Inclusivity in education is one of the fundamental objectives of the Swedish national curriculum for compulsory schooling. The accessibility of STEM education to students of different genders is essential in achieving this objective. This paper studies the images Swedish and Finnish upper secondary schools used to promote their university preparatory educational orientations, applying discourse analysis to the body of images. As the discourses imbue the orientations, certain positions are enabled for pupils. These positions prescribe who and what is seen as natural in the orientations. We find substantial differences in how the discourses are represented in the orientations. In the STEM orientations, pupils are constructed as less social than the other orientations. In the images from the technology programme, female pupils have a higher representation than actual enrolment, but in these images, they are less active than their male peers. Moreover, the female technology pupil is positioned as engaged with more creative technology subfields while their male peers engage with electronic experiments. This positioning of the female technology pupil is rather conditioning her presence than creating an attractive educational trajectory for her to assume.

This innovative practice full paper addresses the hypothesis that vocational workforce competence supply can be improved if a structured, strategic and long-term dialogue between local industry and local VET (Vocational Education and Training) governing bodies is established. Demand for vocational workforce is increasing, and by 2040 the demand is expected to exceed availability of resources in most vocational sectors. According to the National Agency for Education Sweden needs to increase the scale of industrial vocational education, both in upper secondary level and in adult education. By 2035, lost productivity due to shortfall in the educated technical workforce is estimated to cost Swedish companies 990 billion Swedish Kronor. An action research framework is used to bring together local decision-makers in a dialogue forum called in Swedish 'Strate-gisk Verkstad och Aktion for Kompetensforsorjnlng' (SVAK). The goal is to improve VET systems through a new form of long-term dialogue in which representatives of the various system sectors meet to discuss challenges, practical solutions, as well as make joint decisions and implement initiatives.

Computational Thinking is part of the new curriculum in many countries and this new competence is often combined with Algebraic Thinking. Both types of thinking are part of the core of Mathematics and Computer Science. Algebraic Thinking is linked to acquiring the ability to represent and generalize patterns in any application area. Furthermore, the ability to communicate a mathematical argument, using the necessary language and symbolism, is a skill that is dependent on training in this type of thinking. Although Algebraic Thinking can be developed at different levels, and it is also developed at university levels, more and more countries see it as a basic mode of thought that should be encouraged from early childhood education. Algebraic Thinking has also a close relationship with Computational Thinking, and they are currently united in different situations, such as the international PISA student evaluation tests. We argue in this paper that this is a transversal competence that can be practiced in any subject and at any age. Sometimes combined with the process of teaching Mathematics. It is essential, in our opinion, to strengthen the inclusion of strategies that encourage students to reflect deeply on the concepts, theories, and applications they are learning, giving rise, among others, to number sense and abstraction. In this paper, we present the implementation of these two types of thinking, algebraic and computational, in the preuniversity curriculum, particularly in Spain, within a European project. In this project, we seek to create more appropriate learning approaches for those who are often disadvantaged and help them to take advantage of Computational Thinking and Algebraic Thinking and, therefore, STEM knowledge, helping to a stronger and more equal society. We analyze its status and its relationship with the concepts taught in the different courses, although focusing on the subject of Mathematics.

Computational Thinking (CT) has developed as a worldwide priority area for compulsory school education since it was proposed as a central 21st century skill by Wing in 2006. CT and Digital Competence are highly visible parts of the European Union and Swedish discourse on strategic workforce development and the Swedish innovation agenda. This chapter explores the emerging role of CT and digital competence in the Swedish compulsory school curriculum. We focus on the subject of technology, its historical role in equipping generations of young Swedes for a career in the technology and engineering domains, and the development of the subject during the 20th century as a result of shifts in government policy, and under the influence of curricula reforms. We conclude that “Technology” is a natural home for CT and related skills such as systems design and development of programmed technical solutions in the current educational system, and propose that the relevance and identity of the technology subject be strengthened through systematic integration of a higher degree of CT into classroom practice.

Motivation: Integrating STEAM education and Computational Thinking (CT) provides the skills of analysis, problem-solving and creativity enhancement necessary to twenty-first century citizens. STEAM education can also be seen as a bridge, reinforcing the link between science, schools and industries. Teachers play an important role as mediators and mentors. The difficulties faced by teachers are not only a lack of knowledge of specific disciplinary terms but also the context in which they are applied, such as the computational context. Problem: In order to clarify the context for teachers, and extend their competence beyond knowledge of basic concepts and terminology, guidance on CT and STEAM education integration in schools has emerged as a pressing problem. Solution: A Design Thinking and CT practices taxonomy interaction framework is proposed, providing scaffolding to teachers as they struggle to understand the context of CT implementation in STEAM education. Results: The proposed framework provides concrete guidance to educators in planning class activities, and choosing suitable educational practices in order to engage students. Implication: The results support educators looking for guidance in the integration process and those seeking to incorporate integrated aspects of students’ STEAM learning into teaching practice.

This study examines the effect of using Desmos on students’ performance in learning functions. An embedded mixed methods design was applied and involved 98 students from an upper secondary school in Sweden. Students’ assessments (pre- and post-test) and opinion polls were the two main data collection instruments. The results show that both groups (experimental and control) experienced a significant improvement in their post-test scores. However, the experimental group had a statistically significant improvement in comparison with that of the control group across the five constructs used in this study. The qualitative data revealed that the majority of the students ascribed a positive effect of the use of Desmos on their general understanding of function concepts, their ability to analyze functions and check their answers through visualization, which are difficult when working using paper and pencil.

BackgroundGiven the disparities in gender representation, efforts are needed to make engineering education more inclusive and attractive to young people. It is important that those entering engineering education are making this decision with sufficient understanding of what it means to be an engineer. This study explored how lower secondary education students from Ireland (n = 435), Kenya (n = 436), and Sweden (n = 361) stereotyped engineers, and their interest in becoming an engineer was examined. The Draw an Engineer Test was used to achieve this, and ordinal and logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the effects of students' genders and country of schooling on the genders and concepts of their drawn engineers, and on their interest in becoming an engineer in the future.ResultsA Sankey diagram illustrated significant complexity in the interaction between conceptions of engineering work and fields of engineering. Chi-square tests of association were used to examine the association between students depicting an engineer as either the same or a different gender to themselves and their interest in becoming an engineer. The results of these and the regression analyses indicate that young people's gender explains more variance in the gender of drawn engineers and the country they are studying in explains more variance in their conception of engineers. However, most variance was explained when both students' gender and country of study were considered together. Further, particularly for young females, drawing a female engineer as opposed to a male engineer was positively associated with increased interest in becoming an engineer.ConclusionsThere is a need to develop a greater understanding of engineering in young people to ensure they have sufficient information to make decisions regarding related educational pursuits. National-level attempts are needed to present accurate depictions of engineering, and effort needs to be invested in ensuring that young females can identify as engineers. Higher educational access needs to be considered in future work examining future career interests.

This special session proposal provides participants with hands-on experience in finding and making explicit the dispositional aspects of active learning. Many faculty develop interactive, active learning experiences to better support student learning; an oft-cited rational includes the notion that students will be 'better prepared' or more ready to go into industry. Course learning goals framed on the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy or other cognitive learning frameworks often fall short of capturing the breadth of learning and the full learning goals intended. This difference is an example of what is often termed a 'hidden curriculum.' Participants should bring to the session a syllabus for a course they teach which includes some aspect of competency development. We especially welcome participants who currently use project-based or other active-learning approaches in their courses.

Through an increased focus on computing and computational concepts in the school curriculum the Nordic and Baltic countries are preparing to equip themselves to explore the opportunities that Industry 4.0 and beyond can offer. Realising this vision has inevitable consequences for the curriculum in compulsory schooling (preschool to year 9) as new scaffolding for the development of new competencies is needed, and adapting to technological change involves also integrating Computational Thinking topics and skills, as well as elements of programming and digital literacy into existing curricula. The Nordic countries (Finland and Sweden) have chosen not to create a new school subject, advocating the integration of these skills and competencies into existing subjects such as Arts and Crafts, Language, Mathematics and Technology. In contrast, the Baltic countries emphasise introduction of a subject called Informatics in which programming and Computational Thinking skills and competencies are intended to be developed. This paper provides an analysis of approaches taken to scaffolding access to Computational Thinking in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

A number of key graduate outcomes related to industry-based interventions and work-industry-related activities (WIA’s) are specified by the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance for all Engineering Degree Programmes. A paucity of research regarding student perceptions of these WIAs and their role in student’s motivation for learning motivates the current study. Understanding student perceptions of WIA is critical to ensuring the effective integration of WIAs into engineering education. This study explores the perceived motivational effects of WIAs with which students engage through the lens of self-determination theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nineteen master’s students studying in two research-intensive Swedish universities. Six themes emerged from thematic analysis. The themes describe the impact WIAs can have on student motivation in terms of their perceptions of (1) relevance for the development of knowledge and skills, (2) influence on the student’s future profession identity, (3) utility for gaining industrial experience, inclusive of research experience, (4) relevance to student’s programmes of study, (5) industry marketisation agendas, and (6) alignment with industry needs over the student’s own needs. The motivating and demotivating aspects of WIA’s based on these themes are discussed to improve the collaboration between industry and academia in engineering education.