I'm currently working in the department of Information Technology at the University of Turku. I started my PhD studies at the beginning of 2015. Before that I had already worked in the ViLLE Project since 2012. I finished my elementary school teacher training (Master of Education) in 2013. In 2014 I finished my Master studies in Computer Science.
I'm very interested in technology and investigating new ways to utilize technology. My dissertation will be about computer-assisted learnign, espacially in mathematics. I'm also looking into the possibility to detect learning difficulties automatically from pupils' answers to help teachers to support each pupils learning.
If you scroll down, you'll find some of my projects and a growing list of publications.
Below is a list of my past or current projects. Some of the projects are work realted and some of them are my personal projects. Each project also lists the major techniques or frameworks used in the projects to give a glimpse in my skillset.
ViLLE is a collaborative learning environment developed in the IT-department of University of Turku. I'm currently part of ViLLE Team, which is a group of very skilled developers and researchers working on ViLLE. There are couple example below of the game-like exercises I've developed for ViLLE.
ViLLE Racer is a versatile exercise type in ViLLE, which enables a game-like experience for multiple choice questions. The Racer itself is just a front end for the questions teacher has entered. ViLLE provides an exercise editor in teacher view, where you can eather generate math problems or a fixed set of questions and options. Questions and options doesn't have to be just math. There are numerous exercises in ViLLE, which uses Racer for language learning.
Like the ViLLE Racer, Ladder Game is a game-like front end for multiple choice questions. Ladder Game doesn't have any time constraints like the Racer. Same exercise can be converted from Racer to Ladder Game with couple of mouse clicks. This enables teacher to individualize learning for pupils, who might need more time to think for their answers.
Collapp is my personal project, which I've been working on casually but is at the moment inactive. My friend and colleque Rolf Lindén has also taken part in this project. The basic idea is to provide a shared "room" (board) for collaborators to post small posts (boardlings) to a wall. Messages can be color coded and they support images and links. The founder of the board can set a name and shortlink for the board for easier access. The background of the board can also be customized.
There is also a possibility to create an account for Collapp. If you are a registered user, you can access all the previous boards you have created.
Turku Bus is another personal project I've been working on with Rolf Lindén. This is a spinn of project from a geographic informatoins hackathon. Turku Bus shows you the bus stops near you and when the next bus is leaving. Due to inaccuracies and missing data from the data sets available for public, this project is currently inactive.
The aim of this project was to provide my handicapped brother an easy tablet based solutions for entertainment and independent communication with family. A small arduino based control box is connected to 7" tablet via USB OTG wire. Two big buttons are connected to the control box via headphone jacks.
The two buttons allows my brother to control his view in browser. The view read's out loud the currently selected option. There are two internet radios, current time and weather informations, news from two different sources and the possibility to make a Skype video call to family members.
| Year | Type | Publication |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Journal | Kaila, E., Rajala, T., Laakso, M.-J., Lindén, R., Kurvinen, E. & Salakoski, T. 2014. Utilizing an Exercise-Based Learning Tool Effectively in Computer Science Courses. Olympiads in Informatics, 2014, Vol. 8, 93–109. |
| 2014 | Conference | Kurvinen, E., Lindén, R., Rajala, T., Kaila, E., Laakso, M.-J. & Salakoski, T. 2014. Automatic assessment and immediate feedback in first grade mathematics. Accepted for publication in 13th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, November 20th to 23th, 2014, Tahko, Finland. |
| 2014 | Conference | Kaila, E., Rajala, T., Laakso, M.-J., Lindén, R., Kurvinen, E. & Salakoski, T. 2014. Comparing student performance between traditional and technologically enhanced programming course. Send to Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand 20th–23 rd January 2014. |
| 2014 | Thesis | Kurvinen, E. 2014. Pelinomainen sähköinen matematiikan opetus ja solmukohtien automaattinen tunnistaminen alkuopetuksessa (Game-like electornic mathematics teaching and automatic detection of learning difficulties in mathematics in first grade). Pro gradu. Informaatioteknologian laitos. Turun yliopisto: Turku. |
| 2013 | Thesis | Kurvinen, E. 2013. Pilottitutkimus kahdeksas- ja yhdeksäsluokkalaisten aritmeettisten strategioiden joustavuudesta (Pilot research on 8th and 9th graders' flexibility of arithmetics startegies). Pro gradu. Opettajankoulutuslaitos, Turun yksikkö. Turun yliopisto: Turku. |
| 2012 | Conference | Kurvinen, E., Lindén, R., Rajala, T., Kaila, E., Laakso, M.-J. & Salakoski, T. 2012. Computer-assisted Learning in Primary School Mathematics Using ViLLE Education Tool. 12th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, November 15th to 18th, 2012, Tahko, Finland. |