Link between Theory and Practice to understand Geometrical Optics at college-level in Engineering Schools of UANL considering competences model

Abstract

In this research, some questions about the operation of optical devices such as microscopes, telescopes and photography cameras were asked to students who had already attended Physics courses in Engineering Faculty. A lack of comprehension or a total ignorance in its operation was detected, even though that subject was already taught in their regular Physics classes. A similar survey about the teaching-learning process of this subject was applied to professors of the Engineering courses. The findings indicate that the docent process occurs in a traditional way. To solve this problem, a strategy to study the link between theory and practice was proposed as an attempt to promote a conceptual change by the development of the scientifically accepted competences as a component for the integral formation of students at College. For this reason, it was necessary to use Geometrical Optics equipment designed by the authors and complement it with the support of a Geometrical Optics software. In this paper, the results of the partial application of the strategy with students of Engineering Faculty are shown.