Agora 1/2016 International - special issue in English

MORE NEWS IN ENGLISH

INTERNATIONAL

SATAKUNTA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWS 2016

HILL

learning

wherever

you are

Students, companies and everybody gain knowledge about solar energy

TRAINING PACKAGES

WATER

CHINA

CURRICULA

Perspectives to Exchanges

2 | AGORA INTERNATIONAL 2016

Ari-Pekka KainuHead of International Relations

and Language Center

INTE

RN

ATIO

NA

LITY

NEW YEAR – NEW SAMK –

NEW CHALLENGES

Year 2016 will bring new opportunities to

SAMK. Changes in the organization will

intensify instruction, services and RDI

activities in the faculties.

A new unit, the International Relations and

Language Center, started its functions in

January 2016. This new center concentrates

o n i n te r n a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s a n d a l s o

provides language courses and services.

Internationalism and language training

have already been a natural part of the

degree programmes. However, this change

highlights the international aspect of our

strategy.

Our international partners have a significant

role in the internationalization of SAMK and

Satakunta Region. They open up channels

to new cultures, operational models and

cooperation with foreign enterprises. 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.

Last year over 300 staf f members and

s tude n ts f rom SA MK pa r t i c ipa te d i n

international exchange. The same amount of

foreign students, teachers and researchers

work here yearly – more than 60 different

nationalities. Over 40 applications were

submitted to international research and

development projects. A comprehensive

study funded by the EU shows that people

with international experience have better

prospects in the employment market, earn

more and work in tasks requiring more

responsibility.

The International Relations and Language

Center helps the staff and students in all

international issues. We provide events

and theme days for fore ign students.

International Café is an event where foreign

students present their own culture and it

provides an easy way for Finnish students

and staff to get to know the international

students and their culture.

We hope that our international students want

to stay and work in Satakunta.

SATAKUNTA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWS

PUBLISHERSatakunnan ammattikorkeakouluSatakunta University of Applied Sciences PL 520, 28600 Pori, Finlandwww.samk.fi

EDITOR IN CHIEFAnne Sankari

TRANSLATIONS AND PROOFREADINGTuija Huokkola

LAYOUTHeidi Valtonen / Vida Design Oy

KANNEN KUVA COVER PHOTOKatri Väkiparta

PRINTEura Print Oy

CIRCULATION3,600

[email protected]

AGORA IN ENGLISHwww.samk.fi/agora/english

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

SAMK – Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

SatakunnanAMK

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

13

AGORA INTERNATIONAL 2016 | 3

12

CONTENTS

4

6

14

11

8

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

Timo Mattila, Dean, Faculty of Service Business & Jari Suvila, Systems Specialist | PHOTOS: Jatta Lehtonen, Lassi Puhtimäki


A challenge for change

Show what you can do

HIL

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

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

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 the

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.


SAMK’s main task is to develop pedagogic solutions to produce competences which meet the needs of the employment market. However, the 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 MK was one of the f irst education institutions to take on a virtual learning platform.

At the beginning of 2010 digitalization was accepted as the start ing 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.

Changes and teacher’s multiple roles

SAMK developed a learning platform, H I L L , t o g e t h e r w i t h i nt e r n a t i o n a 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 . Also administrative and library services had to be changed to give

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

Competition for intake

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.

H I L L h a s b e e n a s u c c e s s . T h i s i s shown in the competit ion for intake. The attraction of the education is still increasing. This is shown, e .g. in the number of cred its completed through open SAMK and in completed degrees which have mu lt ipl ied during the 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.

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.

Harri Ketamo | PHOTO: Harri Ketamo


MOOC education for everybody M

OO

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

The idea of self-directed learning may leave

the student alone with his or her learning

activities. Therefore, it is also important to

understand the student’s motivation and the

level of knowledge he or she has.

Studies at SAMK have developed ideas and

technologies on how to improve motivation

in learning. In general, our ideas are based

on the following principles of gamification

and flow: 1) optimal challenge, 2) clear goals,

3) instant feedback and 4) autonomy in

progress.

Our first globally published MOOC, Clinical

Calculations, is a co-production with

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

This course consists of 24 clinical calculation

cases which include documentary-styled

video clips, interactive tutoring per calculation

case and self-assessment per calculation

case. The MOOC covers the mathematics

of clinical calculations necessary for a nurse

and it is intended for new nursing students

or nurses who want to revise their skills. The

course focuses on minimising the fears and

uncertainty related to calculations and it

highlights systematic self-assessment.

The key parts of gamification, optimal

challenge, clear goals and instant feedback

are highlighted by providing real-time

information of the students’ progress and

current status. After an activity the student

performs self-assessment which results in

the reorganization of the status profile and

recommendations. This instant feedback

supports the achievement of the subgoals.

Many learners have reported that they could

not stop working before completing some area

of the profile.

There is no fixed way to work with the Clinical

Calculations MOOC. Students can use all

the material in whatever order they prefer.

In the feedback students have, in particular,

highlighted the motivational factor of the

clinical calculation case videos. However, it

Making of Clinical Calculations MOOC.

Harri Ketamo | PHOTO: Harri Ketamo


According to the prevailing stereotype of Finnish people they

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.

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

culture it is impolite to interrupt other people, so I actually

didn’t have an opportunity to join the conversation.

People often follow the cultural rules typical of their own

culture and communication even in foreign contexts and

when speaking a foreign language. Therefore, I didn’t want to

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

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

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

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

Finnish way, although I’m an English teacher.

In many cultures people actually

have to force themselves into the

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

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.

THE SILENT FINN

was difficult for some students to point out the

core mathematics in the videos.

At the moment, approximately 5,000 learners

from 100 countries all around the world have

enrolled for the course.

The next step is to find international partners

who would like to apply the material and

pedagogical model in their own activities.

Possible partners are not limited to educational

institutions but also hospitals or private health

care companies can become our partners.

The key parts of gamification, optimal challenge, clear goals

and instant feedback are highlighted by providing

real-time information of the students’ progress.

The stereotype of the silent Finns is partly

based on the Finnish rules of conversation

Tuija Huokkola, Senior Lecturer in English and Intercultural Communication

Harri Ketamo, PhD, Senior Researcher

Mirka Leino & Kari Laine | PHOTOS: Pauli Valo


Innovations enabled by

technology transfer

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.

Traditional, linear technology transfer between

enterprises and higher education institutes

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

between universities and enterprises is more

diversified and needs-related involving open

innovation targeting.

Technology transfer has been one of the

focus areas in SAMK’s technology research

for nearly ten years. One goal of the research

work is to develop technology transfer models

especially suitable for collaboration between

universities of applied sciences (UASs) and

small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The research and modelling work has included

several piloting and evaluating steps since

2008. More than 30 SMEs have participated

in this work and over 50 cases have been

conducted with them.

Modelling is based on case studies and on the

testing of knowledge transfer methods. The

subjects for technology knowledge transfer

have all the time been based on the needs of

the enterprises.

The SMEs have been the main target group

because of their known lack of resources

in technology knowledge acquisition. In

this work the absorptive capacity of the

enterprises and the disseminative capacity

of the UASs have had a significant role.

Absorptive capacity means the ability of

an enterprise to recognise the value of

new, external information, assimilate it

and apply it to commercial ends, whereas

the d isseminat ive capaci ty means the

capacity of an organisation to transform its

knowledge into value for other actors in its

network.

One of the main themes in technology

transfer has been innovation. Instead of “just”

searching and finding technology knowledge

and transferring it to the enterprises as

interpreted and enriched knowledge, the

goal is to achieve a higher level of technology

transfer in order to create targeted open

innovations according to the new technology

knowledge. It requires closer collaboration,

mutual trust and shared research interests

between SMEs and UASs. As a result, SAMK

created model for technology demonstrations

and pilots.

Demonstrations of certain technologies

are made to illustrate the basic features,

requ i rements and potent ia l i t y o f the

technologies, but they also highlight challenges

of using the technology excluding unsuitable

solutions. Different kinds of pilot cases are

conducted on the basis of demonstrations and

first phase knowledge search. The subjects for

the pilot cases always rise from the SMEs and

they are implemented with SAMK equipment

as test applications. As a result, first-hand

AU

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


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.

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

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

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

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

microbial safety indoors.

WANDER is an official testing organization institution in national

water hygiene certification intended for those who work with

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

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

The newest areas in international activities include saving the

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

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

develop water solutions for Namibia together.

FACTS › 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

FROM WELLS TO THE OCEANSMinna Keinänen-Toivola, PhD, Project Manager

information is received from the pilots and they

prove the potentiality or unsuitabil ity of the

technology in real environment.

The SME representatives have given positive

feedback on technology transfer and new methods

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

developed with fresh case studies to meet the

future challenges.

EXAMPLES OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUBJECTS › 3D imaging › illumination › smart cameras › control systems › embedded systems

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

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


Anne Sankari, SAMK Communications

Great chance for

Cooperation in China Eva Chujun Xiao is SAMK’s China Office Manager.

SAMK has established an office in China. Higher education institutions and enterprises are welcome to join us there.

” W e p r o v 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 except 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.

A t t h e m o m e nt s e ve r a l a c t o r s a re involved in the network of cooperation, i .e . ten enter pr ises , t he Un iversit y Consort ium of Pori , Universit y of Lappeenranta and Turku University of Applied Sciences. The authorities of the city must approve of al l the functions in China. Therefore, it is important to have personal relat ions with the Chinese and these relations have already b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d i n C h a n g z h o u . A comprehensive umbrel la 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.

C h a n g z h o u w i t h i t s f i v e m i l l i o n 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.

WHY CHINA?

› Everyone is already in Europe

› Different and interesting culture

› Good connections by air

› Safe environment

WHY CHANGZHOU?

› 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 is SAMK’s liaison between

the University of Changzhou and Finnish

enterprises.

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

describes her own role.

The first months she has worked in setting

up the office. In addition, she has been

occupied by a project plan involving the

care of the elderly. Cooperation is being

planned with the city of Changzhou and a

private entrepreneur in elderly care.

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

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.

SAMK’s face in China

CH

INA

More and easier for students


Eero Hammais

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 chal lenging 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 al l the curricula of the university, not only from the curriculum of his or her own degree programme. Natural ly, 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 skil ls typical of business degrees and vice versa. Multidisciplinary skil ls 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 multidiscipl inary groups in the future. Why should the same basic mathematics 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

CU

RR

ICU

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Meri Olenius | PHOTO: Katri Väkiparta

Solar energy in SAMK – what does it include?


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 measu ri ng and control automation appl icat ion 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.

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 wi l l be valuable as they graduate a n d e n t e r t h e e m p l o y m e n t m a rk e t . During spring 2016, we will be installing photovoltaic and solar thermal systems to household s t hat w i l l pu rchase 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 ON1. Solar Energy Technology Training2. Solar energy system building integration &

overall system optimization3. 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.

EN

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GY

Meri Olenius | PHOTO: Katri Väkiparta

Solar energy in SAMK – what does it include?


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.

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

ACCESSIBILITY – IT’S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE

Reetta-Kaisa Kuusiluoma, Project WorkerRiikka Tupala, Project Manager, Head of the Accessibility Research Group

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


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.


“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 fourth-year 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.”

Both students are pract icing with Susa nna 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.

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

lot of things had to be arranged. “Good

preparations come in time.” I started to

prepare in September 2014 with the aim to go

abroad in April 2015.

Due to different scheduling, the period

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

rather impossible, because there would be no

students. SAMK uses five eight-week modules

instead of four modules my own university

uses. During the 5th module students are

mainly in internship or involved in projects.

To get prepared, we agreed on a visit for a

week in February. I took up teaching and

discussed the items to focus on during my

longer period in August. This week was very

useful and I got to know more colleagues and

learn more about SAMK.

During my stay, I took up teaching in different

areas of expertise, e.g. some cul tura l

differences, business, project management,

entrepreneurship subjects and Blue Ocean

Strategy in both undergraduate as well in

Master courses.

Punctuality

I learned that Finnish students differ from

students in other countries. Having class at

eight, students are on time and rather arrive

and are prepared 10 minutes before the class

starts. Coming late is not much appreciated

by teachers. Not only students but Finns in

general are very punctual, coming late is “not

done”.

In my opinion students are a little withdrawn

or shy. I had to push them to get them

involved in a Q&A way of teaching. Therefore,

I used the “marshmallow challenge” a lot

in different metaphors, and I will probably be

remembered as “the Spaghetti-man”.

Dutch treat

Except from chocolate sprinkles, I brought a

lot of “stroopwafels”, liquorice. In October,

my wife, who visited me seven times, brought

Dutch St Nikolas treats (letter shaped

chocolate and “pepernoten”) and I made a lot

of friends bribing them (haha).

Colleagues asked me, upon my leaving,

what they will do without me with no Dutch

sweets.

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

of places and activities. I learned a lot about

Finland and the warm Finnish people. I got

used to Finnish habits, like an early warm

meal for lunch (pea soup on Thursdays) and

having sauna. I even had the opportunity to

meet Santa Claus and witness the Northern

lights.

Both universities intend to do projects and

research together, and although there is

no contract (yet), a handshake in Finland is

binding as well.

Marcel van GeffenLecturer Entrepreneurship & Business at the Hague

University of Applied Sciences, owner of several companies

“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”.

◄ Kyle Mulholland, Mariel Leppänen & Juan Lobos Patorniti in the swimming hall in the centre of Pori.

Open mind to exchange is a joy forever

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

More information: samk.fi/apply

WINDOW TO THE WORLD

STUDIES IN ENGLISHBACHELOR’S DEGREE PROGRAMMES International Business

Physiotherapy

MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMMES Business Management and Entrepreneurship

Information Technology engineering / business information systems

Maritime Management

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Documents

Agora 1/2016 International - special issue in English