For the fourth year, the Faculty of Biological Sciences (FCB) of the University of Concepcion has organized its Biology Improvement Program for General Education Teachers, a free event benefiting basic and secondary education teachers from municipal institutions in the municipalities of Concepcion, Chiguayante and Hualque, Florida.
The initiative provides up-to-date content on cell biology, immunology, neurobiology, evolution, and ecology, among others; Which is taught by scholars with extensive research experience. In addition, two modules have been completed called “Teaching Strategies for Biology”, which will be led by Academician from the University of Chile and Director of Par Explora in the Northern Capital Region, Dr. Mario Cheung Lai.
According to the Dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Dr. Jorge Fuentealba Arcos, this allows “to strengthen the training of science teachers, so that they can deliver education with new tools and advanced knowledge to boys, girls and young people.”
One of the participants in this case is Concepcion Girls High School teacher, Pilar Vallejos Avila, who said: “I participate every time they implement this improvement, because it is necessary to modernize ourselves and be able to provide our students with knowledge that will be useful to them.” He added that “college professors They guide us to know with certainty the content that children need when they enter university.”
Meanwhile, a teacher at Coppiolmo High School in Florida, Daniel Romero Espinosa, who is participating in this program for the third year, said that “it is very important that we have this opportunity to train at an important university like UdeC.” “It was also a free activity, so these cases are rare, and in this sense, it is a great opportunity for the training of science teachers and for our students, to whom we provide everything we are today. Learning,” he stressed.
The teacher described the experience as “very rewarding. We covered many topics, and this year in particular, it was very useful because it is related to the contents that are assessed in the specific knowledge test that teachers give from time to time.
In this regard, the coordinator of this improvement program and academician of the Department of Physiology at FC Barcelona, Dr. Patricio Castro Maldonado, noted that “this course has been integrated into the programmatic offer of the UdeC 2024 Summer School to open it to the community and respond to the growing interest expressed by teachers.” From different institutions participate. The idea is that we can develop it every year and cover other communities to cooperate with education in our region.
Regarding the topics taught, Dr. Castro stated that they were “selected based on requirements set by the teachers themselves on previous occasions.” He added, “This version of the course is distinguished by the specificity of including contents that are taken into account in the teaching evaluation process, which is a way to also contribute to the preparation of teachers in this process.”
Gaps between public and private institutions
Following the announcement of the PAES 2023 results, the discussion focuses on the gap in university admission between paid private institutions versus aided and public institutions. The relevant fact is that in the ranking of the top 100 schools nationwide, only two belong to municipal education, and none of them belong to the Biobio region.
Therefore, Dean Dr. Jorge Fuentealba commented: “This reality shows us a concrete need, which prompts us to continue our commitment to developing and strengthening support strategies in the field of science in general education.” In this sense, he explained that FC Barcelona is considering implementing various initiatives. “We have a program or activities to update teachers such as the Science Week, the Future Scientists Competition, and the Brain Awareness Week, all of which aim to improve the quality of science education for students.” Thousands of boys, girls and young people in our region.”
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