The science of didactics

Abstract

The teaching profession faces multiple challenges. Teachers must develop course outlines, give their courses and evaluate what has been learned. But, as all those involved at college-level instruction know, the teaching profession is not limited to those three activities. Teachers must also take part in program development and evaluation, in the production and revision of master plans, in the development of course outlines. They must select appropriate teaching methods for the different types of content they teach. They must also carefully choose methods to seek out students’ learning difficulties that are often specific to their subject matter. In addition, they must accompany students on the road to conceptual and formal understanding of their subject, in spite of the individual differences and varying learning goals. This list is far from being comprehensive but all activities referred to have one thing in common: They are fundamentally didactics-related activities.