Education
The Institute for Science Education (ISE) has significantly influenced STEM education at the Faculty of Science. It offers an elective minor in science pedagogy, supervises internships and theses in STEM fields, and coordinates a two-year educational Master's programmes at the faculty. ISE also aims to advise on educational innovations to the faculty and institutes while focusing on scientific, design-oriented research.
Programmes
The Institute for Science Education offers a Minor in Science Education as an elective for undergraduates, a Master's degree programme in Education Science, and provides professional teaching development courses for academic staff. It also plans to play a leading role in the pedagogical, instructional training of student assistants.
Minor Science Education
The elective minor in science pedagogy is available for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Science. It's beneficial for exploring a teaching career and useful for fields involving learning and communication about science, even outside teaching. More information will follow.
Master's in science education
The institute coordinates the two-year educational Master's programme: Educatie in de Bètawetenschappen. This programme is offered in collaboration with the Radboud Teachers Academy. ISE provides the subject-specific components of this master's programme. This involves collaboration with educational institutions within the faculty and requires expertise in the content and didactics of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science. The programme also includes cross-disciplinary elements such as research methodology and supervision, and works together with the RDA to integrate courses.
Supervision of science education research
The institute's educational researchers also supervise theses for Bachelor's students with an interest in science education and for Master's students in the Educational Master. Examples of research topics include: Evoking wonder with Sci-Fi for Quantum Tunneling, Reducing math anxiety with fractions, Learning about the dynamics of the nitrogen cycle through modelling, and Professionalisation of biology teachers for interdisciplinary topics.
Professional Teaching Development of Academic Staff and Teaching Assistants
The institute aims to provide subject-specific pedagogical expertise to science teachers from the faculty, which is aligned with their teaching practices in the field of science. This approach will complement existing university teaching qualification programmes and offer valuable support to teaching staff. Furthermore, ISE plays a role in the pedagogical, instructional training of (student) teaching assistants. The institute evaluates and guides the content of the existing range of training courses, in close collaboration with the Education Centre and the educational institutes.