Anna Uitto - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Anna Uitto

LUMAT, Jun 30, 2016

Games have been used for a long time in teaching and learning. The increasing use of mobile phone... more Games have been used for a long time in teaching and learning. The increasing use of mobile phones makes it possible to link learning outside the classroom with augmented reality (AR). We tested how well the learning of conceptual models can be facilitated by AR games. We present a game designed for the in-service teacher-training workshop to model evolutionary and ecological relationships explicitly. The game, Parasite Race, models the life cycles of three different parasites and allows player to choose between two evolutionary strategies. We tested the game with experienced teachers and revealed a wide range of different gaming strategies: some of the teachers were able to reflect their game strategy and choose appropriate actions right away whereas some of the teachers did not and lost their motivation quickly. We reflect on the experience of programming a simple AR location-based game and on the usability of simple games in the educational context.

The relationship between different teaching methods, lower secondary school students' performance... more The relationship between different teaching methods, lower secondary school students' performance in biology and their attitudes to learning biology were studied. The survey data consisted of 2 989 ninth grade students responses to from 97 comprehensive schools. Teacher-led instruction, individual work, interactive work, inquiry-based approach, visits outside the school, use of information and communications technology (ICT) and methods that enhanced students' autonomy were found when Likert-scaled items measuring the use of different teaching methods were analysed with explorative factor analysis (EFA). Multiple choice questions and production assignments were used to measure students' knowledge and cognitive skills. Attitude dimensions like the utility of biology, liking of biology as school subject and self-concept in learning of biology were also found with EFA. The EFA scores were analysed on the school level as the averages of 97 schools. Students' school-specific average performance in biology correlated strongly only with inquirybased teachingmethod. Different attitude dimensions correlated more strongly with interactive work than with teacher-led instruction. Use of ICT correlated only slightly with the attitude dimensions of utility of biology and liking of biology as school subject. Visits outside the school did not correlate with any of the studied dimensions. The results indicate the importance of inquiry-based teaching approach in the lower secondary school biology. It is important for the students to make experimental investigations and observations, take part in biology demonstrations, ponder causes and effects and apply knowledge to everyday live. Student-centred, activating and participatory methods are essential to enhance students' attitudes to learning biology in the Finnish lower secondary school.

Ices Journal of Marine Science, Dec 1, 1999

We studied the distribution and population structure of the immigrant predaceous cladoceran speci... more We studied the distribution and population structure of the immigrant predaceous cladoceran species Cercopagis pengoi and its role in the zooplankton community during a 1-week cruise at the beginning of September 1997. Samples were collected at 20 stations within a coastal area of 500 km 2 in the Gulf of Finland. Temperature above the thermocline was about 16-18 C. Phytoplankton was dominated by filamentous blue-green algae, metazooplankton by rotifers, cladocerans, cyclopoids, and calanoids. Ciliates (maximum density 2 10 5 L 1) were dominated by oligotrich ciliates and Mesodinium rubrum. The maximum density of different metazoan taxa varied from a few (Cercopagis) to a thousand (rotifers) per litre. Most of the Cercopagis population consisted of maturing parthenogenic females with a low percentage of males and gametogenic females. On the basis of population structure, we suggest that the population was still in the growth phase, parthenogenesis being the dominant reproduction strategy. Variation in zooplankton community structure and density was associated with differences in salinity, the stations nearest to the coast favouring cladocerans and cyclopoids. Rotifers and ciliates were most abundant at the eastern stations. Since density of Cercopagis was also highest at the eastern stations, this predator may have been an important factor in the structure of the zooplankton community. The potential effects of Cercopagis on the pelagic community structure and dynamics in the Gulf of Finland are discussed.

This study aims to provide new information on the contribution of Education for sustainable devel... more This study aims to provide new information on the contribution of Education for sustainable development (ESD) on grade nine students' self-efficacy beliefs concerning their own ability and competence to contribute to sustainable development. Self-efficacy is a construct that theorists impute an important role upon as causation for action. A nationally representative sample of 2361 Finnish 9 th graders from 49 schools were, together with their subjects teachers (n=442) and headmasters (n=49) surveyed on issues relating to education for sustainable development, school culture and teaching approaches. A combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses was used to test construct validity of the instrument. Multilevel regression models were used to explain differences in students' selfefficacy beliefs concerning sustainable development. Results show that individual level variables (biocentric values, interest in sustainable development, knowledge about environmental issues, and experiences with sustainability at school) explained most of the variation in students' self-efficacy. Furthermore, the results show that if schools score high on school culture indicators for implementation of sustainable development, and for internal cooperation and cooperation with external bodies, their students will show a higher selfefficacy. Finally, the results also show that teachers can directly increase their students' selfefficacy through inquiry-based and interactive teaching methods. These results illustrate that teaching approaches and school culture can enhance students' self-efficacy beliefs in ecological sustainable behaviours, and thus that schools can be effective actors in sustainable development.

Journal of Biological Education, Mar 13, 2020

Biology education should be relevant to young students so that they can become interested in biol... more Biology education should be relevant to young students so that they can become interested in biology and understand biological topics in their everyday and vocational lives. We conducted interviews and collected mind maps to examine Finnish pre-service biology teachers' (N = 16) views on the relevance of biology education. Furthermore, we analysed Finnish secondary school biology curricula, which were compared with the pre-service teachers' answers. We classified the views on relevance into nine main categories using grounded theory as the methodological frame of reference. Pre-service teachers emphasised the relevance of biology to the student's own life, whereas scientific practices and the nature of science were expressed in secondary school curricula more often. Novice preservice teachers put more value on general knowledge, while more experienced pre-service teachers were more likely to mention sustainable futures and societal aspects in their reasoning. Based on the results, we identified two stages in the development of the views. This study suggests that pedagogical studies, teaching experience and teacher training have an impact on the pre-service teachers' views about the relevance of biology education. Moreover, we could find differences between curricula and preservice teachers' views, especially regarding scientific practices and the role of the nature of science in biology education.

Journal of Environmental Psychology, Sep 1, 2015

This study investigates how sustainability-related in-school experiences, through psychosocial va... more This study investigates how sustainability-related in-school experiences, through psychosocial variables, influence adolescents' out-of-school general ecological intentions and behaviors. Data from a nationally representative sample of 2,361 Finnish adolescents was

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2010

Education for sustainability (ESD) is meant to enhance learners' knowledge, values, attitudes, an... more Education for sustainability (ESD) is meant to enhance learners' knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills concerning sustainable development. In this study the relationships among Finnish grade nine students' (N = 2,367) values, attitudes, interests, and motivations were studied. Human-centered values, biocentric nature value, pro-environmental and pro-social attitudes, interests, and motivations were found to be interconnected. Attitudes, interests, and motivations connected to dismissive human and utilistic nature value correlated negatively with the factors. It is important to notice the connections between students' values and value-related orientations because they affect students' engagement in issues and activities concerning ESD at school.

International Journal of Science Education, Nov 22, 2019

Science education strives to increase interest in science and facilitate active citizenship. Thus... more Science education strives to increase interest in science and facilitate active citizenship. Thus, the aspects of personal and societal relevance are increasingly emphasised in science curricula. Still, little is known about how teachers choose content for their teaching, although their choices translate curricula to teaching practice. We explored how teachers choose genetics content and contexts for biology courses on cells, heredity and biotechnology by interviewing ten Finnish upper-secondary school teachers. We specifically studied how the teachers described teaching on genetically modified organisms, hereditary disorders, and complex human traits as teachers have different amounts of freedom afforded by curricula in choosing contents and contexts on these themes. We analysed interviews with theory-guiding content analysis and found consistent patterns in teachers' perceptions of the main themes in genetics teaching, teacher inclinations towards teaching genetics in human context and perceptions of students' interest in different topics. These patterns, which we call emphasis of content in genetics teaching could be classified to Developmental, Structural and Hereditary. Teachers with Developmental emphasis embraced teaching genetics in a human context, while teachers with a Structural emphasis avoided them. In general, teachers justified their choices by national, local school, and personal factors. While teachers mentioned that societal and personal contexts are important, at the same time teachers never framed the main themes in genetics with these contexts. We conclude that how teachers handle issues of societal or personal relevance should be emphasized.

Nordic Studies in Science Education, May 26, 2015

Genetics is a fast-developing field and it has been argued that genetics education is lagging beh... more Genetics is a fast-developing field and it has been argued that genetics education is lagging behind. Genetics education has, for example, been suspected of indoctrinating strong genetic determinism. As the updating of the national upper secondary school curricula is about to start, we decided to study how the current curriculum manifests in Finnish biology textbooks. We studied the main four textbooks for historical gene models and definitions of genes using content analysis. Hybrid models were pervasive in textbooks. The textbooks expressed sometimes even strong genetic determinism, which might be linked to the dominance of older historical models in the textbooks. We also found instances of determinism which we call 'weak determinism': genes were depicted as more important factor than environment in relation to the expressed properties. Subsequently, there were no modern gene models found. We suggest gene models should be presented explicitly to reduce misconceptions about genes. We argue that genetics education needs to take more into account than environmental effects and there needs to be more emphasis on the temporal and developmental aspect of genotype-phenotype link. Specifically in Finland this could be done by a more explicit formulation of the national curriculum.

Marine Biology, Jun 1, 1991

An intensive field study of three depth zones in 1980 revealed different seasonal patterns of gro... more An intensive field study of three depth zones in 1980 revealed different seasonal patterns of growth in the deposit-feeding Pontoporeia affinis Lindstrrm and P.femorata Krryer (Crustacea, Amphipoda) in the northern Baltic Sea, SW coast of Finland. The study areas were situated in the outer archipelago at depths of 21 to 25 m and 26 to 30 m and in the sea zone at 46 m. In P. affinis growth rates decreased with increasing depth, but the same seasonal pattern was evident at all depths: growth began in spring, increased to a maximum in early or midsummer, and decreased again or ceased altogether by autumn. In the archipelago the 1 + age group attained its maximum growth rate in May-June and the 0 + age group clearly later, in June-July. In P.femorata the growth rates of all age groups were more even, having only slight peaks in summer and autumn. The seasonal variation in growth of Pontoporeia spp. was not directly dependent on sedimentation of the spring phytoplankton bloom, but was more closely connected with seasonality of temperature and total benthic metabolism. Because estimates of annual food consumption by Pontoporeia spp. exceeded bacterial and meiofaunal production, these species must have derived the majority of their energy demands from dead organic detritus. Both Pontoporeia species are probably strictly food-limited in the area. The cessation of growth seemed to coincide with the approach of a plateau of total biomass, suggesting food competition. Different timing of growth between the age groups of P. affinis suggests differences in sources or utilization of food; differences between P. affinis ad P.femorata may indicate interspecific competition or different food.

Education Sciences, Jan 4, 2017

Sustainability education (SE) is included in school curricula to integrate the principles, values... more Sustainability education (SE) is included in school curricula to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development (SD) into all education. This study investigates lower secondary school subject teachers as educators for sustainability. A survey was used to study the perceptions of 442 subject teachers from 49 schools in Finland. There were significant differences between the subject teachers' perceptions of their SE competence, and the frequency with which they used different dimensions of SE (ecological, economic, social, well-being, cultural) in their teaching varied. Teachers' age had a small effect, but gender, school, and its residential location were nonsignificant factors. Teachers could be roughly classified into three different subgroups according to their perceptions of the role of SE in their teaching; those who considered three SE dimensions rather often and used holistic sustainability approaches in their teaching (biology, geography, history); those who considered two or three dimensions often but were not active in holistic teaching (mother tongue, religion, visual arts, crafts, music, physical and health education, and home economics) and those who used one SE dimension or consider only one holistic approach in their teaching (mathematics, physics, chemistry and language). Subject teachers' awareness of their SE competence is important to encourage them to plan and implement discipline-based and interdisciplinary SE in their teaching. The specific SE expertise of subject teachers should be taken into account in teacher training and education.

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, Feb 1, 2014

The aim of the study was to discover the contribution of students’ interest in school biology, as... more The aim of the study was to discover the contribution of students’ interest in school biology, as well as their self-efficacy and attitudes towards different science subjects and mathematics when explaining students’ orientation towards biology-related careers at upper-secondary school. The data of 321 K-11 students (49 % women) were analyzed. Human biology and gene technology was the most interesting topics of biology among the students. The students’ self-efficacy belief was highest in geography and lowest in mathematics. Male students had higher self-efficacy in mathematics and science subjects, but in biology, no gender difference was found. Self-efficacy in biology and geography intercorrelated, as did self-efficacy in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Regression analysis revealed that interest and self-efficacy in biology and positive attitudes to biology as school subjects explained girls’ orientation towards a biology-related career, as did low self-efficacy in physics and geography. For boys, only interest in biology, positive attitudes to biology as a school subject, and self-efficacy in biology explained their biology-related career orientation. The students’ attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs in science subjects should be taken into account in secondary school biology education, because gender stereotypes and low self-efficacy beliefs may affect students’ future career plans.

An investigation of ESD-implementation in Swedish schools by assessing students’ sustainability c... more An investigation of ESD-implementation in Swedish schools by assessing students’ sustainability consciousness

Additional file 6. Country-specific EFA.

Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics tes... more Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses.