activity measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The results revealed that the extent of daily gaming activity was related to enhancements in both performance accuracy and speed during the most demanding (2-back) level of the working memory task. This improved working memory performance was accompanied by enhanced recruitment of a fronto-parietal cortical network, especially the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In contrast, during the less demanding (1-back) level of the task, gaming was associated with decreased activity in the same cortical regions. Our results suggest that a greater degree of daily gaming experience is associated with better working memory functioning and task difficulty-dependent modulation in fronto-parietal brain activity already in adolescence and even when non-expert gamers are studied. The direction of causality within this association cannot be inferred with certainty due to the correlational nature of the current study. peerReviewed

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore doctoral students' engaging and disengaging experiences among a group of students whose doctoral processes had been prolonged for more than seven years. Design/methodology/approach – The participants were 16 doctoral students in the behavioural sciences. The data were collected with interviews employing a visualisation of their doctoral journeys, and were content analysed qualitatively. Findings – The results suggested that the students described their engagement in doctoral work in terms of dedication, vigour and occasionally absorption. In turn, disengagement was described in terms of insufficiency, cynicism and sometimes exhaustion. Interestingly, the source of engagement was typically a sense of belonging in the scholarly community, whereas the students often reported a lack of autonomy and a lack of belonging as sources for disengagement. Research limitations/implications – Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the development of engagement in doctoral work among students from different contexts. Practical implications – In terms of developing more engaging learning environments, the findings imply that by enhancing students' sense of belonging to their scholarly community and their experiences of autonomy within it their engagement in doctoral work, and further, development as researchers can be fostered. Originality/value – This study extends the understanding of what may engage or disengage students from their doctoral studies and the essential relationship between the sense of autonomy and that of belonging in doctoral student engagement, in particular in the context of prolonged doctoral studies in the behavioural sciences.

The aim of this study was to explore what kinds of conceptions of creativity and learning Finnish teachers and teacher students expressed, and how these conceptions were related to the respondents’ epistemologies (conceptions of knowledge and learning). The participants (n = 89) answered an e-form, consisting of 3 open-ended questions (conceptions of learning, creativity and the connection between the two). In addition, there were 23 two-part Likert-type statements on epistemologies (Lonka et al., 2008) as well as 10 background questions. Mixed method approach was used to analyze the conceptions that the respondents’ expressed. Two qualitative categories of conceptions of learning came from previous research, Constructivity and active epistemology (Lonka, Joram, & Bryson, 1996). A new category also emerged: Collaborativity of learning. The answers about creativity were classified based on whether creativity was viewed as an inborn ability or something changeable, whether focus was on product or process, and whether creativity was seen as collaborative. The participants’ open-ended conceptions of learning reflected a view of learning as teacher-regulated assimilation, whereas their (structured) epistemologies higlighted reflection and deep-level learning. Creativity was viewed as something that can be improved, focusing on the collaborative process. A link between learning and creativity was identified. It shall be of interest to see, how such epistemic stands would be related to group work.

Different models have been developed to describe human experiences. One of these models is the core affect model, which states that the core of emotional experience is a simple state of feeling good or bad, energized or drowsy. Another model is the experience fluctuation model (EFM), which has been developed to map how emotions and other experiences fluctuate along with the relationship between challenges and skills. In this study, we first mathematically refined the EFM. Second, we tested if fluctuations in core affect could be modeled with a continuous wave-like sine function (Study 1). Third, we applied the sine function to our own experience-sampling data, which we collected via mobile phones from 55 university students, and located each challenge–skill relationship in a two-dimensional core affect space (Study 2). The results were consistent in both studies and showed that fluctuations in core affect dimensions, measured as a function of the relationship between challenges and skills, can be modeled with the sine function. The results also indicated that there is a systematic link between challenge–skill relationships and core affect: High challenge–high skill situations were connected to a very active and pleasant core affect, whereas high challenge–low skill situations were connected to a quite active but unpleasant core affect, low challenge–low skill situations to a very passive and unpleasant core affect, and low challenge–high skill situations to a quite passive and pleasant core affect. Compared to previous studies, this study presents a more fine-grained and comprehensive level of information on the relationship between core affect and challenges and skills.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate knowledge-creating agency by examining doctoral students' accounts of their pursuits, using structured interviews. We examined all of the talk apparently related to agency of 13 doctoral students taking part in collective doctoral training in two, highly regarded Finnish research communities (natural science and medicine). The doctoral process involved the participants pursuing article-based theses based on collectively shared research problems and journal articles co-authored with the supervisor and other senior researchers. Based on the qualitative analysis of the interviews, three categories of agentic talk were identified, respectively, for three proposed types of knowledge-creating agency: personal, distributed, and ‘object-related’. Personal agency involved participants' reflection on their academic competence, self-efficacy, and personal strengths and weaknesses. Distributed agency played an important role in assisting these participants overcomin...

Introduction Pursuing a PhD is always a highly inspiring and challenging journey. Earlier research on the doctoral experience has shown that while many students find their doctoral process rewarding, some face serious challenges including personal sacrifices, intervening life experiences, departmental problems, lack of support, difficulty in completing the dissertation, as well as a lack of funding (Appel & Dahlgren, 2003; Jairam & Kahl Jr., 2012; Protivnak & Foss, 2009; Spaulding & Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012). For instance, Lee (2009) found that nursing students enrolled in doctoral studies perceived multiple responsibilities, financial issues, difficult relationships with faculty members or advisors ,as well as a lack of academic self-discipline and negative academic self-image as detracting factors in their study process. The challenges provided by doctoral studies are not necessarily negative; in fact, solving complex ill-defined problems can be seen as essential to creating new knowledge. At best, such challenges can be positive forces that encourage students to progress in their doctoral process. They may, however, also become stressors if adequate support is not given to the student. At worst, they can become insurmountable obstacles that lead to delays or even dropping out from doctoral studies. Some evidence shows that problems in doctoral studies often originate not from the research process itself but from the relation between the doctoral student and the scholarly community (Pyhalto, Stubb, & Lonka, 2009). For instance, doctoral students' experiences of social isolation from their scholarly communities, with respect to overlapping communities, groups of supervisor-students dyads, other senior researchers, or academics within and across departments, faculties, or institutions (Ali & Kohun, 2006; Lovitts, 2001), and mismatches between students' expectations and those of the community, have been suggested to cause withdrawal from doctoral studies (Golde, 2005; Hoskins & Goldberg, 2005; Tinto, 1993). Moreover, there is also evidence of doctoral students often experiencing reduced wellbeing and distress while pursuing their PhDs (Hyun, Quinn, Madon, & Lustig, 2006; Kurtz-Costes, Helmke, & Ulku-Steiner, 2006), and a remarkably high number of students, 30-50% or even more in different contexts and countries, decide to leave their studies (Golde, 2005; McAlpine & Norton, 2006). Previous studies on the doctoral experience have provided information about factors associated with students' persistence, time-to-the-doctorate, and attrition (Golde, 1998, 2005; Hoskins & Goldberg, 2005; Lovitts, 2001; Tinto, 1993; Wao & Onwuegbuzie, 2011). Moreover, there is an extensive body of literature on disengagement among undergraduate students (Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011; Salanova, Schaufeli, Marti'nez, & Breso, 2010; Schmitt, Oswald, Friede, Imus, & Merritt, 2008; Schreiner, Noel, Anderson, & Cantwell, 2011) as well as among employees in work settings (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001; Hakanen, Bakker, & Schaufeli, 2006; Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, & Bakker, 2002). However, little is known about what disengages (and ultimately withdraws) doctoral students from their studies and the kinds of episodes that are associated with disengagement. Accordingly, there is a need for a better understanding of the nature of the experiences that reduce doctoral student engagement during the doctoral process and the dynamics that contribute to disengagement. Analyzing these disengaging episodes will make it easier to identify the central developmental objectives in doctoral education. This may help to prevent the disengaging experiences that may be associated with delays and even students abandoning their doctoral studies. The present study focuses on exploring doctoral students' experiences of disengagement from the doctoral process in various environments within and outside academia. …

The Dealing with Challenging Interaction (DCI) method was developed to measure social interaction skills of teacher study groups. The participants were 70 teachers from three schools. The inter-rater agreement, Cohen’s kappa, varied between 0.57- 1.00. The discriminant validity was supported by a cluster analysis differentiating between the skilful and less skilful teachers. The results of the supplementary instrument were equivalent to the cluster analysis maintaining criterion oriented validity of the method developed. The DCI appeared to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring teachers’ social interaction skills.

This study explored the relationships between situational academic emotions, self-study time, and learning outcomes in a lecture course. The participants were 107 Finnish first-year teacher students in a student-activating educational psychology lecture course. Interest and exhaustion were positively related, whereas anxiety was negatively related to the grade awarded for the course. These three situational academic emotions explained overall 29% of the course grade and they still predicted significant variance in grades even with the influences of self-reported self-study time controlled. Finally, a mediation analysis revealed that interest mediated the relationship between self-study time and learning outcomes. This study explored the relationships between situational academic emotions, self-study time, and learning outcomes in a lecture course. The participants were 107 Finnish first-year teacher students in a student-activating educational psychology lecture course. Interest and exhaustion were positively related, whereas anxiety was negatively related to the grade awarded for the course. These three situational academic emotions explained overall 29% of the course grade and they still predicted significant variance in grades even with the influences of self-reported self-study time controlled. Finally, a mediation analysis revealed that interest mediated the relationship between self-study time and learning outcomes.

The study investigated how students’ motivational strategies and epistemologies are related to study engagement. Participants were engineering students (n = 246) who attended a student-activating philosophy course in spring 2011. Regression analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVAs were used as statistical methods. The results in both variable-oriented and person-oriented analyses showed that study engagement was higher in those students who appreciated reflective learning, were optimistic, and did not avoid tasks. Three student groups were defined based on students’ motivational strategies and epistemologies. Groups were called cook-book students, theorists and reflective professionals. Theorists and reflective professionals experienced stronger study engagement than cook-book students. Students in these groups scored high on reflective learning and optimism and low on task avoidance.

Entrance to university does not automatically lead to high academic engagement and success, and there may be individual differences in student engagement. In the present study, university students' (N = 668) academic engagement and disengagement profiles, and the differences between them in terms of academic achievement, were investigated. Students from introductory courses were classified by Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) into homogenous groups having similar patterns according to the following variables: study engagement, study-related exhaustion, lack of interest, lack of self-regulation, and uncertainty of one's career choice. Four groups of students were identified: engaged, disengaged, undecided, and alienated. Engaged students received the highest grades, with disengaged and undecided students performing most poorly. In addition, the profiles were related to the behavioral indicators of engagement (i.e., ECTS credits). Even after two years of studying, engaged students were performing better than disengaged students. The study's implications for both research and practice are discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of motivation and emotions in learning has been extensively studied in recent years; however, research on the role of the physical environment still remains scarce. This study examined the role of the physical environment in the learning process from the perspective of basic psychological needs. Although self-determination theory stresses the role of the social and cultural environment, as yet the role of the physical environment has been unexplored. The study focused on beginning chemistry university students’ (n=21) experiences in a chemistry laboratory. The data consisted of focus-group interviews and self-report questionnaires. The results indicate that the physical environment can support or thwart the fulfillment of the basic psychological needs. The usability and functionality of spaces and tools contributed to not just the fluency of the intellectual activity but also to the related emotional experience of oneself acting in a particular environment. The physical environment was a source of procedural facilitation: It complemented and challenged the students’ existing skills, contributing to their experiences of autonomy and competence. The everyday successes or struggles in the laboratory built on the students’ developing professional identity as well as their sense of belonging to the professional community. This study demonstrates that the design and functionality of the physical environment has a significant role in users’ intellectual and emotional functioning. It is essential to utilize psychological and pedagogical knowledge when designing or renovating work and learning environments in order to fully make use of the potential of physical environments as part of human performance.

PurposeThis article is intended to contribute towards furthering the understanding of researcher development as demonstrated by doctoral students' learning within scholarly communities. The article does this by reporting the findings of a study that explored the students' key learning experiences during their doctoral journey.Design/methodology/approachThe 19 participants were natural science doctoral students from a top‐level research community in Finland. The data were collected through interviews that were qualitatively content analysed.FindingsThe participants emphasised the significance of participation, development as a scholar, developing specific research competences as well as learning to balance between doctoral research and other institutional tasks. They situated the key learning experiences in collaborative academic contexts such as research activities, taking courses, and academic meetings. The participants generally perceived their experiences as positive and enhancing.Originality/valueSignificant learning experiences identified by natural science doctoral students themselves are rarely studied. The results of the study reported in this article may be used by doctoral trainers, supervisors and students to create environments that foster students' learning and researcher development through their participation in scholarly communities.

There is a variation in terms of how researchers perceive the nature of research work. Previous research has mainly looked at the members of academia who already have established themselves in the ...

This study investigates how doctoral students perceive research work in the context of their own PhD projects. Thirty-two students from a Finnish university were interviewed, representing three disciplines: medicine, natural sciences and behavioural sciences. Their conceptions of research varied in terms of describing research as a job to do, obtaining qualifications and gaining accomplishments, a personal journey, and making a difference. The conceptions in each category differed in terms of how product-oriented vs. process-oriented and person-centred vs. community-centred they were. The four categories were not exclusive: the students often reported overlapping conceptions. The emphasis of conceptions was different in each discipline, and also varied according to the phase of studies.

Current theories of learning emphasize the role of motivational and affective aspects in university student learning. The aim of the present study was to examine the interrelations among approaches to learning, self-regulated learning, and cognitive strategies in the context of teacher education. Cognitive-motivational profiles were identified among novice teacher students. It was also looked at, whether well-being, epistemological beliefs, and study success in an activating lecture course were related to these profiles. The participants were 213 first year teacher students, who participated in an activating lecture course at a major Finnish university. The students filled in a questionnaire including items based on the MED NORD instrument (Lonka et al. in Med Teach 30:72–79, 2008). The structural validity of the scales was tested by means of a series of factor analyses. Latent class clustering was used for clustering students into homogeneous groups. Finally, a series of ANOVAs was conducted to examine between-group differences across the criterion variables. Three groups of students were identified (1) non-regulating students (50%), (2) self-directed students (28%), and (3) non-reflective students (22%). Non-regulating students expressed the highest levels of stress, exhaustion, and Lack of Interest. Self-directed students received the highest grades. The profiles were not only related to study success, but also to the general well-being of the students. It was concluded that motivational profiles may have not been optimal, even in this highly-selected population. It is of interest to see, how these students shall develop during their studies.

In the present study teacher students’ contextual learning experiences were examined longitudinally in authentic study environments using the contextual activity sampling system, a means of mobile-supported experience sampling. The students’ (n = 9) experiences were first recorded during a 2 week period in their first year of study. The same measurements were repeated again for a 2 week follow-up in the second year, accompanied by interviews before and after the follow-up. The first year of study consisted mostly of lectures and ordinary small-group work, whereas the second measurement period ran parallel to the completion of an intensive inquiry-based project, which was the focus of the present study. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that studying during the inquiry-based period produced stronger experiences of being challenged as well as negative affects than the teacher-centered period. The participants’ experiences of competence, commitment and positive affects did not differ during the two periods. However, interview data indicated that the participants enjoyed the inquiry-based period and that the work was intensive. Contextual data and interviews were also used to describe students’ experiences during one particular study session during the inquiry-based project. The results suggest that negative affects may be an essential part of the process of gradually learning to take responsibility for both individual and collaborative learning processes. Possibilities for using experience-sampling methods to analyze collaborative learning are also discussed.

Rational and objectives To assess the effects of a tailored and activating educational intervention, based on a three-stage modified Prochaska model of readiness-to-change, on the performance of ge ...

This study presents a new approach to estimation of a nonlinear growth curve component with fixed and random effects in multilevel modeling. This approach can be used to estimate change in longitudinal data, such as day-of-the-week fluctuation. The motivation of the new approach is to avoid spurious estimates in a random coefficient regression model due to the synchronized periodical effect (e.g., day-of-the-week fluctuation) appearing both in independent and dependent variables. First, the new approach is introduced. Second, a Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out to examine the functioning of the proposed new approach in the case of small sample sizes. Third, the use of the approach is illustrated by using an empirical example.

This paper explores doctoral students' experiences of their scholarly communities in terms of socio-psychological well-being. Further, the study examines how experiences were related to study engagement and to self-reported stress, exhaustion, and anxiety. Altogether 669 doctoral students from the University of Helsinki, Finland, responded a survey. The answers to an open-ended question were content analysed and then statistically compared to well-being and study engagement items. The results showed that there was variation in students' experiences of the scholarly community regarding socio-psychological well-being. More than half of the answers, where students had explicitly described their experience (n = 383), emphasised the scholarly community as source of burden (56%), but experiences of inspiration and empowerment were also frequently reported in the answers (44%). Feelings of empowerment were positively related to study engagement and negatively related to stress, exhaustion, and anxiety.

This study investigated the relationships among approaches to learning, regulation of learning, cognitive and attributional strategies, stress, exhaustion, and study success. University students (N = 437) from three faculties filled in a questionnaire concerning their self-reported study behaviour, cognitive strategies, and well-being. Their interrelations were examined in a variable- and a person-oriented way. Latent class clustering was used for clustering students into homogeneous groups. Three groups of students were identified: non-academic, self-directed, and helpless students. Helpless students reported higher levels of stress and exhaustion than non-academic or self-directed students. Self-directed students had the highest GPA. Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of combining cognitive and emotional aspects for investigations of students’ learning.

Kolmea yliopistoa koskeneessa tutkimuksessa selvitettiin sitä, minkälainen yhteys tiedeyhteisöllä ja siihen kuulumisen kokemuksella voi olla tohtoriopintojen pitkittymiseen tai keskeyttämiseen. Tiedeyhteisö näyttäytyy tohtoriopiskelijoille useimmiten mikrotason käytäntöyhteisönä, kuten tutkimusryhmänä tai yksikkönä ja lähityötovereina. Kokemus tiedeyhteisöstä saattaa muodostua niin voimannuttavaksi kuin kuormittavaksikin. Koetun hyvinvoinnin ja opintojen etenemisen yhteys viittaa siihen, että tohtoriopiskelijan hyvinvointi ei ole ainoastaan väitöskirjaprosessin sivutuote, vaan yhteydessä myös tulokseen. – Artikkelissa tarkastellaan Tampereen yliopistolla toteutettua mentorointiohjelmaa eri vuosia koskevan haastatteluaineiston pohjalta.

Studying in higher education requires long‐term commitment. Previous studies have shown that commitment, perceived competence, intrinsic motivation and work‐life orientation are positively related to academic achievement. This study examines the kinds of goals theology students have at the beginning of studies, and whether these goals are related to academic achievement during their first three years at university. Personal project analysis was used to acquire information about first‐year students’ study‐related personal goals and related evaluations. The evaluations were factor analysed, and three clusters of students were derived on the basis of the factors: the committed, self‐fulfillers and the non‐committed. The results show that students who perceived progress, were capable and had intrinsic reasons for their goals advanced more rapidly in their studies. The implication is that variation in academic achievement is at least partly a consequence of variation in orientation towards studying at the begi...

Objective: To assess the impact on knowledge and attitudes of a tailored educational intervention on depression using a modified version of the Prochaska stages of change model, compared with standard continuing medical education, for general practitioners (GPs) in primary care in Iran. Method: Using a randomized controlled trial, a total of 192 GPs were evenly randomized to intervention or control arm. The topic for the educational intervention was depressive disorders. The participants were divided in to small and large groups, depending on their initial stage of change. The GPs' knowledge and skills regarding management of depressive disorders were assessed through a questionnaire with 7 multiple choice questions, 11 Likert statements, 3 case vignettes, and 1 essay question. Attitudes toward management of depressive disorders were also assessed. Both questionnaires were validated. Results: There was a significant improvement in knowledge mean scores regarding multiple choice and Likert questions (intervention effect 6%; P = 0.002), as well as for the case vignettes and essay question (intervention effect 12%; P = 0.011) in the intervention arm, in comparison with the control arm. There were significant changes in mean attitude scores in both study arms, but no difference between them. Conclusions: A theoretical model of medical learning and behavioural change can be used to devise educational formats that suit different stages of learning. Such tailored educational formats can improve GPs' knowledge and skills regarding management of depressive disorders.