INSIGHTS INTO INNOVATION OF INITIAL SCIENCE TEACHER TRAINING

The quality of science education is a very contemporary didactic topic at present. Improving the quality of this education is unthinkable without a quality science teacher training at universities and other educational institutions. Some innovation of contents and organization of the study programme for future science teachers was realized within the ESF project "Professional science teacher training for careers in a competitive environment" at Faculty of Science of Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. The project focuses on improving the training of teachers of all science branches in connection with the growing needs of the current competitive labour market. One of the main aims of the project leading to this improvement was the creation of new and innovated subjects oriented to teaching practice. A research focused on finding benefits of the new subjects for students was realized within the project. The objective of the research was to investigate the difference between students' expectations and real benefits of the subjects. The research results were very useful as a feedback for a subsequent modification of the study programs. Some particular examples of the process and results of the research are described in the paper.