Lauri Malmi

I am a professor of computer science at Aalto University since 2001. I am leading Learning+Technology research group (LeTech) whose main research area is computing education research. The foci of the group include development and evaluation of advanced learning environments and learning tools for programming education, especially tools for automatic assessment and feedback, program and algorithm simulation and visualization, and gamified approaches for learning programming.  In our empirical work, we apply a wide range of research methods ranging from qualitative interview studies till learning analytics and educational data mining.  Personally, I am also interested in meta studies and development and use of theoretical frameworks in computing education.

I have been leading the national Center of Excellence in Education at Helsinki University of Technology in 2001-2006.  I have chaired several international conferences in computing education research (Koli Calling 2004, 2008 and ICER 2017-2018). I have also been a regular columnist in ACM Inroads (2013-2020), and served as an editorial board member in ACM Transactions on Computing education and IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

I received the ACM SIGCSE award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education in 2020.

Full researcher profile
https://research.aalto.fi/...
Phone number
+358505772176

Areas of expertise

Honors and awards

Aalto Pioneering Excellence Honorable Mention

Aalto Pioneering Excellence Honorable Mention was awarded to the Programming Education Team of the Computer Science department of the School of Science
Palkinto tai huomionosoitus tuotoksesta Tietotekniikan laitos Nov 2025

ACM SIGCSE award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education

The SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education honors an individual or group in recognition of a significant contribution to computer science education. The contribution may take many forms, such as: curriculum design, innovating teaching methods, textbook authorship, development of new teaching tools, or any of a number of other significant contributions to computer science education. The contribution should have had long lasting impact on, and made a significant difference in, computing education.
Palkinto tai huomionosoitus urasta Tietotekniikan laitos Jan 2020

2016 Learning Contribution Achievement Award 2016

The 2016 Learning Contribution Achievement Award was given to Tomi Kauppinen and Lauri Malmi, who had headed the Aalto Online Learning digitalization project in an exemplary manner. The contributions of Kauppinen and Malmi created operations models used to develop teaching in Aalto. Also, thanks to their work, the digitalization of Aalto’s teaching advanced leaps and bounds in a very pedagogically sound manner.
Palkinto tai huomionosoitus tuotoksesta Professorship Malmi L. May 2017

Excellent Education in Electronics (Elektroniikka-insinöörien seura r.y)

Excellent Education in Electronics (Elektroniikka-insinöörien seura r.y), 2000
Palkinto tai huomionosoitus urasta Professorship Malmi L. Jan 2000

Teacher of the year 1999, Helsinki University of Technology

Teacher of the year 1999, Helsinki University of Technology
Palkinto tai huomionosoitus urasta Professorship Malmi L. Jan 1999

Research groups

  • Computer Science Professors, Professori
  • Computer Science - Computing education research and educational technology (CER), Professori
  • Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction and Design (HCID), Professori
  • Professorship Malmi L., Professori

Publications

Public Organisations' Talk on AI Education and Skills Development in Finland

M. Asplund, P. Ihantola, Lauri Malmi 2025 SEFI 53rd Annual Conference. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI)

The Role of Virtual Doctoral Consortia in the Post-2025 Computer Science Education Landscape

Nickolas Falkner, Tony Clear, Lauri Malmi, Stephen Cooper, Rodrigo Duran 2025

Clustering students’ text form feedback data: comparison of eight vector space models

Wilhelmiina Hämäläinen, Jan-Mikael Rybicki, Lauri Malmi, Alex Jung, Kerttu Pollari-Malmi 2025 ICBDE '24: Proceedings of the 2024 7th International Conference on Big Data and Education

A theory-driven analysis of didactic foci in STEM-related teacher education master’s theses

Jarkko Lampiselkä, Lauri Malmi, Arja Kaasinen, Päivi Kinnunen, Seyda Gul, Ozlem Oktay, Ilknur Reisoglu, Dilek Teke, Mustafa Sozbilir, Gulsah Atila, Aysegul Yazar, Rumeysa Yildiz, Ilayda Gunes 2025 LUMAT: International Journal on Math, Science and Technology Education

Topical Analysis of Programming Education Research Literature

Lauri Malmi, Sonsoles López-Pernas, Hung Nguyen, Mikko Apiola, Mohammed Saqr 2025 ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Getting a PhD - Capturing Six Decades of Motivation, Supervision, and Topic Choice

Kate Sanders, Jonas Boustedt, Arto Hellas, Lauri Malmi 2025 UKICER '25: Proceedings of the 2025 Conference on UK and Ireland Computing Education Research

Pair Programming as a Pedagogical Practice: Connections to Computing Education Theories

Judy Sheard, Lauri Malmi, Claudia Szabo, Päivi Kinnunen 2025 CompEd 2025: Proceedings of the ACM Global on Computing Education Conference 2025 Vol 1

Models of Mastery Learning for Computing Education

Claudia Szabo, Miranda C. Parker, Michelle Friend, Johan Jeuring, Tobias Kohn, Lauri Malmi, Judithe Sheard 2025 SIGCSE TS 2025 - Proceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Parsons problems and computing education learning theories

Claudia Szabo, Judy Sheard, Lauri Malmi, Päivi Kinnunen 2025 Koli Calling '25: Proceedings of the 25th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research

Generative AI in Introductory Programming

Brett A. Becker, Michelle Craig, Paul Denny, Hieke Keuning, Natalie Kiesler, Juho Leinonen, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Lauri Malmi, James Prather, Keith Quille 2024 Computer Science Curricula 2023