Informatics Education

Doctoral studies in the Theory Informatics Education is a natural response to the extraordinary increase in interest of developed educational systems in the adequate development of modern informatics thinking and cognition of pupils, starting from primary education and with a clear distinction between the development of their own informatics and comprehensive digital literacy. With its third stage, the Theory of Informatics Teaching is intended to provide the scientific education necessary for research in the field of informatics teaching and the development of informatics thinking. It is intended to prepare professionals for independent creative work and educational research on learning environments, innovative pedagogical interventions and research-oriented tools. It is to competently develop the potential of graduates in the search and validation of constructivist didactic forms, methods and needs of school informatics at all levels of education. Graduates of this field are able to design, research and evaluate con¬cepts of teaching informatics, are able to design, implement and analyze innovations of educational content, transform general educational objectives into specific contents and competently assess their developmental adequacy and effectiveness, find ways to implement opportunities for the development of creativity and humanization of education in the space of informatics education.

Graduate of the submitted study programme:

• knows the basics of modern pedagogy and psychology, especially those related to teaching in primary and secondary schools and to the theory of his/her field,
• has acquired modern research knowledge of the Theory of Informatics Education, 
• has acquired the principles of independent and team scientific work, scientific problem formulation, learn to present the results obtained, including at international level,
• is able to creatively apply the acquired knowledge in practice, acquire the ability to create and pedagogically explore the environments, tools, forms and methods of school informatics at all levels of education (including lifelong learning),
• will be qualified to find employment in professions related to the teaching of informatics (at all levels of education) and research in the Theory of Informatics Education,
• can lead small teams of scientists and researchers and take responsibility for complex research problem solving,
• can design, implement, test and analyse new approaches to the teaching of computer science and the development of algorithmic thinking,
• is able to follow and apply the latest scientific and research trends in his/her own field and to supplement and update his/her knowledge through lifelong learning, 
• is able to apply the legal, social, ethical and economic aspects of his/her profession in his/her work.

The study programme Theory of Informatics Education consists of three main parts (threads) – study, scientific and pedagogical (under the name of Other activities) and is conducted according to an individual study plan compiled by the supervisor and approved by the Council of the study programme Theory of Informatics Education. The study part includes individual study of literature related to the topic of the dissertation. The selection of this literature is made in consultation between the student, the supervisor and the supervisor of studies. We write in more detail about each of these parts below, following the actual study plan.

The compulsory elective courses represent the development of the student's knowledge in areas broader than the focus of the actual dissertation topic. The aim of the composition of the compulsory electives is to enable students, in collaboration with the tutors of these courses, to develop their ability to navigate current theories related to the Theory of Informatics Education, to develop the capacity to understand research papers in the field, to ask appropriate research questions, and to formulate appropriate, ambitious and dissertation-ready research problems. The student chooses from a wider range of courses, but at a minimum must earn 42 credits in this group of courses. Students are expected to take these courses in the first four semesters of study. Each of the courses is delivered as a three-hour course, supplemented by independent work with the scientific literature and work in the classrooms or specialized classrooms of our department. The selection of courses ensures the student's development in the field of informatics and computer science education, development in the planning of methods and organizational forms of education and the methodology of educational sciences, in pedagogical diagnostics, didactic analysis of the curriculum, preparation of teaching texts and other (e.g. software) learning environments, methodological materials, and also in the field of contemporary educational research in school informatics.

At the beginning of the 4th semester, the student submits a written thesis for the dissertation examination, and during this semester the student defends the thesis and also passes the dissertation examination. From the fifth semester onwards, the student's primary focus is on his/her research work. By defending the research plans presented in the dissertation examination paper, he/she is ready to carry out his/her research plan, using an appropriate research method or design. In collaboration with the supervisor and other staff and colleagues, he/she presents partial results of the work to a professional audience. The requirement for a minimum of 42 credits in this unit ensures that the student also gains experience in presenting the partial results of their work orally and in writing to a national and international audience.

Graduates of our study programme have found employment as university teachers, especially as didacticians of informatics involved in the preparation of future teachers (e.g. at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Šafárik University in Košice, Faculty of Natural Sciences, UKF in Nitra, FMPH UK in Bratislava, Faculty of Pedagogy in Trnava or FEL CTU in Prague), as innovative and widely accepted by the Informatics community teachers of Informatics at 2. In addition, the information technology community, which is widely accepted by the general public and the general public, is also represented in the informatics community as well as by the general public, as well as by the general public, as well as by the general public, as well as by the general public, as well as by the general public and the general public.

doc. RNDr. Ľudmila Jašková, PhD.
prof. RNDr. Róbert Jajcay, DrSc.
doc. RNDr. Tatiana Jajcayová, PhD.
prof. RNDr. Ivan Kalaš, PhD.
doc. RNDr. Zbyněk Kubáček, CSc.
doc. RNDr. Zuzana Kubincová, PhD.
doc. RNDr. Dana Pardubská, CSc.
doc. RNDr. Ľubomír Salanci, PhD.
doc. PaedDr. Mária Slavíčková, PhD.
prof. Ing. Veronika Stoffová, CSc. 
doc. PaedDr. Monika Tomcsányiová, PhD.
PaedDr. Peter Vankúš, PhD.

• Programming constructs in programming at primary level
  (supervisor: prof. RNDr. Ivan Kalaš, PhD.)
• Informatics at primary school and the development of structural thinking
  (supervisor: prof. RNDr. Ivan Kalaš, PhD.)
• Developing algorithmic thinking by programming music
  (supervisor: doc. RNDr. Ľudmila Jašková, PhD.)
• Teaching programming in secondary school
  (supervisor: doc. PaedDr. Monika Tomcsányiová, PhD.)
• Teamwork evaluation in informatics education
  (supervisor: doc. RNDr. Zuzana Kubincová, PhD.)
• Use of games and game elements in university informatics courses
  (supervisor: doc. RNDr. Zuzana Kubincová, PhD.)
• Current issues in teaching computer science
  (supervisor: doc. RNDr. Ľubomír Salanci, PhD.)
• Inclusion in teaching mathematics and informatics
  (supervisor: doc. PaedDr. Mária Slavíčková, PhD.)