Integración interdisciplinaria de las Ciencias de la Tierra en el currículo de Secundaria: estudio de caso en el contexto colombiano

Abstract

A multiple case study was conducted on four middle-high school teachers in Colombian public schools to analyze how educators from different subject matter areas teach Earth Science (ES) topics under the current curriculum design. Participants answered a 38-open-question qualitative survey and carried out a transversality exercise. According to the results, the most common topics taught are those related to the Earth and the universe, meteorology, and the environment, revealing their importance in secondary education. Overall, Natural Sciences and STEM teachers have more conceptual clarity and introduce a broader range of topics. Although we did not implement any instrument in the student groups, all teachers expressed the importance of strengthening the ES teaching in secondary education and the need to overcome the existent barriers that  inder their practical application in the classroom, which include time constraints and the lack of resources and knowledge about  specialized educational materials to support the instruction. We included a curricular proposal of ES topics that enhances the performance expectations consigned in the Natural and Social Sciences national standards. We encourage geoscientists and  researchers in Earth Sciences Education (ESE) to explore interventional and formation strategies designed for school teachers to support the interdisciplinary integration of the ES in the curricula, improving the quality of the ESE in Colombia.