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1 INTRODUCTION I have organized my portfolio into three parts, describing my To summarize, this portfolio demonstrates my record in pursuing internationally recognized research in the areas of teaching and learning processes in the classroom, classroom interaction research methodologies, as well as pedagogies and technologies for education and learning with a specific focus on (a) sociocultural approaches to teaching and learning; (b) dialogue, teaching and learning in classroom settings; (c) design, use, and evaluation of learning technologies in education; (d) new models of teacher education and teacher professional development in national and international settings; and finally, (e) the role of interdisciplinary research on learning for the advancement of educational practice and professional development across the life span. I Professional background I received my Ph.D. in Education from the University of Exeter, U.K., in 1994, which focused on collaborative writing and learning processes with computers, social interaction, discourse and learning in peer group work, and on sociocultural theories of learning and development. More recently, my research work has concentrated extensively on the methodological questions in the analysis of teaching and learning processes in the classroom, classroom interaction, collaborative learning processes, multimedia enriched science learning in early years and elementary classrooms, as well as in the use of digital video technology in in school, teacher education and informal learning contexts. After finishing my Ph.D., I was a member of the University of Oulu, Finland, Faculty of Education as a researcher and teacher educator. I have held two distinguished scholarly positions awarded by the Academy of Finland. During the years 1995-8, I worked as a Junior Fellow of the Academy of Finland and during the years 2000-5, I held an Academy Fellow post. Both of these research positions have allowed me to conduct my own programs of research which have involved research collaboration with national and international project partners as well as the supervision of doctoral students. In addition to my research work and supervision of doctoral students, I have actively taught teacher education and education students at the University of Oulu and at the Univeristy of Helsinki. This has also included teaching educational courses for the Open University students in the northern part of Finland and in Helsinki region. In the year 2003, I established a Research Center for Sociocultural Studies of Learning and Instruction at the University of Oulu (https://norssiportti.oulu.fi/learn/). The center has had several full time doctoral students funded by external research grants. In the autumn of 2005, I was nominated to a full professorship in pedagogy at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. At this time, I was working as a visiting professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. During the time I was ending my visiting professorship period at UCSB, I was invited to apply for a directorship of a new interdisciplinary research organization CICERO Learning based at the University of Helsinki, Finland (www.cicero.fi). From May 2006 onwards, I have acted as the director and professor of the cross-disciplinary research network CICERO Learning. In the year 2007, I was nominated to a professorship at the University of Warwick, Institute of Education. In sum, my doctoral education in the U.K., research possibilities offered by the posts and grants of the Academy of Finland and other funding agencies, teaching and supervision experiences in different Finnish and international universities, my scholarly visit to the University of California, Santa Barbara and now the directorship of the CICERO Learning organization as well as the visiting professorship at the University of Warwick Institute of Education have all contributed to my professional experiences and expertise as well as to the initiation and execution of my research programs as described below. II Programs of Research In this section, I shall describe the programs of my research. First, I shall provide a brief introduction to two research centers that I have been involved in establising and running. Second, I shall elaborate on some of my core research projects. (a) Research Centers I Research center: For more information visit: www.cicero.fi II Research center: The Research Center for Sociocultural Research on Learning and Instruction advances scientific and applied knowedge of human thinking, learning and development in educational contexts from early years education to school-based learning, and to professional learning in higher education contexts. The research unit applies and further develops recent educational and psychological research on learning and instruction which locates cognition and intelligent activity in social and cultural practices. According to the sociocultural research tradition, cognition and intelligent activity are mediated by cognitive tools, physical and conceptual artefacts as well as socially distributed and shared processes embedded in cultural contexts. In taking a sociocultural perspective towards learning and instruction, the research center develops and examines models that make visible the interdynamics between the individual and social in learning and development, including knowledge creation and innovation in educational contexts. Methodologically, the center is challenged by the development of appropriate analytical tools to understand and illuminate the processes involved in the construction of knowledge and expertise in collaborative interactions within a community of learners. Pedagogically, the center develops and evaluates innovative learning situations for meaningful and powerful education.This includes applying and developing technological tools and materials which support communal meaning making, distribution of expertise and social knowledge creation. In sum, the core research areas of the research unit are collaborative and communal learning practices, inquiry-based learning processes and activities, conceptual The Center carries out research studies in collaboration with national and international organizations, ranging from kindergartens to schools and to university-based institutions. The Center promotes the integration of theoretical and practical knowledge in developing innovative modes and tools for learning and instruction. Close integration between theory and practice is regarded as promoting rapid dissemination of new innovations into the field. The researchers of the Center represent educational sciences, educational psychology and teacher education. Six of the researchers of the Centre are undertaking their doctoral studies. The Centre collaborates actively with its national and international partners. The research center has received funding for its research projects from the Academy of Finland, Cultural Foundation of Finland and from EU. For more information: https://norssiportti.oulu.fi/learn/ b) Research projects In the following, I shall briefly introduce the core research projects that I have established and directed. Please also read the CICERO Learning Activity report 2006-8 enclosed to this portfolio for more information about other research projects and networks that I am directing independently or in collaboration with other professors/parties. This four-year (2009-2012) multidisciplinary research project is funded by the Academy of Finland. As education and business today are increasingly globalized, new challenges are facing communication, interaction, and collaboration for the advancement and creation of innovation. There is a clear need for new knowledge about ubiquitous computing, communication, and knowledge co-construction processes in virtual teams as well as about the possibilities of modern information technology to support virtual knowledge co-creation and innovation. This consortium research project tackles these challenges via a multidisciplinary research approach incorporating expertise from several disciplines, namely computer science, information technology, education and behavioral sciences, linguistics and communication, as well as industrial engineering and management science. The project focuses on the following research themes: a) Communication and interaction in and for innovation in virtual teams and _b) Technology as an enabler of interaction and innovation in virtual teams. The project applies a user-centred approach that aims at supporting human interaction and innovation with novel, intelligent technologies. Special attention will be paid on the supporting role of technological ubicomp solutions. Research consortium Funding: Academy of Finland Project 2 ‘Learning and Teaching at the intersection of Formal and Informal Learning Environments’ is a two-year (2008-2009) multidisciplinary research project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education. The project is carried out by CICERO Learning (Professor Kristiina Kumpulainen) in collaboration with the University of Helsinki Department of Applied Sciences of Education (Professor Leena Krokfors and Docent/Adjunct Professor Lasse Lipponen). The project investigates and develops teaching and learning practices at the intersection of formal, informal and non-formal contexts. In particular, the project develops pedagogical approaches to bridge gaps between formal and informal learning environments so that the funds of knowledge as well as social practices developed in one setting can become resources in the other. Moreover, the project examines the possibilities of digital video technology and social media to support participants’ transitions and knowledge generation across contexts. The research project will be carried out in a comprehensive school setting (grades 1-9) in the metropolitan area of Helsinki. The learning transitions among students and educators will be analyzed across three different contexts: the school and non-school contexts, such as Museum of Technology, City Libraries, and after-school clubs. Research team: For more information: www.oppimisensillat.fi Project 3 MATIS, the Mathematics Teacher Learning in the Information Society -research project investigates the application and adaptation of a cultural artefact, MILE-International, in Finnish pre-service mathematics teacher education. The technological learning environment consists of a digitalised video database of authentic classroom practice in mathematics education as well as of communication and search tools to support collective inquiry and teacher learning. The project will explore how mathematics teacher education aiming at reflective and inquiry-oriented practice is supported and changed by this technological artefact. In addition, the research project will explore communal reflection as a mechanism for identity building in technology-based mathematics teacher education, and carefully analyse the processes of mathematics teacher learning at the intersection of new technologies, learning cultures and societal demands. By investigating the social and cultural contexts constructed around the technological learning environment, the research project aims at increasing scientific knowledge about the processes of mathematics teacher education and learning embedded within and constituted by the social practices in which the learners and teachers engage during their application of the digitalised case-based material. Studying cultural and personal changes in mathematics teacher education classrooms is likely to provide valuable information about how cultures, their artefacts, and individuals create and re-create each other. In all, the project will develop pedagogical guidelines and instructional activities for meaningful and empowering mathematics teacher education in the information society. Researchers: Project 4 This research project investigates children's science learning and thinking in social context of a multimedia environment in an early year’s classroom. The goal of the research project is to widen theoretical, methodological and pedagogical understanding of children's conceptual development in an activity context based upon tool-mediation and socially shared learning activities, child-initiation and spontaneous exploration. The research project approaches conceptual learning from the perspective of cognitive and sociocultural psychology in order to illuminate the sociocognitive processes of science learning when modern multimedia technological possibilities are in children's use. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the research project are laid by theories and set of concepts derived from cognitive and social psychology, cognitive science, studies of discourse, learning and social practice and from artificial intelligence. The empirical data of this research project is derived from one Finnish day care centre. Twenty-three children aged between six to seven years participated in the study. The data collection was conducted in a four week period during which the children took part in a learning unit on space and time. The learning activities and tools in the unit consisted of child initiated; exploratory activities during which children had versatile tools in their use, including a multimedia learning tool, PICCO. The data of the research project consists of video recordings of children's interviews before and after the experiment as well as of the children's individual and social activities during learning unit. Children's exploration paths during the use of the multimedia environment have also been recorded. Subsidiary data of the project consist of teacher interviews and parent diaries. The analyses of the empirical data of this research project are currently undergoing. In all, the results of the research will be important for theoretical and applied research as well as for educational practice with early year’s learners. Funding: Academy of Finland Researchers: Project 5 Researchers: Project 6 The objective of the COLISM-research project is to develop pre-school, primary and secondary school mathematics and science education on three dimensions. Firstly, the project investigates the implementation of a new form of educational approach to mathematics and science instruction based on the idea of distributed expertise in a community of learners. The goal of the community is that its participants consisting of students, teachers, and scientists collaboratively create a continuous and supportive network to support their mathematics and science learning and professional development. In this network expertise is shared and jointly constructed. Secondly, the project investigates the practices of these communities within and between classroom contexts. Particular attention is paid to the nature of social interactions that take place in these learning communities through different channels (e.g. face to face interaction, teleconferencing, electronic mailing) and how they give rise to the construction of scientific knowledge among its members. Students’ learning processes, personal attitudes and achievements in learning mathematics and science including the development of conceptual structures and meta-cognitive skills as well as teachers’ pedagogical practices and epistemological beliefs in planning, implementing and evaluating their work will also be considered. Thirdly, the project develops guidelines for mathematics and science curricula, the design of effective learning situations and evaluation. Emphasis is placed on student-centred and problem-based learning activities, collaborative learning methods, meaningful learning, authenticity, complexity, integration of mathematics and science learning, and on the use of information and communication technology. In addition to learning mathematics and science, the curriculum concentrates on developing students’ thinking and problem solving skills as well as risk management in the changing society. Researchers: Project 7 The purpose of this 3-year developmental research project conducted in the period of 1999-2002 is to develop European primary school mathematics education with the help of information and communication technology. The research project has its roots in MILE, which is a multimedia interactive learning environment developed for primary mathematics teacher education at Freudenthal Institute in the Netherlands. In the present project an international digital school, MILE-International, will be developed for mathematics teacher education in collaboration between three countries namely, Finland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Researchers: Project 8 This research project funded by the Academy of Finland (years 1995-8) investigates social interaction and learning in innovative, theory-driven learning situations within the context of primary school education. Student-centred learning situations designed to support collaborative learning were situated in three curriculum areas - language, science/technology, and mathematics - each involving a distinct and different task. The role of technology in supporting learning and shaping classroom interaction was also investigated in one of the learning situations designed for the present study. Together with empirical research, the research project aimed to validate an innovative methodology which promises to reveal a great deal of information about the processes, conditions and effects of classroom interaction patterns on students' learning and collaborative meaning-making. The theoretical basis of the interaction analysis framework developed in this research project draws on the sociocultural and socio-constructivist perspectives to learning as well as on discourse and conversation analyses. Major results of the research project are: Researchers: III Professional Activities and Service My professional activities have included active dissemination of my research work in the form of journal articles, books, keynote presentations as well as conference paper and poster presentations. My research publications have appeared in Learning and Instruction, Instructional Science, International Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Experimental Education, Computers and Education, Computers and Writing, European Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Classroom Interaction and in a number of other journals, edited books, and conference proceedings. Altogether I have published 58 academic papers in journals and books, and presented 89 conference papers. I am currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Lifelong Learning in Europe LLinE (www.lline.fi) and a leading co-editor of the Journal of European Teacher Education Network, JETEN (www.eten-online.org). I also serve on several editorial boards, act as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals and conferences as well as present my work regularly at the annual meetings of AERA, EARLI and other national and international conferences. In recognition of distinction achieved in research, I have received together with my research collaborator Dr. Sinikka Kaartinen a nomination for the outstanding publication award from the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) in the year 2003. I have attached this article to this application letter. I have recently served as a board member for the European Educational Teacher Education Network (www.eten-online.org) and a co-ordinator for the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Special Interest Group (SIG) Social interaction in learning and instruction. In addition, I engage in active dialogue with several international and national scholars via my scientific work, including invited keynote lectures and discussant roles in national and international scientific meetings and conferences. I am also currently acting as an external evaluator for an US-European FIPSE program. More detailed information of my academic activities and service can be found from my CV. The centers of research and individual programs of research that I direct have provided national and international graduate students with a platform to conduct their scientific research in innovative and authentic contexts. These contexts have enabled doctoral students to be encultured into the practices of scholarly research work, helping them to grow professionally throughout their doctoral education into active and contributing participants of scientific communities. Please find below a list of my contribution to researcher education.
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