CONCEPTUAL RELATIONS IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS: A TEACHING EXPERIENCE WITH STUDENTS OF TERMINOLOGY

AS A PROFESSOR OF TERMINOLOGY FOR TWELVE YEARS, I HAVE OBSERVED THAT STUDENTS ALWAYS DESIGN SYSTEMS OF CONCEPTS RELATED WITH THREE KINDS OF RELATIONSHIPS-LOGIC, ONTOLOGIC AND CHRONOLOGICAL. IN ORDER TO PROVE IF THIS LIMITED USE OF THE NUMBER OF RELATIONSHIPS WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT STUDENTS WERE TAUGHT ONLY SIX GROUPS OF RELATIONSHIPS AND THAT THEY WORKED IN A FIELD WHERE IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH MORE THAN THREE RELATIONSHIPS, I DECIDED TO PERFORM AN EXPERIMENT DURING THE 2006-2007 COURSE YEAR. I INCREASED THE NUMBER OF RELATIONSHIPS THAT I TAUGHT THEM ANDI ASKED THEM TO CREATE SYSTEMS OF CONCEPTS IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS, WHERE AT LEAST TWENTY-SIX RELATIONSHIPS HAD ALREADY BEEN FOUND BY A PREVIOUS RESEARCH. THANKS TO THIS EXPERIENCE, I AIM AT PROVING THE VALIDITY OF THE AFOREMENTIONED HYPOTHESIS WITH THE GOAL OF THINKING ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE MY TEACHING METHODS.