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This paper analyzes the comments that were published (Olivares Campiño, 2014) in response to a previous article of mine on the teaching of chemical formulation in the secondary school classroom (Fernández González, 2013). It highlights the disparity between the science teaching approach in my article and the discipline-oriented approach in the comments responding to my article. The author of the response interprets the differences between the two approaches as errors when these differences actually stem from a process of didactic transposition that adapts expert knowledge to the needs of secondary school students. This paper defends the coherence of my proposal for the teaching of chemical formulation, which is based on the historical atomic model and the concept of valence. This proposal is thus a science classroom model, which can change and evolve as the student reaches higher academic levels. Without a single reference to PCK, the response to my article mainly focuses on aspects related to norms and standards as well as to the discipline itself. This paper satisfactorily addresses these criticisms and underlines that formulation is a means of learning Chemistry and should not be conceived as an end in itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a number of ideas related to distance education and its role in teaching and learning are considered. Although these considerations have been made principally with highly able students in mind, our aim has been to generalize the possibilities of curriculum diversification and flexibility for all students be they highly able or not. It is true that the most capable students have special characteristics regarding the way they learn, which are obvious. No less obvious is that if we heed the principals which govern the teaching-learning process, all students should benefit from learning at their own pace, frequent evaluation, prescriptive teaching, etc. These are all characteristics of good teaching. Perhaps, for this reason, it would be fair to state that when teaching highly able students is taken seriously, the whole school benefits. The paper ends with some specific considerations on the distance education model which is followed by CTY Spain, a charter member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth International, a center which is highly recognized throughout the world for the instruction of highly able students everywhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the theoretical assumptions of constructivism in order to understand it from the perspectives of epistemology and pedagogy. In the first section, three relevant constructivist positions (radical, Piaget's, and social constructivism) are describe as a necessary condition to explore the possibility of advancing in the characterization of a constructivist epistemology and to be able to show the epistemological difficulties entailed. The second section, constructivism as a pedagogic theory, examines the constructivist pedagogy to show its contribution to teaching. In addition, some pedagogy objections requiring clarification regarding the theme are mentioned. Finally, by establishing a connection from the epistemological and pedagogical perspectives of constructivism, it is suggested that constructivism is not a theory of teaching but rather a u of raisins epistemological problems and trying to solve them. It is not the intention this paper to fall into simplifications which are typical of constructivism but to high light some of its positive aspects such as underlining the importance of a positive attitude in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the bodies responsible for designing the curricula in our country have included the English discipline in them and have conceived graduate profiles covering elements that require knowing this language. They have invested in the training of teachers, the reproduction of materials, methods designed abroad by native English-speaking specialists, and some sound reproduction equipment in line with the economic resources of the country. More recently, various Cuban authors specialized in English language have been asked to design the basic materials used to teach the courses in the program. The efforts made over the years have yielded some results, although they could be qualitatively superior. This paper presents a reflection on some elements that still hamper the achievement of better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic actions against Cuba since the 90's have had a negative impact on laboratory practicals in the Basic Sciences, leading to changes in the curriculum. This paper reviews the feasibility of rescuing and improving such activities related to the Physiology content inserted in the discipline of Morphophysiology. The objective was to identify the Physiology content to be taught in the practicals and define the means and innovations necessary to complete them. The practicals that can be carried out with the available means are presented and characterized. It is concluded that the exercises and topics covered in the practicals coincide with the Physiology content corresponding to Morphophysiology I, III, V and VI and that they can be carried out with the existing resources as well as other innovated by the authors. This way of proceeding saves resources by replacing media or reagents and leads to more effective learning, plus better preparation of teachers to meet the challenges posed by the curriculum D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper establishes a relation between the philosophy didactics and the philosophy of education, trying to prove that there is, in fact, many authors believe, a relation between both. Not because philosophy implies always, like some authors think, a certain kind of teaching, but only when teaching learning of philosophy corresponds to the nature of philosophy and to its specific demands. Wich means that a philosophy didactics, that corresponds to the nature of philosophy, presupposes a philosophy of education in wich the education is not philosophic at all. In that case, and only in that case, there is a philosophy of education on is most noble aspect, the one that philosophy demands and presuppose but rarely honours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]