Beyond Programming and Crafts: Towards Computational Thinking in Basic Education

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, problem-solving and computational methods and tools early on in their school lives in basic education and across diverse areas of learning. It has been argued that a fundamental understanding of technology requires computational thinking. However, teachers have difficulties integrating technology and programming into students’ active learning in crafts. In this systematic literature review, the main aim is to view descriptions of programming through craft science-based concepts of craft labour and, thereafter, to seek examples to enable teaching programming in craft education during basic education. Considering the selection criteria to undertake the analysis, the final data set comprised of 10 articles dealing with programming and craft, and 68 articles describing the possibilities of combining crafting and programming in basic education. According to the results, it seems that contemporary multi-material and design-based holistic craft may encompass different forms of technology and programming such as prototyping, robotics, microcontrollers, 3D modelling, applications for documentation, visualisation, share-out and storytelling via multiple channels. These all help students to learn computational thinking as they start out with design and practical problems and proceed to technology-mediated programming skills. It is hoped that the findings will provide theoretical perspectives for practitioners and policymakers to see the mutual benefit arising from the integration of crafts, technology and computation in basic education

Single-bicycle crashes in Finland - characteristics, risk factors, and safety recommendations

Physical inactivity increases the risk of multiple diseases with extensive personal and societal effects [1]. For instance, the annual economic cost of physical inactivity is estimated to be more than 80 billion euros in the European Union (EU) [2]. One measure to increase physical activity is the promotion of active transport modes, such as cycling. Finland is aiming to increase the mode share of active transport modes to 35-38% by 2030 [3]. In tbe most recent national travel survey 8% of daily trips were made by bicycle and 22% of daily trips involved walking [ 4]. A shift from cars to more sustainable transport modes is desirable, however more work is needed to promote cycling safety, with cyclists over-represented in fatal (11%) and serious injuries (32%) when compared to mode share [5]. Amongst cyclist crashes in Finland, single-bicycle crashes (SBCs), where other road users are not collided with, represent more than half of non-fatal injuries [6-7] and 46% of fatal injuries [8--9]. This proportion of non-fatal injuries is similar to findings from other jurisdictions [6]. However, the rate of fatal injuries in SBCs is substantially higher in Finland compared to the average rate in Europe [10], highlighting the importance of understanding SBCs in a Finnish context. Analyses of SBCs are usually more challenging than crashes between bicycles and motor vehicles because SBCs are typically underreported in police-reported crash data [11]. However, in Finland, road crash investigation teams investigate almost all fatal road crashes, including SBCs. This captures high-quality information on SBCs including their contributory and background risk factors, as well as safety recommendations. Identifying the contributory factors that enable the occurrence of crashes and implementing actions to prevent these crashes can help promote cycling safety [ 12]. Such analyses and actions are particularly needed in Finland, where there are targets to increase the mode share of cycling. Given the robust data available through the in-depth investigations undertaken in Finland, this study aims to increase knowledge on SBCs and their safety recommendations by analysing data on fatal cycling crashes in Finland. The study compares the key characteristics, risk factors and safety recommendations regarding SBCs and other cyclist crashes. Although the data for this study is sourced from Finland, the findings are useful in other countries with similar bicycle infrastructure and weather conditions. [From: Introduction

The safety potential of automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control and actions to improve the potential

The study investigates the potential of Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems to prevent fatal rear-end, intersection and pedestrian crashes in Finland. The systems’ possibilities to prevent crashes were assessed using data on 115 in-depth investigated fatal crashes. The data includes all fatal crashes in the three studied crash types in 2014–2016. This study considers the impact of estimated speed, weather conditions and intentionality on the systems’ operation. AEB and ACC could potentially have prevented 41% of the crashes. The highest safety potential in terms of share of hypothetically prevented crashes was recognised in rear-end (45%) and pedestrian crashes (45%) and the lowest in intersection crashes (36%). This study complements previous research, which amount is low especially considering the potential to reduce pedestrian and intersection crashes, and which has typically been limited in the aspects that are considered in analysing the safety potential.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Tulevaisuudentutkimus tutuksi – Perusteita ja menetelmiä

”Tulevaisuudentutkimus tutuksi – Perusteita ja menetelmiä’ on tarkoitettu Tulevaisuudentutkimuksen Verkostoakatemian oppimateriaaliksi, mutta myös palvelemaan kaikkia tulevaisuudentutkimuksesta kiinnostuneita. Kirja koostuu 36 artikkelista, joiden kirjoittamiseen on osallistunut mittava joukko suomalaisen tulevaisuudentutkimuksen tämän hetken kärkinimiä.Teos on jaettu kolmeen temaattiseen osaan, joista ensimmäisessä tutustutaan tulevaisuudentutkimuksen filosofiaan, tietokäsitykseen ja rooliin tieteiden kentässä. Toisessa osassa tutustutaan tulevaisuudentutkimuksen laajaan menetelmäkenttään ja menetelmien erilaisiin sovelluksiin. Oppikirjan viimeisessä osassa tarkastellaan suomalaisen kansallisen ennakointijärjestelmän nykytilaa ja kehittämistä ja eräitä tulevaisuudentutkimuksen kentällä nousussa olevia teemoja sekä pohditaan alan tulevaisuudennäkymiä </p

Tulevaisuudentutkimus tutuksi – Perusteita ja menetelmiä

”Tulevaisuudentutkimus tutuksi – Perusteita ja menetelmiä’ on tarkoitettu Tulevaisuudentutkimuksen Verkostoakatemian oppimateriaaliksi, mutta myös palvelemaan kaikkia tulevaisuudentutkimuksesta kiinnostuneita. Kirja koostuu 36 artikkelista, joiden kirjoittamiseen on osallistunut mittava joukko suomalaisen tulevaisuudentutkimuksen tämän hetken kärkinimiä. Teos on jaettu kolmeen temaattiseen osaan, joista ensimmäisessä tutustutaan tulevaisuudentutkimuksen filosofiaan, tietokäsitykseen ja rooliin tieteiden kentässä. Toisessa osassa tutustutaan tulevaisuudentutkimuksen laajaan menetelmäkenttään ja menetelmien erilaisiin sovelluksiin. Oppikirjan viimeisessä osassa tarkastellaan suomalaisen kansallisen ennakointijärjestelmän nykytilaa ja kehittämistä ja eräitä tulevaisuudentutkimuksen kentällä nousussa olevia teemoja sekä pohditaan alan tulevaisuudennäkymi