Valtonen, T., Hoang, N., Sointu, E., Näykki, P., Virtanen, A., Pöysä-Tarhonen, J., Häkkinen, P., Järvelä, S., Mäkitalo, K., & Kukkonen, J.. (2021). How pre-service teachers perceive their 21st-century skills and dispositions: A longitudinal perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, 106643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106643

Abstract:

“Research-based discussions about 21st-century skills are currently needed; 21st-century skills refer to skills that today’s students are expected to possess for successful future careers. The ways students perceive these skills or what kind of  dispositions they have in  this regard are  significant. This paper provides an  overview of  the development of pre-service teachers’ perceived 21st-century skills and dispositions. The quantitative data was collected in three phases during 2014, 2015, and 2016 at three Finnish universities. The number of respondents at each measurement point varied from 209 to 267. Data were analysed using latent growth curve modeling. The study focuses on students’ perceptions of three areas related to 21st-century skills: learning skills, collaboration dispositions, and skills to use ICT. The results show that the three areas evolved in different ways. Learning skills and collaboration dispositions show up as yearly assessments that remain at the same level, with small differ-ences among respondents, unlike skills to use ICT with bigger yearly changes. The measured areas also appear as separate entities throughout the  bachelor’s  studies, with small or  non-significant correlations. These results reveal important new perspectives on how pre-service teachers perceive 21st-century skills and how perceptions evolve during teacher education.”