For Peer Review Only

The teaching programme 
Considering the current SE science curriculum in Spain, we based the design of our teaching sequence on 
the following educational criteria: 
•
A priori the students 'will activate inappropriate conceptions on semiconductor physics' because they 
have not studied the topic previously. This means that the starting point must be their prior knowledge 
about similar topics, in this case, matter and electricity. 
•
The transposition didactique of semiconductor physics for the SE level must be done in such a way that 
the concepts of the topic connect appropriately with the content on matter and electricity established in 
the current science curriculum for this level. Therefore, those concepts of semiconductor physics which 
can not be constructed directly from the content of the said curriculum will be excluded from the learning 
goals. Also, the models and semeiotic registers that are introduced must be in syntony with SE 
students' cognitive capacities, which usually are suggested in the official curriculum. 
•
To motivate SE students in studying the basic notions of semiconductor physics, we must first give them 
good reasons for the importance of these materials in the development of electronics, and hence of the 
electronic products that are part of their everyday environment. Also, the tasks proposed must be as 
appealing as possible, in order to attract the students' attention towards their study. 
•
The introduction to semiconductor physics requires reconstructing the programming of the subject 
without taking any of the rest of the content away, and staying within the available schedule of classes. 
This can be done by selecting only that content of matter and electricity which is indispensable for 
learning the new topic. The open nature of the curriculum has to be taken into consideration, and it is 
the teacher who will ultimately have to decide on the specific learning objectives that are most 
appropriate for his or her educational context. 
•
For the teaching of semiconductor physics to be as effective as possible, there needs to be appropriate 
coordination between the science and the technology teachers. Indeed, one will have to define what 
each area is going to teach of this material at the same time as establishing a direct connection