Abstract
The development of research competence in teacher training is essential to improve educational quality. For this reason, it is necessary that educational processes proposed at university adapt to current demands, incorporating gamification procedures and new technologies as teaching-learning tools. The objective of this chapter was to analyze the application of an educational escape room for the development of research competence in students of the Primary Education Degree. The results of this study showed that the application of the virtual escape room allowed the development of positive attitudes towards research, as well as the strengthening of some of skills and concepts acquired. In the same way, the importance of the university professor as a guide and counselor of educational processes planned in the Primary Education Degree was highlighted. The use of the virtual escape room emerges as a mechanism for the research competence development in higher education.
TopResearch Competence In Teacher Professional Development
Research competence integrates a set of concepts, skills, attitudes and learning strategies (know how to learn) aimed at the implementation of the different tasks that make up a research process. That is to say, research competence includes basic professional and scientific knowledge, pedagogical attitudes and values, research skills and learning techniques (i.e., searching and selection of information, needs detection and problems specification, setting of objectives, information collection and analysis procedures or presentation and interpretation of results). Other tasks that would compose this competence would be the ability to work in a team, make reports, be creative in solving educational problems and have adequate communication skills (Böttcher & Thiel, 2018; Gómez-Núñez et al., 2020; Sabariego et al., 2020; Syzdykbayeva et al., 2015). Teachers show their investigative aptitude by searching for new solutions to the detected difficulties, analysing, synthesising and knowing the proposed actions, by significantly reflecting on the carried out studies, adjusting their investigative processes, using and disseminating their studies, improving their professional skills and being creative in innovative processes that are implemented within school contexts (Balloo, 2019; Dzyubenko et al., 2021).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Learning and Knowledge Technologies (LKT): Learning tools which can be applied in educational contexts, that is, ICT have been renamed LKT in reference to the use that students make of this resource to progress in their learning
Primary Education Degree: University career with a duration of four years, which allows the academic and professional development of teachers for children from 6 to 12 years old (Primary Education).
Spanish Organic Law: Regulation elaborated by the Spanish government of compliance in all the regions or provinces of this country. These regulations are usually adapted (within certain limits) to meet the needs and demands of different educational contexts.
Distance Teaching: Educational modality that takes place virtually or online, through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), apps and platforms linked to the Internet.
Descriptive Case Study: Research design that provides an in-depth understanding of a program or an innovation. This design has a illustrative character, so it is not based on previous hypotheses or universal theories.
Research Skills: Ability or set of abilities allow research process development (i.e. search for information, data analysis, coherent writing, etc.). Skill should not be confused with competence. The term “competence” is broader and would include the concept of ability or skill.
Research Competence: Set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and learning strategies that allow developing of efficient and effective research processes in different educational or scientific fields.