Literacy Pathway to Higher Education

Literacy Pathway to Higher Education is a joint development project of Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) and Tampere University. The project examines higher education students’ multiliteracy skills and current practices for supporting their development.

The project maps existing literacy support practices and identifies areas for development in higher education. Based on the findings, a structured set of literacy support measures suitable for higher education will be developed in collaboration with different actors within higher education and other stakeholders involved in literacy work. The measures will be evaluated and refined through small-scale teaching pilots.

The project focuses particularly on reading, writing, thinking and information-processing skills in a changing learning environment where artificial intelligence is transforming established practices of learning and assessment. It also strengthens the continuity of literacy support across educational levels.

Literacy and multiliteracy are essential for successful higher education studies, yet there is currently no comprehensive overview of how these skills are supported in higher education. At the same time, students enter higher education with increasingly diverse backgrounds, while artificial intelligence is changing practices related to reading, writing, information processing and learning.

Finland’s National Literacy Strategy aims to strengthen literacy throughout different stages of life. In Tampere, the Lukeva Tampere network promotes continuity in literacy work from early childhood education through upper secondary education. The Literacy Pathway to Higher Education project extends this perspective to higher education and strengthens dialogue between educational levels.

The project is implemented jointly by Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Tampere University, in collaboration with upper secondary education providers and other stakeholders involved in literacy work.

The project aims to:

map existing practices, strengths and development needs related to supporting multiliteracy in higher education, and identify practices and structures that can be further developed in the higher education context;
develop a structured set of literacy support measures for universities and universities of applied sciences based on the mapping and co-development process; and
evaluate and refine the measures through one or two small-scale teaching pilots.

The project also aims to strengthen dialogue between higher education institutions and across educational levels, and to lay the groundwork for a more systematic approach to multiliteracy in the pedagogical development of higher education.

The project will provide higher education institutions with a structured overview of existing practices for supporting multiliteracy and the related development needs. The literacy support measures developed in the project will lay the groundwork for a more systematic approach to multiliteracy in the development of teaching and learning.

In the longer term, the results can be used in the development of teaching and curricula and in supporting students’ reading, writing, thinking and information-processing skills. At Tampere University, the results will inform curriculum development related to academic literacy, while at TAMK they can be further developed as part of pedagogical development.

The project will also strengthen collaboration between higher education institutions and their connections with upper secondary education and regional literacy initiatives. In this way, higher education will become more closely integrated into a continuous literacy pathway across educational levels.

Opetushallitus (OPH)

Opetushallitus