AAKE – a follow-up study on the development of academic expertise

Movi and the Finnish Institute for Educational Research have launched a follow-up study AAKE to monitor the development of students’ academic expertise during the completion of bachelor’s degrees.

Movi and the Finnish Institute for Educational Research have launched a follow-up study on the development of teaching and learning. In this study, surveys and interviews are used to monitor the development of students’ academic expertise during their bachelor’s degree studies. The surveys and related group guidance sessions are part of the restructured communication and language studies (UVK). 
The surveys are carried out at the beginning of the first academic year and at the end of the first, second and third academic year.

In an ever-changing and increasingly complex world, we not only need the knowledge and skills relevant to our own professions,needbut also a wide range of cooperation and interaction skills, cultural competency, the ability to work in multilingual contexts, ethical and responsible behaviour and socio-emotional skills.

These competencies are linked to the concept of psychological wisdom. Higher education aims to develop these qualities during university studies.  

The research and development project launched by the Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication (Movi) at the University of Jyväskylä and the Finnish Institute for Educational Research is investigating how the expertise needed in working life is developed during university studies and what kind of pedagogy supports it.

The project uses questionnaires and interviews to monitor the development of the expertise of three university student cohorts overt the course of their bachelor's degree studies.

The collected data is an important part of the development of teaching at the university and part of its educational feedback systems. Longitudinal data provides information on the development of competencies in a way that individual feedback surveys cannot.

The research is based on a holistic understanding of expertise, with four research areas: research on university pedagogy, research on skills needed in working life, research on multilingual interaction skills, and research on psychological wisdom and its development. This multi-perspective approach provides new insights into the study and development of academic expertise.

Theoretical framework and implementation of the survey

- The surveys are carried out at the beginning of the first year of study and at the end of the first, second and third years of study.  
- The questionnaires and related group guidance sessions are part of the restructured communication and 
and language studies UVK and are used as a tool for self-assessment of competence and for the pedagogical development of UVK studies.


Theoretical framework of the AAKE development project (pdf)