Agora 1/2016 International - special issue in English

SATAKUNTA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWS 2016

MORE NEWS IN ENGLISH

INTERNATIONAL

HILLg lear nin w h e re v e r y o u a re

WATER CHINA CURRICULA

Perspectives to Exchanges

TRAINING PACKAGES

Students, companies and everybody gain knowledge about solar energy

INTERNATIONALITY

Ari-Pekka Kainu Head of International Relations and Language Center

NEW YEAR – NEW SAMK –

NEW CHALLENGES Year 2016 will bring new opportunities to

L ast year over 30 0 staf f members and

SAMK . Changes in the organization will

students from SAMK par ticipated in

intensif y instruction, ser vices and RDI

international exchange. The same amount of

activities in the faculties.

foreign students, teachers and researchers work here yearly – more than 60 different

A new unit, the International Relations and

nationalities. Over 40 applications were

Language Center, started its functions in

submitted to international research and

January 2016. This new center concentrates

development projects. A comprehensive

on international relations and also

study funded by the EU shows that people

provides language courses and services.

with international experience have better

Internationalism and language training

prospects in the employment market, earn

have already been a natural part of the

more and work in tasks requiring more

degree programmes. However, this change

responsibility.

highlights the international aspect of our strategy.

The International Relations and Language Center helps the staff and students in all

Our international partners have a significant

international issues. We provide events

role in the internationalization of SAMK and

a n d th e m e d ay s fo r fo r e i g n s tu d e n t s .

Satakunta Region. They open up channels

International Café is an event where foreign

to new cultures, operational models and

students present their own culture and it

cooperation with foreign enterprises. SAMK

provides an easy way for Finnish students

and Satakunta have cooperated with the

and staff to get to know the international

city of Changzhou and the University of

students and their culture.

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Changzhou as a strategic partner since

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2008. We also have strategic partners in

We hope that our international students want

Namibia, the Netherlands and Ireland.

to stay and work in Satakunta.

SATAKUNTA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWS

LAYOUT Heidi Valtonen / Vida Design Oy

AGORA IN ENGLISH www.samk.fi/agora/english

PUBLISHER Satakunnan ammattikorkeakoulu Satakunta University of Applied Sciences PL 520, 28600 Pori, Finland www.samk.fi

KANNEN KUVA COVER PHOTO Katri Väkiparta

ISSN-L 1456-114X ISSN 1456-114X (printed) ISSN 2242-2528 (PDF on the net)

EDITOR IN CHIEF Anne Sankari

CIRCULATION 3,600

TRANSLATIONS AND PROOFREADING Tuija Huokkola

EMAIL agora@samk.fi

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PRINT Eura Print Oy SAMK – Satakunta University of Applied Sciences SatakunnanAMK Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

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4 14 CONTENTS 4 HILL Show what you can do 6 MOOC Education for everybody 7 STEREOTYPES The silent Finn 8 AUTOMATION Innovations enabled by technology transfer

9 WATER From wells to the oceans

10 CHINA Great chance for cooperation in China 11 CURRICULA More and easier for students 12 ENERGY Solar energy in SAMK 13 ACCESSIBILITY It’s all about attitude 14 EXCHANGE Early experiences in the work setting are important

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HILL Writers Timo Mattila and Jari Suvila are members of the adult education team, who have developed teaching independent of time and space.

A challenge for change

Show what you can do Timo Mattila, Dean, Faculty of Service Business & Jari Suvila, Systems Specialist | PHOTOS: Jatta Lehtonen, Lassi Puhtim채ki

HILL was developed out of necessity. The learning platform has changed the functions dramatically.

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Educational institutions around the world have built their functions around their facilities and campuses. SAMK has also developed its functions from this starting point throughout its existence. Adult education in Business and Administration faced a new cha l lenge, when a l l t he

functions were moved to one campus in Huittinen. Teaching in class was no longer an option. Something had to done, when the instruction was: show what you can do or the functions will be closed down!

The solution was HILL, an online learning platform.

HILL, GREAT DESIGN FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING ›› HILL has changed the functions dramatically ›› learning is made possible everywhere in the world ›› results show that there was a need for virtual learning ›› attraction of education has grown remarkably ›› completed degrees have increased and open university studies multiplied ›› use of HILL has quadruplicated in a year

Kalle Lepola graduated as a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2013. He was an adult student and studied mainly through HILL. Now he works as a CFO for enterprises in a bank in Forssa. The picture is from the time of his studies, when he was interviewed for Agora.

SAMK’s main task is to develop pedagogic solutions to produce competences which meet the needs of the employment market.

However, t he pedagog y was based on classroom teaching as a primary means of learning. Digital learning provides a completely different approach to learning.

It involves a new type of identity both for the school and for the teachers.

Today everybody is keen on digitalization.

It is considered a leap into a better future.

Fortunately, the Faculty of Service Business has always been involved in digitalization.

The f irst solutions were already created on Kuninkainen campus in the 90’s and SA M K was one of t he f irst education institutions to take on a virtual learning platform.

At the beginning of 2010 digitalization was accepted as t he starting point for the development of adult education in Huittinen. The aim was to make learning possible for students regardless of the place

where they are and what else they are doing in their life.

help to the clients online. All these changes were encapsulated into HILL.

Changes and teacher’s multiple roles

Competition for intake

SAMK developed a learning platform, HI L L , toget her w it h i nternat iona l partners. In HILL distant technology is used to give the client an opportunity for learning and guidance everywhere. As technology changes also other functions have to be changed. Accordingly, the teacher’s role developed from a person sharing knowledge into multiple roles: being mentor, learning partner, creator of networks and instructor.

Pedagogy was developed into exploratory learning with only some contact classes.

Recordings are available for students of classes, and tasks are solved in groups.

Groups are formed through social media and on HILL . A lso administrative and library services had to be changed to give

Learning on HILL takes place interactively without separate investments and costs for the student regardless of the place, where he or she lives. After five years of development, we have graduates on all continents. The classroom borders have been broken down and experts and mentors participate in the student’s learning even outside Finland.

HILL has been a success. This is shown in t he competition for intake.

The attraction of the education is still increasing. This is shown, e.g. in t he number of cred its completed t hrough open SAMK and in completed degrees which have mu ltipl ied du ring t he last few years. In conclusion, the change has proved to be a possibility and a success and it has been achieved by a common goal and working together.

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MOOC

MOOC

education for everybody Harri Ketamo

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PHOTO: Harri Ketamo

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) provide education for all.

Our first globally published MOOC, Clinical

are highlighted by providing real-time

Calculations, is a co-production with

information of the students’ progress and

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

current status. After an activity the student

This course consists of 24 clinical calculation

performs self-assessment which results in

The idea of self-directed learning may leave

cases which include documentary-styled

the reorganization of the status profile and

the student alone with his or her learning

video clips, interactive tutoring per calculation

recommendations. This instant feedback

activities. Therefore, it is also important to

case and self-assessment per calculation

supports the achievement of the subgoals.

understand the student’s motivation and the

case. The MOOC covers the mathematics

Many learners have reported that they could

level of knowledge he or she has.

of clinical calculations necessary for a nurse

not stop working before completing some area

and it is intended for new nursing students

of the profile.

Studies at SAMK have developed ideas and

or nurses who want to revise their skills. The

technologies on how to improve motivation

course focuses on minimising the fears and

There is no fixed way to work with the Clinical

in learning. In general, our ideas are based

uncertainty related to calculations and it

Calculations MOOC. Students can use all

on the following principles of gamification

highlights systematic self-assessment.

the material in whatever order they prefer.

In the feedback students have, in particular,

and flow: 1) optimal challenge, 2) clear goals, 3) instant feedback and 4) autonomy in

The key parts of gamification, optimal

highlighted the motivational factor of the

progress.

challenge, clear goals and instant feedback

clinical calculation case videos. However, it

Making of Clinical Calculations MOOC.

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THE SILENT FINN According to the prevailing stereotype of Finnish people they

The key parts of gamification, optimal challenge, clear goals and instant feedback are highlighted by providing real-time information of the students’ progress.

are silent. One of the functions of stereotyping is to use them to explain social events. Of course there are also talkative people in Finland, but in this case the unique cultural behavior and Finnish cultural communication have been conceptualized into this stereotype.

A few years ago I was in a conference in Britain and they had arranged a pub crawl after the conference day. I was sitting at a table with five other people, two Italian, one American and one Spanish lady and a Hungarian man. As you can imagine the conversation was lively and moving on really fast with everybody talking about the conference and other things.

was difficult for some students to point out the

I tried to enter the conversation a few times but in Finnish

core mathematics in the videos.

culture it is impolite to interrupt other people, so I actually didn’t have an opportunity to join the conversation.

At the moment, approximately 5,000 learners from 100 countries all around the world have

People often follow the cultural rules typical of their own

enrolled for the course.

culture and communication even in foreign contexts and when speaking a foreign language. Therefore, I didn’t want to

The next step is to find international partners

interrupt anybody. Finally, the Hungarian man asked me, where

who would like to apply the material and

I come from. When I told him that I’m from Finland he said:

pedagogical model in their own activities.

“Of course, the silent Finn”. This really annoyed me, because

Possible partners are not limited to educational

I’m not silent at all. It made me realize that I was acting in a very

institutions but also hospitals or private health

Finnish way, although I’m an English teacher.

care companies can become our partners.

In many cultures people actually have to force themselves into the Harri Ketamo, PhD, Senior Researcher

conversation and interruption is considered a sign of interest in the topic. Finnish culture is basically a listening culture and people wait until the other one has said everything he or she wants to say. Also, the speaker

The stereotype of the silent Finns is partly based on the Finnish rules of conversation

signals the others that you can speak now by pausing. The stereotype of the silent Finns is partly based on these Finnish rules of conversation, but there is also a lot of silence in Finland. Silence is considered a positive thing and people don’t have a need to fill in silent moments. For example when people know each other very well, they can just enjoy togetherness without a need to say anything.

Studies on Finnish silence show that Finnish people have a very strong need for silence. It is important for their well-being and very talkative people both Finnish and foreigners can annoy people a lot. In Finland silence is considered a natural way of being and it is also an important form of politeness and a valued form of social activity. The values of a culture are often expressed succinctly in their sayings and proverbs. Accordingly, when the American say Speech is cheap, the Finnish equivalent is Silence is golden.

Tuija Huokkola, Senior Lecturer in English and Intercultural Communication

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AUTOMATION Piloting 3D imaging for the needs of a health care organisation.

Innovations enabled by

technology transfer Mirka Leino & Kari Laine

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PHOTOS: Pauli Valo

Enterprises need to adopt the latest knowledge in technology in order to develop and create new innovations. Therefore, collaboration between universities and enterprises is based on the needs of enterprises.

several piloting and evaluating steps since

O ne of the main themes in te chnol ogy

2008. More than 30 SMEs have participated

transfer has been innovation. Instead of “just�

in this work and over 50 cases have been

searching and finding technology knowledge

conducted with them.

and transferring it to the enterprises as interpreted and enriched knowledge, the

Modelling is based on case studies and on the

goal is to achieve a higher level of technology

testing of knowledge transfer methods. The

transfer in order to create targeted open

subjects for technology knowledge transfer

innovations according to the new technology

have all the time been based on the needs of

knowledge. It requires closer collaboration,

the enterprises.

mutual trust and shared research interests between SMEs and UASs. As a result, SAMK

Traditional, linear technology transfer between

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enterprises and higher education institutes

The SMEs have been the main target group

created model for technology demonstrations

(HEIs) has come to an end. Today, collaboration

because of their known lack of resources

and pilots.

between universities and enterprises is more

in technology knowledge acquisition. In

diversified and needs-related involving open

this work the absorptive capacity of the

Demonstrations of certain technologies

innovation targeting.

enterprises and the disseminative capacity

are made to illustrate the basic features,

of the UASs have had a significant role.

requirements and potentiality of the

Technology transfer has been one of the

Absorptive capacity means the ability of

technologies, but they also highlight challenges

focus areas in SAMK’s technology research

an enterprise to recognise the value of

of using the technology excluding unsuitable

for nearly ten years. One goal of the research

new, exter nal information, assimilate it

solutions. Different kinds of pilot cases are

work is to develop technology transfer models

and apply it to commercial ends, whereas

conducted on the basis of demonstrations and

especially suitable for collaboration between

the disseminative capacity means the

first phase knowledge search. The subjects for

universities of applied sciences (UASs) and

capacity of an organisation to transform its

the pilot cases always rise from the SMEs and

small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

knowledge into value for other actors in its

they are implemented with SAMK equipment

The research and modelling work has included

network.

as test applications. As a result, first-hand

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FROM WELLS TO THE OCEANS Minna Keinänen-Toivola, PhD, Project Manager

WANDER Nordic Water and Materials Institute is an expert on water issues and technologies.

The work on drinking water quality started in Finland in 2005.

3D model of a human head. A result of the recent 3D technology transfer process.

The main interest has been on materials in contact with water, such as pipes, and their effects to human health. The work has included European level standardization as well as research.

The research has been done in practice at a full scale drinking water distribution system located at Sytytin Technology Center in Rauma, Finland. This system is unique in the world.

Energy efficiency of water systems in buildings was studied and developed in a national strategic research project using Sytytin building. Currently the work is continued at Nordic level

information is received from the pilots and they

(Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway) to develop common

prove the potentiality or unsuitability of the

approval procedures. Safety is a key issue in our activities. This

technology in real environment.

includes, e.g. making Water Safety Plans for waterworks and microbial safety indoors.

The SME representatives have given positive feedback on technology transfer and new methods

WANDER is an official testing organization institution in national

are tested all the time. In this way, the model is

water hygiene certification intended for those who work with

developed with fresh case studies to meet the

drinking water. Education activities include face-to-face activities

future challenges.

and e-learning in Finnish (Water School and Water Academy).

EXAMPLES OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUBJECTS

The newest areas in international activities include saving the

›› ›› ›› ›› ››

and Technology is one of the strategic partners of SAMK. We

3D imaging illumination smart cameras control systems embedded systems

Baltic Sea through pilot watersheds in Finland, Åland, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia (waterchain.samk.fi) and research work on urban development using Namibia as a pilot country in Africa (samk.fi/namurban). Namibian University of Science develop water solutions for Namibia together.

FACTS Mirka Leino, Head of Automation Research Team, M.Sc (Tech) and Kari Laine, Principal Lecturer, D.Sc (Tech)

›› Six employees (4 PhDs, 2 MScs), located in Rauma campus ›› Established in 2005 ›› Many past and on-going national projects as well as international projects with water research and innovation work as well as education ›› More info at www.wander.fi AGORA INTERNATIONAL 2016 |

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CHINA

SAMK and Satakunta have cooperated with the city of Changzhou and the University of Changzhou as a strategic partner since 2008. We also have strategic partners in Namibia, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Great chance for

Cooperation in China Anne Sankari, SAMK Communications

SAMK has established an office in China. Higher education institutions and enterprises are welcome to join us there. ” We p r ov i d e h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n institutions and enterprises a unique a nd e xcept iona l way to enter t he markets in China. We have a l ready established relations in the target area and we know key persons who can help in internationalization”, Vice President Cimmo Nurmi explains.

Cha ngzhou w it h its f ive m i l l ion inhabitants and Satakunta with its 230,000 inhabitants show that it is possible to cooperate even when one partner is small and the other one very big.

Eva Chujun Xiao is SAMK’s China Office Manager.

SAMK’s face in China Eva Chujun Xiao is SAMK’s liaison between

WHY CHINA?

the University of Changzhou and Finnish enterprises.

›› Everyone is already in Europe

“I am the bridge to the other side”, Eva

›› Different and interesting culture

describes her own role.

›› Good connections by air ›› Safe environment

The first months she has worked in setting up the office. In addition, she has been

A t t h e m o m e n t s e v e r a l a c t o r s a re involved in the network of cooperation, i . e . ten enter pr i ses , t he Un iversit y Consortium of Pori, Universit y of Lappeenranta and Turku University of Applied Sciences. The authorities of the city must approve of all the functions in China. Therefore, it is important to have persona l relations wit h t he Chinese and these relations have already been establ ished in Changzhou.

A comprehensive umbrella agreement exists between Satakunta and the city of Changzhou. This agreement focuses on economic life and education. “I’m very pleased that SAMK has worked with this issue”, director of the county Pertti Rajala states.

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occupied by a project plan involving the

WHY CHANGZHOU?

care of the elderly. Cooperation is being planned with the city of Changzhou and a private entrepreneur in elderly care.

›› Well-functioning social and regional relations with the authorities ›› 5.5 million inhabitants, i.e. the market area involves the same number of people as the population of Finland ›› Growth area between Shanghai (180 km) and Nanjing (130 km) ›› A lot of possibilities: ›› research and business (automation, energy, water, work with the elderly, innovation models) ›› export of education, tourism, an English language school for 7–13-year-old children

EVA CHUJUN XIAO ›› SAMK’s China Office Manager, employed until the end of 2017, liaison of SAMK who acts as a contact person with the university and Chinese enterprises ›› studied research methods of social sciences at the University of Durham in the UK ›› wants to see the Northern lights in Finland

CURRICULA Eero Hammais

More and easier for students SAMK renews the curricula. This means more studies in English to choose from for international students.

Today’s employment market has most va riable dema nd s for k nowled ge a nd skills. However, these demands also offer challenging opportunities for students, when they graduate. In addition, they set an objective for the students to make their degree suit those demands.

When studying it is important for students to be conscious of what they want and what studies are available for them. Each student is an individual with individual interests. Therefore, it is important for universities to offer a wide range of studies for students. They should be able to take studies according to their own interests as well as to suit the needs of the employment market and thereby build an individual degree.

At the moment Satakunta University of Applied Sciences is reshaping the curricula in order to make it easier for students to achieve a competitive content in their degree. In practice, this means that each student can choose studies from all the curricula of the university, not only from the curriculum of his or her own degree programme. Naturally, the obligatory studies of the degree programme have to be studied. However, in addition to them, the students are able to choose professional studies according to their interests.

One of the main ideas in this reform is to make the degrees more multidisciplinary which corresponds to the situation in the employment market. An engineer often needs skills typical of business degrees and vice versa. Multidisciplinary skills are also an advantage in physiotherapy and nursing. It is even more important to make students study together and to make them familiar with different operational

environments and cultures during their studies. Accordingly, general studies will be studied in mu ltidisciplinar y groups in the future. Why should the same basic mat hematics or marketing stud ies be offered to students of engineering, business and culture separately? No reason at all.

For international students this means more studies in English to choose from. It will also be easier to find them in our curricula.

Anne Pohjus, PhD, Vice President of SAMK

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ENERGY

Solar energy in SAMK – what does it include?

Meri Olenius

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PHOTO: Katri Väkiparta

Students, ordinary people and companies gain knowledge about solar energy from our training packages.

Solar energy research has already been going on in SAMK for quite some time.

The results and changes in the field are now starting to show. It is an exciting time for solar energy in Finland.

SAMK’s solar energy research focuses on three main objectives: Solar Energy Technology Training; solar energy system building integration and overall system opt i m izat ion, a nd sma r t mea su ri ng a nd control automation appl ication development for home energy management (HEM) and home area network (HAN) integration. Special interest is paid to solar energy system and smart control application development.

What do these mean in practice?

Students, ordinary people and companies gain knowledge about solar energy from our different training packages. Students from almost all of our engineering degrees are trained to understand how to design and get the most out of solar energy systems.

Information of how solar energy can be utilized is provided to ordinary people by providing open data (real time) on production rates of solar energy systems in Satakunta, e.g. from the central swimming complex in Pori. We also train companies in solar energy systems and designing systems and in how solar energy can enhance their business in the field.

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Currently, SAMK students are getting ha nd s on experience of desig n i ng a solar energy system and working with a customer in Solarleap Satakunta project.

This wil l be valuable as they graduate a nd enter t he employment ma rket .

During spring 2016, we will be installing photovoltaic and solar thermal systems to hou sehold s t hat w i l l pu rcha se t he systems based on student designing. This work is completed in cooperation with the vocational school WinNova. We will monitor the solar energy systems for five years to get more regional information of how solar energy can be utilized and improved to its full potential.

Simulation of a typical Finnish household and its energy consumption is running 24/7 in our hybrid energy laboratory. The gained data can be used to optimize utilization of solar energy and especially hybrid energy systems. The laboratory can also be used to test equipment and to evaluate how the equipment would work in real life.

The future goals of our solar energy research include developing smart measurements and controls for solar energy systems to utilize solar energy to the max. We will also be broadening our perspective from solar energy to ecological living.

I n ad d it ion , we cont i nue to work to make solar energy self-evident in future construction projects instead of something you need to be interested in. Fortunately, there are signs that this might actually happen in the future and we will continue working towards this goal.

SAMK’S SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH FOCUSES ON 1. Solar Energy Technology Training 2. Solar energy system building integration & overall system optimization 3. Smart measuring and control automation application development for home energy management (HEM) and home area network (HAN) integration. Special interest: solar energy system and smart control application development.

ACCESSIBILITY – IT’S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE Reetta-Kaisa Kuusiluoma, Project Worker Riikka Tupala, Project Manager, Head of the Accessibility Research Group

Can you picture yourself on a beach in a warm summer day?

You can feel the light breeze and warm sunrays on your skin.

The waterfront provides great surroundings for leisure activities but usually the terrain is difficult and even unreachable for persons with reduced ability to move and function.

This is also a common situation in work, home environment and social relations. Everyone should have equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, ability to function or cultural background. The environment, products and services should be adjusted to meet the needs of all kinds of people. Barriers can be crossed with good planning and skilful and enthusiastic people.

SAMK has conducted long-term research, development and education work with determination in the field of accessibility in Satakunta. The work has been carried out in cooperation with national and international organizations, companies and universities.

Equality, non-discrimination and tolerance are the guiding values in this work. Particular attention is paid to circumstances and the social environment. Service providers, users, students and experts play the key role in planning, organizing and developing accessibility.

Meri Olenius, Project Manager, Head of Renewable Energy Technologies and Ecological Environment Research Group

Examples of our research and development work: ›› creation of an online accessibility assessment tool, new sports technology for wheelchair and walker users and a home environment which demonstrates accessible living ›› accessibility in sporting facilities, in leisure-time activities (Yyteri for All project: international Design for All award 2012), in small and medium sized enterprises and tourism ›› International Outdoor Symposium (2013) ›› involvement in planning accessibility to the new SAMK Campus in Pori ›› various locally and nationally organized activities and events for all Information: samk.fi/research/accessibility AGORA INTERNATIONAL 2016

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Early experiences

in the work setting are important Inna Saarinen, SAMK Communications | PHOTO: Sanna Myllymäki

Juan Lobos Patorniti is studying physiotherapy in Valencia, Spain. He is doing his exchange in Finland. Kyle Mulholland is SAMK’s degree student from Australia.

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“I have been here in Finland nearly three years. It’s my final year. I work a lot with children, e.g. in a sports group with children with special needs, in a swimming group and as a personal assistant”, Kyle Mulholland says.

He likes the teaching style in Finland.

“It’s quite relaxed here. For example, if you fail, you can retake the tests. People learn better because they are not so freaked out”, he says.

Juan Lobos Patorniti had heard good things about physiotherapy in Finland.

Pori is the only place in Finland that offers Physiotherapy in English.

“My teacher suggested that I should apply for the training. I’m happy to be here. It’s the first time I work with children with special needs”, says fourthyear student Juan Lobos Patorniti.

Differences between Finland and the home country Both students were surprised, when they had practice before all the theory lessons.

“When you are young, you don’t know what you really want to do. So you pick something that might interest you, but you really don’t know what it is like in work practice. So, it is really beneficial to get these early experiences in the work setting”, says Kyle Mulholland.

“There is one thing I like particularly in working with the kids here. Everyone is with the kids here and you have physical activities for them. I also worked in a sports camp last summer. The kids with special needs were with everyone else there. No one was staring.”

Marcel van Geffen Lecturer Entrepreneurship & Business at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, owner of several companies

Open mind to exchange is a joy forever “Do I have to prepare something”, I asked Ari-Pekka Kainu, just before I left for a 12-week exchange to Pori. “Keep an open mind”, he said, “and everything will be all right”.

And so I did. However, before I left, a

general are very punctual, coming late is “not

lot of things had to be arranged. “Good

done”.

preparations come in time.” I started to prepare in September 2014 with the aim to go

In my opinion students are a little withdrawn

abroad in April 2015.

or shy. I had to push them to get them involved in a Q&A way of teaching. Therefore,

Due to different scheduling, the period

I used the “marshmallow challenge” a lot

I was aiming at wouldn’t fit. Teaching would be

in different metaphors, and I will probably be

rather impossible, because there would be no

remembered as “the Spaghetti-man”.

students. SAMK uses five eight-week modules instead of four modules my own university uses. During the 5 th module students are mainly in internship or involved in projects.

Dutch treat Except from chocolate sprinkles, I brought a lot of “stroopwafels”, liquorice. In October,

To get prepared, we agreed on a visit for a

my wife, who visited me seven times, brought

week in February. I took up teaching and

Dutch St Nikolas treats (letter shaped

discussed the items to focus on during my

chocolate and “pepernoten”) and I made a lot

longer period in August. This week was very

of friends bribing them (haha).

useful and I got to know more colleagues and learn more about SAMK.

Colleagues asked me, upon my leaving, what they will do without me with no Dutch

During my stay, I took up teaching in different

sweets.

areas of expertise, e.g. some c u l t u r a l

Bot h students are practicing wit h Susa n na Or tiz who works as an independent entrepreneur in the field of physiotherapy. She says that it’s her mission to invoke the idea of working with children. She has succeeded, at least with these students.

“I can see that the children’s therapy is already in their hearts”, she says. ◄ Kyle Mulholland, Mariel Leppänen & Juan Lobos Patorniti in the swimming hall in the centre of Pori.

differences, business, project management,

I love(d) my colleagues inviting me to all kinds

entrepreneurship subjects and Blue Ocean

of places and activities. I learned a lot about

Strategy in both undergraduate as well in

Finland and the warm Finnish people. I got

Master courses.

used to Finnish habits, like an early warm meal for lunch (pea soup on Thursdays) and

Punctuality

having sauna. I even had the opportunity to

I learned that Finnish students differ from

lights.

meet Santa Claus and witness the Northern

students in other countries. Having class at eight, students are on time and rather arrive

Both universities intend to do projects and

and are prepared 10 minutes before the class

research together, and although there is

starts. Coming late is not much appreciated

no contract (yet), a handshake in Finland is

by teachers. Not only students but Finns in

binding as well.

AGORA INTERNATIONAL 2016

|

15

WINDOW TO THE WORLD

STUDIES IN ENGLISH BACHELOR’S DEGREE PROGRAMMES International Business Physiotherapy MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMMES Business Management and Entrepreneurship Information Technology engineering / business information systems

Maritime Management

More information: samk.fi/apply

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

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