Professor José Luís Ferraro serves as Visiting Professor in UK
Photo: Personal archive
PUCRS’ Prof. Dr. José Luís Ferraro went to the University of Oxford, in the UK, in support of the Institutional Project of Internationalization (PUCRS-PrInt), under the priority theme World in Motion: Individuals and Society. The researcher has been working with researchers of the British university on a research project on science capital engagement, with the aim of designing strategies to increase student engagement in science.
“When we designed science engagement strategies, we wanted to increase the scientific capital of these people, and consequently see an increase in the number of scientists who could have future impact on technological production and knowledge transfer. This would have an impact on the economy of the country”, Ferraro comments.
Museum Education
Working with the concept of science capital in formal and non-formal educational spaces is in line with another topic of interest for Ferraro: education in science museums and the relationship between museums / schools. “Because we need to rethink science education in Brazil, I came to Oxford to look for possibilities that can be applied also in our country, in order to make a contribution to the discussion,” the researcher says.
In view of University of Oxford Museum of Natural History and the Department of Education, Ferraro points to an important contemporary issue associated with Science Education in the UK: “Here, among other things, people are concerned about the future scientists. This is where schools and science museums come into play: science education needs to raise people’s awareness rather than just fascinate them”, he adds. José Luís Ferraro will be staying in Oxford until Feb 2020, when he is expected to return to PUCRS.
