Pedagogical Principles

As a learner at Metropolia

The pedagogical principles highlight a workplace-oriented and learner-centred approach and community spirit. Learners are seen as dynamic actors that process and produce information purposefully. The teacher's role is to enable and guide learning. Learning takes place in interaction with the environment and other people. Phenomena are examined and solved through reflection, together with others and independently. Phenomenon-based teaching and learning tackle real-life phenomena in working life or society. To process such phenomena, a combination of theoretical and practical skills across scientific disciplines and fields of study is required.

Experts in the working life of the future

Competence acquired at Metropolia will enable graduates to work as an expert and developer. They will be able to encounter, process and solve working life and social problems in unforeseen situations, in a person-centred manner and by utilising technology and digitalisation. Learning takes place in modern and innovative learning environments in collaboration with working life and applied research, development and innovation. Flexible learning solutions enable learning in workplaces and projects. Teaching, learning and RDI activities together with working life form a learning ecosystem, with the learner at the core.

Learner-centredness

The learner-centred approach is based on the learner's prior learning and experiences. Through these, the learner will interpret and analyse its views and experiences, forming new insights about the phenomenon at hand. A key role is played by the student's learning goals, and supporting the student's motivation in guidance and teaching. The goal is for the student to achieve professional growth and to form a professional identity.

Continuous development and evaluation

The realisation of pedagogical principles and the quality of teaching is developed under the principles of an iterative method (PDCA). Involving the students and stakeholders in the pedagogical development, such as through various feedback practices and interactive feedback culture, is an important part of developing educational quality.

The goal is the learner's competence development and professional growth.

• We offer continuous learning solutions that meet the needs of the learner, working life and society.
• We support more flexible learning and positive learning experiences with agile learning paths, versatile learning solutions and by developing learning structures and processes.
• We identify and recognise students' prior studies, work experience and other competence as part of their studies through an equal and fluent APL process.

The goal is to achieve competences necessary for dealing with real working life and social phenomena.

• We are developing phenomenon-based pedagogics.
• We promote the development of systemic thinking to take into account interrelationships, connections, various views and interaction within phenomena.
• We predict the future and respond to the competence needs of the changing world, society and working life with working-life-oriented curricula and training.
• We link the competence goals of a competence-based curriculum to working life and/or social phenomena to strengthen multisectoral and multidisciplinary work.
• We train experts that promote sustainable development in their work and in society at large.
• We strengthen RDI-based learning by combining learning opportunities and learning environments that are significant and relevant to the learning goals in pedagogic operations.
• We integrate multicultural learning and more extensive global competences with curricula in degree programmes and the practical implementation of teaching and learning.
• We build ecosystem cooperation and strengthening learning opportunities with various actors that support learning, both nationally and internationally.

We aim at high-quality learning, teaching and guidance, and flexible learning opportunities.

• We develop multiform and flexible learning solutions that support individual opportunities for achieving competence in different ways.
• We develop evaluation that promotes learning.
• We develop innovative learning environments to support multiform learning.
• We utilise pedagogical solutions and working methods that support learning targets.
• We ensure that teaching and learning are based on the most up-to-date researched information.
• We increase forms of digital teaching and learning to an extent that is pedagogically meaningful.
• We develop the studification process and methods to be student-centred and uniform.
• We develop pedagogical planning to include, for example, workload management, reachability and communication.
• We develop timely learner-centred guidance for all learners in meaningful ways in accordance with the Metropolia control model.

With the goal of expanding learning opportunities.

• We expand access to and participation in learning by removing obstacles to learning, and by increasing availability, flexible offering and student-centredness.
• We increase open learning and teaching practices by utilising, for example, digital learning opportunities.
• We enable open RDI-based, integrated learning with our working life partners.
• We increase learning and teaching together multisectorally with various actors.
• We increase the amount of open study material.