El proyecto 'Ciutat, territori, paisatge': un recurso innovador para la educación en el paisaje en la enseñanza secundaria = The project 'City, territory, countryside', an innovative resource for educating about the countryside in secondary education

The far-reaching, fast-moving changes –diffuse urbanisation, building infrastructure, moving away from agricultural space, etc.– suffered by the countryside in most European countries makes it important to have education about the countryside in place to help secondary students interpret their environment and assess the importance of managing the territory to achieve a medium ordered at human scale. The project «City, territory, countryside» is a set of materials for secondary level that aim for reflection on the countryside, work on basic competences and educating about civic-minded attitudes in students

Conflicto, colaboración y consenso en la enseñanza de las ciencias sociales = Conflict, collaboration and consensus in the teaching of the Social sciences

This article suggests the study of the key concept of conflict as a means of implementing a critical and communicativecurriculum based on the study of relevant social themes. To this end we put forward the principal characteristics of thecritical/communicative curriculum. We offer a didactic proposal about conflict and explain the results of its application intwo Secondary Education classrooms

Effects of landscape evolution on flora and habitats in agricultural mosaics

A landscape mosaic is a landscape that consist of various patches, inhabited by different habitat communities over time. Agricultural mosaics area result of the long history between societies and the environment. The understanding of the driving forces for change in this landscapes, and their effect on biodiversity, allow the development of useful tools to assess and manage natural heritage. Plant diversity, endangered plant species and interesting habitats receive the center of attention, because of their capability to integrate and reflect the main changes of this landscapes after medium and long-term.

Enseñar a convivir, enseñar a comunicarse = Teaching to live together, teaching to communicate

In this article we look at some of the questions related to the learning of how to live together so that we may then look more closely at the relative aspects of the learning of language. We insist on the importance of the not strictly linguistic aspects associated to the incorporation of children from immigrant families to the schools. From this point of view we underline the heterogeneous nature of the situation in which these children find themselves (in function with the social and professional situation of the family, of having been born here or not, and of having or not previous school experience in the community of origin etc). We also look at the necessary eradication of stereo types in the treating of this problem. We then discuss some strategies where there can be joint collaboration in the school for attaining these objectives

Una visión actualizada de la didáctica de la matemática en educación infantil = An up-to-date vision of pre-school mathematics teaching

This article aims to investigate pre-school mathematics teaching from an uptodate perspective. To pursue this contemporary vision we focus on four key questions: what kind of maths is being worked on, who is doing it, how it is being done, and why it is being done

Consideraciones metodológicas para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del deporte escolar = Methodological considerations for the teaching and learning of school sport

Sport is a fundamental content in the teaching and learning of Physical Education independently of whether it is seen assuch by some authors. In whichever case according to the treatment that we give it, it will have sufficient educationalpotential without forgetting that it is the student who is the important figure in the process. To achieve the objectives wemust facilitate practices that are in agreement with the indispensable ethical principles to try to bring about a meaningfuland functional learning. The methodological criteria that we present in this article have this intention helped by examplesthat make it easier to understand the teaching learning process

Concepções de licenciandos em química sobre visualizações no ensino de ciências em dois países: Brasil e Portugal

In this work, the beliefs of undergraduate students from Brazil and Portugal on the use of visual tools in teaching chemistry, which have increasingly been introduced in the areas of teaching/learning in these two countries in recent years, have been investigated. An interpretative analysis of the results shows little familiarity of students with specific points of the theme, beyond a poor conception about the way the visualization tools influence the construction of scientific concepts.

AVOIDING FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS’ MISREPRESENTATIONS IN THE TEACHING OF SPONTANEOUS REACTIONS

This paper summarizes the misrepresentations related to Gibbs energy in general chemistry textbooks. These misrepresentations arise from a problem in the terminology textbooks use. Thus, after reviewing the proper definition of each of the terms analyzed, we present two problems to exemplify the correct treatment of the quantities involved, which may help in the discussion and clarification of the misleading conventions and assumptions reported in this study.

INTERACTIONS: DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF A COMPUTATIONAL TOOL FOR TEACHING INTERMOLECULAR FORCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Intermolecular forces are a useful concept that can explain the attraction between particulate matter as well as numerous phenomena in our lives such as viscosity, solubility, drug interactions, and dyeing of fibers. However, studies show that students have difficulty understanding this important concept, which has led us to develop a free educational software in English and Portuguese. The software can be used interactively by teachers and students, thus facilitating better understanding. Professors and students, both graduate and undergraduate, were questioned about the software quality and its intuitiveness of use, facility of navigation, and pedagogical application using a Likert scale. The results led to the conclusion that the developed computer application can be characterized as an auxiliary tool to assist teachers in their lectures and students in their learning process of intermolecular forces.

Benjamin's conception of language and Adorno's aesthetic theory

According to the theory of language of the young Benjamin, the primary task of language isn't the communication of contents, but to express itself as a "spiritual essence" in which also men take part. That conception according to which language would be a medium to signification of something outside it leads to a necessary decrease of its original strength and is thus denominated by Benjamin bürgerlich. The names of human language are remainders of an archaic state, in which things weren't yet mute and had their own language. Benjamin suggests also that all the arts remind the original language of things, as they make objects "speak" in form of sounds, colors, shapes etc. That relationship between arts as reminders of the "language of things" and the possible reconciliation of mankind with itself and with nature has been developed by Theodor Adorno in several of his writings, specially in the Aesthetic Theory, where the artwork is ultimately conceived as a construct pervaded by "language" in the widest meaning - not in the "bourgeois" sense.

La philosophie comme méthodologie: la conception sceptico-rationaliste de la raison Chez Bayle

Bayle est souvent considéré comme sceptique, mais sa conception de la raison n'est pas toujours claire ; ce qui en revanche est clair, c'est qu'il manifeste une profonde méfiance à l'égard des capacités de la raison de livrer une connaissance certaine. Cependant, une nouvelle interprétation de Bayle comme rationaliste «stratonicien » a été développée par Gianluca Mori, qui donne une description détaillée de Bayle comme philosophe critique désireux de rendre compte de toutes positions possibles dans leur complexité et de tirer toutes les conséquences des arguments invoqués au service des principes dits « stratoniciens ». Cette conception de Bayle comme rationaliste critique stratonicien rend possible une interprétation de Bayle moins comme un « supersceptique » à la Richard Popkin, que celui qui permet à la raison d'opérer avec une portée et une autorité plus grandes que ne le permettrait le scepticisme. Mori affirme que la conception de la raison chez Bayle est assez forte ; selon lui, la raison peut aller jusqu'au bout, avec une autorité absolue, et tirer des conclusions. Je soutiens que la conception de la nature et de la fonction de la raison chez Bayle se situe en fait entre le rationalisme stratonicien de Mori et l'interprétation « supersceptique » de Popkin. Comme Mori, je pense qu'il s'agit d'un rationalisme « critique » ; mais contre lui, je pense que la raison elle-même définit et recommande ses propres limites. J'appelle cette conception de la raison « sceptico-rationaliste » et, en suivant Bayle, je suggère comment le « bon sens » (qui fait partie de la raison) aide à définir ces limites.

Teaching mathematics and programming : new approaches with empirical evaluation

Programming and mathematics are core areas of computer science (CS) and consequently also important parts of CS education. Introductory instruction in these two topics is, however, not without problems. Studies show that CS students find programming difficult to learn and that teaching mathematical topics to CS novices is challenging. One reason for the latter is the disconnection between mathematics and programming found in many CS curricula, which results in students not seeing the relevance of the subject for their studies. In addition, reports indicate that students' mathematical capability and maturity levels are dropping. The challenges faced when teaching mathematics and programming at CS departments can also be traced back to gaps in students' prior education. In Finland the high school curriculum does not include CS as a subject; instead, focus is on learning to use the computer and its applications as tools. Similarly, many of the mathematics courses emphasize application of formulas, while logic, formalisms and proofs, which are important in CS, are avoided. Consequently, high school graduates are not well prepared for studies in CS. Motivated by these challenges, the goal of the present work is to describe new approaches to teaching mathematics and programming aimed at addressing these issues: Structured derivations is a logic-based approach to teaching mathematics, where formalisms and justifications are made explicit. The aim is to help students become better at communicating their reasoning using mathematical language and logical notation at the same time as they become more confident with formalisms. The Python programming language was originally designed with education in mind, and has a simple syntax compared to many other popular languages. The aim of using it in instruction is to address algorithms and their implementation in a way that allows focus to be put on learning algorithmic thinking and programming instead of on learning a complex syntax. Invariant based programming is a diagrammatic approach to developing programs that are correct by construction. The approach is based on elementary propositional and predicate logic, and makes explicit the underlying mathematical foundations of programming. The aim is also to show how mathematics in general, and logic in particular, can be used to create better programs.

Parallella, dynamiska representationer i gymnasiefysiken : implementering av ett interaktivt datorverktyg i didaktiska situationer och uppfattning av effektivt lärande

The computer is a useful tool in the teaching of upper secondary school physics, and should not have a subordinate role in students' learning process. However, computers and computer-based tools are often not available when they could serve their purpose best in the ongoing teaching. Another problem is the fact that commercially available tools are not usable in the way the teacher wants. The aim of this thesis was to try out a novel teaching scenario in a complicated subject in physics, electrodynamics. The didactic engineering of the thesis consisted of developing a computer-based simulation and training material, implementing the tool in physics teaching and investigating its effectiveness in the learning process. The design-based research method, didactic engineering (Artigue, 1994), which is based on the theoryof didactical situations (Brousseau, 1997), was used as a frame of reference for the design of this type of teaching product. In designing the simulation tool a general spreadsheet program was used. The design was based on parallel, dynamic representations of the physics behind the function of an AC series circuit in both graphical and numerical form. The tool, which was furnished with possibilities to control the representations in an interactive way, was hypothesized to activate the students and promote the effectiveness of their learning. An effect variable was constructed in order to measure the students' and teachers' conceptions of learning effectiveness. The empirical study was twofold. Twelve physics students, who attended a course in electrodynamics in an upper secondary school, participated in a class experiment with the computer-based tool implemented in three modes of didactical situations: practice, concept introduction and assessment. The main goal of the didactical situations was to have students solve problems and study the function of AC series circuits, taking responsibility for theirown learning process. In the teacher study eighteen Swedish speaking physics teachers evaluated the didactic potential of the computer-based tool and the accompanying paper-based material without using them in their physics teaching. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using questionnaires, observations and interviews. The result of the studies showed that both the group of students and the teachers had generally positive conceptions of learning effectiveness. The students' conceptions were more positive in the practice situation than in the concept introduction situation, a setting that was more explorative. However, it turned out that the students' conceptions were also positive in the more complex assessment situation. This had not been hypothesized. A deeper analysis of data from observations and interviews showed that one of the students in each pair was more active than the other, taking more initiative and more responsibilityfor the student-student and student-computer interaction. These active studentshad strong, positive conceptions of learning effectiveness in each of the threedidactical situations. The group of less active students had a weak but positive conception in the first iv two situations, but a negative conception in the assessment situation, thus corroborating the hypothesis ad hoc. The teacher study revealed that computers were seldom used in physics teaching and that computer programs were in short supply. The use of a computer was considered time-consuming. As long as physics teaching with computer-based tools has to take place in special computer rooms, the use of such tools will remain limited. The affordance is enhanced when the physical dimensions as well as the performance of the computer are optimised. As a consequence, the computer then becomes a real learning tool for each pair of students, smoothly integrated into the ongoing teaching in the same space where teaching normally takes place. With more interactive support from the teacher, the computer-based parallel, dynamic representations will be efficient in promoting the learning process of the students with focus on qualitative reasoning - an often neglected part of the learning process of the students in upper secondary school physics.