Search results
1 – 10 of 229Ulla-Maija Sutinen, Roosa Luukkonen and Elina Närvänen
This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday lives, marketers have also shifted their focus to these channels. Literature on this phenomenon is still scarce and often takes a quite narrow view of the role of marketing in social media. Furthermore, the experiences of the adolescents are seldom considered.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sociocultural approach and netnographic methodology, this study presents findings from a research project conducted in Finland. The data consist of both social media material and focus group interviews with adolescents.
Findings
The findings elaborate on unhealthy food marketing to adolescents in social media from two perspectives: sociocultural representations of unhealthy foods in social media marketing and social media influencers connecting with adolescents.
Originality/value
The study broadens and deepens the current understanding of unhealthy food marketing to adolescents taking place in social media. The study introduces a novel perspective to the topic by looking at it as a sociocultural phenomenon.
Details
Keywords
Ulla Saastamoinen, Lasse Eronen, Antti Juvonen and Pasi Vahimaa
Schools have a significant role in ensuring children's wellbeing as children spend a lot of time at school. Students need to have an active role in their learning and an…
Abstract
Purpose
Schools have a significant role in ensuring children's wellbeing as children spend a lot of time at school. Students need to have an active role in their learning and an opportunity to participate in issues concerning wellbeing and studying. This research examines students' wellbeing in an innovative learning environment. The classroom is built with professionals, teachers and students (aged 9). The authors call it Learning Ground.
Design/methodology/approach
Students' wellbeing was measured with smart device application for a six-week period. Students answered the questionnaire with a Likert scale of five (very poor – excellent) responses. Two weeks during the six weeks research period, students were able to use digital study aids, EEG-biosensor headsets, to observe the effectiveness of their learning, defined by NeurSky app. The EEG-biosensors enabled students to use a tool to recognise their own learning factors during the lessons. The effectiveness was available to students via tablets all the time.
Findings
The students at the Learning Ground are satisfied with wellbeing and the environment support for students' wellbeing experience is notable. They have “good vibes” before and after the school day. When wearing EEG-headsets “study aids”, which enabled them to observe their learning via tablets at lessons, the wellbeing experience in the mornings even increased.
Originality/value
Schools need to be visionaries concerning 21st century learning and children's wellbeing. Building flexible learning environments and bringing innovative technologies into schools to provide active support for students will enable 21st century learning. Wellbeing of children should become first when developing the future schools.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this paper is to explore the evolving nature of the work of cabin crew in a Scandinavian carrier in three eras, drawing on theories of gender and emotional labour.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore the evolving nature of the work of cabin crew in a Scandinavian carrier in three eras, drawing on theories of gender and emotional labour.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on ethnographic data from fieldwork, interviews and documents.
Findings
From being a feminized and temporary occupation for young, upper- and middle-class women in the 1970s, the occupation became a full-time job and with greater diversity of cabin crew. Today there are signs of the job becoming a precarious and temporary one of demanding and devalorized work in a polarized and class-divided labour market. Changing circumstances impact on the emotional labour requirement and terms and conditions at work.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation is that the research design was not initially longitudinal in the sense that the author does not have exactly the same kind of data from each era. The author has, however, been involved in this field for two decades, used multiple methods and interacted with different stakeholders and drew on a unique data material.
Practical implications
The development in aviation is contributing to new discriminatory practices, driving employee conditions downwards and changing the job demands. This development will have practical consequences for the lives and families of cabin crew.
Social implications
The analysis illustrates how work ‘constructs' workers and contributes in creating jobs that are not sustainable for the employees. Intensification of work, insecurity and tougher working conditions also challenge key features in the Nordic model such as proper pay, decent work and a life-long employment. Much indicates that the profession is again becoming a temporary one of demanding work with poor working conditions in a polarized and class-divided labour market.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the literature on emotional labour, gender and the evolving nature of the work of cabin crew. The unique data material, the longitudinal aspect of the research and the focus on a single network carrier are good in charting changes over time.
Details
Keywords
Karen Voolaid and Üllas Ehrlich
This paper aims to measure the organizational learning in two of Estonia’s Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and identify connections between the organizational learning and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to measure the organizational learning in two of Estonia’s Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and identify connections between the organizational learning and various characteristics of HEI, such as ownership form and market participation rate.
Design/methodology/approach
Watkins and Marsick’s learning organization questionnaire, the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ), as one of the most popular organizational learning measurement instruments, was taken to measure the organizational learning of HEIs. Employees from a total of two Estonian HEIs, which differ in several characteristics, completed the Watkins and Marsick’s questionnaire. To identify the dependence of organizational learning on two observed HEIs’ characteristics, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis method was used. The analysis was performed at the DLOQ dimensions level.
Findings
The average organizational learning rate of the two universities under study was over average (3.72 on six-point Likert scale) which allows arguing that both observed institutions are learning organizations. The organizational learning rate based on samples of employees from two HEI-s depends on the institution`s market participation on the 90 per cent level in the first dimension, 95 per cent in the second dimension and 90 per cent in the sixth dimension. Correlation between the HEI ownership form and any of the DLOQ dimensions is weak.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on two universities. The sample size is insufficient; therefore, the results cannot be generalized to HEIs as a whole.
Originality/value
The relationship between higher education institutions’ organizational learning and higher education institutions’ characteristics has not been investigated before. The results of this paper allow a better focus on different aspects of organizational learning in HEIs’ development and relate to their specific development needs.
Details
Keywords
Angelika Kullberg, Anna Vikström and Ulla Runesson
The purpose of this paper is to add to the discussion about practitioner research in schools – by addressing mechanisms and systematic strategies based on theory in a research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to add to the discussion about practitioner research in schools – by addressing mechanisms and systematic strategies based on theory in a research model, which enables the creation of knowledge products that enhance student learning and are sharable between teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
The research question is the following: Can a specific form of teachers’ research produce practice-based knowledge relevant beyond the borders of the local school context? This question is addressed through empirical examples from previously published papers on learning studies in natural sciences, mathematics and language.
Findings
This paper promotes the view that teachers in learning studies can create practical public knowledge relevant beyond their local context. The authors suggest that learning studies and variation theory can offer teachers mechanisms to create such public knowledge.
Originality/value
The paper proposes that teachers’ collaboration in professional learning communities, as in a learning study, not only has the capacity to increase students’ and teachers’ learning, but it can also be used to create practical public knowledge.
Details
Keywords
Ulla Pohjannoro and Antti Mikael Rousi
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an actual compositional process that entails a diversity of music information modes and describe the way these modes contribute to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an actual compositional process that entails a diversity of music information modes and describe the way these modes contribute to the creative aspirations of a composer.
Design/methodology/approach
The music information typology proposed by Rousi, Savolainen and Vakkari is used as a point of departure for defining the different modes of music-related information. First, relevant music information modes are identified from the composer-informant’s verbal description of a compositional process. Then, their proportions and dynamics are examined.
Findings
The findings suggest that the music information typology may be applied within the context of musical composition, that is, all of its five modes of music information could be identified from the composer’s verbal description of the compositional process. However, two additional significant information modes were identified: shaping music as the third mode of enactive representations and genuine iconic representations.
Research limitations/implications
The purpose of this case study is not to claim that the results regarding the significance of individual music information modes apply to all compositional processes within diverse genres of music.
Originality/value
This study introduces a new mode of music information indicative of the artistic capacity of expressiveness: shaping musical structures as the third mode of enactive representations was the means whereby the composer made musical structures work for himself and hence created performative power in his music.
Details
Keywords
Ulla Hoppu, Hanna Lagström and Mari Sandell
Polymorphisms in taste receptor genes may be associated with taste sensitivity and possibly with food consumption and body weight. Previous studies relating bitter taste…
Abstract
Purpose
Polymorphisms in taste receptor genes may be associated with taste sensitivity and possibly with food consumption and body weight. Previous studies relating bitter taste sensitivity to body mass index (BMI) had inconsistent findings. This paper aims to investigate the weight and body composition indicators among the TAS2R38 bitter taste receptor genotype groups.
Design/methodology/approach
Adults participating in the STEPS study (steps to the healthy development and well-being of children) cohort in Southwest Finland have been investigated. DNA has been extracted from buccal cell samples, and alleles of the gene TAS2R38 have been determined. Measurements at the follow-up visit include weight and height to calculate BMI, waist circumference (WC) and body composition with bioimpedance (women n = 757, men n = 714).
Findings
The mean BMI was 25.3 (SD 5.4) kg/m2 among women and 26.7 (SD 3.9) kg/m2 among men. BMI, WC and body fat percentage did not differ significantly between the TAS2R38 genotype groups in either gender. The proportion of subjects classified as overweight (BMI ≥ 25) did not vary significantly between the genotype groups.
Originality/value
The TAS2R38 genotype is not associated with being overweight in this cohort. Determinants of body weight are complex, and the role of other taste genotypes and phenotypes should be investigated in the future.
Details
Keywords
Ulla Runesson, Anna Lövström and Björn Hellquist
The purpose of this paper is to present how experiences gained from a theory-informed lesson study – learning study (LrS) – in regard to a specific learning goal can be shared and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present how experiences gained from a theory-informed lesson study – learning study (LrS) – in regard to a specific learning goal can be shared and used by other teachers in new contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
A group of teachers worked together in a cyclic, iterative process of planning, evaluating and revising teaching. The aim was to provide possibilities for grade 2 and 3 students to become familiar with negative numbers. The teacher group came to the conclusion that the students needed to be able to differentiate some aspects of negative numbers. The conjecture was put to the test in a follow-up study (FS) with five new teachers and eight classes. One lesson was taught based on the empirical findings in the LrS.
Findings
The results suggest that teachers’ collaborative work has possibilities to produce knowledge about critical aspects of learning that can be communicated and adopted in new contexts. The teachers in the FS were able to make sense of the results from LrS and incorporate the critical aspects in their teaching in a way that enhanced students’ learning.
Originality/value
It is demonstrated that teacher collaboration in LrS can create knowledge that goes beyond the border of the local context.
Details
Keywords
Hannu Räty, Katri Komulainen, Ulla Hytti, Kati Kasanen, Päivi Siivonen and Inna Kozlinska
The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent Finnish university students endorse entrepreneurial intent and the ways in which they position themselves in relation to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent Finnish university students endorse entrepreneurial intent and the ways in which they position themselves in relation to entrepreneurship according to their self-perceived abilities or “ability self”.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by means of an e-survey, and the participants comprised the sample of students (n =1,819) from two Finnish universities, representing diverse fields of study.
Findings
It was found that a great majority of the students showed a relatively low intent to become an entrepreneur. The perception of abilities, such as innovativeness and ambitiousness-competitiveness, was positively related with entrepreneurial intent, whereas the perception of academic abilities and “conventional” employee skills indicated inverse associations.
Social implications
The findings suggest that in terms of self-perceived abilities, entrepreneurship in an academic context is perceived as a rather restricted category to which only a few specific individuals have access. Accordingly, there is a certain tension between the tenets of entrepreneurship and corresponding abilities, and the ethos of universities and related high-valued abilities such as theoreticality and criticality.
Originality/value
Although employability and entrepreneur intent have been widely studied, little is known about students’ identification with entrepreneurship according to their ability perceptions. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on university students’ “internal employability” that involves students’ self-assurance and views of work-related relevance with regard to supposed abilities.
Details
Keywords
This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Design/methodology/approach
By employing a sensemaking approach, the paper inductively analyses materials from a business idea development camp organised for academic teachers.
Findings
In collective sensemaking during the camp, non-academic facilitators strongly influenced the reflection-in-experience via normative ideas of entrepreneurship and their othering of entrepreneurship from academic work. In their post-camp individual essays, the academic teachers reflect-on-experience and draw parallels between entrepreneurship and academic work constructing sameness.
Research limitations/implications
Longitudinal research is needed in identity work and sensemaking among academic teachers in relation to entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
Universities need to offer arenas for teachers and other faculty to support identity work and sensemaking.
Originality/value
This study generates new understanding of how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship in training when interacting with others. It underscores the importance of time needed for reflection-on-action.
Details