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Student Research Exchange

Through TESTEd research exchanges, student teachers are given the transformative opportunity to participate in research-based learning comparing educational systems and teaching practices abroad. With a scholarship, these students embark on a research exchange at one of our five partner universities to delve deep into their chosen fields of study.

This page presents good practice papers from student teachers participating in the student research exchange.

Student Research Papers – Volume I & II

The TESTEd project offered a research exchange programme for student teachers to visit one of the five partner universities, enabling students to study the education systems of the host countries, engage in comparative educational research and explore one of the following cross-cutting issues further:

  • Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
  • Democratic Education and Active Citizenship
  • Gender Diversity and Equality
  • Multilingual and Cultural Diversity
  • Digitalization of the Learning Space.

The resulting research papers are compiled into volumes edited by the Universidad de Sevilla (Javier Martos, Carmela Simmarano, Rosa Maria Coronel Ortiz, Bettina Kaminski, et al.)

 

Volume I (Published: 17.12.2024)

Authors: Gizem Aleyna Dogan, Antonio Luis Cano Cano, Janina Balzer, Md Abu Nayeem, Jeisson Alexander Higuera Reina
Affiliations: Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), University of Oulu (Finland)

You can download the first volume of the Student Research Papers here.

Volume II (Published: 30.04.2025)

Authors: Luís Paulo Ernesto, Nataly Eugenia Flores Muñoz, Joana Koczy, Tam Le Hong, David Lorenz, Marina Esperanza Martos Cruces, Jindae Park, Verónica F. Ponce Dachelet
Affiliations: Catholic University of Portugal, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)

You can download the second volume of the Student Research Papers here.

Gizem Aleyna Dogan

Exploring Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Global Citizenship and its Influence on Future Teaching Practices

This paper investigates the perceptions of Global Citizenship Education among student teachers in Finland and Germany as part of the TESTEd teacher education project’s research exchange. The research objectives include examining the extent to which student teachers perceive themselves as global citizens, identifying important GCE competencies and their integration into the future teaching practices and comparing initial teacher education programmes at the University of Oulu (Finland) and the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany). Participants from both countries responded to a voluntary questionnaire with three sections focusing on perceptions of global citizenship, willingness to incorporate GCE into future teaching practices, and specific competencies deemed important for future practices. The survey findings highlight significant differences between students from Germany and Finland, particularly in their awareness of GCE and perceived preparedness to teach it. Both groups assign least priority to active citizenship compared to critical understanding and values. Especially in the field of values, the differences between groups are minimal, underscoring potential implications for GCE education in terms of the acquisition of dimensions, with values being the first level of acquisition and active citizenship being the last.

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Khan Fariha Rubaiyat

Exploring the Perceptions and Understanding of Environmental Sustainability Among Education Students at the University of Oulu: A Phenomenographic Study

This master’s thesis explores how students in the Intercultural Teacher Education (ITE) programme at the University of Oulu understand and feel prepared about addressing Environmental Sustainability (ES) in teir future professional roles as primary school teachers. The study gathers data through semi-structured interviews with eight students using a qualitative approach and progess through phenomenography as research methodology. The study finds that while many participants feel confident in their theoretical understanding of ES, many find it difficult to translate this knowledge into practical classroom strategies in futre. Some feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic, while others feel a lack of specific tools and hands-on training. Some of the participants report feeling more confident, driven by personal interest and passion for the subject. Those who habe pursued optional learning opportunities, such as elective courses related to sustainability, also demonstrate confidence. The study finds that while ES is addressed holistically across topics like social justice and ethics, the gape between theory and practice might be seen as a challenge. The study suggests that future research might explore how cultural and societal factos shape perceptions of ES and investigate how teacher education programs can better support pre-service teachers in becoming confident advocates for ES in the classroom.

Full paper: Download