Philosophy and Background to Course Design
摘要
This chapter outlines the philosophy behind the design of the Graduate Certificate in STEM Education course that the PNG teachers were enrolled in. The course consisted of eight subjects, divided into two phases: the first focused on developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and the latter on applying that knowledge in realworld contexts. We adopted ideas from Jerome Bruner (spiral curriculum) and David Kolb (experiential learning theory) in course design. We used them in the “Cyclical Experiential Learning model”, which was underpinned by four phases: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation.This model effectively facilitated the progressive development of the teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and skills while achieving the key learning intentions across the eight subjects.