Study guidance organized in Finnish universities of applied sciences – holistic guidance or fragmented actions?
Keywords:
Universities of Applied Sciences, study guidance, organizing guidanceAbstract
Latest national studies evaluating study guidance in Finnish higher education institutions have been implemented in 2001 and 2005. This study aimed to determine how study guidance is organized today in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), and what role it has in these organizations. Altogether 11 UAS’s participated in the study, and the quantitative data was gathered mainly from their teaching and administrative staff. In order to determine the style of organizing study guidance in these UAS’s, a new measurement tool was developed. All in all, 261 replies were received to electronical survey.
As greater pressures are aimed at the educational system due to, for example, rapid changes in work, internationalization and the development of knowledge society, study guidance is considered to offer solutions, among other things, for shortening the duration of studies. According to our results, study guidance is still organized in various styles in Finnish UAS’s. In addition, the visibility of study guidance in UAS’s strategies is relatively weak. From the identified styles of organizing study guidance, the most prominent one was specialized personnel. However, features of holistic process were also identified.
