Conceptualising and promoting student agency in university studies (StudyAgent)

The project aims to provide novel understanding of student agency as multidimensional construct and to critically expand the evidence base on pedagogical practices that support construction of student agency as a versatile competence. These goals will be achieved by cross-cultural comparative analyses on students’ perceptions of their agency and by conducting a design-based follow-up of student agency and pedagogical practices across three years of study.
Vuorovaikutustilanne Ylistönrinteellä, 3hlöä keskustelee, yksi seisoo vieressä

Table of contents

Project duration
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Core fields of research
Learning, teaching and interaction
Research areas
FIER - Research areas
Higher education as a pedagogical and social phenomenon
Faculty
Finnish Institute for Educational Research
Funding
Research Council of Finland

Project description

The project will apply a novel multidimensional approach and diverse methods to study student agency. The project comprises two interconnected sub-studies: The comparative large-scale study examines students’ agency experiences in four countries (Belgium, Finland, Spain, and USA). The design-based follow-up study focuses on Finnish higher education students’ agency construction and development of agency competence across three years of study, and the pedagogical practices supportive of student agency. Measures including questionnaires, interviews of students and teachers, and teachers’ self-reports will be linked to student agency analytics. The project has a high potential for impact on educational practices, and transfer into renewing learning and work cultures.

Project team

External members

Julie Coiro

University of Rhode Island, USA

Victoria Marin

University of Lleida, Spain

Machteld Vandecandelaere

University of Leuven, Belgium

Jesus Salinas

University of Balearic Islands, Spain