Student Evaluation Discussions for Primary School
Academic Student Evaluation Project KAARO
Video Series Production
Project Overview
In 2022–2023, the University of Eastern Finland undertook a project to explore practical methods for integrating the new Finnish National Core Curriculum evaluation criteria into everyday practices in primary schools. This research was conducted within the university’s teacher training school by educators specializing in various subjects. Their findings were ultimately presented in a series of YouTube videos.
The project was part of the national KAARO network, funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education, aiming to improve assessment practices and enhance teachers’ evaluation skills through teacher education.
Services Involved
Lasse Eronen
Education Entrepreneur & Scholar
University of Eastern Finland
I have collaborated with Eero since 2014 on multiple projects. He has proven to be an exceptionally creative and visionary thinker, both in graphic and musical solutions. At the same time, he is highly committed to logic and functionality, which has elevated our project execution to an excellent level.
Solutions created by Eero have always been delivered on time, and he has been highly attentive to the client’s needs. He’s an extremely reliable collaborator, and his contributions have been invaluable.
Jaakko Väisänen
Project Coordinator & Scholar
University of Eastern Finland Teacher Training Unit
As a graphic designer, Eero is not only an artist but also a top professional in business and communication. That’s why I give him 5/5 stars!
Eero’s strengths:
Visual talent and technical skills
Creativity and innovativeness
Communication and collaboration skills
Ability to adapt to changes
Consistency and professionalism
My Role & Contributions
Building on our previous successful collaborations, the University of Eastern Finland commissioned me to produce a video series for their project, consisting of five approximately 10-minute episodes.
In collaboration with Project Coordinator Jaakko Väisänen, I refined the scripts and assisted the team in preparing the recording environments for the dialogue segments. My educational background also allowed me to contribute valuable insights, ensuring the content was communicated clearly and effectively.
Improving upon Existing Graphical Framework
While working within the framework of an existing graphical brand, I was given considerable artistic freedom to develop and enhance the visual elements. I carefully studied the colors, shapes, animation, pacing, and mood of the earlier videos in the national KAARO series. My aim was to slightly update the visual style while maintaining compatibility with the previous releases.
Additionally, I created attention-grabbing video thumbnails and added subtitles to ensure accessibility.
Motion Graphics Templates
During the editing phase, I meticulously polished all video and photographic materials, designed custom visual elements, and crafted motion graphics templates and transitions. Below, you can see most of the templates used in the videos. Many of the animation excerpts are sped up just to illustrate the point; please see the full videos below for the actual pacing!
Motion Graphics Templates
As the info cards appear in the video series, their colors are in a consistent order and according to the brand palette © Eero Karvonen
Intro animation template, with custom logo animations © Eero Karvonen
End credits template, with custom logo animations © Eero Karvonen
Templates + Animated Data Tables
Since the materials included a lot of data in the form of tables to be explained at a glance, I decided to recreate the tables in a visually consistent way and animate them with highlights and little arrows showing which subsection of the data is currently being referred to in the narration.
Motion Graphics Templates for Animated Tables
Custom table animations on the info card © Eero Karvonen
Tables animating in and out in the lower half © Eero Karvonen
Table scroll animation © Eero Karvonen
Table introduced with animated rows and icons © Eero Karvonen
Table explained with animated higlights and arrows © Eero Karvonen
Twin tables animating in and out © Eero Karvonen
Graphics asset animated in the lower half © Eero Karvonen
Graphics asset highlighted with an animated arrow in the lower half © Eero Karvonen
App Demo Animations
In the project, several educational apps had been used, such as Reflection Landscape, Seesaw, and Qridi. I created animated representations of workflows in these apps, both from scratch and based on screenshots and video-captured footage.
App Demo Animations
Reflection Landscape demo rendered on a mobile device © Eero Karvonen
Demo animation of an assessment tool called Qridi © Eero Karvonen
Reflection Landscape game board and mobile app animated © Eero Karvonen
Seesaw mobile app demo animated in the lower half © Eero Karvonen
Seesaw mobile app demo animated on the left side © Eero Karvonen
Extra Animations
I created some extra animations to highlight important subsections of photographs and to visually explain a novel self-assessment method used in the primary school setting.
Animated highlight of an important subsection in a photo © Eero Karvonen
Custom explainer animation for an assessment method © Eero Karvonen
Reception
The feedback from the client and their colleagues at other universities was overwhelmingly positive, particularly praising the visual quality and fluent delivery in the final product.
PhD Lasse Eronen, along with doctoral researcher Susanna Toikka, discuss the use of an evaluation matrix to assess the performance of sixth-grade students in mathematics. The matrix, designed to aid in determining grades, is emphasized as a tool for promoting student self-assessment and engagement throughout the school year. The video highlights a shift from focusing solely on skills to emphasizing the learning process, aiming to foster students’ positive self-perception.
This video, presented by PhD Jaakko Väisänen, examines the evaluation criteria introduced for sixth-grade students in 2023. Väisänen explains the nature of these criteria, how they should be interpreted, and how their adoption will transform traditional grade evaluations. He also explores ways to utilize these criteria effectively to assess student competencies.
Lecturer Merja Kukkonen shares her approach to introducing curriculum-based criteria and objectives to her students. She discusses implementing formative assessment through self-evaluation in her classroom. In the video, Kukkonen and student Lempi Hirvonen engage in a dialogue about the self-assessment process.
Tiina Matveinen, a lecturer at the teacher training school, discusses the possibilities of using the Seesaw digital portfolio to assess learning among early primary school students. She outlines how the software platform facilitates comprehensive documentation and evaluation of student progress.
What should teachers know about evaluating physical education in primary schools? How can students’ effort and engagement during physical education lessons be assessed? Physical education teachers Paavo Sivonen and Tuomas Korhonen address these questions, focusing on the curriculum’s goals for physical, social, and psychological capacity.
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