Jan 15th through May 1st – “Senior tutor” Virtual doc ...



Fulbright Project Final Report

Roy B. Clariana

Part 1: Professional Aspects of the Grant Experience

Overview

My Fulbright lecture and research experience was completed at the University of Oulu, Finland, from January 7th through June 2nd, 2005. I worked with the Educational Technology Research Unit Team within the Department of Education Sciences. My project involved research and instruction as well as day-to-day scholarly interaction with students and faculty. I made formal presentations to faculty and students on my research findings on concept maps, and presented workshops for advanced students on the theory and use of the lexical analysis software that I have written. I took advantage of university scholarly opportunities, such as the lecture by Tim Berners-Lee and monthly study circles, and worked with students on their individual research projects, especially involving quantitative analysis approaches and academic writing in English. Also, I reviewed manuscripts for the Junior Researchers of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction that supports learning and interaction among junior and senior researchers across Europe (see: ).

Regarding teaching and research, I participated in graduate-level formal instruction including: as a Senior Tutor in the online Virtual Doctoral School involving students from five countries held January 15th through May 1st, as a Senior Expert in the PhD Winter School at Haliuto island held February 28th through March 3rd, as Guest Lecturer for Kari Kumpulainen in the course Technology Integration in Teaching (K-12 teachers) held March 19th (Saturday), as Course Instructor in the course Challenges, Problems, and the Future of Educational Technology held March 30th through April 11th, and as a discussion participant in the online course Social and Cultural basis of Educational Technology involving students from the Universities of Oulu, Bergen in Norway, and Drexel in the USA held March 16th through May 3rd. (Note – the PowerPoint presentations used in my classes and workshops are available at: personal.psu.edu/rbc4). My research participation has included assisting members of the Team with quantitative data analysis in individual thesis research investigations, in several Team investigations, and in one large-scale project. The large-scale project, called the Ecology of Collaboration (ECOL) is worth note. ECOL is a three-year research project funded by the Finnish Academy and the EU that considers ways to positively influence collaboration in online learning.

My Proposed Fulbright Goals

In my application, I proposed to teach a course named Alternative Assessment of Learners and Learning Outcomes, and to address four research questions involving concept maps as an assessment approach. Regarding instruction, I taught this proposed course in March and April face-to-face to six graduate students as an elective. Our course met in the computer-lab and because of the small class size, we were able to complete both the planned course content as well as additional student-determined content directed towards their ongoing thesis research, especially utilizing my lexical analysis software and several unique data analysis approaches that I have developed for assessing knowledge structure. In addition, I participated in a number of online and face-to-face courses described above that broadened my understanding of teaching and learning.

Regarding research, I only have tentative conclusions regarding the four questions that I proposed in my Fulbright application. I have worked separately with different individuals on the Team to address these questions. First, Finnish students do use concept maps similar to the way American students do. This question is important not only from a social and cross-cultural point of view, but also because of the language structural differences between English and Finnish. But in general, Finnish students prefer mind maps to concept maps, and this difference is interesting and may be important. Second, the criterion-related validity of concept map scores in Finnish is not yet established. We have concept map data from one study of 10- and 11-year old students who used mobile phones instructionally on a biology field trip that shows a strong relationship between concept map gain scores and achievement in the content area. Two other graduate students have added concept maps to their thesis research methodology, and so this question will be more fully addressed over time. Third, it is clear that students and instructors accept concept maps as a viable instructional strategy, but it is unlikely at this time that European assessment specialists and policy makers would accept concept maps as an assessment approach that complements existing assessment formats for high-stakes examinations. Fourth, and finally, faculty and graduate students did accept and extend my ideas about concept maps by beginning to use this approach regularly in the design, analysis, and reporting of their research projects. I arrived in Finland on the cusp as this approach was taking hold in several Finnish universities, and perhaps I served as a catalyst for the Team.

Plans to Utilize the Results of my Experiences and Professional Associations

The research investigations that I am involved in here will not be completed for some time. Working with the Team and Dr. Järvelä, we have formulated an action plan to continue our research collaboration virtually once I return to the USA, which includes conference presentations of our findings and writing for publication. We also hope to deliver a combined University of Oulu – Penn State online course for graduate students next year.

Part 2: Administrative Aspects of the Grant Experience

All administrative aspects of my Fulbright grant experience were of the highest quality. I have nothing but praise for the CIES and Fulbright staff in the USA and in Finland. All of my requests for information or assistance were answered with complete and concise information usually in one day. For example, there was a last minute problem with my wife’s visa, and the administrator made behind the scenes calls to resolve the problem quickly. The Fulbright Center handbook was clear and useful, though I did supplement it with site-specific information by contacting previous Fulbright grantees. Our orientation in Helsinki was valuable, especially in terms of establishing a network and feeling connected to the bigger picture of the Fulbright program in Finland.

Part 3: Other Experiences and Impressions

My community and social life centered on the university. I had lunch nearly every day with the Team, and through this interaction, I was connected to the wider Finnish society. For example, we often had conversations about cultural artifacts such as TV advertisements and reactions to local sports. My wife, Sarah, established a network and a sense of community that was centered around her professional life as a doll-maker (see: ). Oulu has several well-known professional doll makers and a large group of enthusiasts that meet regularly as a club. Sarah was welcomed into the group, both taking and teaching courses.

Besides Helsinki, we traveled to Rovanemi, Jyvaskyla, and Ruka. We enjoyed visiting these parts of Finland, but hotels and travel are so expensive that we limited our time away from Oulu, but did take advantage of the cultural and entertainment events provided by the city. In Rovanemi, I was given a tour of the University and an overview of their distance-learning program, and it was helpful to see the bigger picture of the Finnish higher education system.

Sarah and I have added a post to our Blog containing information that might be helpful to future Fulbrighters (see: ). Also, the Taylor’s web site was especially helpful to us, see: . I invite future Fulbright grantees to Oulu to contact me directly with any questions.

Regarding the aspects of Finnish life that presented difficulties, I believe that language was the main problem. Though many Finns now speak English, local TV news, local newspapers, billboards, and signs in the city and at the university announcing interesting events are obviously in Finnish. It is likely that some activity, for example the ice swimming championship, is well advertised, but you may never know when or where it will occur.

Has the Fulbright aim of "Mutual understanding" been realized? I knew almost nothing about Finland before this Fulbright experience, and because of the richness of the culture and people, I feel that I could only scratch the surface during my time here. For example, we met an American married to a Finn. Though she attended high school in Finland, speaks Finnish, and has lived here for 10 years, it seemed clear as we spoke that even after that amount of time, she still had not reached mutual understanding. I would say, at this point, that I have achieved “mutual appreciation”. I feel that Finland has a warm, complex, and interesting culture and society, and for many reasons, the country and people are in a great position to contribute to and direct world affairs in the next decades. I am certain that I will collaborate with the network of friends and colleagues that I met here for the rest of my life.

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