Research projects in science education for preschool, evolution, and results in curriculum development, evaluation tools, and teacher workshops.

Abstract

The national preschool curriculum in Mexico considers 80 hours for learning science during the school year. Early child science education is essential for developing skills and positive attitudes toward science. However, for the instruction to be successful, teachers must have adequate knowledge of science and science didactic. In the case of Mexico, preschool science curriculum and teacher preparation are insufficient. There are few professional development courses for in-service and pre-service teachers, and the material and textbooks for this educational level is limited. The Department of Physics Education of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico had different projects that involve the design of curriculum, experiment manuals, evaluation tools, postgrad thesis, and teacher professional development workshops. This work presents the results and analysis of the evolution of these projects and their influence in classrooms.