Academic Role
Piergiuseppe Ellerani is PhD in “Cognitive Pedagogy” with a dissertation titled “Metacognitive Effects of Cooperative Learning in Primary School Classrooms.”
Since 1993, he has worked in Italy on teacher training activities within educational institutions, focusing on the design and evaluation of teaching methodologies to foster active student learning and engagement.
He is a Full Professor at the University of Bologna, in Didactics and Special pedagogy (PAED/02-B) at the Department of Education Sciences “Giovanni Maria Bertin.”
Currently, he is a member of the Doctoral Committee in Pedagogical Sciences at the Department of Education Sciences.
Research Activities
He conducts research on learning environments, curricula, and skill development in formal and non-formal systems. Specifically, his areas of investigation include the development of professional learning communities, teaching innovation, competence development, and the design and creation of learning environments enhanced by technology.
Adopting the Capability Approach, he studies the application of enabling ecosystems among formal, informal, and non-formal systems and their hybridization toward full human development and a pedagogy of territorie. His focus is on agency and designing conditions for its full implementation across multiple levels and contexts, integrating the study of sustainability within the framework of integral ecology.
Scientific Activities
He has led research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research, as well as public and private organizations. Some of his roles include:
- Local unit coordinator for the PRIN 2009 project: Quality of Research and Documentation in Social Pedagogy and Intercultural Pedagogy. Ontologies and Semantic Networks.”
- Project coordinator for “An Integrated Territorial System for Educational Success and Active Citizenship Competence Development in the Perspective of Lifelong and Lifewide Education” (2008-2012) with the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.
- Coordinator of the project funded by the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana of Ecuador: The Teacher Profile in Higher Education in Ecuador” (2008-2010).
- Project leader for “Continuous Learning Communities for Teachers and the Development of Educational School Communities Supported by Cooperative Learning” (2010-2012) with the Province of Turin and the Center for Innovative Educational Services.
- Scientific referent for the project MOOCs-Flipped Classroom – EDOC@WORK 3.0” – Guidelines for e-learning experimentation at the University of Salento (2015-2016).
- Case study referent for SharpAnywhere at IC3 in Modena: Smart Learning Extended Environment: Connecting Anywhere People and Organizations” (2017-2018).
- Research leader for Places for Innovation: Activating Learning Processes for Agency, Empowerment, Entrepreneurial Development, and Social Innovation. The Case of the 311Verona Learning Accelerator”(2019-2020).
- Co-leader of the research project “Territorial Learning: The Case of Terra d’Arneo” (2021-2023).
He has served as a scientific consultant for educational Foundations in Italy and China, organizing Summer and Winter Schools with Scientific Societies.
He is currently a member of the Scientific Board of:
- The Community Foundation of Benevento,
- The Cenommi Foundation of Teramo,
- The National Association Proteo Fare Sapere.
He also participates in the editorial boards of national and international journals and is currently:
- Director of the book series “The Futures of Didactics” – Armando Editore, Rome.
He is affiliated with:
- SIPED (Italian Society of Pedagogy and Didactics),
- ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development),
- HDCA (Human Development and Capability Approach).
Teaching Activities
He is responsible for teaching courses in the field of Didactics at the Department of Education Sciences “Giovanni Maria Bertin” in degree programme class:
- Science Of Lifelong Educational Processes;
- Social and Cultural Education;
- Didactics and Communication of Natural Sciences.
