Didactic unit: definition, what it is for and how to prepare it

The teaching and learning process is a complex process., which allows us to acquire knowledge and skills that help us adapt to the environment effectively. In addition, it enriches us as people through a multitude of contents and themes.

To carry it out, a very important concept in education is the didactic unit, which allows structuring and applying knowledge in a methodical way. In this article we will know what this method consists of, what elements influence its design and what components make it up.

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Didactic unit: what is it?

The didactic unit is a concept of teaching, and consists of a method of planning the teaching and learning process.. This method is designed and applied by teachers or professors at different levels and educational sectors, although it is used especially in infant education and at earlier ages.

Thus, the didactic units are actually specific topics that are intended to be taught to the students, always adjusting to the age of the student and to other elements: examples of them are: "vertebrate animals", "pronouns", "diacritical accents", "colors", "prime numbers", "subtractions", etc

As we can see, they will be adjusted to a specific subject or academic project (for example, biology, mathematics, language...). In addition to the theme, the didactic unit includes all the methodology, activities, resources to be used, objectives, etc., that arise around them.

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What is it for?

Thus, the didactic unit develops various functions, although The main one is to organize and structure the topics that will be dealt with in a certain school year or period of time.. It also allows sequencing the contents to be dealt with during the course, following a logic and taking into account the age and educational level of the students.

Elements to consider

When designing and programming a didactic unit, The teacher must take into account a series of elements, which will allow organizing the resources and creating an effective didactic unit. and adapted to the group of students, such as the following.

1. Student age

The age of the students will guide the design of the didactic unit, since the knowledge that it intends to provide must be adjusted to the age of the student so that they can be acquired normally and effectively.

2. Level of development

The level of development of the student, closely related to the previous parameter, should also be taken into account. This refers to the skills and prior knowledge available to the student when starting their learning.

3. Familiar surroundings

The student's family environment should be taken into account especially in the application of the didactic unit, in the sense that the teacher must be aware that each student has a specific family and home situation, which can alter the learning process.

4. Available resources

The available resources are another element that will influence the design and planning of the didactic units, since the teacher must adapt her proposal to the resources available to the school.

5. curriculum project

Finally, The curricular project refers to the educational strategies established by the teacher in order to develop their educational practice.. This is born from an exhaustive analysis of the student's context, the characteristics of the center, etc.

Thus, it is an element closely related to the didactic unit, which must be adjusted and follow the premises of the curricular project of each center and/or teacher.

Components

Every didactic unit is made up of a series of elements or sections that are always the same, although, logically, they vary in content. These are the following:

1. Description

The first part or component of a didactic unit is the description, which consists of a kind of summary or global file of the unit, where the most relevant data of the same appear.

It proposes the topic to be dealt with, as well as the name or title of the unit. In addition, it includes the previous knowledge that the student must present in order to receive said didactic unit, as well as the initial activities scheduled to teach it.

The description also includes other elements, such as: the subjects to whom it is addressed, the total number of sessions or classes necessary to that didactic unit and its duration, the start date of said unit, the proposed completion date and the resources that are intended use.

2. Goals

In the second component or section of the didactic unit are the objectives or didactic objectives. These include the knowledge and skills that students are expected to learn through the didactic unit. Generally, each didactic unit is made up of about 8 objectives, although the ideal range is between 6 and 10.

The objectives can be specific (concrete) or general.

3. Contents

The contents include those knowledge that are intended to be taught. These are not "isolated" contents, but are logically related to the didactic unit in question, to the previous knowledge necessary to understand said unit, with the student's abilities and with the methodology to be used, among others.

The contents are born from the previous section, that is, from the didactic objectives. For a correct acquisition and learning of the contents, it will be necessary to specify which procedures or tools will be used to treat or expose said contents.

4. Sequence of activities

The following section of any didactic unit includes those activities (their order of application, duration, theme...) that will be carried out, as well as the relationship between them. Thus, as in any section, everything must be clearly specified: the duration of each activity, the order of their application, how many students they are addressed to, the resources necessary etc

In this section it will be necessary to take into account if there is any curricular adaptation of any student (or students) in question. Curricular adaptations consist of a type of educational strategy that is applied to students with learning difficulties or special educational needs; it is about adapting the objectives and/or contents to be taught so that they are accessible to the student.

5. Methodology

In this section of the didactic unit It is intended to determine how the unit in question is going to be taught to the students, and includes what procedures, methods, strategies and educational tools will be used..

The methodology also includes the organization of time and space for each didactic unit, as well as each of its parts, sessions or activities.

6. materials and resources

This section includes these two components: the materials and resources that will be needed and that are intended to be used to develop the different didactic units. They must be indicated in a detailed and specific way.

The objective of these components is to promote that the activities can be programmed and executed following regular application guidelines, and they aim to prevent possible setbacks.

7. Evaluation of teaching unit

The last section or component of the didactic unit is its evaluation.. Here a series of criteria and indicators of evaluation and evaluation of each activity and unit will be indicated.

The objective of the evaluation is to determine if the knowledge that was intended to be taught has been acquired and consolidated, and it has a lot to do with the didactic objectives; that is, it determines if they have been achieved or not. The evaluation includes a series of strategies, such as exams, questions, debates, projects, etc.

Bibliographic references:

• Area, m. (1993). Didactic units and research in the classroom. A model for collaborative work between teachers. Didactic notebooks, 3-92.

• Pineda, J.D. (2014) Didactic unit for the teaching of additive structures in the third and fifth grades of primary school. Master's thesis, National University of Colombia - Manizales Headquarters.