ULS hosted the IV Congress of the Chilean Society of Scientific Education

This biannual event, of an international nature, sought to socialize and consolidate the work of the research community, as well as promote the exchange of current research and educational innovations at a national and international level.

Under the motto of “Scientific Education in Times of Change”, the IV Congress of the Chilean Society of Scientific Education, SChEC, and the University of La Serena (co-host) was held. This activity sought to promote, at a national and international level, the communication and appreciation of research and innovation related to the teaching and learning of science, with a view to the changes that are being experienced in the educational field, both at the school and university level. where every day the need to put the person at the center of training is perceived, taking into account their context, their history and their diversity.

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The Congress was held at the University of La Serena (ULS). However, as a result of the health contingency, it was carried out virtually.

At the opening of the event, the ULS Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, highlighted that holding this Congress “constitutes an opportunity for training and updating in scientific education issues, strengthening training and research spaces in the area with academic peers and national students. and foreigners. In addition, it contributes to the Policy of Linkage with the Institutional Environment of the University of La Serena, since it seeks to enhance and strengthen links with the regional and national environment.”

The highest university authority added that this fourth version of the Congress, as in previous years, seeks to generate spaces for discussion that allow for improvements in the quality of Scientific Education in Chile, through research and educational practices, in all levels, in formal and informal contexts through a group of teachers, researchers, academics, pedagogy students, disseminators, among other professionals dedicated to scientific education.

For the university, this is an important opportunity, since science is fundamental in the academic and pedagogical development of the institution. In relation to this, Mg. Francisco López, academic of the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Sciences of the ULS, commented that “it is of great relevance for the ULS to host this Congress, particularly because it covers a specific area which is training and education in science, and The ULS is one of the universities in the Northern Macrozone that has the largest number of science pedagogies. Here the teachers who will educate and teach people in the future are trained. On the other hand, it is important because it decentralizes. The company has always had the objective of not carrying out all activities in Santiago, but rather moving them to regions.”

The SChEC is represented by a group of diverse members from the area of ​​pedagogy and research related to science teaching, who, with the objective of contributing to improving the quality of scientific education in Chile, on November 7, 2013, constituted, the Chilean Society of Scientific Education as a Non-Profit Scientific Society.

In relation to the latter, López mentions that scientific education is not only designed for those young people who are going to dedicate themselves to science in the future, but for the entire society. In this way, a scientifically literate citizenry can be formed, so that they can make decisions based on scientific evidence that supports them.

This activity featured speakers from various parts of the world, such as Melina Furman, from the University of San Andrés, Argentina; Conxita Marquez, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​Spain; and Renee Schwartz. President of NARST, Georgia State University, United States, among other guests.

For registration and more information, you can visit schec.cl.

Written by Nicolás Monardes, ULS Journalism intern student - Faculty of Sciences - Office of Dissemination and Dissemination of Science and Technology.