Thinking the teaching of physics in terms of ‘competences’

Abstract

The notion of competence, broadly diffused in current science education worldwide, holds both opportunities and challenges. In this article I work with a definition of “school scientific competence” anchored in physics content. I examine the scientific activity from an epistemological perspective in order to detect general scientific competences, and competences in physics in particular, that could be considered “paradigmatic” (i.e. exemplary), and that can therefore be useful for citizenship preparation in the context of compulsory education. Among those paradigmatic competences, I am especially interested in school scientific modelling and school scientific argumentation, which I define and exemplify in this article.

Keywords

• Competencias científicas escolares
• Competencias paradigmáticas
• Concepción modelo teórica de la ciencia
• Modelización científica escolar
• Argumentación científica escolar.