Many national curricula have incorporated computational thinking (CT) into compulsory education. Teacher ability to deliver the revised curriculum determines whether these new skills can be successfully integrated into teaching. Therefore, it is crucial to examine teacher readiness. This study measured Swedish K-9 teacher CT skills through a CT test validated by an expert review panel and a principal component analysis. Additionally, we engaged statistical analyses to examine the relationship between the teachers' background and their CT test scores, as well as their self-reported ability to teach CT. The result demonstrated the teachers' proficiency in different types of CT skills. Another finding revealed that the type of programming language mastered by teachers was associated with both their CT test score and self-reported ability to teach CT. This CT test can support teachers to identify specific areas for professional development and may facilitate the school management to plan teachers' competence training strategically.

I MÅNGA LÄNDER världen runt har digitalisering och programmering införts i läroplaner för förskola och grundskola. Under senare tid har flera studier om undervisning i programmering i olika sammanhang genomförts. Dessa studier har oftast haft fokus på elever från 7 år och äldre och det finns få studier som rapporterar om införandet av programmering för barn i förskola och yngre elever i förskoleklass. Denna klyfta hanterar vi i denna studie som fokuserar på programmering och utveckling av elevers datalogiska tänkande i förskoleklass. Hösten 2017 startade Ifous (Innovation, forskning och utveckling i skola och förskola) ett forsknings- och utvecklingsprogram med fokus på utveckling av didaktiska modeller för programmering i utbildningen från förskola till och med grundskolan. Programmet avslutades våren 2020. I detta program deltog skolor från fem skolhuvudmän, Tyresö kommun, Åstorps kommun, Simrishamns kommun, Stockholms stad och Freinetskolan Hugin i Norrtälje. Programmet som sådant innebar viss kompetensutveckling och främjade forskning om programmeringsundervisning från förskoleklass till och med årskurs 9 i grundskolan. I denna artikel presenterar vi hur en lärare arbetade med programmering för att främja datalogiskt tänkande hos elever i förskoleklass under treårsperioden och den erfarenhet som hon förvärvat. I artikeln drar vi slutsatsen att förskoleklasselever med systematisk och tankeväckande didaktisk modellering fullt ut kan utveckla ett antal grundläggande datalogiska färdigheter.

Teachers around the world have started teaching programming at the K-9 level, some due to the formal introduction of programming in the national curriculum, others without such pressure and on their own initiative. In this study, we attempted to understand which skills – both CT-related and general – are developed among pupils in the process of working with programming in schools. To do so, we interviewed 19 Swedish teachers who had been teaching programming for a couple of years on their own initiative. The teachers were selected based on their experience in teaching programming. Our thematic analysis of these interviews shed light on what skills teachers perceive pupils develop when programming. This led us to identify three themes related to CT skills and five themes related to general skills. The CT skills identified corresponded well with and were thus thematically structured according to the dimensions of CT proposed in the framework of Brennan and Resnick, namely computational concepts, computational practices and computational perspectives. In addition to the CT skills, our thematic analysis also resulted in the identification of general skills related to digital competency and 21st century skills, namely cognitive skills and attitudes, language skills, collaborative skills and attitudes and creative problem-solving skills and attitudes.

The association between mathematics and programming in an educational context is not new. Today, programming has been introduced into curricula worldwide for younger children. In the Swedish case, primary school teachers are expected to integrate programming in mathematics education from autumn 2018. However, Swedish teachers' knowledge of programming and programming didactics is limited. Meanwhile, there is little research on K-9 programming education. This has led to the dilemma that the mathematics teachers have limited support in didactic knowledge and good examples. This study reports on a teacher professional development project in programming. More specifically, teachers used Lesson Study to plan, execute, and evaluate lessons that integrated programming into various school subjects in elementary school. This study analyzed the didactic strategies developed in 10 lesson studies, as well as mapped the opportunities and challenges of pupils' learning in the mathematics subject. The result was the identification of three didactic strategies, which were analog programming, robot programming and block programming, as well as 11 didactic methods applied within these strategies. The paper contributes with examples of the didactic methods that teachers have developed and evaluated using lesson study. The paper further provides insights on how teachers can take progression into account by applying the three didactic strategies. At last but not least, the study shows a great need for teachers to develop computational thinking abilities.

Computational thinking (CT) is increasingly widespread in compulsory education worldwide, and programming is considered to be an appropriate and standard way of delivering CT. In particular, block-based programming languages (BBPLs) such as Scratch have successfully attracted an enormous amount of young users and have begun to predominate in classrooms over the past decade. Much of this success can be attributed to the features of BBPLs, such as their media-rich environment and straightforward syntax. As part of the recent computing education reforms taking place globally, Sweden has revised its compulsory curriculum to include CT and programming. This new Swedish curriculum mandates that CT and programming should be incorporated primarily in the areas of mathematics and technology, effective from July 2018. However, dilemmas and challenges arise from this educational reform. Compulsory school teachers may not be equipped with adequate CT competence to implement the new curriculum, and CT and programming have not historically formed part of teacher training, and have not been the focus of professional development. This raises questions over the extent to which teachers with limited competence in a subject can integrate it into lessons. This dissertation is therefore dedicated to investigating the integration process of CT and programming into Swedish compulsory education from the perspective of teachers. More specifically, it scrutinizes two essential aspects of integration: the CT skills that are taught and assessed by the teachers using a BBPL, and the teachers’ CT competence.

A case study was conducted to probe the integration process. This was carried out as part of a national research and development project aiming to enhance compulsory school teachers’ CT competence and pedagogical skills in programming. Multiple sources of data were collected, triangulated, and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The key findings can be summarized as follows. Firstly, the CT framework was examined and extended to describe the CT skills that can be acquired through BBPLs. Secondly, the CT skills included by teachers in their instruction and assessment were identified, as well as the learning and teaching difficulties that are encountered. A learning progression for CT skills for young learners was also proposed. Thirdly, the CT skills listed in the examined framework were compared with those taught and assessed by the teachers. The differences yielded by this comparison implied that the teachers had limited CT and programming proficiency.  Finally, a CT test was constructed and the teachers’ CT competence was systematically surveyed. In addition, the relationship between a teacher’s background and CT competence was investigated.

The significance of this study is manifold and unique. The primary contribution is an examination and evaluation of the most important aspects of the integration of CT and programming into Swedish compulsory education. To the best of the author’s knowledge, no previous research has provided insights into this matter since the new curriculum went into effect. Hence, this study is the first to update the stakeholders (namely teachers, students, parents, school management, and policy makers) with valuable and specific details of this integration. Furthermore, this work contributes to the establishment of a body of knowledge regarding in-service teachers in CT education research, since studies of this topic have been scarce. By focusing on what teachers choose to teach and their competence in CT, their perspective is brought to the fore. Due to the nature of case studies, the findings in this study can be directly applied in practice, such as when planning instructions and designing assessments, pinpointing areas for improvement, and directing future professional development.

Problem and goal. Computational thinking has been introduced in many countries around the world and teachers are working intensely to incorporate programming activities in the classroom. However, teachers are faced with several challenges due to the fact that there is still little research conducted focusing on programming education for younger children, that programming didactics is a rather new phenomenon for the K-9 educational system, and that K-9 teachers have little training with regards to programming. In Sweden for instance, programming has been introduced in several subjects and not as a subject in its own, which create a pressure on teachers to utilize programming as an instrument to teach and enhance learning of different subjects such as mathematics. 

Methodology. In this paper, we report on a larger lesson study conducted in a primary school (sixth grade) in Sweden with a total of 155 participating pupils. The aim of the lesson was to study whether the visual programming languages, Scratch, in particular, can be used to teach computational thinking, mathematics and social science in an interdisciplinary way. 

Results. Thus, the paper more specifically presents findings related to: 1) reflections of the use of lesson study methodology to develop programming education; 2) how programming can be utilized as an instrument to teach mathematics as well as social sciences in an interdisciplinary way; and 3) the didactical strategies employed by the teachers.

Conclusion. The evidence from this study suggests that the interdisciplinary character of the lesson which incorporates learning goals of mathematics, social science and programmingwas highly beneficial. The pupils gained a better understanding of learning material by drawing, digitalizing and animating their ideas in Scratch.

Although Computational Thinking and Programming have become obligatory in many national curricula, the majority of teachers in practice are currently in dire need of support from both the research and teaching community. A national research and teacher development project was initiated in Sweden to address this issue. To develop their pedagogical competence in these new subjects, 31 in-service teachers from the project performed lesson studies at their schools. This study collected and analyzed the documentation of 12 lesson studies regarding how computational thinking skills are taught and assessed in K--9, with block-based programming. The study applies a validated CT framework to identify the involved computational thinking skills. The result presents a progression stage scheme for these skills in compulsory schools. The paper also discusses the problems and challenges in the assessment of computational thinking skills.

Computational thinking has been introduced in many countries around the world and teachers are working intensely to incorporate programming activities in the classroom. However, teachers are faced with several challenges due to the fact that there is still little research conducted focusing on programming education for younger children, that programming didactics is a rather new phenomenon for the K-9 educational system, and that K-9 teachers have little training with regards to programming. In Sweden for instance, programming has been introduced in several subjects and not as a subject in its own, which create a pressure on teachers to utilize programming as an instrument to teach and enhance learning of different subjects such as mathematics.

In this paper, we report on a larger lesson study conducted in a primary school (grade 6) in Sweden with a total of 155 participating pupils. The aim of the developed lesson was to study if visual programming languages, in this case Scratch, can be used to teach computational thinking, mathematics and social science in an interdisciplinary way.

Thus, the paper more specifically presents findings related to: 1) reflections of the use of lesson study methodology to develop programming education; 2) how programming can be utilized as an instrument to teach mathematics as well as social sciences in an interdisciplinary way; 3) the didactical strategies employed by the teachers.

As computational thinking (CT) is being embraced by educational systems worldwide, researchers and teachers have posed important questions such as what to teach and what can be learned. These questions are universally crucial to the learning of all subjects. Nevertheless, there is no up-to-date, systematic overview of CT education for K-9 students that attempt to provide answers to these crucial questions. Thus, this systematic review presents a synthesis of 55 empirical studies, providing evidence of the development of computational thinking through programming in Scratch, one of the most popular visual block programming languages in schools. The purpose of this review is to systematically examine the CT skills that can be obtained through Scratch in K-9 based on empirical evidence. This systematic review has adopted Brennan and Resnick's (2012) framework as the basis for defining and identifying the expected CT skills in K-9. The major findings entail what computational thinking skills students in K-9 can learn through Scratch in relation to the framework mentioned above, taking the progression of learning into account. Additional CT skills that are not captured by the framework were identified including input/output, reading, interpreting and communicating code, using multimodal media, predictive thinking, and human-computer interaction. These additional CT skills are not currently presented in Brennan and Resnick's (2012) framework and can be considered as possible supplements to their framework. Furthermore, the paper discusses the difficulties regarding assessment and the progression of the identified skills, as well as problems with study designs. Finally, the paper sets out suggestions for future studies based on the current research gaps.

In 2019, the mobile learning body of knowledge is extensive and much is known about the technology impacts and affordances of mobile devices in educational settings. A particular focus has now shifted toward specific technologies in specific subjects. Mathematics is one such subject and tablets are one such technology that is gaining attention. This systematic review representing the latest generation of tablet technology within the tablet-mediated learning in mathematics body of knowledge sought to derive evidence that supported questions into (a) what math sub-disciplines were covered, (b) what technology (application/hardware) was utilized, and (c) what pedagogical approaches were deployed in educational settings. This included analysis of the (d) advantages and (e) disadvantages present in those elements. Thirty-nine relevant articles were collected from various academic technology and educational databases. The results demonstrate that tablets are being predominantly deployed in various sub-disciplines such as Arithmetic, Computation, and Geometry with the iPad as the dominant choice for tablet hardware/applications. Pedagogical approaches lean heavily on game-based learning, environment interaction, and special needs support. Technological advantages include increased collaboration and mathematics engagement enabled by tablet mobility and a high potential for customization of solutions. Developers, teachers, and researchers need to be informed of potential challenges in designing content for tablet technology deployments in mathematics.