Scientific-mathematical skills of teachers in training: Status and opportunities

Scientific-mathematical skills of teachers in training: Status and opportunities

Bartolomé Pisa Mir

This thesis starts from the need to know the scientific-mathematical skills and academic competences of teachers in training and knowing this state of affairs is key to improving study plans as well as training opportunities. The majority of students who access education degrees tend to come from previous studies in which scientific-mathematical subjects were (or still are) absent or limited to mathematics applied to the social sciences (for students who come from the social branch of high school). In the same way, many express a certain aversion and disenchantment with the scientific-mathematical disciplines.

The main axes of the doctoral thesis are:
1. Analysis of the LOGSE and LOMCE curriculum texts, as well as the possibility of designing assessment instruments following Bloom's revised taxonomy, since it takes into account the cognitive load of the learning objectives.
2. Analysis of academic competence, as well as the training offer to improve these competences once they have already graduated.
3. Analysis of the possibility of integrating physical activity in the form of active breaks to improve cognitive variables such as attention and concentration.

It is observed that in the teachers in training, both the thinking skills (associated with the highest levels) and the mathematical skills are not significantly higher than those of the students of the sixth grade of primary education (10-12 years), situation that affects educational quality, since they are not what would be expected in an adult. Currently, continuous and permanent training (once graduates) shows a decline in those activities focused on improving the teaching and learning processes, specifically those related to general and specific didactics, while it has occurred in last year an increase in activities on pedagogies and methodologies without the scientific support and evidence necessary to ensure that they mean an increase in the quality of teaching.
Finally, it has been observed that physical activity applied punctually during school hours, called active rest, contributes to improving attention span, which could have an impact on skills that require cognitive demand bigger.
For this reason, two pilot tests have been carried out, with children and young people (primary) and with teachers in training (to experience the positive effects on attention and concentration) and thus offer another tool for the improvement of the teaching exercise. The conclusion and perspectives of this thesis is that Bloom's revised taxonomy is a good instrument for both curriculum design and assessment tests, and that optimizing the design of study plans could lead to improvements in the training of the skills and competencies of the students of the degrees of education, as well as being able to complement them with physical activity, as it implies a series of cognitive benefits.