Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE MSS4106

 
TITLE Professional Issues in Science Education

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Mathematics and Science Education

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit involves a number of seminars which deal with Professional Issues which student teachers will have to face as teachers in schools. The basic aim of the seminars is for student teachers to familiarise themselves with the professional cultures of schools and learn more about life in schools and certain problems they will face when they are teaching science in schools and colleges.

The seminars will involve an invited speaker who will talk and discuss with students about the following professional issues:

1. Dealing with learning difficulties (with special emphasis on dyslexia) in the science classroom.
2. Getting to know the problems of adoloscents: examplified by drug abuse, how to recognise it and deal with it in a school context.
3. The College System and the Education Directorates.
4. The role of the Science Education Officer.
5. Primary Science: What kind of science do students bring with them into secondary school?
6. On-site visits: Students will be taken to two sites of scientific interest such as Lufthansa Technic and the Medical Laboratories.

The seminars will be interactive and include discussion and a number of tasks to be carried out during the seminars. Students will also be expected to write a reflective critique indicating the main issues and learning experiences for each seminar.

Study-unit Aims

The aims of the study-unit are to enable student teachers in their fourth year of the B.Ed.(Hons.) course:
- to start making the transition into becoming professional teachers
- to explore a number of professional issues which they will face once they become part of the professional science community in schools and colleges.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Define dyslexia by identifying the characteristics of a dyslexic student.
- Describe the characteristics of drug addiction.
- Describe the administrative structure and learning support services of the Education Directorates, particularly the functioning of the college system.
- Recognise the importance of the Science Education Officer as a supportive mentor in the first years of teaching.
- Describe the role of primary science in the development of science skills in pupils in schools.
- Recognise the importance of on-site visits.

2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Discuss methods of dealing with learning difficulties in the classroom.
- Discuss methods of dealing with drug abuse in adolescents.
- Plan and organise an on-site visit for prospective students.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Since this study-unit involves mainly seminar sessions on various topics and visits to places of scientific interest, readings will be supplied by the lecturers according to the specific nature of the topic being addressed. Journal articles and newspaper articles will be provided for students, however an exact reference cannot be provided as lecturers try to make use of the latest and most current literature available on the topic being dealt with in the seminar.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Seminar

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Project Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Deborah A. Chetcuti
Ruth Falzon
Dorianne Gravina

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit