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Application form UAF1602136

Summary
UAF application number Date

UAF1602136 29.12.2015
University

University of Jyväskylä
Level of studies Faculty/school

Master's level Faculty of Education

Degree programme

(JYU149) Education, Master of Arts (Education)

*UAF1602136*
Application period

01.12.2015 - 22.01.2016
First name(s) as written in passport Last name(s) as written in passport

Mahmudul ISLAM
Date of birth (dd.mm.yyyy) Preferred contact language

09.04.1988 English

Required enclosures

To complete your application, please follow the instructions below:

1. Submit the online application.
2. Collect the required application enclosures (listed below). Please note that some documents may be required to be sent
separately by a third party. Make sure all documents are delivered in time.
3. Mark your UAF application number on each enclosure and the lower left corner of the envelope.
4. Send your application documents to University Admissions Finland by post or drop the documents in our mailbox. Make
sure the documents reach UAF by the end of the application period at 15.00 (GMT+2) at the latest.
UAF mailing address:

University Admissions Finland

Unioninkatu 40 C
FI-00170 Helsinki
FINLAND

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Required enclosures

-SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY
-Degree certificate
-Officially certified copy of degree certificate
-Translation of degree certificate
-If the degree certificate has been issued in a language other than English,
Finnish or Swedish, an official translation to one of these languages is
required.
-Transcript of records
-Officially certified copy of transcript of records
-The official transcript of records must include the following information:
-full titles of the units that the student has completed for the
degree
-completion times of study units (or at the very least the overall
study time at the institution)
-grades obtained
-credits awarded
-information on the grading scale used at the institution at the time
of study
-Translation of transcript of records
-If the transcript of records has been issued in a language other than
English, Finnish or Swedish, an official translation to one of these
languages is required.

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-IELTS
-We accept electronic test scores only when they are made available to us online by
the test organiser. When requesting the IELTS test result to be submitted to us,
please write down University Admissions Finland as the recipient. Please note that
trf-links sent by e-mail will not be accepted.

Paper copies of IELTS score slips are accepted from both the test organiser and the
applicant.
-The programme accepts language tests that are no older than two years. The test
result must be valid throughout the application period and must not expire prior to
the application deadline.
-Minimum grade requirement(s)
-overall band score: 6.5

-Other required enclosures

-Statement by the home institution of the expected date of graduation (if applicable)
-Work certificate(s)
-Curriculum vitae (CV)
-Potential other degree certificate(s)
-Copy of passport

- Country-specific document requirement

-Bangladesh
-If you have completed or are completing your degree in Bangladesh, you
must submit the education documentation awarded by your university.
Degree certificates, transcripts, mark sheets and result cards must always
be awarded by the main university or a college that has a degree-awarding
status. Educational documents granted by affiliated colleges will not be
accepted.

You must submit a separate transcript, mark sheet or result card awarded
by your university indicating each attempt to complete a course as well as
the years. A consolidated statement of marks is not accepted.

Please note that the degree certificate and transcript of records must be
officially certified (attested) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh,
more specifically by the Consular and Welfare Wing. Each page of the
transcript of records and the degree certificate must carry the original
stamp and signature of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.

Further information can be found on the Ministry’s website

(www.mofa.gov.bd).
Language skill verification method

IELTS

Personal information
First name(s) as written in passport Previous first name(s) if applicable

Mahmudul
Last name(s) as written in passport Previous last name(s) if applicable

Islam

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Passport number Gender

BC0205678 M
Date of birth (dd.mm.yyyy) Place of birth

09.04.1988 Gazipur
Nationality

Bangladesh
Country of residence

Bangladesh
Postal address

Auchpara, 28, College Road, Nishat Nagar, Tongi, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Email address

r2000.gp@gmail.com
Phone number

+8801774736939
Preferred contact language

English
My contact information can be given for communication, promotion and development purposes related to studies.

Yes
My admission results can be published on the website of the university.

Yes

Language skills
I wish to study in

English
Language skill verification method

IELTS

Degree used as basis for eligibility

Name of the institution

Southeast University
Postal address of the institution

House#64, Road#18, Block#B, Banani, Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh

Country where the institution is located

Bangladesh
Email address of the institution (may be used to verify your educational background)

seu.exam@gmail.com, exam@seu.ac.bd
Website of the institution

www.seu.ac.bd
Major subject in your degree

Telecommunications
Minor subject(s) in your degree

Data Communication, Signals and Systems, Digital Signal Processing

Title or subject of your thesis

Application areas of 3G technology

Grade of your thesis

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Grading scale

ScoresGrade Grade value

80-100A+4.00
75-79A3.75
70-74A-3.50
65-69B+3.25
60-64B3.00
55-59B-2.75
50-54C+2.50
45-49C2.25
40-44D2.00
< 40F0.00
Verification of grading scale

My university has no such website but the grading scale is mentioned in my transcript in
detail.
Name of the degree awarded to you (in original language)

BSc (Honours) in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE)

Name of the degree in English, Finnish or Swedish

BSc (Honours) in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE)

Duration of studies (indicated in years)

5
Years attended

08.09.2007 - 29.12.2012
I have graduated

Yes, degree awarded on (day/month/year) 09.02.2013

I have the final degree certificate

Yes
Student number

2007200100001
Secondary education (high school, upper secondary school)
Name of the school

Notre Dame College

Postal address of the school

GPO Box No. 5

Motijheel, Dhaka-1000
Bangladesh
Country where the school is located

Bangladesh
Email address of the school (may be used to verify your educational background)

unknown@example.com
Website of the school

N/A
Name of the diploma awarded to you (in original language)

Higher Secondary Certificate Examination

Name of the diploma in English, Finnish or Swedish

Higher Secondary Certificate Examination

Duration of studies (indicated in years)

2
Years attended

07.07.2003 - 18.06.2005

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I have graduated

Yes, degree awarded on (day/month/year) 26.09.2005

From the background education you have given above, please select the degree with which you wish to apply to your
chosen degree programme. Please submit the required application enclosures accordingly.

Southeast University, BSc (Honours) in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

(ETE)

Additional questions

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Motivation letter of no more than 3000 characters. Please consider your activities and commitment related to the field of
education, (such as studies, research work, work experience, voluntary work etc.), what experiences make you to apply to
this programme? What is your dream, where do you see yourself in five years time after the graduation? You are expected
to write max. 3000 characters about your interest in the programme and your reasons for applying.

In my home country, Bangladesh, competition and standardisation are the salient features of
the education system, which made me believe for more than a decade that such a system
flawlessly measures student performance and is the best way to ensure the highest learning
outcomes.

But the book “Finnish Lessons” by Dr Pasi Sahlberg had a profound impact on how I have
thought about education for long. The book opened my eyes to the concept of equity, which I
found to be a powerful feature that can significantly alter an education system and produce
surprising results.

I have never been happy with the rigorous Bangladeshi education system, which imposes
fear as a key element of getting students to learn, and uses test scores as the only criterion
for measuring student performance. I have long had the feeling that our education system
should be reformed and that I could play a role in the process.

This was one reason why, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in electronics and
telecommunication engineering in 2012, I began working as a journalist, the other being my
passion for writing. Words are massively powerful tools for bringing about changes and I
wanted to use writing to make that happen in education.

But this was when I decided to pursue a postgraduate degree in education as I realised that I
lack in-depth knowledge of educational theories, research and practices, and that I cannot do
much without thorough understanding of these. I have focused on writing about education for
the last few months, and have sent one of my published articles along with the application.

What made me interested in applying to this university is the opportunity to learn about and
undertake educational research. I want to equip myself with scientific knowledge of education
and educational practices, which will later help me gain necessary research skills. I am also
interested in understanding how education systems vary among countries and what can be
learned from the top-performing nations.

I have two key reasons for applying to the programme: First, I want to get a first-hand
experience of how an equity-oriented education system improves learning. Second, I believe
collaboration will be the dominant feature of education in the future and I want to see how
Finland has implemented this feature.

My future plan is to continue doctoral studies in education. Later, I want to work in the field of
educational research, with a focus on planning education reforms. I want to write books on
how education can be improved in a global context, and also publish scholarly articles on this
in reputed journals. Moreover, during my master's studies, I want to write a book on the
Finnish education system, detailing the significance of equity to improve education, with the
help of my teachers and I want to publish it in Finland.

I hope you will offer me a place in the programme considering my future plan and also my
commitment to work in the field of education.

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Research interests. Familiarize yourself with the Research Strategy of the Faculty of Education.
Based on the research strategy write, max. 3000 characters, which of these research areas interest you and justify your
interests. Why that area of research is important and what kind of skills you think you need for conducting research?

Having read the research strategy on the University of Jyväskylä website, I found that I am
interested in conducting research in the area of collaborative learning.

I think learning outcomes can be maximised not by creating a competitive environment where
students compete against each other but by allowing them to collaborate more with their
peers. The key objective of a good education system is to ensure that every single student is
learning well and nobody is left behind, and a collaborative learning environment can easily
produce that result. When students study in a competitive setting, they tend to focus more on
outperforming their peers and less on learning. This not only hurts learning but also breeds
inequality, which is the case in Bangladesh.

But when students collaborate with each other in the process of learning, they not only
perform better but also develop the value of assisting others, especially those who are
lagging behind. If an education system can stimulate every student to learn and perform to
the best of his or her ability without focusing on outdoing peers, the national learning outcome
is bound to improve.

The whole point of education is getting students to not only learn but also to learn well. Dr
Pasi Sahlberg in his book “Finnish Lessons” says it more lucidly: “The ultimate criterion of the
quality of a national education system is how well students learn what they are expected to
learn”. Sharing problems and solutions with others, working in groups and pursuing
knowledge collectively lead to a favourable environment that not only encourages students to
learn but also prevents them from getting into unhealthy competition. This produces excellent
results in the long term, which is why I am interested in this area of research.

I think this area of research is important because competition, which is the opposite of
collaboration, in education has taken over many parts of the world, including Bangladesh, and
this is leading to a heavy reliance on standardised test scores to assess the ability of
students. But such tests are designed to assess a narrow set of skills and thus cannot
accurately reflect the full potential of students. If more research is done on the long-term
benefits of collaborative learning, more evidence can be established to promote this system
of learning, and countries having average or below-average educational performance can use
that as a guideline.

I will need a range of skills to do such research, including setting parameters for a
collaborative learning environment, observing what difference it is making in how students
learn over a specific period and documenting the outcomes in detail. I will also need to
produce comparative analyses that explain differences between collaborative learning and its
opposite. I am confident that I will be able to do that because I have developed good writing
skills as a journalist while I can develop other skills under the guidance of my teachers.

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CURRICULUM VITAE (CV). Please write a record of your academic qualification studies, professional experience and
interests of relevance to the application briefly onto the form. Also, send the CV typed on the EU template available in
English at http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/EuropassCV/CVTemplate.csp as an
attachment.

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication engineering from

Southeast University in Dhaka in December 2012. I majored in telecommunications and my
CGPA was 3.56 out of 4.00.

I got into journalism in February 2013 and began working as a sub-editor for Natunbarta.com,
an online newspaper. In November 2013, I joined Thereport24.com as a sub-editor, and in
March 2014, I got a second job as a sub-editor at the Dhaka Tribune, a national English daily.
I still work at both Thereport24.com and Dhaka Tribune, one in the day and another in the
evening.

I have a keen interest in education, educational research and how education standards can
be raised by sharing research-based knowledge on educational practices among different
countries. In the last few months, I have focused on writing about education, and have also
written an article on what Bangladesh can learn from Finland. All my writings can be found
here: www.dhakatribune.com/author/mahmudul-islam

Any attempts to modify this Application Form will be considered as forgery of an official document.