The Institute is known within UPC BarcelonaTech as ICE (Institute of Education Sciences – Institut de Ciències de l'Educació).
Informative note
Overview specially prepared for English-speaking visitors. Information subject only to relevant changes. Specific questions or suggestions: info.ice@upc.edu. For a complete experience, we recommend visiting the Catalan version of the website using your browser's automatic translator.
Mission
Our main mission is to contribute to driving educational quality at the UPC through the promotion of innovation and the improvement of teaching and learning in higher education, as well as the training of academic staff in the use of new educational resources.
Objectives and lines of action
Our main objective is to provide teaching staff with practical solutions that facilitate the simple use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in teaching activities, as well as the effective adoption of proven teaching and learning methods that help focus on meaningful student learning.
To achieve this objective, the Institute is organized into three lines of action:
- Teacher training
- Promotion of innovation
- Secondary school teacher training
Areas of interest
- Competency-based teaching and learning
- Lifelong learning competencies
- Course planning and development
- Measurement of learning (assessment and grading)
- Questionnaires for continuous improvement
- Curriculum development
- Academic staff roles: Teaching, Research, Technology transfer, Management, and University extension activities.
- Communities of Practice and Knowledge Management
- Peer review, classroom observation, Digital educational materials (E-based)
- Active methodologies
- Collaborative/cooperative learning
- Problem-based/Project-organized learning (PBL)
- CLIL methodology (Content and Language Integrated Learning)
- Portfolios
- Mentoring
Activities
Teacher Training
- Courses, workshops, and seminars on topics related to the ICE's areas of interest.
- Postgraduate in STEAM teaching: a comprehensive training program aimed at university teaching staff.
- Welcome Program: aimed at new academic staff; includes the coordination of ad-hoc documents and a welcome session.
Promotion of innovation
- Promotion of teaching innovations and initiatives by UPC teaching staff: grants and events.
- Information on new trends and advances in university education.
- Advice on the integration of technology in teaching and development of technical projects.
Secondary School Teacher Training
- Master's Degree in Secondary School Teacher Training (Technology, Mathematics, and Vocational Training).
- Teacher training courses in areas related to the UPC's specialization and expertise.
- Development of teaching and learning resources.
Milestones
2021 – The Institute of Education Sciences launches at UPC BarcelonaTech the first course of the PhD in Engineering, Science, and Technology Education.
2020 – The Institute of Education Sciences at UPC BarcelonaTech celebrates 50 years since its creation.
2012 – The Institute of Education Sciences at UPC BarcelonaTech becomes an academic unit in the university's renewed statutes.
2003 – The Institute of Education Sciences at UPC BarcelonaTech is recognized in the university's new statutes as a structural unit, at the same level as research institutes, schools, faculties, and departments.
1970 – The Institutes of Education Sciences (ICE) are created by law in Spanish universities. In their beginnings, they were centers dedicated to research and the promotion of educational specialization, aimed at both pre-university and university teaching staff.
Team
The team is made up of academic staff, staff commissioned from the Department of Education and Vocational Training of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and technical, management, administration, and service staff. It is a group of professionals from the fields of computer science, education, training, multimedia, administration, and management, under the direction of an academic council made up of UPC professors. The team is qualified to provide support in ICT, multimedia, and educational methodologies.
The director is Dr. Antoni Pérez-Poch
A complete list of staff, with their phone numbers and email addresses, can be consulted here.
Role within the UPC
Within the UPC, the Institute acts as a body that provides consultancy, assistance, resources, and training to the university's teaching staff.
Its work complements the activities carried out by other UPC bodies in supporting the teaching activity of academic staff. The Institute's key role as a facilitator so that existing university resources are put at the service of teaching and learning is increasingly relevant.
The need for the work carried out by the Institute is supported by the fact that the UPC does not offer degrees in Pedagogy.
Governance
The ICE board, chaired by the rector of the UPC, is the main governing body of the ICE. The director of the institute is appointed by the rector for a six-year term.
