Abstract
At present, an understanding of the teaching practices at university and the opinion of students about these practices is limited, at least in certain knowledge areas. Given this diagnosis and in the context of Social Sciences Didactics, we consider it important to analyze teaching practices and how they impact future teachers. Consequently, concerned about the quality of training offered to students, this study aims to know their opinion about which teaching practices they consider most appropriate to train in Social Sciences Didactics, once they finish the subjects related to this area. To this end, a non-experimental quantitative design has been used, involving collecting information through a questionnaire completed by 875 students from seven Spanish universities studying for the Degree in Primary Education. The data was analyzed from a triple perspective, an analysis of the descriptive statistics of the items contemplated in this research, the existing correlations between them, and a statistical analysis based on the gender variable. The results show that the treatment of controversial issues and the didactic outings outside the university classroom are the strategies most valued by the students in teaching specific content of the subject Social Sciences Didactics. The results also show significant differences in the responses to each item depending on the gender variable. We conclude that students widely value university teaching practices related to implementing active methodologies, analyzing current social and environmental issues, and collaborative work dynamics. Likewise, it is observed that women have, on the whole, a better opinion than men regarding these types of methodologies and strategies.
Highlights
The precepts governing the teaching of social sciences are currently based on the construct of democratic and critical citizenship (Gómez et al, 2021), capable of interpreting its environment, as well as intervening in it to transform it
3.1.1 Results on Teaching Resources As can be seen in Figure 1, the item that has received the highest score from the participants in the survey is the one related to relevant social problems or current social issues (Item 3), given that 61.1% state that they are “strongly agree” with the inclusion of these topics in the classroom to address the contents of Social Sciences Didactics of Social subjects
Item 7, linked to gamification and game-based learning, is considered by 62% of the teachers in training as a highly relevant resource in teaching subjects. The students, once they take the subjects in the area of knowledge, consider that the most relevant methods for teaching the contents of Didactics of Social Sciences in Higher Education should be based on experiences implemented outside the classroom, cooperative and group dynamics with participation active on the part of the students and in a teaching action that is based on the majority use of gamified activities
Summary
The precepts governing the teaching of social sciences are currently based on the construct of democratic and critical citizenship (Gómez et al, 2021), capable of interpreting its environment, as well as intervening in it to transform it. Given the importance of the teaching of Social Sciences in a world full of changes and uncertainties (Pérez, 2019), it is necessary to ask ourselves about what type of initial training future teachers will require to guide students in the process of building their social thinking. The initial training that future teachers receive at university is transcendental to promote epistemological changes in their conceptions about the teaching of Social Sciences and its purposes (González and Fuentes, 2011) Authors such as Estepa (2017) justify the need for quality training, based on the idea that a teacher, when faced with teaching for the first time, usually bases their teaching methods on models already lived or experienced, as well as on their experiences as a student. In order to meet the indicated purposes, in the context of Higher Education, we must begin with methodological approaches that affect the problematization of social content, the connection with controversial issues, past and present (Santisteban, 2019a), and that allows students to play an active role in their own learning process
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