Syftet med projekt Meningsskapande i Naturvetenskap och Teknik genom Skönlitteratur (MNTS) var att utveckla undervisningen i naturvetenskap och teknik i förskolan och åk F-6 genom att integrera skönlitterära böcker i undervisningen. Projektet var ett forsknings- och utvecklingsprojekt där samverkan var en viktig del. Samverkan byggde på ett samarbete mellan forskare vid Linköpings universitet, medarbetare från Utbildningskontoret, Norrköpings stadsbiblioteks medarbetare, skolbibliotekarier samt förskollärare och grundskolelärare i ett antal av Norrköpings kommunala skolor och förskolor. Projektet har finansierats av Norrköpings fond för forskning och utveckling.

In Sweden, all students study technology during compulsory school. In uppersecondary school, they choose a program based on their own interests andfuture plans. This pilot study utilizes the PATT-SQ-SE questionnaire toexplore its applicability in a different context. The aim is to investigate uppersecondary school students’ attitudes and perceptions of technology andtechnology education, based on their experiences during compulsoryschooling. In the study, students in a Swedish midtown, ages 16-19, weresurveyed. They have completed their technology education in compulsoryschool but have chosen to pursue other programs in upper secondary school,such as Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, or Child and Recreation.

The survey was analysed through the attitudinal components; affective,behavioural, cognitive, and the relationship between them.

The findings provide insights about what these students retain from theirtechnology education in terms of attitudes and teaching content. Byexamining their views and experiences, this study seeks to provide insightsand the impact of technology education in compulsory school.

Although using computers is the most common strategy to teach programming, “unplugged programming” (UP) has gained in popularity within educational settings. UP refers to the act of programming without a computer. However, research on UP has mainly focused on upper primary, middle-and high school students. The limited number of studies on UP in early primary school are, in addition, mainly quantitative effect studies. In this case study, we focused on the UP-classroom practice in early primary school during one lesson in technology (grade 1, 6-7-year-old students). The programming content, or the object of learning, that was in focus during the lesson was students’ capability to understand the idea of sequencing commands. The aim of the study was to explore what aspects of the object of learning emerge as critical in the UP classroom. Our analysis revealed that the students, to be able to understand the idea of sequencing commands, needed to discern several rather detailed aspects. Importantly, one can’t take for granted that these are aspects they discern when observing or interacting with programmable artefacts out of school. Rather, the results imply that it is a content that needs to be explicitly dealt with in the primary technology classroom.

Bringing more girls and women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, is often highlighted as an aim in education and industry. A constantly growing body of research on engagement is driven by equity concerns caused by the unbalanced gender distribution in STEM. In this study, Swedish teenage girls on a three-day technol- ogy camp are in focus. The camp was an initiative with three goals: “Get girls interested, keep girls interested and provide knowledge about futures within technology professions”. We explored the participating girls’ technological activities and conceptions of technology at the camp. Data collection was conducted through participant observations and a focus group interview. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and a gender theoretical framework. Results show the camp presented uncertain notions of what technology can be, and traditionally male-oriented domains were “girlified”. However, girlified activities might not have been constructive in this context since the girls expressed interest in technology before the camp and showed few signs of gendering technology – they liked all kinds of technology. Girlified technology can, at its worst, give a false image of the future industrial work life that the camp organiser aimed to inspire. Despite this, the camp activities were still meaningful and relevant to the girls. The camp created opportunities for the girls to develop their sense of being technical and a feeling of belonging. Implications for technology classroom settings and future camps are to value practical work and improvisational design without leaving the teaching unreflected. This could be a way of engaging and familiarising girls with the multifaceted world of technology without girlifying it. In addition, a broad conception of technology could make gender codes less relevant and open new opportunities. 

Since 2018, programming is a content in the technology subject in Sweden. Thus, teachers must develop new subject-specific competence to be able to realize their teaching in and about programming. This is especially challenging for primary teachers since primary technology education is a young subject and lacks a common professional base of proven experience. Research focusing on the classroom practices that are now taking form, and which are based on teachers’ use of tutorials provided from different resources, is scarce. Hence, our understanding of which programming-related knowledge is possible to develop through participation in these practices is very limited. As a novice, understanding the meaning of programming assumes an understanding of what a computational device may—or may not— ‘understand’ in relation to a human. When it comes to introducing early primary pupils to the concept of programming, there are examples of tutorials describing activities that focus on this very issue. In the study reported in this chapter, we explore an activity during an introductory lesson in programming in an early primary classroom, where the teacher used such a tutorial aimed to prompt reflections about the differences between a human and a robot. The aim of the study was to explore what content is constituted and hence what knowledge pupils are enabled to develop during this introductory activity. The results showed that the constituted content focused on a central difference between human and robot; humans, as opposed to robots, have own will and ability to think. However, the analysis also showed that the pupils had ideas beyond this rather narrow content, and that classroom conversations with the youngest pupils about the differences between a human and a robot are, in several ways, challenging to orchestrate.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) implies teaching about how to change or transform the world to become more sustainable, and to challenge status quos. This includes that students shall develop abilities to critically examine how different actors present information in different formats, with the aim of influencing society. However, this is a complex terrain to navigate in for educators, and questions regarding accuracy, fact acquisition, assessing information and source criticism have become particularly important.In a previous study, free teaching materials directed to education about sustainable development were analysed. The analyses show that the stakeholders claim that they already take responsibility; there is no reason to worry, since the challenges humanity faces can be solved with various technical solutions. An implicit message is that no lifestyle changes are needed. Based on these results, the aim is to outline how to research ESD further, amidst a planetary crisis, climate change, technological solutions, and evolving information battles. An interdisciplinary pilot study will be performed. It will be composed of a survey sent to teacher students, and students in strategic planning and global studies, where they will be faced with scenarios including dilemmas. 

Although digital technology is an important part of young peoples lives, previous research implies that they have a limited understanding of what programming is and its connection to the digital devices they encounter every day. In order to create conditions for meaningful teaching in and about programming in technology education, more knowledge about younger students pre-understanding and experiences is needed. In the light of this, the aim of this case study was to explore young pupils descriptions of the concept programming, in connection with being introduced to programming as a teaching content in technology education. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with 16 children in year 1 (7-year-olds) in a primary school in Sweden. In their descriptions of programming as an activity, the pupils mainly used technological descriptions-a theory of artificial mind perspective. However, when they talked about the objects with which they associated programming, psychological descriptions-a theory of mind perspective-were more clearly present. Then, a less pronounced distinction between humans and machines was made. Anthropomorphic references were used, such as when the pupils referenced childrens culture such as movies and television programs. However, the term programming was difficult for many of the pupils to grasp. They also had difficulty in finding a function for programming, as well as explanations and arguments for why they learn programming in school. The results of this study indicate that these 7-year-old pupils perceive programming as something complex. This at the same time as they describe how programmed and programmed artefacts (including AI devices) are highly present in their everyday lives, in their leisure environments, and in school. This mirrors how technology has become an intelligent and active agent, rather than a mere tool in their lives-an aspect that teachers may forget to take advantage of.

This chapter is about how Sámi culture and knowledge systems are reflected through Technology Education in a Sámi school. The aim is to discuss the benefits of using traditional cultural artifacts in Technology Education, as well as what aspects indigenous technological knowledge systems (ITKS) can contribute to Technology Education. The chapter is based on the results of a case study, including recurring visits to a Sámi school in northern Sweden. In this Sámi school, specific traditional cultural artifacts were used as starting points for technology teaching. The cultural context was central and included both historical and present perspectives, with clear connections to other subject areas, as well as the children’s own experiences. Sámi myths and fairy tales were also frequently used for contextualisation. Since each technology activity was linked to many different perspectives and subject areas, the technology teaching was grounded on a holistic view of knowledge. The traditional cultural artifacts were not only attributed a practical value but also a symbolic value connected to inherited knowledge and practical applications and skills. The pupils were thus given the opportunity to discover that technology is not only modern high technology. In summary, this chapter illustrates how traditional cultural artifacts can play an important role in Technology Education and contribute to broadening the understanding of the relationship between humans, culture, nature, technology, and history. An inclusion of ITKSs in the curriculum may not only prevent marginalisation of indigenous knowledge, but also provide opportunities to broaden pupils’ understanding of technology, how it evolves, and the driving forces behind technological change.