Mini-symposium: “Some reflections on self-determination theory and studying computing”
- Date: 13 June 2025, 10:15–11:15
- Location: Ångström Laboratory, room 101130
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: 🔶Professor Lauri Malmi
- Web page
- Organiser: Department of information technology
- Contact person: Tina Vrieler
On the occasion of Tina Vrieler's public defence on 13 June, two mini-seminars will be held in the morning. The seminars will be held in English and are open to all interested parties. The first seminar this morning starts at 9.15 and will be given by Professor Sue Sentance, Director of the Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre, University of Cambridge, England. This is the second seminar and will be held by Professor Lauri Malmi, Aalto University, Finland. A warm welcome!
Abstract in English: Self-determination theory (SDT) by Ryan and Deci is one of the major theories of motivation, which addresses some basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence and relatedness. It presents motivation as a continuum covering various types of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In my talk, I will briefly reflect on the perspectives that SDT, and especially its mini theories Cognitive evaluation theory and Organismic integration theory provide for understanding students’ varying motivations for learning computing.
Bio: Lauri Malmi has been a professor of computer science at Helsinki University of Technology and Aalto University since 2001. His main research field is computing education research. He is leading the Learning+Technology research group (LeTech) which mainly focuses on improving programming education in terms of building advanced learning tools to support students and teachers, as well as analyzing their impact on students’ learning results, motivation, studying practices and teachers’ work.
The group is very actively researching novel AI-driven tools in this area. His interests also include research on educational technology to support engineering education. He received the ACM SIGCSE award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education in 2020 and was nominated as ACM distinguished member in 2023.