Although generic skills have received widespread attention from both policymakers and educationalists, little is known regarding how students acquire these skills, or how they should best be taught. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify what kinds of pedagogical practices are behind the learning of eight particular generic skills. The data were collected from university students (N = 163, n = 123) via Internet questionnaires. The findings from regression analyses showed that teaching practices involving collaboration and interaction as well as features of a constructivist learning environment and integrative pedagogy predicted the learning of generic skills – such as decision-making skills, different forms of creativity, and problem-solving skills. In contrast, the traditional forms of university teaching – such as reading, lecturing, and working alone – were negatively associated to learning generic skills. Overall, this study offers detailed information about the pedagogical practices that nurture learning generic skills in university contexts.

The aim of this study is to outline the development and changes in pre‐service teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) assessments during the first 3 years in teacher education. Specifically, research was conducted at three measurement points over a 3‐year teacher education period. The target group consisted of pre‐service teachers (N = 148) from three Finnish universities. Results indicate a growth in confidence related to all TPACK areas during the research period. The strongest gains were in pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, the gains were larger in other areas related to pedagogical knowledge than areas related to technology or content knowledge. In areas without pedagogical knowledge, the changes were more moderate. In the discussion section, recommendations are provided on the potential of longitudinal use of the TPACK model to study and improve the development of pre‐service teachers' TPACK.

To support the development of pupils’ 21st-century skills, teachers themselves must also be competent in these skills and learn them during pre-service teacher education. The aim of this study is to investigate what kind of profiles emerge among Finnish first-year pre-service teachers’ (N = 872) in terms of perceptions of their strategic learning skills and collaboration dispositions and what background variables explain membership of the profiles found. Latent profile analysis showed five student profiles corresponding to perceived strategic learning skills and collaboration dispositions. The most robust factor explaining the membership of the profiles was life satisfaction. Pre-service teachers in a profile group of high strategic learning skills and high collaboration dispositions showed the highest anticipated life satisfaction after five years. Obtaining a better understanding of pre-service teachers’ skills and dispositions will provide the basis for deeper exploration of how they may acquire these skills and how instruction can better be designed to assist students in developing these skills.

The purpose of this study is to examine what kind of role does positive atmosphere play in learning generic skills. The study was carried out in the final year of Finnish physical education (PE) teacher education where teachers of this study module have developed their pedagogical practices for a long time to foster and maintain the positive learning atmosphere of the course. In this study the learning atmosphere was examined from the perspectives of students addressing the following research questions: (1) How do the students perceive and experience the constructed learning atmosphere? (2) What generic skills do PE students report to learn during the final year study module? (3) What kind of relationship exists between the perceived learning atmosphere and learning generic skills? The data of this study were collected via an internet questionnaire (N = 189, n = 125) and interviews (n = 19) and analyzed applying qualitative content analysis and using statistical methods. According to the results, the PE students felt that the learning atmosphere of their final year study module was warm and conversational; it was easy to get their own voice heard during the final year. The PE students reported that they had learned versatile and plenty of different generic skills, particularly various social skills. There were statistically significant associations between positive atmosphere and some generic skills, such as the development of creativity, but they were not very strong. To understand this finding, the instruments of the study are discussed, especially from the perspective of the development of the questionnaire statements. Although the relationship between perceived positive atmosphere and learning generic skills was only moderate, the findings are promising. For example, the good practices documented in this study, such as how to construct a warm educational atmosphere, may be applied when developing other study modules.

Central goals of higher education in STEM domains include learning of problem solving and self-assessment skills. To achieve these goals, we propose a novel self-assessment method called the Solve-Correct-Assess-Negotiate (SCAN) method of assessing problem solving that includes both formative and summative elements. We study students’ learning experiences in courses involving different methods of assessing problem solving (Course 1 including teacher-led assessment, Ntrad = 53; Course 2 including SCAN method, NSCAN = 56) and specifically associations between these learning experiences and students' perceptions of the SCAN method. We found that the students relied on teacher-led assessment more than the self-assessment. The perceived utility of the self-assessment was positively associated with a deeper approach to learning in Course 2 than in Course 1. Students who found the self-assessment less beneficial also perceived less support from the learning environment. Our findings suggest that the successful implementation of novel self-assessment-based practices for problem-solving requires personalized support for self-assessment, teachers’ awareness of the different perceptions that students have towards these practices, and discussion among teachers and students on the rationale, utility, and reliability of the different practices.