Signe Siklander
PhD, Title of Docent
Senior Research Fellow
Playfulness, play, gamification, collaborative learning, expertise
Early Childhood and Music Education Studies
Faculty of Education and Psychology
Early Childhood and Music Education Studies
Faculty of Education and Psychology
Signe Siklander works as an associate professor (tenure) in the early childhood education, in the Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Finland. Previously she led the international master’s degree programme, LET (Learning, Education and Technology) at the University of Oulu and has also worked as an associate professor (tenure) in collaborative learning and collaborative learning environments at the University of Lapland. She has gained docentship in technology-enhanced teaching and learning at the University of Lapland. The doctoral thesis was titled as “Affordances of playful learning environment for tutoring playing and learning”.Siklander’s research is based on the collaborative learning framework. For developing research-based education Siklander has been active in designing collaborative learning processes and collaborative problem-solving processes and the use of diverse learning environments. Digital open badges have been implemented into courses for enhancing assessment and scaffolding the learning process. Data collection is always applied in the courses for developing them further.
Currently, she is developing theoretical understanding of playfulness as well as method and research focus. The research has three lines: to study teacher students’ playfulness as a pedagogical expertise, children’s and adults’ playful interactions and children’s play in different environments. Gamified badge-driven learning offers to enhance fun and excitement similar to playing games. Maker education has become one context for playfulness for all ages.
Our national and international networks cover higher education institutions in Europe, China, HongKong, Africa and USA. Not only academics, but also business collaborators are welcome to join our network. In Finland Lappset company is our collaborator from 2003, and we still continue.
Research interests
- Teacher education and playful pedagogies
- Play and play environments
- Triggers and engagement in learning
- Collaborative problem-solving
- Wellbeing
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