CONNECTIVISM IN SCIENCE EDUCATION WITH EMPHASIS ON INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Abstract

The study presents the results of design-based rese arch on the influence of connectivism on science education, with the emphasis on an international co llaboration among/between teachers and students fro m different countries. Science and technology educati on is a very important part of culture as a knowled ge background of society. Very fast ICT development strongly influences education. The pedagogical theory of connectivism was born as a response to this ICT dev elopment. Thus a need occurred to examine these connectivistic influences on science and technology education. This study presents a design-based rese arch which is focussed on the following issues: identifi cation of connectivistic factors and their influenc e on science education; creation of connectivistic educa tional methods; implementation of connectivistic educational methods into teaching/learning and teac her’s training. These methods were created within t he frame of collaborative action research based on ICT which can be used as a vehicle for international collaboration with effective exploitation of ICT. T he collaborative action research based on ICT was c arried out by two collaborating teachers and their student s in the Czech Republic and in Portugal. Concrete scenarios and strategic planning of the collaborati ve connectivistic teaching/learning are presented o n the topic photosynthesis. Our design-based research res ults verify that implementation of connectivism in science education is reality. We identify the set o f connectivistic factors which influence science ed ucation: selection of topic, selection of students, use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), collaboration schedule and elaboration of materials for teaching and learning. Connectivistic educatio nal methods in science education are also presented. Co nnectivistic teaching/learning methods have a very positive influence on science education. This conne ctivistic approach can contribute to reducing the g ap between educational research and school practice. I t will be important to implement our research resul ts into pre-service and especially in-service science teach er training.