REAL - Research Group for Education, Assessment and Learning

The Research Group for Education, Assessment and Learning (REAL) is a collaboration between Tampere University, the University of Helsinki and the University of Jyväskylä. The group aims to advance scientific knowledge on assessment across different domains. The focus of its projects is on practical needs in educational assessment and, in turn, how to train future educators to meet these needs.

The research interests of the team involve investigating a range of skills, such as learning and thinking skills, using innovative technology-enhanced measures. In addition, systematic support programmes for learning and schooling are studied. These themes are integral to ensuring educational equality from the perspective of individual learners, education providers, and policy makers.

From a theoretical point of view, the work of the research group contributes to pedagogical psychology, but also incorporates educational and sociological approaches in order to understand the development of learning in the context of school. The team focuses on analysing large-scale quantitative assessments, statistics, and inventory data, in particular by using structural equation modeling and multi-platform modeling applications. Moreover, the group analyses log data from computer-based assessments to explore the relationship between context-specific factors and problems of educational equality (e.g. large gender gaps in learning outcomes).