Abstract The present study describes the learning experiences of social and health care students in the working-life projects of the Unit of the Pohjois-Savo Polytechnic in Iisalmi. The aim of the study is to describe, interpret and understand the students' experiences of the self-guided learning and to gain information and points of view for developing further the students' learning and the guidance practices. The study is based on the methodology of phenomenology and the theoretical perspective of the study on the socio-cultural view on learning. The data, consisted of the interviews and learning diaries of 13 students and data about the affectiveness of learning, was collected in 1998. The interviews and diaries were analysed qualitatively and the data gained by value measurement was analysed quantitatively. The systems for the categorisation of the qualitative part of the study were formed on the basis of the data and of the quantitative part of the study on the basis of theoretical points of view. The results showed, that learning was based on planning, problem-solving, participating, acting in a self-guided manner as well as taking part in the evaluation process and on taking responsibility. The descriptions of learning can primarily be positioned on the lowest level of critical reflection. The students thought that they had been able to utilize their experiences of work itself, its special conditions, different practices and client contacts in their learning and considered conditios as to be educational. Especially in skills of co-operation with fellow students, problem solving, self-evaluation and critical reflection the students need support to devolope the individual potential and to extend the sphere of activities. Basically, the students valued what they had learnt, especially the social interaction skills. According to them the most meaningful learning content was the substance of the work. As for factors behind their meaningful learning experiences, they first named, the challenging impact of a fellow student and behind their most meaningful learning experiences they found to be students' own backgrounds. That knowledge can be used when improving student-centered mentoring practices. The students perceived projects to promote the learnig of practical skills and comprehensive expertise. They thought they needed more mentoring than at present, especially more theacher's quidance even before entering the working-life as well during the project studies. They need support to develope further habits of the ongoing practises. The results help us to understand students' learning in daily work. These can be utilized in developing the learning method based on immediate network and carried out as a project. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan Pohjois-Savon ammattikorkeakoulun Iisalmen koulutusyksikön sosiaali- ja terveysalan opiskelijoiden oppimiskokemuksia työelämäprojekteissa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kuvata, tulkita ja ymmärtää opiskelijoiden kokemuksia itseohjautuvasta oppimisesta ja sen perusteella saada tietoa ja näkökulmia opiskelijoiden oppimisen ja ohjauksen edelleen kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksen metodologisena lähtökohtana on fenomenologia ja oppimisteoreettisena näkökulmana sosiokulttuurinen oppimiskäsitys. Tutkimusaineistona oli 13 opiskelijan haastattelu- ja oppimispäiväkirja-aineisto sekä oppimisen arvo-ominaisuuksia kartoittava aineisto, joka koottiin vuonna 1998. Haastattelu- ja oppimispäiväkirjatekstit analysoitiin kvalitatiivisesti ja affektimittarilla saatu aineisto kvantitatiivisesti. Tutkimuksen laadullisen osion luokitusjärjestelmät muodostettiin aineistolähtöisesti ja määrällisen osion teoreettisista lähtökohdista käsin. Tulokset osoittivat, että oppiminen perustui suunnitteluun, ongelmien ratkaisuun, toimintaan osallistumiseen, itseohjautuvasti toimimiseen, arviointiin osallistumiseen ja vastuun ottamiseen. Tutkittavien oppimista koskevat kuvaukset edustivat pääasiassa kriittisen reflektion alinta tasoa. Opiskelijat katsoivat hyödyntäneensä oppimisessaan työhön, sen erityisolosuhteisiin, erilaisiin työntapoihin ja asiakaskontakteihin liittyviä kokemuksiaan ja pitivät niitä opettavaisina. Erityisesti yhteistyötaidoissa opiskelijatoverin kanssa, ongelmanratkaisu-, itsearviointi- sekä kriittisen reflektion taidoissa tutkittavat tarvitsevat yksilökohtaista kehittymistä edistävää ja toimintamahdollisuuksia lisäävää tukea. Pääasiassa opiskelijat arvostivat oppimaansa, erityisesti vuorovaikutustaitojen oppimista. He pitivät erittäin merkityksellisenä oppimisen sisältönä työn substanssia. Keskeisenä oppimisen taustatekijänä he pitivät keskeisimmin yhteistyöhaasteita tuovia opiskelijatovereita ja erittäin merkityksellisten oppimiskokemusten taustana henkilökohtaisia tekijöitä. Saatua tietoa voidaan hyödyntää opiskelijalähtöisten ohjauskäytäntöjen edelleen kehittämiseen. Tutkittavat katsoivat projektiopintojen edistävän käytännön taitojen ja laaja-alaisen tietämyksen oppimista. He katsoivat tarvitsevansa nykyistä enemmän opettajan ohjausta projektiopintojen käytännöistä ennen työelämään menoa mutta myös sen aikana. Tutkittavat tarvitsevat kehittämistä edistävää tukea toimintakäytänteille. Tutkimuksen tulokset auttavat ymmärtämään opiskelijoiden oppimista työn arjessa. Niitä voidaan hyödyntää verkostotyöhön perustuvan ja projektina toteutuvan oppimismenetelmän kehittämiseen.

Swedish Obesity Specialists examines how obesity is conceptualized as a medical condition by the staff working at an obesity clinic in Stockholm Sweden. Through eight weeks of participant observations and eight semi-structured interviews this thesis answers the question of how specialist working in the field of obesity construct obesity as a medical site. The thesis aims at understanding how obesity is becoming an issue for medicine, further how obesity’s entry into medicine creates new understandings of the body and medical treatments. Through the theoretical concepts of global assemblages and bio-power I argue that obesity as a disease is defined through seemingly objective criteria aimed at defining a population of sufferers, simultaneously for obesity to be viewed as disease scientifically valid treatments on an individual level must be put into place. By viewing obesity’s entry into medicine as a process of shared consensus, this thesis examines the relationship between global levels of knowledge production and their application and negotiation at one clinic treating obesity. Here expert knowledge and governance are integrated to create both treatment and an idea of what obesity as a medical condition is. In this thesis I argue that the application of expert knowledge and global criteria leads to unexpected views on what can be conceived as medical treatment. Further the thesis discusses how the body of the patient becomes reinterpreted once obesity becomes a medical condition.

This multi-method ethnographic study explores the everyday lives of people with dementia living in the community, cared for by a spouse or family member. It examines three case studies of individuals with early to moderate stage dementia. The latter were attending a weekly day-centre group and this thesis explores their interactions with each other, individual histories, tastes, habits and daily habits. The primary aim of the research was to explore the natural role of music in the lives of these subjects as individuals and as a group. In doing so, this undertaking shows how, in supportive environments, agency and capacity can flourish, leading to constituents of ‘re-covery’, to use mental health terminology. This highlights some of the important matters that are overlooked where perspectives emphasise dementia as a disease of the brain. By contrast, it illuminates the role of social and environmental factors and their contribution to well-being. After initial interviews with each individual and in some cases, members of their families, five months of participant observation followed, primarily located in a home-based day care service. The data set was formed from 178 hours of field observations, a number of audio-recordings made during the sessions, and detailed field notes. This study shows that a close-up focus on the minute details of how a person lives their life and ‘dwelling’ with them for an extended period will illuminate many of the processes that work toward maintaining the well-being of people with dementia and facilitate their revitalisation. Significantly, it was the integration of music within and alongside the everyday tapestries of activities and events which helped create a space for connection and pleasure. The thesis findings reveal how the participants in this research repeatedly demonstrated expertise and insight, albeit not always verbally expressed, but shown in and through forms of practice as regards what was required for their well-being and how to achieve it. This achievement, however, also relied upon thoughtful and creative collaboration with others (carers, family members, etc.), working alongside the participants for mutually beneficial ends. The thesis concludes that what is required for people with dementia and their well-being does not differ substantially from what is generally required by humankind, but there are certain skills and modes of co-operative assistance that are necessary to ensure and maintain the well-being of people with dementia.

Almost 100 years ago, Jersild (1927) published his article “Mental Set and Shift”. He borrowed this title from a book of Hollingworth and Poffenberger (1919), according to whom “shifting back and forth from one mental set, one attitude or one task to another, is a relatively ineffective mode of work.” As pointed out by Jersild, the cost of switching between activities or mental sets is, for instance, the reason for Taylor’s model of industrialization and the trend in industry toward specialization. Through specialization, the element of switch is reduced to its minimum because “the cost of shift is loss in efficiency” (Jersild, 1927). However, outside of the factory, switching between multiple tasks is a crucial part of human life and the cost of switching, consequently, impacts our everyday functioning.The main topic of this doctoral dissertation is cognitive flexibility and task switching. The task-switching paradigm requires participants to switch frequently between tasks. Therefore, it measures the capacity of our brain to adapt rapidly according to tasks and goals. Dynamic adaptation according to context and goals is encompassed in cognitive psychology and neurosciences under the term cognitive control. Consequently, the ability to switch between tasks constitutes the part of cognitive control that is needed when the current goal changes and the cognitive system has to adapt. Our experimental contribution aimed at investigating how this task-goal switching can be modulated by factors such as time, language, alertness and expertise. In this introduction, we succinctly review the vast literature about attentional systems, cognitive control and task switching. In the experimental section, we describe the cued match-to-sample task that we developed to investigate task-goal switching and present five experimental studies that address the impact of several factors on task-goal switching. In the general discussion, we summarize our results and consider their implications for cognitive-control and task-switching literatures. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This dissertation applies object-oriented rhetorics and posthuman philosophies to environmental policy deliberation in order to help bridge gaps between policy makers, scientists, and citizens. For environmental policy scholars the non-credentialed expertise of local, or indigenous stakeholders is valued as possessing technical, objective merit that can improve the development and implementation of environmental policies. However, the utilization of stakeholder expertise in environmental policy faces serious challenges in terms of finding common grounds for communication within complex techno-social systems, of overcoming deep cultural differences and perceptions, and grave ethical issues of access and power. This dissertation develops two case studies of marine fisheries policy debates using theories of material ontology to detail the process of how the expertise of ordinary citizens develops within the context of environmental policy and how that expertise might be better utilized. By employing object-oriented rhetorical theories to trace material agency through the Snook and Gamefish’s (SGF) stakeholder integration programs in Florida’s Spotted Seatrout and Common Snook fishery debates, this dissertation argues that a material ontology of expertise offers a means of assessing the quality of lay-publics’ non-credentialed expertise. This dissertation suggests that an enriched since of what material objects are capable of rhetorically helps us develop tangible, actionable tools for environmental policy studies. By understanding expertise in terms of the accretion of material experiences, policy makers and scholars might more easily evaluate and utilize the expertise of environmental policy stakeholders

Social media is connecting individuals all over the world, where the power of interaction and information sharing has shifted from companies to consumers. Since companies now have a harder time reaching out to consumers, social media influencers have been used as a solution to influence the purchase decisions of consumers and thereby drive purchases. However, while social media influencers are said to have an impact on the purchase decisions of consumers, less is actually known about the influence on all stages of the purchase decision process. As the purchase decision is not solely based on its own but rather follows from a series of steps, also called the purchase decision process, more research based on this area is of importance. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how consumers perceive the influence of social media influencers during the different stages of the purchase decision process. In order to gather consumers’ perceptions about the influence of social media influencers, a qualitative study has been conducted where thoughts and experiences of participants have been studied. The findings of this study show that social media influencers ability to provide content, expertise, attractiveness, social identity and trust shows evidence of how the influence of social media influencers play an important role in each and every stage of the purchase decision process of consumers. The implications of this thesis is that the study could be of use to companies who seek to engage in influencer marketing and want to better understand how social media influencers affect consumers. The original value of the study is that it acknowledges how the influence of social media influencers affects all stages of the purchase decision process, as no previous study has explored this context.

Abstract This study examined student welfare teams in elementary, middle and junior high schools where a staff of group members tried to build a shared understanding of clients' problems and the solutions through conversation. The goal of the study was to identify what kind of socio-cognitive processes the welfare teams used and in which situations during the social interaction these processes occured in order to achieve the shared understanding. The goal of the first research question was to explore student welfare teams' shared understanding of their clients' problems and what kind solutions were constructed with the help of these socio-cognitive processes. The second study question focused on student welfare teams' decision making methods. The goal was to investigate how the teams chose certain solutions for the client. The third part of the research was to investigate how the team members as individuals use argumentation and actions to build the solution for the client. The study was qualitative in nature and was conducted by a case study influenced by research tradition of social constructionism and also tradition of fenomenology. The research data consisted of student welfare team meeting in elementary, middle and junior high schools. The data was collected in two schools during 2009–2010 and consisted of 28 student welfare team meetings, 16 hours in total. In the study there were 39 participants. The analysis was done by using content analysis. The results showed that the student welfare teams built the shared understanding of the task and the solutions through construction of knowledge and constructive conflicts. These socio-cognitive processes occured when the teams built the shared understanding of client's problems, solutions or both. According the results of this study the shared understanding that had been built of client's problem in the beginning of the meeting improved the construction of shared understanding of the solution. The constructive conflicts enabled the creation of a more qualified result provided all the team members co-operated when constructive conflict appeared. The research revealed that the majority of decision making processes in student welfare teams were based on expertise of client's problem area and the existing rules and regulations. The procedures for the client were built in a way which often required argumentation of the listeners. Arguments included team member's expertise on similar situations and the problems and effects of the presented procedure. The results of this study enable deeper understanding of student welfare teams in schools; how shared understanding of client's problems and the procedures suitable for the situation are built in student welfare teams by social interaction. The research opens a new perspective to be considered in the development of multidisciplinary groups. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tutkimusaiheena on jaetun ymmärryksen rakentuminen moniammatillisten oppilashuoltoryhmien kokouksissa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millaisten sosiokognitiivisten prosessien avulla oppilashuoltoryhmä rakentaa jaettua ymmärrystä käsiteltävästä tehtävästä ja asiakkaalle sopivista ratkaisumalleista. Ensimmäisen tutkimuskysymyksen avulla haluttiin saada selville, missä tilanteissa sosiokognitiiviset prosessit esiintyvät moniammatillisen oppilashuoltoryhmän vuorovaikutuksessa sekä millainen jaettu ymmärrys asiakkaan ongelmista ja tilanteeseen sopivista ratkaisumalleista muodostuu sosiokognitiivisten prosessien avulla. Toinen keskeinen tutkimusongelma liittyi pienryhmän päätöksentekoprosessiin. Tutkimuksen avulla haluttiin selvittää, miten moniammatillisen oppilashuoltoryhmän jäsenet tekevät päätöksen asiakkaalle suunnattavista ratkaisumalleista Lisäksi tutkimuksen kolmannen tutkimuskysymyksen avulla haluttiin saada selville, miten moniammatillisen oppilashuoltoryhmän jäsenet rakentavat asiakkaalle suunnattavia ratkaisumalleja yksilötasolla. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tapaustutkimuksena, joka nojautui ontologiselta lähestymistavaltaan sosiaalisen konstruktionismin tutkimuksen traditioon. Lisäksi se oli yhteneväinen joiltakin osin fenomenologisen tutkimustradition kanssa. Tutkimuksen aineisto muodostui sekä yläkoulun että alakoulun oppilashuoltoryhmän kokouksista sekä hojks-arviointikokouksista. Lukuvuoden 2009–2010 välisenä aikana kokouksia videoitiin 28, yhteensä 16 tuntia. Tutkimukseen osallistui kaiken kaikkiaan 39 henkilöä. Tutkimuksen aineisto analysoitiin sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että moniammatillisen oppilashuoltoryhmän jäsenet rakensivat jaettua ymmärrystä tehtävästä ja tilanteeseen sopivista ratkaisumalleista tiedon konstruoinnin ja konstruktiivisten konfliktien avulla. Sosiokognitiivisia prosesseja hyödynnettiin joko asiakkaan ongelmien, ratkaisumallien tai ongelmien ja ratkaisumallien rakentamisessa. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että jaetun ymmärryksen muodostuminen asiakkaan ongelmasta keskustelun alussa selkeytti tehtävän tavoitetta, jolloin mahdollisuus onnistua tehtävän suorittamisessa parani. Konstruktiivisten konfliktien avulla oppilashuoltoryhmillä oli mahdollisuus saavuttaa uusia ja parempia tulkintoja asiakkaasta ja tilanteeseen sopivista ratkaisumalleista. Ilmiön toteutuminen edellytti kuitenkin ryhmän jäsenten osallistumista esille tuodun epäkohdan muokkaamiseen yhdessä. Tutkimuksessa kävi myös ilmi, että moniammatillisten oppilashuoltoryhmien päätöksenteko perustui useimmiten asiakkaan ongelma-alueen asiantuntijuuteen ja olemassa oleviin sääntöihin ja määräyksiin. Asiakkaalle suunnattavat ratkaisumallit rakennettiin tavalla, joka edellytti usein kuulijoiden argumentointia. Ratkaisumalleihin liitetyissä perusteluissa oppilashuoltoryhmän jäsenet toivat esille asiantuntemuksensa, joka sisälsi tietoa vastaavanlaisissa tilanteissa käytetyissä ratkaisumalleista, niiden ongelmista ja vaikuttavuudesta. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset nähdään syvemmän ymmärryksen mahdollistajana moniammatillisista oppilashuoltoryhmistä peruskouluissa. Tutkimustulokset ovat lisänneet ymmärrystä siitä, kuinka moniammatillisissa oppilashuoltoryhmissä rakennetaan jaettua ymmärrystä asiakkaan ongelmista ja tilanteisiin sopivista ratkaisumalleista vuorovaikutuksen avulla. Tutkimus tuo esille myös uusia moniammatillisten verkostojen kehittämistyössä huomioon otettavia näkökulmia.

Abstract This cross-sectional study analyzes the differences between the students at different stages of medical education by examining their general study orientation, their views on characteristics of a good physician and their ways of perceiving patient work. The research cohort (N= 424) was collected from the first-, third- and sixth-year medical students of the Faculties of Medicine in the Universities of Oulu and Turku in autumn 2005. The study consisted of three parts; 1) The Inventory of General Study Orientations, which was used to investigate the students’ general study orientation, 2) the students were asked to name five characteristics of a good physician and 3) they were asked to resolve a short written patient case. General study orientations were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. Characteristics of a good physician and the patient case assignment were analyzed by inductive content analysis. This study is part of longitudinal follow-up study on medical education Learning Medical Expertise (LeMex). The obtained findings showed differences in students’ general study orientation, in their dedication to studies as well as in their practical orientation between the different student groups. Dedication to studies decreased and the practical orientation increased as the students proceeded in their studies. Students at different stages of their studies differed on how they estimated the most important characteristics of a good physician, particularly those on patient care, medical know-how and professional ethics. The further the studies had advanced, characteristics on patient care issues became more and more important. As for complying with professional ethics, the result was the opposite. Complying with professional ethics was emphasized as the most important characteristic of a good physician in the beginning of the medical education but its importance decreased in the course of the studies. Medical know-how, as the most important characteristic, was stressed among the third year students. The results showed differences between the student groups in ways they perceived patient work, especially in how they imagined the functions and thoughts of a doctor during on-call appointments. As the studies advanced and the clinical know-how improved and was emphasized, the medical students' holistic view of a human being became narrower. At the same time, non-professional attitude towards the patient increased. Students’ deep-orientation to studying together with desire to develop and specialize predicts development to expertise. The results of this study can be utilized in developing the quality of medical education and teaching. / Tiivistelmä Tässä poikkileikkaustutkimuksessa tutkin sitä, miten eri vuosikurssien lääketieteen opiskelijat eroavat toisistaan. Tarkastelen opiskelijoiden opiskelun yleisorientaatioita, käsityksiä hyvän lääkärin ominaisuuksista ja sitä, miten he hahmottavat potilastyötä. Tutkimusaineisto (n = 424) kerättiin Oulun ja Turun yliopiston lääketieteellisen tiedekunnan ensimmäisen, kolmannen ja kuudennen vuosikurssin opiskelijoilta syksyllä 2005. Tutkimus koostui kolmesta osa-alueesta: 1) IGSO-mittarista (The Inventory of General Study Orientations), jolla tutkittiin opiskelun yleisorientaatiota, 2) hyvän lääkärin ominaisuuksien nimeämisestä ja 3) lyhyen kirjallisen potilastapauksen ratkaisemisesta. Opiskelun yleisorientaatiot analysoitiin konfirmatorisella faktorianalyysillä, hyvän lääkärin ominaisuudet ja potilastapaus analysoitiin induktiivisella sisällönanalyysillä. Tutkimus on osa lääketieteen koulutuksen pitkän aikavälin seurantatutkimusta LeMEx (Learning Medical Expertise). Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että tutkittujen vuosikurssien välillä on eroja opiskeluun omistautuneisuudessa ja käytännön orientaatiossa. Omistautuneisuus opintoihin vähenee ja käytäntöön orientoituminen lisääntyy mitä pidemmällä opiskelijat ovat opinnoissaan. Lääkärin tärkeimpinä pidetyissä ominaisuuksissa vuosikurssien välillä eroja on potilaan hoitamisessa, työn perustana olevassa tiedonhallinnassa ja ammattietiikan noudattamisessa. Potilaan hoitamiseen liittyviä ominaisuuksia pidettiin sitä tärkeämpänä, mitä pidemmälle opinnot etenevät. Ammattietiikan noudattamisen osalta tulos on päinvastainen. Se korostuu hyvän lääkärin tärkeimpänä pidettynä ominaisuutena koulutuksen alussa, mutta vähenee opintojen edetessä. Hyvän lääkärin tärkeimpänä ominaisuutena työn perustana oleva tiedonhallinta korostuu kolmannella vuosikurssilla. Potilastyön hahmottumisessa vuosikurssien välillä eroja ilmenee lääkärin toiminnassa ja ajatuksissa päivystysvastaanotolla. Opintojen edetessä ja kliinisen osaamisen kehittyessä ja korostuessa kokonaisvaltainen ihmiskuva kaventuu ja potilaaseen kohdistuva epäammatillinen suhtautuminen lisääntyy. Opiskelijoiden syväorientoituminen opiskeluun, halu kehittyä ja erikoistua enteilee asiantuntijuuteen kehittymistä. Tutkimustietoa voidaan hyödyntää lääketieteen koulutuksen laadun ja opetuksen kehittämiseen.

M.Com. (Business Management) / The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is an organ of the state, which has a mandate of collecting revenue for the government. The organisation is faced with numerous challenges in its task of collecting revenue. The challenges include the current recession that the world economy is going through and the deliberate tax evasion by businesses and individuals. To execute its mandate effectively, the organisation has to look continuously at how it uses its internal resources and how it can effectively lower the costs of collecting revenue. This research study looks at the importance of knowledge sharing in support of revenue collection at SARS. SARS recently launched a compliance model, indicating a problem of non-compliance, which contributes to the high debt figures for the organisation, compared with some revenue authorities in Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. The focus of this research study was the two Johannesburg offices of the debt management department of SARS, Alberton and Sunninghill (Megawatt Park). A qualitative research design was chosen for this study to obtain an in-depth feel of the knowledge sharing in the organisation. Interviews were conducted with 19 respondents from the two offices and the findings are presented in table format, with a detailed illustration of the responses and quotes from the respondents. The research objectives were met and the research hypothesis was accepted. The study concludes with six recommendations and a suggestion for future research. The limitations of the study were that it was limited to the Johannesburg area and confined to the debt management department at SARS.

Decision makers have long relied on experts to inform their decision making. Expert judgment analysis is a way to elicit and combine the opinions of a group of experts to facilitate decision making. The use of expert judgment is most appropriate when there is a lack of data for obtaining reasonable statistical results. The experts are asked for advice by one or more decision makers who face a specific real decision problem. The decision makers are outside the group of experts and are jointly responsible and accountable for the decision and committed to finding solutions that everyone can live with. The emphasis is on the decision makers learning from the experts. The focus of this thesis is an overview and comparison of the various elicitation and combination methods available. These include the traditional committee method, the Delphi method, the paired comparisons method, the negative exponential model, Cooke’s classical model, the histogram technique, using the Dirichlet distribution in the case of a set of uncertain proportions which must sum to one, and the employment of overfitting. The supra Bayes approach, the determination of weights for the experts, and combining the opinions of experts where each opinion is associated with a confidence level that represents the expert’s conviction of his own judgment are also considered.