Pedagogical Strategies of the Universities of Applied Sciences
Keywords:
pedagogical strategy, pedagogy in the university of applied sciences, constructive alignment, visionAbstract
Refereed article
The study focuses on the pedagogy in the universities of applied sciences and on how the pedagogy manifests itself in the pedagogical strategies or in the pedagogical policies, if there is no separate strategy. We begin the article by examining the pedagogy in the universities of applied sciences and by looking at concepts of strategy and constructive alignment. A pedagogical strategy is a way to ex-plain the key concepts of pedagogical work and at the same time it enables the standardization of the key concepts in the area. A pedagogical strategy also gives the guidelines so that the pedagogical work supports the goals set for the education.
We analyse the pedagogical strategies and the pedagogical policies of strategies of all Finnish and Swedish universities of applied sciences in Finland, altogether 25. The pedagogical strategies were analysed with an abductive approach by theme. The results are presented as concept frequencies and concept clouds.
On the basis of the analysis of the pedagogical strategies one can say that the universities of applied sciences have drawn up their pedagogical strategies carefully. The pedagogical strategies govern achieving the vision of the university of applied sciences. According to the analysis, about one third of the universities of applied sciences have a vision of being the best, in some respect and in some area.
The student and the learning of the student are described often in relation to the teacher and teaching and in relation to expressions beginning with the term guidance. Research and development and diverse learning environments are typical. When describing the learning outcomes, there is an emphasis on the competence in relation to knowledge and skills – of which the latter expression has almost completely been left out as an independent expression.
