Teleological structure of scientific and mathematical education

One of the main educational objectives in the current Spanish curricula is to develop mathematical and scientific competences, understood as the set of skills and abilities needed to apply Mathematics and Science in situations where are required. This is therefore closely related, on one hand, to the functionality of the knowledge, in the sense of its usefulness in problem solving and in mathematical and science modeling problems. And, on the other hand, is related to the understanding of disciplinary knowledge, a cognitive phenomenon that enables and gives competence to the individual to elaborate contextualized and accurate answers. These answers involve the use of mathematical and scientific knowledge in some of the categories of their phenomenological and epistemological dimensions. For this reason, in this work we carry out a theoretical and reflexive analysis that tries to determine which aspects of the Mathematics and Science Education should be promoted in order to optimize the formative dimension of an individual in these disciplines. This dimension, frequently forgotten in learning and teaching processes, turns out to be, in conjunction with the functional and instrumental dimensions, necessary to acquire the appropriate knowledge in Mathematics and Science that will enable future citizens to permanently adapt to the environment and eventually transform it positively. The results of the analysis show the components of this dimension that should be prioritized in the Science and Mathematics Education: the intellectual autonomy, understood as the ability to think for ourselves and to put in use our abilities and skills to generate information to solve real life problems and to make the right decisions; the moral autonomy, defined as the capacity to face with real life problems with ethical implications; and the social autonomy, understood as the aptitude to make decisions using social abilities and skills.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.“Criterios e instrumentos de evaluación de unidades de enseñanza y aprendizaje” (PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/16) financiado por la Universidad de Málaga en la convocatoria de 2017-2018

Teacher education by volunteering in learning communities

El trabajo presentado forma parte del proyecto I+D+I “Ecologías del aprendizaje en contextos múltiples: análisis de proyectos de educación expandida y conformación de ciudadanía” financiado por MIMECO, España.El artículo presenta parte de los resultados de investigación sobre el trabajo del voluntariado en centros educativos que son comunidades de aprendizaje como una forma de avanzar en procesos de formación docente diferentes a los vigentes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de la Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

On the Battleground at Gettysburg: A Journey to Remember

I was very pleased to be one of the two speakers at Sunday night\u27s inaugural Journey to Remember event sponsored by Gettysburg College. A group of students and community members trekked up the hill from the campus, resting on Oak Hill at the base of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial to hear myself and Janet Riggs, the college\u27s President and a fellow alum. The student organizers asked me to place that place into historical context. [excerpt

A curricular approach to develop autonomies from the mathematics and scientific education

The purpose of this work is to highlight how the current Spanish education system supports the development of both scientific and mathematic competences. We understand these competences as the set of skills and capabilities needed to use mathematics or science when the situation requires. For that purpose, we have carried out a curricular didactic analysis of the current regulations in Andalusia. This analysis intends to reveal how the new educational systems emphasize the development of the formative character of teaching-learning processes, which has been overshadowed by the functional and the instrumental characters in Science and Mathematics Education. The findings of the research show that the objectives set out in the law are aimed at developing in students a number of attributes such as personal autonomy, creativity, tolerance, empathy, critical spirit, etc. From our point of view, all of these attributes contribute to developing the students' formative character. Besides, the analysis shows that course contents are not presented as an end in itself, but as a means for students to acquire these attributes and be whole human beings. Finally, it can be inferred from the analysis that both the methodological guidance and the evaluation criteria highlight the need to educate citizens to be capable of adapting to the environment and positively transforming it. Ultimately, promoting teaching-learning processes where scientific and mathematic competences are developed, educating students to be intellectually, socially and morally autonomous.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.“Criterios e instrumentos de evaluación de unidades de enseñanza y aprendizaje” (PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/16) financiado por la Universidad de Málaga en la convocatoria de 2017-2018

Projects developed by older adults within the educational field : Analysis of a Program of Permanent Education of University Extension of the UNLP

This paper intends to approach the conceptualizations about the permanent education and the contributions of Maria Teresa Sirvent in the different degrees of formality of the educative processes. In light of these contributions, a Permanent Adult Education Program of the University Extension Secretariat of the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences of the National University of La Plata will be analyzed. This analysis has been of interest because of the prevalence of educational projects developed by older adults and within them those developed in what has traditionally been called the “non-formal” educational system.Facultad de Psicologí

Projects developed by older adults within the educational field : Analysis of a Program of Permanent Education of University Extension of the UNLP

This paper intends to approach the conceptualizations about the permanent education and the contributions of Maria Teresa Sirvent in the different degrees of formality of the educative processes. In light of these contributions, a Permanent Adult Education Program of the University Extension Secretariat of the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences of the National University of La Plata will be analyzed. This analysis has been of interest because of the prevalence of educational projects developed by older adults and within them those developed in what has traditionally been called the “non-formal” educational system.Facultad de Psicologí

The value of service-learning in planning's educative processes: A case study of Johannesburg’s street-based children

Not only is our country in search of a better paradigm of governance in the face of economic recession, urban migration, social movement, and new policies towards multicultural, race and gender equality, so too is the profession of planning in a state of dynamism. We, the academy, are thus responsible to equip our budding practitioners with the skills and know-how of working in environments of accelerated socio-economic change so that they may achieve active citizenship. To foster such know-how we need to embrace a social learning tradition by expanding our institutionalised definitions of knowledge practices to include a qualitative pedagogy of "experimental, intuitive, and local knowledges based on practices of talking, listening, seeing, contemplating, sharing; knowledges expressed in visual and other symbolic, ritual, and artistic ways ... learning by doing" (Sandercock 1999: 172)

An exploratory study to determine students' perceptions of the value of interaction in an Australian classroom context and the perceived impact on learning outcomes

Interaction has long been a defining and critical component of the educational process, whatever the classroom context (Anderson 2003). This paper presents findings of a study to explore the attitudes of students at an Australian university towards various types interactivity in the classroom. The study also investigates students perceptions of how interactivity in the classroom impacts on cognitive, affective and behavioural learning outcomes. In a recent review of the literature Muirhead & Juwah (2003) argue that interactivity is critical in underpinning the learning process in face-to-face, campus based and distance and online education. They say that interactions serve a diverse range of functions in the educational process, which include learner to learner, learner to content, learner to tutor, learner to technology, tutor to content, tutor to technology, content to content. These functions promote and enhance the quality of active, participative learning in a learning environment. However, literature indicates that attitudes towards active learning involving greater interactivity varies across students and between students and lecturers (Billings, Connors, & Skiba 2001). Investigation into student attitudes of the value and effectiveness of interaction is of particular interest for educators who are adapting the learning of a diverse range of students, including oncampus, distance, international, under and postgradute students. Much of the existing research into classroom interaction was grounded in the behaviourist and cognitive sciences approach to learning and teaching, where traditional classroom interaction placed the teacher at the centre of all activities as transmitter of knowledge and co-coordinator of student interaction (McLoughlin 2002). Those studies predate the recent application of constructivism (Bonk and Cunningham 1998) and social learning theory (Bandura (1977), and the emphasis on building life long learning skills. This research will contribute to current discussion about the role of interaction in learning, based on a constructivist approach to developing life long learning skills. This paper will present the findings of an exploratory study of students’ attitudes to various types of interaction in a classroom context. The first step of this exploratory study will employ a focus group approach to gather data from on campus students to identify the key issues that emerge from this data. These findings will be used to design a survey instrument to implement a follow-up research project