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The requirements of the current working life are setting new challenges for higher education. It is widely accepted that besides mastering academic knowledge and skills, university graduates should also be provided with diverse generic skills before they begin their careers. However, there seems to be a gap between higher education and the needs of professional life. The findings of this research are designed to help tackle some of those challenges. The objective of this dissertation was to advance theories of learning in drama and roleplay, and to develop teaching methods that further expert knowledge development in higher education, especially in the field of forest economics and marketing. This study also explored learning journals as a tool for reflection and assessment. This multidisciplinary dissertation uses the mixed methods research approach and consists of a summary and three published (or accepted to be published) essays and one submitted manuscript. The qualitative research data were collected from students’ learning journals and a focus group interview, and quantitative data were gathered from two survey questionnaires. Qualitative thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis were applied to the qualitative data. The main quantitative analysis methods included t-tests and ANOVA. This dissertation introduces educational drama and role-play as viable learning and teaching methods in higher education. According to the findings, both methods seem to be able to involve several learning outcomes that are needed in the development of professional expertise. Furthermore, while real workplace placements cannot always be arranged for students, role-play can act as a supplementary learning method alongside work-based learning. It is also concluded that role-play is likely to suit better for enhancing learning that concentrate on a specific topic or a skill, whereas the strength of drama lies in critically evaluating underlying premises and personal stances students have towards a particular topic of learning. The findings of this dissertation also highlight the notion that reflective skills do not develop by themselves, but they should actively be fostered in higher education. Along with forest sciences education, other disciplines can also apply the findings in both higher education and vocational upper-secondary education. In addition, the gained information about promoting expert knowledge and skills through drama and role-play can also be transferred to new contexts, such as working-life personnel training and human resources development.

Towards professional growth: essays on learning and teaching forest economics and marketing through drama, role-play and reflective journals