Directory

Description

The Research Unit for Didactics of Physics (URDF) is active at the University of Udine since 1992 with a small number of internal staff persons and a wide group of partially internal staff persons. That is because it won a competition for partial leadership at the University of Udine for the training of the teaching personnel (5 persons), to which on average 2 research doctorate students per cycle are to be added, together with 8 teaching researchers and 12 teaching collaborators.

The URDF established (in 1994) the Laboratory Center for the Didactics of Physics (CLDF) at the Interdepartmental Center for Didactic Research (CIRD). It established the first Italian doctoral line in the SSD Fis08 within the scope of the local doctoral course in mathematics, informatics and physics. It managed the Did-Sci-UD and PFDS Master courses promoted by the Ministry for University and Research as strategic at the national level, for the training of science teachers in the lower secondary schools. It managed the IDO Master course of the University of Udine for didactic innovation and the school-university collaboration on active learning, documentation and evaluation. Within the scope of the Scientific Degree Plan (PLS), it is active since 1996 with the IDIFO projects, within which it is the leading partner of 18 Universities for the didactics of modern physics, the training of teachers, the didactic innovation based on new information technologies, communications and orientation. Within this context, it managed 5 national Master courses and 6 Advanced Courses in e-learning, 7 national schools for talented students, 4 national schools for teachers.

It carried out, under its own autonomous responsibility, the following research projects:

European Projects:

Interreg III European Project: Italy-Slovenia on materials for the basic scientific education (2004-2006);
Project leader for Italy of three European projects on the didactics of electromagnetism and superconductivity: Supercomet2 (2005-2007), Mosem (2007-2009), Mosem2 (2008-2010);
Leader for the University of Udine in the European Network EUPEN(2002-2008) and of the subsequent EU STEPS and STEPS TWO projects (2009-2011);
Leader for Italy of the EU SECURE Project concerning the basic scientific curriculum;
EU HOPE Project (2014-2017).

National Projects:

15 projects of the National Research Center (CNR) and the Ministry for the University and Research having national relevance (PRIN) for the research in didactics of physics and the training of teachers (1992-2007);
2 finalised projects of the Ministry for Public Education: LabTec as to the innovation of scientific didactics with new technologies (1999) and BRI as to collaborative research involving schools and Universities (2000);
18 projects of the Ministry for Public Education as to the dissemination of scientific culture (L6/2000);
4 projects selected by the Ministry for the University and Research within the scope of the Three-Year Development Plan of the Universities on orientation and tutoring (1995-2007);
12 Regional Projects. It also collaborates on the international level with 12 Universities and the scientific communities of GIREP, ESERA, AAPT, MPTL, LASERA and on the national level with AIF, SIF, GEO.

Research subjects

Innovative and original didactic paths
Development, testing and publication of multimedia curriculum units, learning objects for blended e-learning activities
Models and modules for the initial and ongoing training of teachers
modelli ed azioni istituzionali di collaborazione scuola - università secondo il modello di ricerca CRUS, nell'ambito del primo ed ancora unico centro insegnanti universitario italiano (CLDF)
Informal education
Development of proposals and analysis of effectiveness in the learning processes for experimental problem solving (PSO method)
Interactive telematic environments for learning and for the distance training of teachers: implementation and use, targeted research experiments
studio di processi di apprendimento e costruzione del pensiero formale nell’educazione scientifica di base: progettazione e sperimentazione di strumenti e metodi, percorsi
innovazione nella didattica della fisica a livello universitario, con particolare riguardo a strumenti e metodi per il successo formativo di studenti di area Agraria, Biologica, Biotecnologica, delle Tecnologie Alimentari
Development of didactic proposals for modern physics for the secondary schools and universities