2024.04.24

CRICED Holds 17th APEC Tsukuba University International Conference on the Theme of Computational Thinking

  Center for Research on International Cooperation in Educational Development (CRICED) held the 17th APEC-University of Tsukuba International Conference (supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: MEXT) on April 18, 2024. Since 2006, this conference has been held as part of the APEC Human Resource Development Project promoted by CRICED and its partner institution, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. The theme of this year's project is Online Workshops for Lesson Study 2.0: Unplugged Computational Thinking in APEC Economies, and this first workshop focused on the primary education level. Together with the development of the booklet, the workshop tried to answer the following questions:
“How can we develop computational thinking without using computers?”
“What basic informatics content is suitable for primary school level?”
“How can we fit these lessons into our curriculum schedules?”

  At the opening ceremony, Dr. Jun Ikeda, Vice President for Global Affairs, explained that CRICED has established a solid network of cooperation in the field of human resource development through its APEC projects. Mr. Yasutaka Komatsuzaki, Assistant Director, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and Dr. Yuchi Zhao, APEC Education Network Coordinator, strengthened the significance of fostering Computational Thinking.

  In the keynote session, Dr. Masami Isoda of the Institution of Human Sciences gave a keynote speech on the theme of Computational Thinking in Mathematics Education. The panel session actually discussed the concrete examples from the booklet, focusing on how children think through the activity. In the final session, commentaries were made from the specialists from the APEC economies on the booklet. The participants from the 13 APEC economies deepened their knowledge of Unplugged Computational Thinking from various perspectives. The outcomes of this conference will be distributed through the Teacher Education Network of SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization), which is implemented by CRICED.
The second workshop is scheduled to be held at Khon Kaen University in Thailand in November this year.

Opening Session and Keynote Session Speakers

Panelists and Commentators

＜Related Links＞

Website for the 17th APEC-Tsukuba International Conference
https://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/2024/

TUAN Topics: News article
https://www.bgi.sec.tsukuba.ac.jp/post-tuan-en/tuan-topics20240423en/

Website for CRICED(Center for Research on International Cooperation in Educational Development), University of Tsukuba
https://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/