A dynamic research strategy was employed to track the development of mental models of simple DC circuits and reasoning patterns of students learning these concepts for the first time. The medium for research and instruction was a computer tutorial that allowed students to explore their ideas and beliefs as they manipulated simple materials. The study utilized structured observations generated from videotaped data and transcribed analysis of students' verbal commentaries. Verbal protocol analysis (Ericsson and Simon, 1994) provided data for the development of conceptual maps (Dykstra, Boyle, and Monarch, 1992) from which students' conceptual frameworks and mental models were inferred. The sequence and types of changes the models underwent were illustrated by the changes in the conceptual maps as the subjects progressed from a naive understanding towards a more scientific understanding. Both assimilation and accommodation occurred to different degrees: from the acquisition of a single, simple idea (or separation of a single, minor idea) to the development of elaborate and inter-related ideas. In both cases, the process was not simple nor straight forward. Rather, the process is better described as a painful negotiation and renegotiation of conflicting beliefs. The "path" from naive towards expert understanding goes in both directions, with subjects moving backward (toward personal theories) as easily, if not more so, as forward (toward expert understanding). Studying conceptual change in physics learning is necessary in order to develop appropriate instructional materials and strategies that take into account students' preconceptions and how those preconceptions change during instruction. / Ph. D.

Formål: Formålet med undersøgelsen har været at få indsigt i og viden om, hvordan nytilskadekomne rygmarvsskadede patienter oplever og opfatter at deltage i tværfaglige patientkonferencer, hvor deres rehabiliteringsforløb tilrettelægges. Metode: Undersøgelsesmetoden er kvalitativ med en fænomenografisk forskningstilnærmelse. Dataindsamlingen er foretaget ved hjælp af kvalitative semistrukturerede interview. Der er gennemført 15 interview blandt otte indlagte patienter, tre kvinder og fem mænd i alderen fra 28 til 75 år Resultat: Analysen viste at patienterne fandt, at det var meningsfuldt at deltage i patientkonferencer om eget rehabiliteringsforløb og for de fleste en nødvendig og selvfølgelig del af rehabiliteringen. Der blev identificeret fire beskrivende hovedkategorier: Patientkonferencer oplevedes støttende i en rehabiliteringsproces; Forskellige følelser var i spil; Pårørendes deltagelse havde betydning; Mødekultur og deltageres betydning Konklusion: Denne undersøgelse viste, at nytilskadekomne rygmarvsskadede og sorgfyldte patienter oplevede, at de var i stand til og gerne ville deltage aktivt i beslutninger i forhold til eget rehabiliteringsforløb. Tværfaglige patientkonferencer blev opfattet som et forum, hvor patienter og pårørende kunne få overblik og kontrol i en situation, hvor patienternes livssituation var kaotisk i relation til komplekse og omfattende fysiske funktionstab. Undersøgelsen har afdækket områder, som har vist sig at have haft betydning for, om patienterne oplevede disse konferencer som meningsfulde og tilfredsstillende / Aim: This study aimed to increase understanding of how patients newly injured with spinal cord lesion experience rehabilitation planning conferences with their clinicians and therapists. Method: I used a qualitative methodology within a phenomenographic research approach. Data was collected during 15 qualitative and semi-structured interviews with eight hospitalized patients (three women and five men) ranging in age between 28 to 75 years. Results: The data suggests that patients view participation in rehabilitation conferences as essential. Indeed, some patients deemed participation a necessary and natural part of their rehabilitation. Four main categories were identified: patient conferences support rehabilitation; emotional vulnerability; family participation matters; and atmosphere and location of conferences are critically important. Conclusion: The results show that patients newly injured by spinal cord lesion can and want to participate in decisions about their own rehabilitation, even when they are grieving and in a state of shock. Interdisciplinary patient conferences that include relatives provide an ideal environment and help patients gain oversight and control in an often chaotic life situation resulting from complex and substantial physical disabilities. The data also revealed areas for improvement that will help ensure meaningful and satisfactory patient conferences / <p>ISBN 978-91-86739-14-0</p>

The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge of preschool teachers’ perceptions of music and aesthetic learning processes in relation to the Swedish National Agency for Education’s reformulation of the preschool curriculum 2018. By using a phenomenographic methodology and qualitative interviews, the study has been conducted with six preschool teachers from different preschools in one municipality where the ambition has been to get a variety of different perceptions. The result of the study shows that the preschool teachers’ perceptions of giving the children the conditions in music that are given in the curriculum, vary widely. A preschool teacher describes how the music gets an embodied or emotionally intrinsic value. In the case of aesthetic learning processes in teaching, preschool teachers proved to have good perception of what aesthetic is, the perception of learning process was however varied. The preschool teachers considered in general that they lacked materiel to deepen the music education, some also considered that they needed additional knowledge in music and aesthetic learning processes. The reformulation of the aesthetic objective in Lpfö 18 showed that half of the preschool teachers considered it clearer and that it is placing a higher demand on them, while the others experienced the rewording as less demanding. The result of the study shows that the Swedish National Agency for Education’s formulation can be interpreted in different ways. One conclusion from the study is that the Nation Agency for Education has not been sufficiently clear about the reformulation of music and learning processes in Lpfö 18. Another conclusion is that the preschool teachers who have some form of musical education have a greater understanding and awareness of what the music does with the child. Also, how preschool teachers can teach by using different didactical forms of music for learning and how children can experience the music’s own magic world. / Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om förskollärares uppfattningar av musik och estetiska lärprocesser i förhållande till Skolverkets omformulering av förskolans läroplan 2018. Genom att använda en fenomenografisk metodansats och kvalitativa intervjuer har studien genomförts med ett urval av sex förskollärare från olika förskolor i en kommun, där strävan har varit att få en variation av olika uppfattningar. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att förskollärarnas uppfattningar av att ge barnen de förutsättningar i musik som läroplanen lyfter, varierar mycket. En förskollärare beskriver hur musiken får ett förkroppsligat eller känslomässigt intrinsikalt värde. I fråga om estetiska lärprocesser i undervisningen visade sig förskollärarna ha goda uppfattningar om vad estetik är, uppfattningen av lärprocess var dock splittrad. Förskollärarna ansåg överlag att de saknade materiel för att fördjupa musikundervisningen, några ansåg även att de var i behov av kunskapsutveckling inom musik och estetiska lärprocesser. Omformuleringen gällande det estetiska målet i Lpfö 18 visade att hälften av förskollärarna ansåg att det blev tydligare och ställer ett högre krav på dem, medan de andra upplevde omformuleringen som mindre kravfull. Resultatet visar därmed att Skolverkets formulering kan tolkas på olika sätt. En slutsats från studien är att Skolverket inte varit tillräckligt tydliga med omformuleringen av musik och estetiska lärprocesser i Lpfö 18. En annan slutsats är att de förskollärare som har någon form av musikalisk utbildning har en större förståelse och medvetenhet av vad musiken gör med barnet. Även hur förskollärare kan undervisa didaktiskt i musikens olika lärandeformer och hur barnen kan få uppleva musikens egna magiska värld.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur föräldrar från postsovjetiska länder som har flyttat till Sverige uppfattar begreppet jämställdhet, hur uppdelningen av deras vardagssysslor ser ut, hur deras medvetenhet kring det jämställdhetsarbete som förskolan enligt läroplanen ska utföra ser ut samt om deras uppfattning om begreppet är likadan med vad Läroplanen för förskolan säger. I studien intervjuades fyra föräldrar från två postsovjetiska länder, resultatet analyserades med hjälp av fenomenografisk ansats. I resultatet framkom det att föräldrarnas uppfattning om begreppet jämställdhet kan vara helt annan än den som står i Läroplanen för förskolan. De föräldrar vars uppfattning om jämställdhet skiljde sig från den svenska uppfattningen menade att jämställdhet är ett påhittat problem eftersom kvinnor och män har lika rättigheter i ett modernt samhälle, dock skyldigheterna är olika och det är biologiska skillnader som ligger till grund för det. Främst syns det i hushållsysslornas fördelning där den traditionella arbetsfördelningen finns kvar. Alla informanter var välmedvetna om att det är en stor skillnad mellan hur jämställdhetsarbetet ser ut i Sverige och hur det var i deras respektive länder. Ingen av de intervjuade föräldrarna visste vilka jämställdhetsmål som finns i Läroplanen för förskolan, inte ens alla visste att det finns ett dokument som styr förskolans verksamhet. Man kan dra slutsats att föräldrar från postsovjetiska länder med en annan uppfattning om jämställdhet, utan intresse för jämställdhetsfrågor samt bristande samverkan mellan förskola och hem, istället för att stödja och komplettera förskolans uppdrag kan motverka förskolans jämställdhetsarbete. / The aim of this study is to find out how parents from former soviet republics who emigrated to Sweden understand the concept of gender equality, how their distribution of daily chores looks like, how their awareness about gender equality work, which the pre-school should be carrying  out according to the curriculum, looks like and if their understanding of gender equality concept is the same with the pre-school curriculum. In this study there were interviewed four parents from two former soviet republics. The result was analyzed by phenomenographic approach. The result  showed that the parents’ understanding of gender equality concept could be completely different from what the pre-school curriculum means. Those parents who didn’t  agree with the pre-school curriculum description of gender equality meant that the concept of gender equality was a made-up problem, because men and women have the same rights in a modern society, but their obligations are different and that depends on biological differences. It is foremost visible in distribution of daily chores where the traditional chores distribution hasn’t changed. All the parents were aware of the huge difference between the work being done in Sweden in matter of gender equality and how it was in their countries of origin. None of the parents knew what gender equality aims are in the curriculum for the pre-school. Not even every one of them knew about the existence of such document. The conclusion is that parents from the former soviet republics, with a different understanding of gender equality and insufficient cooperation between the pre-school and the families, instead of supporting and supplementing the pre-school’s mission are counteracting the pre-school’s gender equality work.

Enligt läroplanen (Lgr11) och skollagen (SFS 2010:800) är det lärarens uppdrag att individanpassa sin undervisning. Dessa styrdokument är tydligare kring den individanpassade undervisningen än vad tidigare styrdokument har varit. Min erfarenhet var att detta inte gjordes fullt ut som det förväntades. Med detta som bakgrund ville jag undersöka lärares förståelse av individanpassad undervisning. Därmed blev mitt syfte att undersöka och studera lärares skilda uppfattningar av individanpassad undervisning. Detta valde jag att göra genom en kvalitativ metod med intervju som datainsamlingsteknik. Studien har sin utgångspunkt i fenomenografin. I studien har fyra verksamma lärare intervjuats. Resultatet visade två skilda uppfattningar av individanpassad undervisning: Individanpassad undervisning som generell princip för undervisning och Individanpassad undervisning som utopi. Det som blev tydligt i resultatet är att kategorin Individanpassad undervisning som generell princip för undervisning är den kategori som var mest frekvent förekommande i det empiriska materialet, det vill säga lärarna uppehöll sig i intervjuerna kring resonemang som kan hänföras till innehållet i den beskrivningskategorin. Lärarna ger alltså uttryck för att de använder sig mycket av individanpassad undervisning. Innan studien antog jag att lärarna i större utsträckning skulle se den individanpassade undervisningen som något som de ville jobba med, men inte ansåg sig ha tid, resurser eller möjligheter till. Vid en analys av relationen mellan de skilda uppfattningarna kunde det konstateras att kategorin Individanpassad undervisning som generell princip för undervisning kan betraktas i ett elevperspektiv som mer utvecklande än kategorin Individanpassad undervisning som utopi. / According to the curriculum (Lgr11) and Education Act (SFS 2010:800) is the teacher's assignment to individualize their education. These policy documents are clearer about the individualized education than previous policy documents have been. My experience was that this wasn´t done fully as it should. With this as background, I wanted to investigate teachers' understanding of individualized education. This made my purpose to examine and study the teachers' different conceptions of individualized education. This, I chose to do through a qualitative approach to interview data collection techniques. The study was based on phenomenography. The study has four active teachers interviewed. The results showed two different conceptions of individualized education: Individually tailored teaching as a general principles of teaching and individualized education as a utopia. What became clear in the results is that the category Individually tailored teaching as a general principle of teaching is the category most frequently occurring in the empirical material. The teachers expressed that they use a lot of individualized education as a general principle of teaching. Before the study, I assumed that teachers in the greater would see the personalized education as a utopia, as something they wanted to work with, but felt they had time, resources or opportunities. When analyzing the relationship between the different positions, was it clear that the category Individually tailored teaching as a general principle of teaching can be seen in a student perspective as more developed than the category Individually tailored teaching as a utopia.

Family centres have become a common institution to promote health and wellbeingamong young children (0-6 years of age) and their parents in Sweden. Thecore of the work is usually based on both maternal and child health care, a preschooland social services, all located under the same roof in the local community.The family centre in this study, known as the "Family House", was the firstof its type to be built in the city of Kristianstad, Sweden.The overall aim of the thesis was to understand family centre practice throughprofessionals' and parents' perceptions of the Family House and its relationship to modernity.The study employed a qualitative design using phenomenography as method tocapture people's perceptions of the practice. The research also drew on the approachof action research, where participants and researchers co-generateknowledge through collaborative communicative processes. Data was generatedfrom semi-structured interviews conducted with nineteen professionals andsixteen individual parents. Dialogue sessions with the professionals of the studyhave been held in order that they and the researcher could enter into a dialoguebased on the findings of the interviews. Data was consequently also generatedfrom these meetings.The way the professionals perceived the practice of the Family House fell intothree categories, namely, as a professional service, the provision of an informalmeeting place for professionals and families with young children or as a broadcommunity-based centre. Parents' perceptions fell into four categories; as aprofessional reception to obtain expert guidance and support, a study circle andliving room to informally share experiences and socialising, and a playgroundfor children where children could interact and learn social skills.One core finding of this thesis is that family centre practice for those involvedcontained a balancing act between simple modern expertise to control the futureand late modern opportunities for self-realisation and reflexivity.Parents and professionals shared the responsibility for children's well-being andthe distinction between private and public was blurred since parents used theHouse as a social arena for developing personal relations. It was also an arenafor integration between Swedes and immigrants based on engagement for bothcultural diversity and similarity.

This study details a phenomenographic and grounded theory investigation aimed at generating new knowledge of an under-researched area, namely that of parental choice of early childhood education and care services. Given the complexity and range of choice of early childhood services, and the diversity of family situations, research eliciting parent conceptions of their choices of early childhood services is both necessary and timely. Findings from this study may be used to inform early childhood professionals by expanding their awareness of the variation that exists in the way that parents conceptualise early childhood services and make choices for young children. This study addresses both the dilemmas of individual parents in conceptualising and choosing services for their children and the implications of their individual decisions in aggregate. Single in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 parents from the local area of Boyne Island, Central Queensland, Australia. The sample of parents comprised mothers only, although mothers and fathers were invited initially to join the study. The parents were drawn from the four local early childhood education and care (ECEC) services that operate in this area. In the first stage of the analysis, a phenomenographic framework was used to develop an outcome space to describe the eight parent conceptions of ECEC services. These categories describe the way parents see ECEC services as: Demographically convenient, Safe, secure and hygienic, Providing a routine, Caring and nurturing, Having trained and qualified staff, Valuing parents and keeping them informed, Preparing for further learning, Providing socialisation. These eight categories of description are understood and distinguished in terms of three dimensions, those being physical, personnel and personal. The physical dimension refers to the location and availability of services catering to the needs of the family. The personnel dimension refers to how ECEC services are judged according to the personnel who work within that environment. The personal dimension refers to how the ECEC service is judged according to how the individual children and their family are catered for and responded to within the environment. In the second stage of analysis, an orthodox grounded theory approach was used to explore how parents understood their choice of ECEC services for their young children. This later analysis found that parent choice is influenced by: Relationship with child; Influence of significant others; Understandings of childhood; Maximising the child's potential. The grounded theory that developed as a result of this stage of analysis was that parents make complex and pragmatic choices within social contexts. An understanding of the relationships between parent conceptions and the influences that they consider when choosing ECEC services was used to develop a model. This model demonstrates the complexities of choice of service juxtaposed with parent conceptions of ECEC services. Tensions for parents and their choice of service arose when their conceptions of ECEC services were compromised. Therefore, central to the model presented is the understanding that the ECEC services were located within a specific societal context and as such, any one, or combination of, the dimensions of conceptions of service, impact upon choice.

Reporting the findings from a phenomenographic study of students' experiences of web-based information searching, this thesis describes how the identified four conceptions, and their structures of awareness, might influence future information literacy curriculum design and web based resources for academics, librarians, and students. Alongside the reported study in this thesis, the first electronic outcome space is also outlined and presented. This electronic outcome space is an enhancement to ways of presenting phenomenographic study findings. Using a phenomenographic approach, the project aimed to uncover variation in students' experiences of web-based information searching. Data gathering during 2000 - 2003 involved investigations of student diary work, video-filmed searching using a think-aloud protocol, and a series of interviews conducted over several semesters. Incorporating first year, third year, and postgraduate student perspectives, the participants, who were from the Queensland University of Technology, came from six of the eight university faculties. Different cultures, ages and genders were represented. During the interviews the students were asked to describe a recent search experience, and to describe how they learn to search for information using various web-based tools. Careful attention was paid during interviews to asking students to explain their interpretation of key concepts in the subject area. Analysis involved an iterative process of seeking meaning and structure. Amongst the group of students interviewed, four categories of explicit variation were discovered and these have been described drawing largely from the words of the participants. Two categories of implicit variation are also proposed. Each explicit category is presented in terms of referential and structural components constituted in terms of the critical dimensions of variation including focal elements, approaches to learning, and reflective practice. The possibility of implicit categories is proposed based on the findings and on the levels of IT skill amongst participants. The study also sought to explore how this type of research into student learning can influence both the design of learning experiences and academic development resources, particularly in relation to teaching and learning information searching as part of the information literacy agenda. Using the categories of description, which showed the variations in student's web-based information searching experiences, it is hoped that the further research outlined will enlighten attempts to design existing assessment to work more effectively, to bring about desired changes in students' experiences of information searching behaviour. The structure of awareness section of each category has revealed the elements that need to be attended to in re-designing assessment. It is hoped that in modifying assignments it will enable the simultaneous attention of students to the already identified relevant dimensions of the information searching experience.

Abstract The aim of this research is to provide more theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding on the process of teachers’ intercultural learning and the nature of intercultural competence in teachers’ work. It is a qualitative study based on various types of questionnaires and interviews collected from former ITE (Intercultural Teacher Education) students in the Department of Educational Sciences in the University of Oulu. The research consists of five articles and a summary part. The research falls with in the area of intercultural education. The theoretical framework of the research is based on critical pedagogy, various models of intercultural competence as well as various learning theories (transformative, experiential, sociocultural) which are seen as approaches that provide analytical and theoretical tools for understanding intercultural learning. Phenomenographical and narrative research approaches construct the methodological framework for the research. The data have been collected twice. The first data consist of open-ended questionnaires (15) and half-structured interviews (10). This set of data was analysed phenomenographically. The second data consist of 10 biographical interviews which are analysed narratively. The main results of the study suggest that, according to the conceptions of the research subjects, teachers’ intercultural competence is less related to specific skills and knowledge than it is comprised of a holistic approach to issues. It is perceived more as an ethical orientation to people, life and diversity, which guides a person’s thinking and behavior rather than an ability to perform something well in an intercultural environment. On the basis of the research, teachers’ intercultural learning processes differ, depending on the person’s background, living environment and other experiences. There does not seem to be only one theory that would comprehensively describe this varied process. Teachers’ intercultural learning is a process involving the combination of formal and informal learning. While it can be a gradual process affected by various life experiences, it sometimes occurs rather suddenly through crises and turning points as assumed in transformative theory. The significant roles of environment and other people for intercultural learning are obvious although individual self-reflection is needed as well. The research also highlights the importance of emotionally strong experiences for intercultural learning. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on tuoda lisää teoreettista ja käytännöllistä tietoa ja ymmärrystä opettajien interkulttuurisen oppimisen prosessista sekä interkulttuurisen kompetenssin luonteesta. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen, ja se perustuu erityyppisiin kyselylomakkeisiin ja haastatteluihin, joita olen kerännyt entisiltä Oulun Yliopiston Kasvatustieteellisen tiedekunnan ITE (Interkulttuurinen opettajankoulutus) -ohjelman opiskelijoilta. Tutkimus koostuu viidestä artikkelista ja yhteenveto-osasta. Tutkimus sijoittuu interkulttuurisen kasvatuksen alueelle. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys pohjautuu kriittiseen pedagogiikkaan, interkulttuurisen kompetenssin malleihin sekä erilaisiin oppimisteorioihin (transformatiivinen, kokemuksellinen ja sosiokulttuurinen). Näiden teorioiden katson tarjoavan analyyttisiä ja teoreettisia välineitä interkulttuurisen oppimisen ymmärtämiseen. Tutkimusmetodologiana olen soveltanut fenomenografista ja narratiivista lähestymistapaa. Aineistoa olen kerännyt kahdesti. Ensimmäinen aineisto koostuu avoimista kyselylomakkeista (15) ja puolistrukturoiduista haastatteluista (10). Tämän aineiston analysoin fenomenografisesti. Toinen aineisto koostuu 10 elämänkerrallisesta haastattelusta, jotka analysoin narratiivisesti. Tutkimuksen päätulosten mukaan opettajat eivät koe interkulttuurista kompetenssia niinkään erityisinä taitoina tai tietoina vaan enemmän kokonaisvaltaisena lähestymistapana. Opettajien mukaan interkulttuurinen kompetenssi on ennen kaikkea eettinen orientaatio ihmisiä, elämää ja moninaisuutta kohtaan. Sen katsotaan ohjaavan ihmisen ajattelua ja toimintaa kokonaisvaltaisesti, eikä sitä siis nähdä pelkästään kykynä suorittaa jotain taitavasti monikulttuurisessa ympäristössä. Tutkimuksen tulosten pohjalta voidaan sanoa, että opettajien interkulttuurisen oppimisen prosessit ovat moninaisia riippuen henkilön taustasta, elinympäristöstä ja muista kokemuksista. Mikään kuvatuista oppimisteorioista ei näytä kokonaisvaltaisesti selittävän ja kuvaavan tätä moninaista prosessia. Opettajien kulttuurienvälinen oppiminen sisältää formaalia, informaalia ja nonformaalia oppimista. Se voi olla vähittäinen prosessi, johon erilaiset elämänkokemukset vaikuttavat pikkuhiljaaa. Se voi joskus tapahtua myös yhtäkkisesti kriisien ja elämänmuutosten kautta, kuten transformatiivisen oppimisen teoriassa oletetaan. Merkittävillä toisilla sekä ympäristöllä on interkulttuurisessa oppimisessa suuri rooli, vaikka yksilöllistäkin reflektiota tarvitaan. Tutkimuksessa nousi keskeiseksi myös tunneperäisesti vahvojen kokemusten merkitys interkulttuurisessa oppimisessa.

Abstract This longitudinal study analyses the differences between the students' concept of health at different stages of basic medical education. The collected data were processed through phenomenographic analysis and qualitative concept map analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether medical students adopt the biopsychosocial model of health, and if so, whether that complete model strengthens during their education or students' concept of health changes towards the narrower biomedical model. The research material consists of 720 concept maps drawn by the 274 students who began their education in the fall 2006 at the medical faculties of the Universities of Turku and Oulu. An initial evaluation of medical students' concepts and thinking was performed in the beginning of their first academic year; thereafter, the change of the concepts was followed annually in the spring of the first, third and fifth academic year and finally in the winter of the sixth academic year. This study is part of the longitudinal Learning Medical Expertise (LeMEx) study. The obtained findings show that the students' concept of health became slightly more extensive during the first year of studies. After the first year of clinical studies, the students' concept of health was more biased. Students' concept of health was the most biased after the fifth year of studies. The last summer's health centre work and the studies of the last spring had a positive influence and students' concept became significantly more biopsychosocial. University of Turku students' concept of health was more extensive than that of the University of Oulu students' until the end of the fifth academic year, but the situation was reversed at the end of the education. The significant change towards a more extensive concept in Oulu appears to arise from the changes to the structure and content of some final-year courses. This study revealed some problematic points of basic medical education. The results can be utilized in development of medical education. / Tiivistelmä Tutkin tässä pitkittäistutkimuksessa sitä, miten lääketieteen opiskelijoiden käsitys terveydestä muuttuu lääketieteellisen peruskoulutuksen aikana. Analyyseissa olen käyttänyt fenomenografista lähestymistapaa sekä laadullista käsitekartta-analyysia. Tutkimalla opiskelijoiden käsityksiä ja niiden muutoksia olen halunnut selvittää, omaksuvatko opiskelijat lääketieteellisen koulutuksen keskeisenä tavoitteena olevan biopsykososiaalisen mallin terveydestä ja vahvistuuko tuo kokonaisvaltainen käsitys opintojen edetessä, vai muuttuuko opiskelijoiden käsitys mahdollisesti kohti yksipuolisempaa biolääketieteellistä näkemystä. Tutkimuksen aineiston muodostivat Turun ja Oulun yliopistojen lääketieteellisissä tiedekunnissa vuoden 2006 syksyllä opintonsa aloittaneiden 274:n lääkäriopiskelijan laatimat 720 käsitekarttaa. Ensimmäinen opiskelijoiden ajattelua ja käsityksiä kartoittava kysely toteutettiin heti koulutuksen ensimmäisellä viikolla, jonka jälkeen opiskelijoiden käsitysten muuttumista seurattiin ensimmäisen, kolmannen ja viidennen lukuvuoden keväällä sekä koulutuksen loppuvaiheessa kuudennen lukuvuoden talvella. Tutkimus on osa Learning Medical Expertise (LeMEx) pitkittäistutkimusta. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että koulutuksen ensimmäinen vuosi muutti opiskelijoiden käsitystä terveydestä hieman laaja-alaisemmaksi. Ensimmäinen kliininen opiskeluvuosi puolestaan muutti opiskelijoiden käsitystä yksipuolisempaan suuntaan. Opiskelijoiden käsitys terveydestä oli yksipuolisimmillaan koulutuksen viidennen lukuvuoden jälkeen. Koulutuksen lopussa tapahtui käänne ja viimeisen kesän terveyskeskustyöskentely sekä koulutuksen viimeinen syksy muuttivat opiskelijoiden käsityksen laaja-alaisempaan suuntaan. Turun yliopiston opiskelijoilla oli oululaisia laaja-alaisempi käsitys terveydestä viidennen lukuvuoden kevääseen asti. Koulutuksen lopussa tilanne kääntyi päinvastaiseksi. Oulussa tapahtuneen selkeän käsitysten laaja-alaistumisen taustalla näyttävät olleen onnistuneet ratkaisut opetussuunnitelmatyössä. Tutkimuksen avulla on löydetty lääketieteellisen peruskoulutuksen sisällön ongelmakohtia. Tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää kehitettäessä lääketieteellistä koulutusta.