My week

"These are the days of miracle and wonder"... The lyrics of an old song have been in my mind this week. I don't know why. It's either irony or unconscious wisdom. These have been quite ordinary days. Ordinary and fine days. Is it that which actually makes them as a miracle and a wonder?

Above was a kind of a preface to the topic. How were my days, then? Being a planning officer doesn't tell too much of what I actually do at work, and sometimes it's a bit challenging to put it briefly when asked. This is a longer answer, but still partial.

My planner looks as follows:
- A meeting on the master's degree programmes. Deans, educational directors and senior lecturers coordinating the degree programmes meet at least twice a year to discuss the topical issues common to all the programmes.
- The thesis development group. We are going to make a suggestion on a comprehensive revisal of the thesis writing instructions.
- A meeting in UCPori: the website for the Satakunnan korkeakoululaitos (HE in Satakunta) is soon to be published.
- Revising a report draft on HE in Satakunta
- Reading the curricula. Meeting of the education committee on next Monday.
- Commenting reports or report ideas for SAMK publication series
- Asking and answering. Commenting, commenting and commenting. Some things when asked, others when not. As usual.

There are things you plan, and things you just do. All of them are not in your planner. This week was no exception.

Now, when starting to fill in (oops, a slip of a tongue!) a new one I've tried to keep at least my handwriting nice and tidy. It looks better. The next thing is to lessen the amount of papers on my desk. Well, the situation is not too bad. I know a person, who forgot a box of cookies which (s)he had got as a present on her/his desk for a year or so. The best before date was gone.

But why did I have the nice line of lyrics in my head? Maybe due to the good conversations. Both booked and spontaneous. They get me humming.

Anne

PS. I was talking about just a nice (in this text read: positive) line of lyrics. It's a typical example of detaching a part from its' original context. This week I interpreted the line as positive. Still, it was connected to a feeling that there is quite much in the air (including in this case "quite a lot to do"). Which is a bit closer to the original context Boy in a Bubble by Paul Simon.

Audits, audits

Last week was the week of the "Big Audit". An audit team from the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council evaluated the quality assurance system of SAMK - in other words the methods and processes that we use to maintain and develop the quality of our work. The audit was about the QA system as a whole and how QA is related to the basic mission - education, R&D, and interaction with and impact on society and regional development.

The results and the report on how the the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council sees the comprehensiveness, performance and effectiveness of our QA system will be published in March 2009.

If we didn't have anything to do but wait, it would be a long time. But fortunately we do have - like the internal audits. On Thursday it's the course implementation's turn to be evaluated. How is it working? And what about the substitution and transfer of credits, and the studying at the Finnish Online University of Applied Sciences?


Of course auditors want to have proof on how things are done. Still, the audits are very conversational. And once again, a nice chance to learn.



Anne

The joy of exploring

This is a student’s view on the quality of education. Just a kind of feedback, a very positive one.

I spent the whole weekend at SAMK in Kankaanpää studying calligraphy. I tried and wrote, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not exactly - but enjoyed anyway. And I wasn't the only one.

We were guided through the ancient history of writing by Ewan Clayton, a British calligrapher and professor at the University of Sunderland.

- It’s fun, said Ewan. Repeatedly. And yes, it was.

It's not an exaggeration to say that we loved the enthusiasm of our teacher, and his very relaxed high level expertise. He was still interested in the subjects he was teaching to us - and interested in learning more about them, him too.

We listened, we looked, we wrote. We traced, we made slight modifications, tried different viewpoints. Our teacher repeated core things, explained his choices, told stories which made history living and things connected to each other, tried to make sure that we had understood the main points, encouraged us, sliced the teaching with breaks and light exercise... All these are quite nice pedagogical points.

"Next time we'll do much more scripts - and faster! (Laugh.) We have to through 1000 years." In this case I consider that a promise. We'll going to have fun! And that's a good thing for learning.

Anne

PS. Good classes are a joy! Of course there are many kinds of tales and stories about teaching, studying and learning at SAMK. Part of the roses and thorns we hear as feedback given in the classes and as a course feedback. Also the report on the Big Student Survey of SAMK will soon be ready.

Vetovoimaa!

Satakunnan vetovoimatekijöitä ovat
- vahvat erikoistumisalat
- korkea osaaminen
- luova miljöö ja sosiaalinen pääoma (luottamuspääoma, epäviralliset verkostot)
- hyvä alueiden välinen saavutettavuus
- hyvä elinympäristö.

Olin eilen hyvässä seminaarissa, ja itse asiassa Perttu Vartiainen (aluemaantieteilijä ja Joensuun yliopiston rehtori) listasi ylläolevat asiat yleisesti alueen vetovoimatekijöiksi. Miltä nämä sitten näyttävät Satakunnan näkökulmasta? Enpä tietysti ole ensimmäinen sitä miettimässä. Mutta tuli taas mieleeni, että kaikkialla tiukka vahvuuksien, painopisteiden, keihäänkärkien, ydinosaamisen - rakkaalla lapsella on monta nimeä - valinta tuntuu olevan vaikeaa, ja useinkaan sitä ei uskalleta tehdä. Mutta jos kaikki hyvä listataan tasavahvasti painopisteeksi, ei mitään todella vahvaa tai uutta kyllä helposti saavuteta. (En uskalla julkisesti sanoa, että se on mahdotonta.)

Jos tuota listaa katsoo, niin absoluuttisesti huonoimmassa jamassa tällä hetkellä ovat (julkiset) liikenneyhteydet. Satakuntaan ne eivät ole kaksiset - no ehkä Huittisiin sentään kohtuulliset. Siinä riittää hommia. Niitä riittää kyllä muuallakin, mutta lähtökohta ei ole huono, päinvastoin: Satakunta on käyttämättömien mahdollisuuksien maakunta. Yhteistyötä se kyllä vaatii - esimerkiksi puolueilta, alueilta ja koulutusorganisaatioilta.

Anne

Discussion on curricula

SAMK has an education committee which confirms all our curricula. It is a part of the quality assurance system/process, and forms a common understanding of curricula at SAMK. The committee constists of seven members, a chair and a secretary. There are two members from each faculty, and one from the student union. The committee discusses the new and updated curricula with the degree programme coordinators.

On Monday the Bachelor's Degree curricula confirmed were the rehabilitation counselling and planning (in which tuition is in Finnish), and the physiotherapy (in English). The first time ever we were asked if we'll discuss in Finnish or in English.

A good question. And a good sign, too. The everyday life at SAMK has become more and more bilingual. There are many things which shouldn't and can't be taken for granted anymore. And that's sometimes a very good thing.

The next degree programme to be discussed is our brand new in English degree programme Innovative Business Process. Innovative as a word promises an interesting discussion. This time presumably still in Finnish, though.

Anne