The teaching of the Nature of Science and Technology in a university didactic class

Abstract

The central objective of this research is to improve the understanding of the Nature of Science and Technology in the teaching staff. For this, a Didactic Unit (DU) was developed on the teaching of the sciences through cartoons. The UD was applied in a course of Didactics of the Natural Sciences of the Degree and Teachers in Education. Students were surveyed through a Pre-Test and a Post-Test, before and after the application of the UD, respectively, compared to a control group. The tool used was the Science, Technology and Society Opinions Questionnaire (COCTS). In addition, a personal interview was held with some members of the course. From the statistical analysis of the Pre-test, it is observed that the control and experimental groups present small differences in effect size, and there are no significant differences in the attitudinal indices. In both groups, very positive indexes were obtained, indicating the strengths, and some very negative indexes in others, which would show weaknesses. On the other hand, from the personal interviews, the participants showed that the tool was very useful and that allowed them to innovate in their classes.