Towards the development of a Science program at Cégep@distance
Many people agree that the world of science instruction is undergoing a period of profound self-questioning. How can we make science more attractive to young people? What can be done to place the learner at the centre of the learning process? What is the role of ICT in our arsenal of teaching tools? Our understanding of the way students learn science is rapidly advancing and influencing the way teaching activities are designed. As teachers, we all want to give our students a strong scientific and technological foundation to face the world’s emerging challenges. We know that our pedagogical approach has to evolve in order to foster the development of competencies suited to the new knowledge-based society, especially those related to the realm of information and communication technology.
It is at this juncture that Cégep@distance announces that it has begun to develop its first Science program. In this era of social media, new technologies are finally permitting us to open up the discussion and to collaborate on solutions to these problems. We invite professors from the college network to weigh in on how they feel the program should be developed, based on their own interests. We are hoping to find some novel solutions to address certain issues that are particular to the Science program, such as the integration of courses in a program-based approach, the development of a bank of teaching scenarios, and competency-based evaluations.
In addition to the opportunity to share thoughts on teaching, the project’s other major benefit will be to offer professors access to the teaching and learning resources developed by Cégep@distance (such as teaching scenarios, video capsules, simulations, formative evaluations, practical activities, etc.). We see this as a unique opportunity to develop a suite of innovative, modern, and systemic solutions that you will be able to use with your students in a wide variety of pedagogical contexts. By opening itself up to the college network, this approach will provide benefits for many stakeholders, as well as a tangible contribution to the educational heritage of Québec.
We are currently working on a website that will allow us to host a collaborative working community. More details to come at www.cegepadistance.ca.
Until then, if this adventure is of interest to you, we encourage you to start thinking about the fields of interest and expertise that you would like to discuss and how you would like to get involved. Looking forward to meeting you soon!
