Designing a learning environment based on the spiral of skills to overcome the didactic obstacles associated with teaching the Daniell cell

Abstract In a teaching context based on the competency approach, the creation of an appropriate teaching-learning environment requires, among other things, teachers to master the meaning of the concepts taught and teaching-learning activities designed according to the constructivist approach and the investigative approach. In this article, we focused on the operating principle of the Daniell cell. The research study involved identifying the epistemological gaps of 58 future teachers in relation to the concepts describing the previous theme via an open questionnaire, as well as the degree of compliance of the activities proposed in the textbook with the curricular guidelines. The main results showed that the respondents had not mastered the meaning of the positive and negative poles of a cell or the concept of its electrical voltage. With regard to the textbook studied, we found that the design of the activities did not comply with the principles of the competency-based approach and the spiral progression of knowledge. To overcome these constraints, we propose pedagogical designs aimed at reinforcing and developing the skills of teachers and learners while progressing in the spiral of knowledge.