Study Guide

Objective

The students recognize their personal strengths and development needs while planning their studies. The students know what kinds of language skills, study skills and digital competence are needed in higher education studies. The students also know how to develop these skills. The students can operate in digital learning environments and use digital conferencing tools and cloud services in processing and sharing information. The students know how to find the key points in texts relevant to higher education. The students understand and know how to write down the key points from spoken language.

Content

The course introduces the Finnish higher education system and higher education as a learning environment. The course focuses on the use of digital tools and different learning techniques. The course focus on the vocabulary needed in higher education studies and introduces students with reading and understanding professional texts and other text types. The course also gives tools to practice language skills independently, to practice listening comprehension, to take (lecture) notes and to search for information from different sources.

Materials

The study material can be found in the learning environment itslearning. Study materials include e.g.
- Curricula
- Different web pages and materials
- General and scientific articles

Teaching methods

Studying takes place in itslearning online environment as well as in weekly meetings (that students can join on campus or online according to their own choice). Students work both independently, regardless of time and place, and communally with the rest of the student group. The course will begin with two orientation days: 23.8.2022 and 26.8.2022.

International connections

Teaching is implemented in a way that the studying of the course themes and the development of general study skills support each other. The study emphasizes communal learning, which is also implemented as small group work. The study group is international and students familiarize themselves with higher education in different fields.

Student workload

5 credits is equivalent to 135 hours of student work.

Content scheduling

During the course, student will learn about ways of working at Turku UAS, about our different learning environments and also, at more general level, about higher education in Finland. Student gets to know e.g. different digital tools used in studies and to develop their general study skills (different text-types in higher education, taking notes, initiativeness, teamwork skills,giving and receiving feedback).

week 34: Orientation to study path and individual study plan
week 35: Finnish educational system
week 36: Study possibilities and learning methods in higher education
weeks 37-38: Information retrieval (writing a summary)
weeks 39-41: Working in Finland (drawing up a presentation)
weeks 43-45: Finnish companies, products and services (writing a blog post)
weeks 46-47: Scientific articles (writing an essay)
week 48: Writing a report on field-specific studies
week 49: Final meeting and feedback

Further information

To study online, you need a computer, an internet connection, a headphone microphone and a webcam.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Assignments to be graded:
- Theme 2: Written assignment on higher education studies
- Theme 3: Summary of a text or video
- Theme 4: Test about working in Finland, PowerPoint presentation about working life in Finland, Report on participation in discussion sessions
- Theme 5: Blog post about a product or service
- Theme 6: Test about sustainable development in higher education, Essay based on scientific articles
- Theme 7: Report on field-specific studies
- In addition to the above-mentioned assignments, student's attendance and activeness is graded.

The course is assessed on a scale of 0 to 5. Grade is defined on the basis of assignments (see above), which are assessed on a scale of 0 to 2.

• 0 points: to be supplemented – The task has not been done or it does not follow the instructions
• 1 points: accepted – The task is done according to the instructions
• 2 points: excellent – The task is done according to the instructions and it shows familiarity

The maximum score for assignments is 20 points. The final grade of the course is based on the points as follows:

0–6 p = 0;
7–8 p = 1;
9–10 p = 2;
11–13 p = 3;
14–16 p = 4;
17–20 p = 5;

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

Student has not achieved the objectives of the course. Student recognizes and can use only a few concepts related to the course themes and does not know how to apply what they have learned.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Student has achieved the objectives of the course passable. Student recognizes and can use the concepts related to the course themes and understands the prerequisites for the development of competence.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

Student has achieved the objectives of the course well, although knowledge and skills still need to be developed in some areas. Student is able to use well the concepts of the course themes and apply what they have learned. Students are able to analyze their own competence.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Student has achieved the objectives of the course very well. Student is able to master the concepts related to the course themes and can analyse issues related to the themes fluently and justifiably. Student is able to apply in future studies everything they have learned. Student is able to analyze the competence required for studies in their field (of interest) and the development of their own competence.