The course is divided into two parts. In the first part, from an epistemological and educational perspective, some key issues related to the transposition of scientific knowledge for educational purposes are addressed. The second part introduces the construct of soft skills with a particular focus on critical thinking and decision-making, essential for the development of educational professionalism.

The course pursues the following educational objectives:

• Know and analyze the educational and didactic problems related to the transmission of knowledge.
• Identify the epistemological and pedagogical constraints related to the process of educational transposition of expert knowledge into school knowledge.
• Understand the role of an adequate scientific literacy for the exercise of the educational profession in the socio-pedagogical and cultural environment. 
• Acquire the basics of critical thinking and decision-making as soft skills essential for the exercise of the educational profession.

The program addresses the following topics:

Teaching and learning in the knowledge society.

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

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: students' theories frame, teachers' images of science, shared common ground

Educational professionalism and soft skills: critical thinking and decision making

• The soft skills of the 21st century
• Critical thinking
• Teaching critical thinking
• Decision making in teaching
• The forms of scientific reasoning
• Fallacies of reasoning

None

Knowledge and understanding:

By the end of the course, the student should have understood the distinction between information and knowledge; should have understood the role of science and knowledge in the exercise of active and responsible citizenship; should have understood the influence of naïve knowledge on students' formal learning; should have understood the concept of scientific representation and the function of models in science; should have understood the role of epistemological and pedagogical constraints in the transposition of mathematical physics; should have understood the role of soft skills in the exercise of the educational profession; should have understood what critical thinking consists of and its pedagogical function; should have understood the factors involved in decision-making in educational contexts.

Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding):

At the end of the course, the student will be expected to demonstrate the ability to:

use the didactic triangle to interpret the difficulties related to the selection and didactic translation of scientific knowledge into knowledge to be taught; formulate potential epistemological and pedagogical constraints to which the processes of selection and didactic translation of scientific knowledge for educational purposes must be subjected; exercise critical thinking as a critical analysis of one's own and others' arguments; develop decision-making skills in education.

Autonomy of judgment (making judgements):

Upon completion of the course, the student will be expected to demonstrate the ability to:

critically evaluate the appropriateness of epistemological and pedagogical choices in the selection and didactic translation of knowledge; critically evaluate their own personal epistemologies through a comparison with the public images of the disciplines; evaluate the soundness of arguments in educational settings; evaluate decisions in educational settings by recognizing pros and cons. 

Communication Skills:

Upon completion of this course, the student should have acquired:

the ability to communicate through the use of specific disciplinary language; the ability to argue in an articulate and coherent manner epistemological and pedagogical choices related to processes of transmission of knowledge; ability to rationally justify their positions...

Learning skills:

At the end of the course the student will have acquired:

full autonomy in reading study materials related to the course; the ability to independently search for information by evaluating the authority of 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 within 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 Pedagogy and General Didactics.

Course books

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

G. Boda e F. Mosiello, Life skills: il pensiero critico, Carocci Faber, 2017.

M. Tombolato, "Il ruolo della pratica della ricerca nello sviluppo delle competenze di decision making degli insegnanti", in R. D'Ugo e G. Marani. Le pratiche collaborative per la sperimentazione e l'innovazione scolastica. Franco Angeli, 2020.

M. Baldacci, La buona scuola nasce dal pensiero critico, intervista di Carlo Crosato a Massimo Baldacci, 2015, online (disponibile su piattaforma Moodle › https://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 Pedagogy and General Didactics.

Course books

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

G. Boda e F. Mosiello, Life skills: il pensiero critico. Carocci Faber. 2017.

M. Tombolato, "Il ruolo della pratica della ricerca nello sviluppo delle competenze di decision making degli insegnanti", in R. D'Ugo e G. Marani. Le pratiche collaborative per la sperimentazione e l'innovazione scolastica. Franco Angeli, 2020.

M. Baldacci, La buona scuola nasce dal pensiero critico, intervista di Carlo Crosato a Massimo Baldacci, 2015, online (disponibile su piattaforma Moodle › https://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.