Learning objectives

By the end of this module, students that will have followed the proposed activities will be able of
- knowing and understanding the epistemological bases of instruction and its main parts (curriculum design, instructional strategies, classroom management, assessment and evaluation);
- knowing and understanding the Italian education law documents about preschool and primary education;
- knowing and using the main methodological approaches to competence-based in-structional design;
- analyze and differentiate the main instructional methods in preschool and primary school institutions, with particular attention to active methods and to the use of ICT in education;
- understanding the different approaches in learning assessment;
- identifying possible interventions for a positive classroom management;
- communicating clearly to different people learned knowledge and reflections;
- reflecting critically on the learned elements, also in relationship to the specificity of the characteristics and demands of children in preschool and in primary school;
- reflecting on the main empirical research methods to improve the quality of educa-tional processes, with particular attention to qualitative research;
- reflecting on the followed course and identifying strategies for improving their own learning on the topic.

The course will deal with the following topics.
Education
- definition,
- epistemological and methodological bases of education,
- the habit of a teacher and the attention deserved by the subjects with the greatest difficulties,
- expertise of the teacher, educational research and innovation processes,
- evidence based education,
- the research on the analysis of educational practices.
Educational design
- the different levels of design,
- the reference to the National Indications to plan,
- An operational model to plan the development of competences in early education.
Instructional strategies
- factors that influence learning,
- direct and active instructional strategies,
- competence didactics in preschool and primary education,
- instructional technologies to foster learning.
Classroom management
- the group,
- the climate,
- classroom management,
- the management of problematic situations.
Assessment
- assessment of learning outcomes, evaluation of processes and systems,
- formative and sommative assessment,
- assessment for learning and provision of feedback as formative strategy,
- assessment of competence development.