Physics for Education

The aim of the study is:

- to create and develop professional knowledge and skills that graduates can use in practice, especially in further graduate studies,

- to establish skills and attitudes leading to further undergraduate study in physics and lifelong STEM education,

- create a positive attitude towards physics and science, including a positive attitude towards the communication of physical, natural and technical knowledge in society, especially to primary and secondary school pupils.

The study of the discipline links classical and modern parts of physics in a systematic consistent approach at the same level of abstract thinking and appropriate application of mathematical apparatus. The basic physics course is supplemented by a system of practical measurements and experimentation. Emphasis is placed on the continued establishment and understanding of key physics concepts (quantities, constants, laws, and theories) in an organic connection to their practical application. Students will acquire the basic skills of observation, experimentation, setting up experimental apparatus, measuring important physical quantities, forming hypotheses, and testing them theoretically and experimentally.

Overall, the study is aimed at creating disciplinary, pedagogical, psychological, communication and other personality-cultivating competences as a precursor to the follow-up Master's degree in physics teaching.

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Through studying for the Bachelor’s degree graduates gain the necessary competences that allow them to critically apply the use of their pedagogical and psychological knowledge in practice as a teaching assistant or other educational worker (e.g. free-time instructor in youth centres or after-school clubs, in various civic associations engaged in pedagogical activities) in an appropriate manner.

The degree develops students’ analytical and comparative skills, which enable them to understand the diverse pedagogical reality and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological publications in their work for planning, implementing and reflecting on educational activities. They develop communication skills important for communication and collaboration with pupils/clients, colleagues in the workplace, with parents of pupils/clients and with practitioners. An important benefit of the degree is the development of self-reflective skills that provide space for the development of attitudes towards one another, to educated individuals and to the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, the acceptance of the moral obligations of a helping profession and its ethics.

The studies emphasise the principle of interdisciplinarity (interconnection of some pedagogical and psychological subjects); the principle of sequence and gradation of themes and courses, from the more general to the more specific. The concept is also characterized by the interdependence of theory and practice. An important part of the concept is the reflective teaching practice. The principles of reflection on teaching practice and self-reflection are related both to practice and to other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the promotion of inclusion, which is perceived as a cross-curricular theme (also supported by a separate course).

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• use a broad knowledge and skills from sub-disciplines of physics
• use a synthetic view of physics through unifying concepts (energy etc.) and theories (laws of conservation, etc.)
• apply basic experimental skills in various areas of physics, including data processing and evaluation with the use of ICT
• use knowledge of science education for the design and implementation of assistant activities at lower secondary school and extracurricular science and technology activities
• describe and analyse an educational situation using specialised terminology and rules of effective pedagogical communication and to propose a change;
• use their knowledge and skills in communication with pupils, parents and teachers in the school context;
• cooperate with various teachers at school and under their leadership to plan, implement and reflect on the sequence of teaching and activities in relation to the appropriate school curriculum;
• use self-reflective skills to reflect on their actions: for example, to better justify and evaluate their arguments, to give voice to their emotions and their connection to some behaviour or to critically review their own attitudes towards education;
• use basic methods and tools of pedagogical diagnostics in teaching to support differentiation and individualization in teaching, thus gaining data which is available for the support of an individual pupil/client.
• The results can be communicated appropriately to pupils, teachers, and possibly parents and other professionals;
• explain the basic principles of inclusive and special education; to reflect on their attitude towards diversity and its influence on their own teaching;
• explain the basic concepts of developmental and social psychology and identify potential development difficulties or difficulties in social competences or pupil adaptation at school based on the knowledge
• of the dynamics of developmental and social-psychological aspects of the lives of pupils in the classroom.

According to Act No. 563/2004 Coll., on pedagogical staff, as amended, graduates can work as teaching assistants, instructors in leisure centres, as educators in youth homes, educators in day care centres, and in various civic associations engaged in pedagogical activities. In addition to the professional outcome, the graduate is prepared for entry into the follow-up master's degree programme in physics teaching.

• Teacher´s assistant

The standard duration of studies is six semesters. For admittance to the final state examination students must obtain a total of 180 ECTS credits in required, selective and elective courses. Required courses constitute the basis of the discipline. Out of the optional courses students choose according to their interests and intended professional specialization. For all students there is an obligation to complete at least one course taught in English from the ones on offer at the department for the given level of studies.

During the course of their studies students should follow the "Study catalogue" for their year of matriculation. They can access the "Study catalogues" through the faculty website.

The principles of supervision and evaluation of the studies are set out in the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University.

Reflected teaching practice is in accordance with the Framework Concepts at PdF MU. The system of teaching practice is long term and systematically directed towards developing the professional skills of the student and preparing them for the role of assistant teacher.

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The system of compulsory teaching practice is aimed at developing the students’ professional competences and preparing them for the full-fledged role of a teaching assistant. The aim of the teaching assistant practice is to acquire the necessary skills for individual work with a pupil outside the process of teaching (tutoring at school in the pupils’ homes) and also when working with a teacher during lessons.

The teaching practice consists of a coherent system of consecutive subjects, which are taken from the third to the fifth semester of the degree. These are the subjects teaching assistant practice - tutoring 1, teaching assistant practice - tutoring 2, consisting of individual tutoring (60 hours), teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 1 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 2 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice – teaching assistant 3. Overall, there 180 hours of teaching practice.

In the third and fourth semesters, the teaching practice is followed by the subjects self-experiential preparation for the profession 1 and self- experiential preparation for the profession 2, in which the students of the teaching assistant practice reflect (24 hours). Their aim is to enable students to have real experience with selected themes (see seminar topics) regarding personal and professional development through experiential learning with an emphasis on reflection; to encourage students to gradually take responsibility for their own learning process (self-directed learning); to enable students to become aware of and, if necessary, to revise their attitudes towards their future profession.

The system of teaching practice is regularly evaluated both through closed and open questions, both by students and the mentor teachers. The reflective seminars are also evaluated.

The objectives of the qualification work are defined by specific standards. Specific standards theses for bachelor degree course in Physics in Education and the related field of study Teacher Training in Physics Schools specifies requirements for the goals, content and formal requirements, evaluation of undergraduate (BP), master's (DP) and theses (ZP LLP) above of these fields. The Standard follows the Dean's Instruction No. 1/2015. The standards are based on the profile of the graduate of the above mentioned disciplines, focusing on his / her conception of the professional competencies of the teacher / teacher of chemistry of the second elementary school, or of the lower grades of grammar schools. Standards are intended for students and final assessors as a methodical aid in the creation, but also for the evaluation of bachelor's and master's theses (leaders and opponents). A standard scope of a Bachelor's thesis ranges from 80,000 to 96,000 characters including footnotes, cover sheet, content, index, list of literature, and annotations.

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The final work of the student demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of study in working on a specific professional-pedagogical problem. The type of final thesis corresponds to the content and level of the given degree of study. The student chooses from the following types of works: a) theoretical-applied, b) theoretical-empirical (research), c) theoretical. The types of work and recommendations for their implementation are further guided by the APA manual. The length of the final thesis ranges from 81,000 to 130,000 characters, including gaps, i.e. 45-60 standard pages.

The standards for the implementation of the final theses at different departments are in accordance with the Dean's Instructions No. 1/2015 on implementation of the final work (Bachelor's, Master’s, post-graduate non-PhD and final works for Life-long Education) in the version effective from 1.11.2015.

The thesis follows the following goals based on the profile of the graduate of the Faculty of Education of MU. Students:

-demonstrate an awareness of the current issues of their field of study, they can clearly and comprehensibly define the topic of the final thesis and its objectives, describe the initial state of knowledge and propose appropriate methods of achieving their stated goals;

-work with appropriate primary and secondary sources of information, cite them according to a valid standard (APA) and in accordance with the ethics of academic work;

-through the creation of their own text they demonstrate stylistic competence, and the ability to create an academic text;

-demonstrate the ability to ask questions and solve problems, to formulate new ideas and conclusions that bring at least some new knowledge about the phenomenon being studied, or enrich the methodological (in the area of research) or methodical (in the area of education) procedures in relation to clearly defined target groups (pupils at primary and secondary school, groups with specific educational needs, etc.).

A graduate of a bachelor's degree programme may (after fulfilling the admission requirements) go on to any follow-up master's degree programme, for example, the follow-up master's degree programme in physics teaching.