Browsing by Subject "Ohjelmoinnin opetus"

The aim of this thesis is to find out how programming has become part of the core curriculum for basic education in Finland. The thesis focuses on societal change and how it has impacted on education policy and, consequently, the curriculum. The thesis examines the reasons and arguments that have led to the addition of programming to the curriculum. In the thesis, programming is also examined in the context of learning. The thesis was done as a literature review. The background material utilized in this thesis were administrative documents such as the curriculum of basic education (Opetushallitus, 2014) and previous scientific studies related to the subject of the thesis. Based on the research, it is clear that the development of society into an information society has strongly influenced the state's educational needs. In the information society, economic justifications affect the skills that are taught in school. In response to the changing needs of education, the so-called 21st century skills have been developed, but in the Finnish curriculum, they have been shaped into the broad-based competencies. Programming is seen as an important skill to learn. Programming is taught by a small number of teachers in Finnish schools and there are challenges in programming education that should be taken into account when planning the education. The scientific study of the transfer effects of programming has been scarce, and the teachers' belief in their own pedagogical competencies to utilize IT (information technology) is weak, even though the IT utilization is supported. The thesis shows that both the study of programming education and the study of transfer effects of programming are greatly needed. Further training for teachers should also be developed to meet the requirements of programming education.