Multidmensional approach of Pedagogical Practices in Geosciences in Higher Education

Abstract

This project aims to investigate the pedagogical practices in the undergraduate courses in Geosciences of three public universities in the State of São Paulo, USP, UNESP e UNICAMP. The research uses theories from university pedagogy and geosciences education and analyzes the teachers' practices in bachelor courses in Geology and teaching training degree in Geosciences and Natural Science. The theoretical framework is based on the categorization of pedagogical practices and faculty knowledge dimensions. This first categorization is based on qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews, which provide information about the teacher's professional profile, views about teaching and learning as well as professional development. The data will be analyzed based on the discursive textual analysis and documentary analysis, which will contribute to developing a panorama of pedagogical and institutional practices. Quantitative data will be collected by the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), used in classroom observations to categorize the pedagogical practices. This protocol analyzes five items related to the classroom: Lesson Design and Implementation, Content-Propositional Knowledge, Content-Procedural Knowledge, Classroom Culture-Communicative Interactions and Classroom Culture-Student-Teacher Relationships. The methodology of data analysis use RTOP scores, with 25-item, which are described in a Likert scale of five points (0-4) contemplating 20 points for each category. These categories reflect the pedagogical activities of a specific class that is observed, evaluating the alignment of the class proposal and its implementation with the objectives of the RTOP methodology. Classes are then categorized into traditional-teacher-centered, transitional, and student-centered. The data are collected by more than one observer and the results are analyzed through descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. The qualitative and quantitative results will be compared and will indicate the current practices in higher education in Geosciences in a multidimensional approach, promoting reflections on the importance of pedagogic practices and professional development in the institutions. It will contribute to promote a Geoscience community of learning in higher education. (AU)