The course provides a reflection on knowledge from an epistemological and pedagogical point of view. To this end, the first part of the course will address the problems and objects of the Pedagogy of Knowledge, the heuristic devices and the places where knowledge is transposed. The second part of the course will focus on the knowledge of scientific knowledge. In particular, some key issues related to the acquisition of a scientific literacy appropriate to the informed and responsible exercise of citizenship rights and duties will be addressed from an epistemological and didactic perspective.

The course pursues the following learning objectives:

• acquire the fundamental theoretical concepts (epistemological, pedagogical and didactic) of the Pedagogy of Knowledge  
• know how to employ the constructs of "public epistemologies" and "personal epistemologies" to critically analyze educational issues related to knowledge transmission
• identify epistemological problems related to the didactic selection and reconstruction of knowledge (with particular attention to scientific knowledge) as a function of its teaching and learning
• understand the role of adequate scientific literacy for the exercise of the rights and duties of citizenship
• know how to use disciplinary knowledge as fields of exercise to promote conscious citizenship skills
• acquire epistemological and pedagogical criteria for evaluating the process of educational transposition from expert knowledge to school knowledge

The course addresses the following themes:

Objects and problems of knowledge pedagogy

• Knowledge as autopoietic systems
• Knowledge and technique
• Knowledge and mind

Public epistemologies 

• The paradox of knowledge
• Conservation and innovation

Personal epistemologies 

• Implicit philosophies
• The notion of the relationship to knowledge

Places where knowledge is transmitted

• The museum
• The Library
• The School: Criteria for the identification and the didactic translation of knowledge

Teaching and learning in the knowledge society

• knowing knowledge to educate understanding
• a case study: naive physics
• knowledge and didactics

Physics as sovoir savant: an epistemological analysis

• the scientific representation of reality through models
• the scientific community and the sharing of practices

Implications for the teacher's didactic action

• the didactic transposition of mathematical physics: epistemological and pedagogical constraints
• the didactic triangle: the students' frame theories, the teachers' images of science, the shared common ground

None

Knowledge and understanding:

At the end of the course the student must have understood the analogy between knowledge and systems; they must know the definition of knowledge as organized systems of knowledge and must have understood its pedagogical implications; they must recognize disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity as constitutive characteristics of knowledge production practices; they must know the heuristic devices of the Pedagogy of Knowledge; they must have understood the distinction between information and knowledge; They must have understood the role of science and knowledge in the exercise of active and responsible citizenship; they must have understood the influence of naive knowledge on students' formal learning; they must have understood the concept of scientific representation and the function of models in science; they must have understood the role of epistemological and pedagogical constraints in the transposition of mathematical physics.

Making judgements:

At the end of the course the student must show the aptitude to: critically evaluate the appropriateness of epistemological and pedagogical choices in the didactic selection and translation of knowledge; critically evaluate their personal epistemologies through a comparison with public images of the disciplines, in particular of scientific ones.

Communication skills:

At the end of the course the student must have acquired: the ability to communicate using a specific disciplinary language; the ability to provide sound and coherent argumentations about the epistemological and pedagogical choices related to knowledge transmission processes.

Learning skills:

At the end of the course the student will have acquired: full autonomy in reading the study materials related to the course; the ability to search independently for information evaluating the authoritativeness of the sources. 

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Formative assessment tests are provided during the course to enable students to evaluate the degree of their own preparation. These tests are intended as self-assessment tests (with answer key) and will be available on the Moodle platform› blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

The course includes multimodal frontal lectures, group work and guided discussions.

Innovative teaching methods

Lectures will be supplemented by optional small-group exercises offered through the Moodle platform, followed by oral exposition and collective discussion. Some course topics will be covered in flipped classroom mode.

Attendance

Attendance at the course is not mandatory. 

It is advisable, for a better understanding of the course content, to have acquired a basic knowledge of General Didactics.

Course books

B. Martini, Pedagogia dei saperi. Problemi, luoghi e pratiche per l'educazione, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2011 (except for chapter 4).

M. Tombolato, La conoscenza della conoscenza scientifica. Problemi didattici, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2020.

M. Baldacci, La buona scuola nasce dal pensiero critico, intervista di Carlo Crosato a Massimo Baldacci, 2015, online (available on on the Moodle platform› blended.uniurb.it).

Assessment

Learning objectives are verified through a written examination consisting of three open-ended questions. The duration of the test is 45 minutes.

The evaluation criteria are the following:

• pertinence of the answers to the questions
• exaustiveness of the answers to the questions
• mastery of the disciplinary language

Equal weight is assigned to each criterion. The final evaluation is expressed in thirtieths.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Those unable to attend class lectures will study on their own according to the program outlined in this vademecum and taking into account the files available on the platform Moodle › https://blended.uniurb.it.

Attendance

Attendance at the course is not mandatory. 

It is advisable, for a better understanding of the course content, to have acquired a basic knowledge of General Didactics.

Course books

B. Martini, Pedagogia dei saperi. Problemi, luoghi e pratiche per l'educazione, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2011 (except for chapter 4).

M. Tombolato, La conoscenza della conoscenza scientifica. Problemi didattici, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2020.

M. Baldacci, La buona scuola nasce dal pensiero critico, intervista di Carlo Crosato a Massimo Baldacci, 2015, online (available on on the Moodle platform› blended.uniurb.it).

Assessment

Learning objectives are verified through a written examination consisting of three open-ended questions. The duration of the test is 45 minutes.

The evaluation criteria are the following:

• pertinence of the answers to the questions
• exaustiveness of the answers to the questions
• mastery of the disciplinary language

Equal weight is assigned to each criterion. The final evaluation is expressed in thirtieths.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.