The Department of Chemistry Education (formerly Department of Teaching and Didactics of Chemistry) was established in 1988 as the historically first department in Czechoslovakia. We are part of the Chemistry Section of the Faculty of Science, Charles University. The department focuses on chemical education and guarantees the education of future secondary chemistry teachers and upper elementary school teachers of chemistry. And in cooperation with other departments, also combinations of chemistry education with biology, mathematics, geology, and physics. Accredited study programs cover the bachelor and master study fields. And successful absolvents can continue their studies in the accredited doctoral (Ph.D.) study program Didactics of Chemistry, which focuses on research and development activities at all levels of chemical education. The department organizes lifelong learning courses for chemistry teachers, supplementary studies for graduates of other chemical disciplines, and the "University of the third age" in chemistry.
We also organize preparatory courses in chemistry for high school students interested in studying at universities. The department participates in several international projects, including projects supported by the ESF. The department's employees are active members of international organizations and participate in many other activities in chemical education.
History of the Department
The preparation of future science teachers in secondary schools has always been part of several study programs at the Faculty of Science. But the separate scientific discipline focused on the education of chemistry teachers was established in the 1960s in the 1960s, and by 1972 the Faculty of Science Charles University established a department that focused on teaching, methodology, and history of natural sciences, specifically the teaching of biology and chemistry. In 1988, several independent departments dedicated to teaching natural sciences were established, and the Department of Chemistry Education was one of them.