Faculty and Staff

Matti Tedre

Professor

School of Computing

Matti’s current research interests involve computer science education, ICT4D, educational technology, and the philosophy of computer science. He is the author of Science of Computing: Shaping a Discipline (CRC Press / Taylor & Francis) and Computational Thinking (The MIT Press, with Peter J. Denning).

Markku Tukiainen

Professor

School of Computing

Markku’s research interests include interactive technologies, computing education, Human-Computer Interaction, and learning environments.

Ilkka Jormanainen

University Lecturer

School of Computing

Ilkka’s major research fields are computational thinking, educational data mining, educational robotics, technology education in K-12 settings, as well as ICT for Development. He has been leading the ICT for Education in Eritrea project, funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the HEI-ICI capacity building program. He has been involved in several EU initiatives, for example, CONSTRUIT! and TACCLE3 (Erasmus+ KA2), as well as in eCraft2Learn H2020 projects. Furthermore, he has been playing an active role in the development of the annual SciFest science and technology festival at Joensuu. Ilkka has gained teaching, research, and project administration experience from several international collaboration initiatives from a number of European and African countries, for example, Eritrea, South Africa, Namibia, Nepal, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique.

Mikko Apiola

University Lecturer

School of Computing

Mikko’s research interests are computing education research, learning analytics, ICT4D, and educational technology. Mikko is particularly interested in critical computing education.

Jarkko Suhonen

Staff Scientist

School of Computing

Jarkko’s research interests are related to online and blended learning in higher education, design research in educational technology, computing education, and ICT4D. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, conferences, workshops, and chapters of books. Jarkko is the coordinator of the IMPDET online doctoral study programme and supervisor of several doctoral students in the Technologies for Learning and Development research group.

Nicolas Pope

Senior Researcher

School of Computing

Nicolas has joined our team under a research grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The project is to address the scalability and quality of real-time 3D video capture to support a richer sense-of-presence for artistic performances and learning. He received his PhD at the University of Warwick, UK, for work relating to end-user software engineering and Empirical Modelling. His research interests are primarily in end-user-programming, naturalistic programming languages, and 3D reconstruction. Alongside the work at UEF, he is investigating the impact of immersive 3D video on social presence in schools with the University of Turku as part of an Academy of Finland project. He also works part-time as a Senior Software Engineer, leading projects to create web applications for various clients.

Samuel Yigzaw

University Lecturer

School of Computing

Samuel’s research interest is in designing and developing a technology-enhanced collaboration platform for research and teaching-learning in developing countries’ higher education, which also addresses prevailing challenges in the local contexts beyond the technology tools and capabilities. He is currently working on the “Vauhtia uralle” project which aims to provide flexible paths to the skills needs of working life, mainly for young graduates. He is also representing UEF in the new Erasmus+ project called ‘TRUE – Transparency of Learning Outcomes through Blockchain Technology’ a consortium project of 8 European Institutions from the academia and the technology industry.

Ismaila Sanusi

Postdocoral Researcher

School of Computing

Ismaila is currently studying how to teach the basics of machine learning in K-12 settings. His research interest is democratizing machine learning and artificial intelligence through K-12.

Amos Sunday

Doctoral Researcher

School of Computing

Amos’s doctoral research work is related to development of co-design pedagogical scenarios for learning computational thinking, especially in Nigerian educational context.

Anssi Lin

Doctoral Researcher

School of Computing

The aims of Anssi’s doctoral research work is to provide an understanding of the needs of AI/ML technologies and learning environments for novice learners from the perspective of robotics, taking into consideration both the technological and pedagogical aspects.

Toni Sanio

Doctoral Researcher

School of Computing

Toni’s doctoral research work explores the potential of XR/VR for enhancing empathy, reducing stress, and improving social connection in geographically dispersed communities.

Maryum Hamdani

Doctoral Researcher

School of Computing

The aims of Maryum’s doctoral research work is to study intelligent software development methods.

Mitro Kivinen

Doctoral Researcher

School of Computing

Mitro is researching the motivation factors of ICT professionals.