Designing and implementing online or digital learning material is a demanding task for teachers. This is even more the case when this material is used for more engaged forms of learning, such as inquiry learning. In this article, we give an informed account of Go-Lab, an ecosystem that supports teachers in creating Inquiry Learning Spaces (ILSs). These ILSs are built around STEM–related online laboratories. Within the Go-Lab ecosystem, teachers can combine these online laboratories with multimedia material and learning apps, which are small applications that support learners in their inquiry learning process. The Go-Lab ecosystem offers teachers ready–made structures, such as a standard inquiry cycle, alternative scenarios or complete ILSs that can be used as they are, but it also allows teachers to configure these structures to create personalized ILSs. For this article, we analyzed data on the design process and structure of 2414 ILSs that were (co)created by teachers and that our usage data suggest have been used in classrooms. Our data show that teachers prefer to start their design from empty templates instead of more domain–related elements, that the makeup of the design team (a single teacher, a group of collaborating teachers, or a mix of teachers and project members) influences key design process characteristics such as time spent designing the ILS and number of actions involved, that the characteristics of the resulting ILSs also depend on the type of design team and that ILSs that are openly shared (i.e., published in a public repository) have different characteristics than those that are kept private.

Artikkelissa raportoitavan tutkimuksen kohteena on peruskoulun yhteiskuntaopin opetuksen yhteys nuorten poliittiseen kiinnittymiseen, joka jaetaan tutkimuksessa neljään ulottuvuuteen: poliittiseen kiinnostukseen, poliittiseen tietämykseen ja itsearvioon tietämyksestä, poliittiseen osallistumishalukkuuteen sekä politiikkaa koskeviin käsityksiin. Tutkimusaineistona on peruskoulun yläkouluikäisten nuorten vastaukset poliittista kiinnittymistä mittaavaan kyselyyn kahtena eri ajankohtana. Osallistujat olivat ensimmäisen mittauksen aikana kahdeksannella luokalla (n = 67) ja toisen mittauksen aikana yhdeksännellä luokalla (n = 63). Nuoret opiskelivat mittausten välillä lukuvuoden ajan yhteiskuntaoppia ensimmäistä kertaa koulu-urallaan. Tulosten mukaan nuorten poliittinen kiinnostus, tietämys ja itsearvio tietämyksestä olivat 9. luokalla tilastollisesti korkeampia kuin 8. luokalla. Osallistumishalukkuudessa ei havaittu eroja ikäryhmien välillä, ja politiikkaa koskevien käsitysten osalta eroja ilmeni yhden väitteen kohdalla. 8.-luokkalaiset pitivät kotia tärkeimpänä lähteenä oppia tietoja yhteiskunnallisten asioiden ymmärtämiseksi, kun taas 9.-luokkalaisille koulu oli keskeisin tietolähde yhteiskunnallisten asioiden oppimisessa. Tulosten mukaan koulu näyttäisi onnistuvan yhteiskunnallisen kasvatuksen tavoitteissaan vain osittain. Jatkossa olisi tärkeää kiinnittää huomiota siihen, miten koulussa voitaisiin tukea tiedollisten sisältöjen oppimisen lisäksi nuorten yhteiskunnallista osallistumista edistävien valmiuksien omaksumista.   Social studies and political engagement in lower secondary school Abstract In this article, interest is directed at the connection between the teaching of social studies subject at school and young people’s political engagement. In the present study, political engagement is seen as consisting of the following four dimensions: the political interest, political knowledge and self-assessment of political knowledge, willingness to participate, and perceptions of politics. The study data consists of two surveys targeted at lower secondary school students. The study participants were in the 8th grade during the first measurement (n = 67), and in the 9th grade during the second measurement (n = 63). The participants studied social studies for one school year between the measurements. The results showed that students’ political interest, knowledge and self-assessment of knowledge were statistically higher in the 9th grade than they were in the 8th grade. No differences were observed between the age groups concerning willingness to participate, and differences in the perceptions of politics were observed for one claim. While among 8th graders home circle was seen as the most important source to learn about society and politics, in the responses of the 9th graders the most important source of knowledge was school. According to results, it seems that school is successful in its task of civic education only partly. We suggest that in the future it would be important to pay more attention to support not only the gaining of political knowledge, but also to promote the development of the qualities needed in active societal participation. Keywords: social studies, political engagement, youth, civic education