Heli-Maria Kuivila

I study the competence of health science student teachers. Research and evaluation of skills acquired through comprehensive training in health education is needed because the curricula underlying the degree programs are designed to build expertise to guide future healthcare professionals. It is important to find out what kind of know-how and competence is produced by the education and to evaluate the relationship between competence and education. There is also a need to find ways to distinguish effective education from less productive and the impact of education on other mechanisms and factors of development that change human activity.

The aim of my doctoral dissertation is to describe and define the competence of health education teacher students at different stages of education and to develop a model for the competence of health education teacher students. The results of this study will be utilized in developing national competence standards for health science teachers in Finland and by integrating competences into curricula for teacher education in health sciences.