Course Tutors
Students who successfully complete the course are expected to:
- Identify the purposes and goals, as well as appreciate the importance of teaching Mathematics and Natural Sciences in school, in relation to the broader goal of scientific literacy.
- Recognize the main difficulties students encounter in understanding Mathematics and Natural Sciences and interpret them according to modern theoretical perspectives of cognitive psychology and science education.
- Design teaching units based on contemporary learning and instructional theories (constructivism, conceptual understanding, inquiry-based learning).
- Recognize the role and importance of pedagogical use of modern technology in the teaching of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
- Better understand the learning process, use informational and cognitive tools for teaching and learning, and develop mechanisms for integrating and utilizing various digital tools in the development of teaching material in Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
- Develop personal philosophies on the learning and teaching of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- Develop basic skills in reasoning and the scientific method.
General Competences
- Search, analysis, and synthesis of data and information, using the necessary technologies.
- Adaptation to new situations.
- Decision making.
- Autonomous work.
- Teamwork.
- Work in an interdisciplinary environment.
- Promotion of free, creative, and inductive thinking.
- Independent work.
- Collaborative work.
COURSE CONTENT
The course aims to provide knowledge about contemporary learning theories and teaching approaches in Natural Sciences and Mathematics, to develop fundamental research skills related to the teaching of these subjects, and to encourage reflection on the role that modern technological tools can play in teaching Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
After a common introductory cycle, students are divided into two specializations: Primary and Secondary Education.
- The key variables of the teaching and learning process in Science Education.
- Study of students’ ideas and representations of scientific concepts and phenomena.
- The didactics of problem solving in Science Education.
PRIMARY EDUCATION SPECIALIZATION
- Socio-scientific issues (SSI) and teaching practice.
- Modern educational objectives – Authentic environments – Use of the history of Science in teaching.
- “Nanotechnology and Primary Education.”
- Environmental issues and Sustainability.
- Didactic use of digital learning objects in Mathematics in Primary Education.
- Use of Web 2.0 tools in the teaching, learning, and assessment of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Primary Education.
- Didactic use of digital learning objects and digital simulation tools in Natural Sciences in Primary Education.
SECONDARY EDUCATION SPECIALIZATION
- Modern mathematical educational theories in Mathematics. Technology as a tool in teaching mathematical concepts in Middle and High School. The use of ChatGPT in teaching Mathematics. Mathematics with computers.
- Laboratory Course with teaching scenarios for Mathematics instruction in Middle and High School.
- Teaching Natural Sciences using computers and the internet. Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics Education.
- Teaching Natural Sciences using computers and the internet.
- Physicochemical properties and applications of materials as tools for understanding and teaching Physics and Chemistry topics in Middle and High School.