My PhD project focuses on examining development of school burnout in general upper secondary education and its associations with perceived support and student engagement. The dissertation includes three studies:

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Study I: Söderholm, F., Lappalainen, K., Holopainen, L., & Viljaranta, J. (2022). The development of school burnout in general upper secondary education: the role of support and schoolwork difficulties. Educational Psychology, 42(5), 607–625. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2022.2054954

 

​Study II: Söderholm, F., Viljaranta, J., Tuominen, H., Lappalainen, K., & Holopainen, L. (2023). Student engagement profiles and the role of support in general upper secondary education. Learning and Individual Differences, 104, 102289-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102289

 

​Study III: Söderholm, F., Viljaranta, J., Hirvonen, R., Tuominen, H., Lappalainen, K., & Holopainen, L., (revised 02/2024). The Development of Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Inadequacy in General Upper Secondary Education: Perceived and Received Support, Student Engagement, and Gender as Predictors. Scandinavian Journal of Educational research. 

This PhD project focuses on the i) the patterns and development of students’ motivation from a person-oriented perspective, ii) how the different patterns contribute to well-being over time, and iii) the role students’ study-related experiences play in these relationships, while also considering students’ experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

Study I: Juntunen, H., Tuominen, H., Viljaranta, J., Hirvonen, R., Toom, A. & Niemivirta, M. (2022). Feeling exhausted and isolated? The connections between university students’ remote teaching and learning experiences, motivation, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Psychology, 42(10), 1241-1262. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2022.2135686

 

Study II examines diverse configurations of expectancy-value-cost motivation, their development over time, perfectionistic tendencies as predictors, and links to well-being.

 

Study III explores how students’ situational motivation fluctuates as a function of course-specific motivational profiles.

This PhD project focuses on the dynamics between upper secondary students' perfectionism and study-related (engagement, burnout) and more general (depression, anxiety, stress) well-being. In this study we form groups of perfectionists (profiles) based on two dimensions – perfectionistic strivings and concerns –, and we believe that these profiles differ in, for example, psychological well-being. Also, information on students’ gender and various indices of achievement striving will be included.

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Study I: Kuusi, A., Tuominen, H., Widlund, A., Korhonen, J., & Niemivirta, M. (2024). Lower secondary students’ perfectionistic profiles: Stability, transitions, and connections with well-being. Learning and Individual Differences, 102419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102419

 

Study II examines perfectionistic profiles among upper secondary students, gender differences in perfectionistic dimensions and profiles, and how these profiles differ in received support and help concerning well-being.

 

Study III investigates long-term stability and change in perfectionistic profiles in the course of upper secondary studies, how profiles differ between general and vocational students, and how those profiles predict various academic and emotional outcomes.

This PhD project focuses on interprofessional collaboration in school as one of the essential factors contributing to teacher and pupil well-being. Engagement and burnout as dimensions of well-being are examined, while self-efficacy is considered a motivational factor that affects both well-being and the need for interprofessional collaboration. The dissertation includes three studies.

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Study I: Holmström, A., Tuominen, H., Laasanen, M., & Veermans, M. (2023). Teachers’ work engagement and burnout profiles: Associations with sense of efficacy and interprofessional collaboration in school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 132, 104251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104251

 

Study II examines the connections between well-being (i.e., school engagement and burnout), self-efficacy, and well-being support from students’ perspectives. The study focuses on two research questions: a) What kinds of school engagement and burnout profiles can be identified among comprehensive school students? and b) How do students with different school engagement and burnout profiles differ concerning their self-efficacy for self-regulated learning and experiences of received well-being support?

 

Study III focuses on professionals collaborating in school to support students’ learning and well-being. The study explores a) What kind of challenges and strengths are there in interprofessional collaboration in school from the perspective of different professionals? and b) How do professionals from different fields see the roles of different actors in this collaboration?

My PhD project focuses on primary school students’ sources of self-efficacy in self-regulation, that is, self-efficacy (Can I?) experiences related to mastery and vicarious self-regulation experiences, received feedback, and bodily reactions. My dissertation consists of three sub-studies, which are divided into following main themes:

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Ikävalko, M., Sointu, E., Lambert, M., & Viljaranta, J. (2022). Students’ self-efficacy in self-regulation together with behavioural and emotional strengths: investigating their self-perceptions. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 38(4), 558-572. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2022.2127083

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Study II (The development of sources of self-efficacy in self-regulation during one primary school year: The role of gender, special educational needs, and individual strengths; under review) investigated the development of primary school students’ sources of self-efficacy in self-regulation during one school year. More specifically, how the different sources of self-efficacy for self-regulation (i.e., mastery experiences, social persuasion, physiological and emotional arousal) change over one school year, and (2) how students’ gender, special educational needs, and behavioral and emotional strengths relate to these changes.

 

Study III aims to investigate what kinds of patterns primary school students’ show related to sources of self-efficacy in self-regulation; (i) how stable these patterns are within one school year, (ii) how students’ gender and special educational needs predict those patterns, and (iii) how patterns are associated with student’s self-efficacy in self-regulation.

 

This PhD project investigates 6th grade students’ mathematics achievement and motivation in co-taught and solo taught classes during one school year. The project comprises three studies:

 

Lehikoinen, H., Väisänen, P., Havu-Nuutinen, S., Lappalainen, K., & Niemivirta, M. (2023, March 23). Developmental relations between mathematics self-concept, interest, and achievement: A comparison of solo-teaching and co-teaching. Preprint in PsyArXiv (under revision) https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/26m8e

 

Study II examines i) how sixth-grade students' perceptions of mathematics classroom goal structures change over the course of a school year, ii) how these changes are linked to each other, and iii) whether they are predicted by the instructional condition (co- vs. solo-taught classes).

 

Study III explores the stability and change in students’ mathematics self-efficacy and test anxiety, as well as their relationships to test performance, and whether they vary as a function of the instructional condition (co- vs. solo-taught classes).

My PhD project seeks to elucidate motivational dynamics preceding the upper secondary school transition and predictors of students’ educational choices.

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Study I investigates how stability and change in adolescents’ expectancy-value-cost profiles within the last year of comprehensive education are connected with their academic achievement and the choice between general vs. vocational tracks of upper secondary education.

 

Study II explores the role of academic motivation in the choice of vocational upper secondary programme.

 

Study III is currently at the planning stage.

My PhD project focuses on middle school students' motivation to study mathematics, secondary school choices and career intentions.

In this project, I am interested in what kind of short- and long-term changes can be achieved with the relevance intervention on the themes mentioned above.

 

In the relevance intervention, middle school students get to know professions and work tasks in different fields. Tasks are presented from the perspective of the usability of mathematics.