Subject Name: Didactics of Experimental Sciences and Enviromental Education In Primary
Study: Grado en Maestro de Educación Primaria (Grupo bilingüe)
ECTS Credits: 6
Year and four month period: Fourth year, second four month period
Type of subject: Compulsory

  • Presentation

    In this subject you will get a global conception of what the natural environment is, its relation to society, and the current tendencies in the didactics field.

    You will gain scientific knowledge about natural reality, which is key to design and develop didactic-experimental activities that will facilitate the creation of intervention models, thus you can generate in Primary Education children conceptions, procedures and attitudes specific to the physical-natural world.

    You will know the didactics and organisation of the natural environment knowledge in Primary Education.

    You will master the main resources and activities aimed to the natural environment knowledge in Primary Education

    • Basic competences

    • BC4: Students can transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions to a specialised and non-specialised public.

    General competences

    • GC2: Design, plan and evaluate teaching and learning processes, both individually and in collaboration with other teachers and professionals in the school.
    • GC15: Reflect on classroom practices to innovate and improve teaching.
    • GC17: Know and apply information and communication technologies in the classroom.

    Specific competences

    • SC26: Know the school curriculum of these sciences.
    • SC27: Pose and solve problems associated with science in everyday life.
    • SC30: Develop and evaluate curriculum content through appropriate teaching resources and promote the acquisition of basic skills in students.

    Unit 1. Didactics and Teaching Natural Sciences

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Definition of the Term Didactics
    • Teaching Natural Sciences: Learning to Teach Experimental Science
    • Science in the 21st Century
    • Scientific Thinking as the Basis for Science and the Characteristics of Scientific Thinking
    • The Evolution of Scientific Thinking
    • School Science vs Experimental Science
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 2. The Role of the Teacher in Teaching Natural Sciences

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • The Role of the Teacher and the Development of Teaching Competences
    • Training Teachers in Science
    • Characteristics of Primary School Pupils in Relation with the Natural Sciences
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 3. Didactic Models in Teaching Natural Sciences

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Transmission-Reception Model. Expository Model
    • Learning by Discovery Model
    • Constructivist Model
    • Gagné’s Instructional Design Model
    • Flipped classroom
    • Bibliographic References

    Teaching methods in Natural Science Education

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Active Methodologies
    • Project-Based Learning
    • Problem-based learning
    • Service Learning
    • Cooperative vs Collaborative Learning
    • Gamification
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 5. Educational Strategies and Tools for Teaching Natural Sciences

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Main Strategies for Teaching Natural Sciences
    • Methodological Techniques: Brainstorming, Concept Maps, Gowin’s V Diagram, Drawings, Semi-Guided Discussions and Debates, Questionnaires, Problems and Dramatisations
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 6. The constructivist basis of learning. Preconceptions

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Preconceptions. Naive Ideas Vs Incorrect Preconceptions. Why Is It Important to Know our Students’ Preconceptions?
    • Typical Preconceptions in the Study of Natural Sciences
    • Tools for Identifying Preconceptions
    • Conceptual Change in Teaching Science and Consolidation of a New Idea (from an Incorrect to a Correct Idea)
    • Metacognition
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 7. An introduction to Experimental Work in Schools

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • School Science: the Reality
    • Experiments: the Scientific Method
    • Obtaining Information: Observation
    • Experiments: Scientific Strategies
    • Communicating Results
    • Bibliographic References

    Unit 8. Teaching unit I. Focus on learning the Natural Sciences

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Basic elements that form teaching units for the Natural Sciences
    • Objectives and Natural Sciences content in legislation
    • Objectives in the Natural Sciences Bloom’s taxonomy
    • Relation between objectives and competences listed in the legislation
    • Design of Natural Sciences content
    • Organisation and sequencing
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 9. Teaching unit II. Teaching activities. Classification, selection and types of activities

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Classroom organisation and management
    • Science-oriented activities
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 10. Teaching unit III. Natural Science resources

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • What are teaching resources?
    • Selection criteria for resources
    • Classifying the resources
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 11. Teaching unit IV. Assessment

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Assessment: Concept, features, functions and types
    • Competence assessment
    • Assessment criteria for learning quality and standards
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 12. Teaching unit V. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education

    • Introduction and Objectives
    • Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Learning and Knowledge Technologies (LKT)
    • WebQuest
    • Treasure hunt
    • Wikis
    • Education blogs, or edublogs
    • Other ICT tools
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 13. Teaching unit VI. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education

    • Introduction and objectives
    • Simulators and/or virtual laboratories
    • Digital comics
    • Escape rooms
    • Augmented reality (AR)
    • Virtual Reality (VR)
    • Educational videos. Video impacts and video lessons
    • Bibliographic references

    Unit 14. Natural science and environmental projects

    • Introduction and objectives
    • The Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics approach (STEM/STEAM)
    • The Science, Technology, Society and the Environment (STSE) approach
    • Application of the service-learning (SL) approach
    • Natural Science related projects in Primary Education
    • Bibliographic references

    The different tasks and activities programmed during the semester have been developed with the goal of adapting the learning process to the different capabilities, necessities and interests of the students.

    The activities included in the subject are:

    • Work. These are activities of different types: reflection, case analysis, practice, etc.
    • Participation in events. Events are scheduled every week of the semester: virtual face-to-face sessions, discussion forums, tests.
    • Reading commentary. This is a very specific type of activity that consists in the analysis of texts of articles by expert authors in different units of the subject.

    In the weekly program you can find the specific tasks you need to complete in this subject.

    Download the program

    These activities are combined with the following aspects:

    • Personal Study
    • Tutoring. The tutoring class can be implemented through different tools and means. During the course of the subject, the teacher-tutor plans the individual tutoring on specific days for the resolution of academic-oriented doubts through “Consultation sessions”. Supplementing these sessions, students have also available the “Ask your teacher” forum through which they can formulate questions and check the corresponding answers on general aspects of the subject. Due to the very nature of the media used, there are no fixed schedules for the students.
    • Mandatory on-site final exam.

    The hours dedicated to each activity are detailed as follows:

    ASSIGNMENTS HOURS
    Attendance to virtual classes 20 hours
    Master classes 12 hours
    Basic material study 50 hours
    Reading the additional resources 14 hours
    Tasks and self-evaluation tests 29 hours
    Tutoring 16 hours
    Collaborative work, forums, debates, etc. 7 hours
    Final exam 2 hours
    Total 150 hours

    Basic bibliography

    The section Basic Bibliography is essential for the course. If any document (reading, article,…) is not available in the virtual classroom, you will have to find it by other means: UNIR bookshop, virtual library…

    The necessary texts for the study of this subject had been elaborated by UNIR and are available in a digital format for consultation, download and print in the virtual classroom.

    • González, D.; Cuetos, J. and Serna, A. I. (2015). Didáctica de las Ciencias Naturales en la Educación Primaria [Didactics of Natural Science in Primary Education.]Logroño: Universidad Internacional de La Rioja. ISBN: 9788416125494

    The evaluation system is based on the following numerical chart:

    0 - 4, 9 Suspense (SS)
    5,0 - 6,9 Approved (AP)
    7,0 - 8,9 Notable (NT)
    9,0 - 10 Sobresaliente (SB)

    The grade is made up of two components:

    On-site final exam (60%). At the end of the semester, you need to assist a mandatory on-site final exam. You need to pass the final exam so the grade obtained from the assignments (continuous assessment) is summed up to the final grade of the subject.

    Continuous assessment (40%): this type of assessment will be measured through the different assignments you need to complete during the course:

    Remember that you can check the points (value) of each assignment in the weekly program.

    Take into account that the sum of the grades of the assignments included in the continuous assessment is 6 points. You can do as many as you want to until a maximum grade of 4 points (which is the maximum grade you will be obtaining in the continuous assessment). In the weekly program, you can find the grade of each assignment.

    Assessment method Min - Max Score
    Participation in forums, classes, etc. 0% - 40%
    Task, practice cases and activities 0% - 40%
    Self-evaluation test 0% - 40%
    On-site final exam 60% - 60%

    Studying online means you can organize your study as you wish, as long as you meet the due dates of the different assignments (activities, tasks and tests). In order to help you, we propose the following steps:

    1. From our online platform you will have access to each of the subjects you are enrolled. Apart from this, the virtual classroom of Lo que necesitas saber antes de empezar (All you need to know before starting). In this section, you have available all the documents on how to use the different tools included in the virtual classroom, how a subject is organized and you will also have the possibility to organize your study plan with the tutor.
    2. Do not forget to check the weekly program. You will see which part of the content of the course you have to work on every week. You will see which part of the content of the course you have to work on every week.
    3. After knowing your work for the week, go to Temas in your virtual classroom. There, you will have access to the study material (theory and practice) from the unit you need to study throughout the week.
    4. Start by reading the Key ideas of each unit, there you will find the specific study material and it will help you understand the most important points of the unit. Afterwards, check out the sections Specially Recommended and More Information where you will find more resources in order to deepen on the topic of the unit.
    5. Devote some time to the practical cases and tasks in the subject (assignments and test). Remember that in your weekly program you find all the information related to the schedule for each assignment and the maximum grade you can obtain in each of them.
    6. We strongly recommend you to participate in the Events of the course (online classes, forums...). To know the precise schedule of the events, you need to check the communications tools in the virtual platform. Your teacher and tutor will inform you on the updates of the course.

    In the virtual classroom of Lo que necesitas saber antes de empezar (All you need to know before starting) you will always find available information on the structure of the units and information on their sections

    Remember that in Lo que necesitas saber antes de empezar (All you need to know before starting) you can check how the different tools of the virtual classroom work: email, forum, online classes, sending the tasks, etc.

    Please, take into account the following tips…

    • Whatever you study plan is, go often to the virtual classroom so that you are always up to date about the course and you are in contact with your teacher and your tutor.
    • Remember you are not alone: send an email to your tutor if you have any doubt. If you attend the online classes, you can also ask your teacher about the contents of the unit. Also, you can always write your doubts and questions about the contents in the Forum of each subject (Ask the teacher).
    • Be active and participate! Whenever it is possible, attend the online classes and take part in the forums. The exchange of information, opinions, ideas and resources enrich us and the course.
    • And, remember, you are studying online: your effort and perseverance are the key element to obtain good results. Don’t leave everything to the last minute!!!