Transdisciplinary invention projects based on traditional and digital fabrication technologies engage young people in designing and making complex artifacts and constitute a central aspect of future-oriented education. In Finland, comprehensive school students (aged 7-15) from all over the country can practice their inventive skills in the annual…

Computational thinking (CT) has been introduced in primary schools worldwide. However, rich classroom-based evidence and research on how to assess and support students' CT through programming are particularly scarce. This empirical study investigates 4th grade students' (N = 57) CT in a comparatively comprehensive and fine-grained manner by…

Continually increasing demands are being placed on the educational system to prepare students with technical skills due to the exponential implementation of information, technology and automation in the workforce. Students should work with design, problemsolving and computational methods and tools early on in their school lives in basic education…

For education to provide knowledge reflecting our current and future society, many countries are revising their curricula, including a vivid discussion on digital competence, programming and computational thinking. This article builds an understanding of the maker movement in relation to education in programming, by demonstrating challenges and…

This study investigated students' perspectives on working and studying within a maker culture context. Participants were fifth-grade students (n = 18) in a Finnish elementary school who worked on a fabrication project for five days. The data consisted of student questionnaires (n = 18), group presentations (n = 5) and the final fabrication…

Finnish fifth-graders (n=20) and sixth-graders (n=23) worked in teams in a Lego/Logo-Control Lab to complete Lego design activities. Observations showed that they became familiar with automation technology but their skills were not always up to their ideas. Activities based on real-life situations gave them ownership and engaged them in learning.…