Research studies and active learning promoting professional competences in Finnish teacher education

•Research studies promote student' professional learning in teacher education.•Student teachers regard research studies as an important part of their education.•Active learning experiences in teacher education reinforce the positive effect.•The positive effect can be seen in all professional competences.•Research studies should be integrated with other parts of teacher education.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how student teachers benefit from authentic researcher experiences as part of their pre-service education. The data were collected by electronic questionnaires (n = 287) at two Finnish Universities. Teacher education programs guided student teachers to use and conduct research in the teaching profession. The results indicate that student teachers value research experiences. Research studies promoted professional competences and supported students' growth toward evidence-based practice and 21st century skills. Active learning experiences reinforced this positive effect. The implementation of research studies, quality of supervisors and integration with other studies were crucial.