Teaching Plant Diversity at University: Evaluation of the Students to a New Didactic Proposal Based on the Problematization of Knowledge

Abstract

This paper presents a didactic innovation for Plant Diversity II teaching (Biological Sciences Program). This proposal is based on a new teaching methodology as well as on new course syllabus contents. The methodological change consists of a shift from a traditional transmission-reception model of teaching (teacher-centered teaching), to a problem posing and solving learning system (student-centered learning). The proposals were evaluated through the opinion of students attending classes under both pedagogical modalities. The aim of the survey was to evaluate their perceptions with respect to each modality in general, and to the achievement of goals in particular. The highest percentage of students approved the proposal based on problem solving, since they found it is possibleto acquire the abilities defined by the course learning objectives. Furthermore, students acknowledged that this didactic innovation encourages conceptual discussion, critical analysis of theories and methods, and a greater participation in data search and synthesis of information about plants. To conclude, although some methodological adjustments need to be made, it can be proved that this new didactic proposal helps students to self-manage their knowledge about plant diversity.