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The effect of direct instruction and web quest on learning outcome in computer science education.
(2018)
Answers to the questions of which instructional methods are suitable for school and should be applied in teaching individual subjects and also how instructional methods support the act of learning represent challenges to general education and education in individual subjects. This study focuses on the empirical examination of learning outcome with respect to two instructional methods: direct instruction and web quest. An SPF-2 × 2•2 design is used to control instructional method, time and class context. Learning outcome on QR code is assessed with reference to multiple-choice test items. The empirical findings show that learning with direct instruction performs better than web quest.
cpm.4.CSE/IRT (compact process model for Competence Science Education based on IRT models) is a process model for competence measurement based on IRT models. It allows the efficient development of measuring instruments for computer science education. Cpm.4.CSE/IRT consists of four sub processes: B1 determine items, B2 test items, B3 analyze items according to Rasch model, and B4 interpret items by criteria. Cpm.4.CSE/IRT is modeled in IDEF0, a process modeling language that is standardized and widely used. It is implemented in R, an open-source software optimized for statistical calculations and graphics that allows users to interact using the web application framework Shiny. Through coordinated processes, cpm.4.CSE/IRT ensures the quality and comparability of test instruments in competence measurement. Cpm.4.CSE/IRT is demonstrated using an example from the competence area of Modeling.
We report on a study on syllogistic reasoning conceived with the idea that subjects' performance in experiments is highly dependent on the communicative situations in which the particular task is framed. From this perspective, we describe the results of Experiment 1 comparing the performance of undergraduate students in 5 different tasks. This between-subjects comparison inspires a within-subject intervention design (Experiment 2). The variations introduced on traditional experimental tasks and settings include two main dimensions. The first one focuses on reshaping the context (the pragmatics of the communication situations faced) along the dimension of cooperative vs. adversarial attitudes. The second one consists of rendering explicit the construction/representation of counterexamples, a crucial aspect in the definition of deduction (in the classical semantic sense). We obtain evidence on the possibility of a significant switch in students' performance and the strategies they follow. Syllogistic reasoning is seen here as a controlled microcosm informative enough to provide insights and we suggest strategies for wider contexts of reasoning, argumentation and proof.
We investigated whether retrieval-based learning can facilitate the acquisition of cognitive skills, focusing on the control-of-variables strategy. This core scientific experimentation skill is regularly taught in science education classes because understanding it is essential for understanding experimental investigations in science. In the present study, participants initially read a text explaining the control-of-variables strategy. We compared the effects of subsequent retrieval practice and restudy of the text in performing a transfer test requiring the application of the control-of-variables strategy by judging the validity of a number of experimental designs. In addition, recall of the initially studied text was assessed as well. Repeated retrieval practice in combination with restudy opportunities resulted in better performance in both the transfer test and the recall test as compared to mere restudy or a single study opportunity. These findings demonstrate that retrieval practice is a useful tool for promoting deep conceptual learning.
We investigated retrieval-induced forgetting of motor sequences in samples of Chinese participants. Retrieval-induced forgetting occurs when selective retrieval of a subset of information stored in memory causes forgetting for the non-retrieved rest. This phenomenon critically depends on the organised storage of separate categories of memory representations. In studies with participants from a Western culture (Germany), a categorization in left- and right-hand movements previously had been supported by letter stimuli based on a spatial mental representation of the Roman alphabet. The same assignment of letters from the beginning or end of the alphabet to motor sequences performed either with the left- or the right-hand did not entail retrieval-induced forgetting in the present study, however (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, visual features of displaying to-be-learned sequences additionally supported a distinction into left and right. In Experiment 3, learning trials provided verbal category labels. The occurrence of retrieval-induced forgetting in the latter two experiments suggests language-dependent organisation of non-verbal items in memory.
The problem-solving performance of primary school students depend on their attitudes and beliefs. As it is not easy to change attitudes, we aimed to change the relationship between problem-solving performance and attitudes with a training program. The training was based on the assumption that self-generated external representations support the problem-solving process. Furthermore, we assumed that students who are encouraged to generate representations will be successful, especially when they analyze and reflect on their products. A paper-pencil test of attitudes and beliefs was used to measure the constructs of willingness, perseverance, and self-confidence. We predicted that participation in the training program would attenuate the relationship between attitudes and problem-solving performance and that non-participation would not affect the relationship. The results indicate that students’ attitudes had a positive effect on their problem-solving performance only for students who did not participate in the training.
Gamification and game-based learning have been established as powerful tools in education. Location-based games (geogames) have been established following mainly a ‘seek-and-find’ game-mechanic, challenging mechanics like simulations are rarely used. We describe an approach for creating an educational location-based game (geogame). The central design problem consists in integrating an ecological simulation into the location-based game flow. We show how to combine these two game mechanics by simplifying complex simulations while maintaining their validity. In an empirical study we evaluate our geogame with secondary school students (N = 329). Our quasi-experimental pre-post-test design focuses on the game-related enjoyment provided by a simplified simulation task within a geogame compared to a more complex desktop simulation and to a geogame without simulation. The results show that the players of the Geogame spend much less time on interacting with the simulation than on other tasks. Nevertheless, the simulation within the geogame contributes positively to the game playing experience. Player enjoyment is even found to be slightly higher in the simulation geogame than in the indoor simulation. A critical threshold of time for using simulations within location-based game mechanics is discussed and related design-pattern for geogames are presented to support educators and game developers in the co-design of challenging location-based games. This study contributes to locate ecological simulations in areas where they actually take place. Complex topics and competencies in education become “real” for players in an outdoor experience.
In Germany, secondary school students differ greatly in their science achievement, a dispersion that is far above the OECD average (Schiepe-Tiska, Rönnebeck, & Neumann, 2019). Immigrant students tend to be at the lower end of the scale in Germany – on average, they achieve substantially less well in science than non-immigrant students (OECD, 2016d), which is partially due to the German school system (Zoido, 2013). These differences in achievement translate into underrepresentation of immigrants in science-related jobs in Germany (OECD, 2008). Achievement and career choices are closely intertwined with academic self-concept (for an overview see Marsh & Craven, 2006). Regarding science self-concept, the pattern that immigrant students tend to score lower is present in many countries (e.g. Riegle-Crumb, Moore, & Ramos-Wada, 2011).
The goal of the present research project was to investigate these inequalities between immigrant and non-immigrant secondary school students. This was done focusing on secondary school students’ chemistry self-concepts. Chemistry self-concepts were focused on because achievement in chemistry is an important factor for careers in natural sciences (Cohen & Kelly, 2019). Research on chemistry self-concept has concentrated on young adults (e.g. Bauer, 2005; Xu & Lewis, 2011) and so little is known about secondary school students. Besides the impact of students’ migration background, the research project analyses the role that gender plays because gender has important effects on science self-concepts (e.g. Jurik, Gröschner, & Seidel, 2013; Riegle-Crumb et al., 2011; Wan & Lee, 2017).
A big challenge in this context was that the prevailing methods in academic self-concept research are prone to yield biased data (Byrne, 2002; Byrne et al., 2009). Although this was pointed out more than 15 years ago, the problem persists in science self-concept research. The present research project addresses this issue and presents a new mixed methods approach to culture-sensitive academic self-concept research. The term ‘culture’ is used in the sense of migration background, a concept that categorizes people’s migration histories in Germany. A combination of qualitative interview data and quantitative data permit an investigation of certain types of bias defined by Byrne and colleagues (2009). The pilot study operated with a chemistry self-concept questionnaire (N=116) and qualitative interviews (N=43). The main study was based on an extended questionnaire comprising several other scales (N=585) and deeper qualitative interviews (N=48).
The hypotheses based on the literature were that in Germany, (h1) immigrant students would show more negative chemistry self-concepts than non-immigrant students. (h2) Female students would show more negative chemistry self-concepts than male students. The third hypothesis (h3) was that the home environment has an important impact on students’ chemistry self-concepts. The first two hypotheses (h1 and h2) were not confirmed. Gender and migration background did not show a significant effect on students’ chemistry self-concepts. Instead, gender relations differ depending on the students’ migration background. Among students without a migration background, boys tend to have stronger chemistry self-concepts than girls. In contrast, among students with a Turkish migration background, girls tend to have stronger chemistry self-concepts. Existing science self-concept literature did not explain this.
Literature on gender relations in science in Turkey suggests that this interaction effect could be due to a more gender-neutral conception of science in Turkey. Slightly more women than men work in science in Turkey (OECD, 2009a) and girls achieve substantially better (Batyra, 2017a, 2017b). According to the third hypothesis (h3), the gender conceptions in Turkey could potentially be transmitted to students with a Turkish migration background in the home environment, through their parents or other people.
Science education literature did not provide a satisfying model for conceptualizing the influence of the home environment on students in the field of chemistry that would allow investigating the third hypothesis (h3). Therefore, the concept of chemistry capital was introduced based on the analysis of the interviews in the main study. Chemistry capital was developed based on the concept of science capital by Archer and colleagues (2015). Chemistry capital conceptualizes the resources a person possesses that have value in the field of chemistry. This encompasses social networks (e.g. knowing a chemist) as well as emotional and cognitive resources (e.g. attitudes towards chemistry and chemistry knowledge), and the engagement in chemistry-related activities. In particular, the concept allows analyzing the transmission processes of chemistry from the home environment to the individual student.
The qualitative analyses in the main study showed that the chemistry capital home environment influences the students in the field of chemistry in multiple ways. This supports hypothesis 3 (h3). Further, the data suggest that structural inequalities in the German school system might foster differences in chemistry. Students who already possess little chemistry capital in their home environments are in addition found more often at the type of school (Hauptschule) in which the proportion of chemistry teachers who do not hold a university degree in chemistry is the highest, depriving these students of another possible source of chemistry capital. Vice versa, students who already possess a lot of chemistry capital in their home environments more often attend school types (Gymnasium, Realschule) where also more formally qualified chemistry teachers are available, thus potentially widening the gap.
The mixed methods analysis in the main study suggested that a simple linear relationship between student chemistry self-concept and chemistry capital in the home environment does not exist. A study based on quantitative (or mixed methods) analyses of data of a larger sample on chemistry capital in the home environment and students’ chemistry self-concepts could provide further insights. It is not yet clear if the third hypothesis (h3) is true.
To sum up, the present research project thus advances the field of chemistry education in three regards: (i) it provides an approach to culture-sensitive academic self-concept. This approach proved to increase both the validity and the explanatory power of chemistry self-concept research. It is not chemistry-specific and can, thus, be used in other areas of research as well. (ii) The research discovered an interaction effect of gender and migration background on chemistry self-concept that was unknown in science education literature. (iii) It introduces and defines the concept of chemistry capital which permits to analyze chemistry education from a sociocultural perspective. Employing the concept of chemistry capital helps to shift the focus from the individual student to the resources a student possesses in the sociocultural context that help him or her succeed in the field of chemistry. This allows uncovering social inequalities in the field that need to be addressed in educational policy. Moreover, it can inspire intervention studies and application-focused research (e.g. approaches to culture-sensitive chemistry teaching).
Since students’ knowledge of scientific language can be one of the main difficulties when learning science, teachers must have adequate knowledge of scientific language as well as the teaching and learning of it. Currently, little is known about teachers’ practices and, thus, teachers’ knowledge of scientific language, in general, and the teaching and learning of it (Pedagogical Scientific Language Knowledge, PSLK) in particular. For this reason, with this systematic review, we seek to identify elements of pre- and in-service primary and secondary science teachers’ PSLK. The search was conducted on the database Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and resulted in 35 articles with empirical evidence after the selection process. The results have been deductively and inductively categorized following the framework of the Refined Consensus Model of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, elaborating elements of different knowledge categories that shape PSLK, as well as PSLK itself (e.g., knowledge of (i) scientific language role models, (ii) making scientific terms and language explicit, (iii) providing a discursive classroom, and (iv) providing multiple representations and resources). We can conclude that more research on PSLK is needed as analyzed articles are mainly based on case studies. Additionally, this paper shows a need for a stronger focus on scientific language in teacher education programs. Implications for further research and teacher education are discussed.
The notion of “bounded rationality” was introduced by Simon as an appropriate framework for explaining how agents reason and make decisions in accordance with their computational limitations and the characteristics of the environments in which they exist (seen metaphorically as two complementary scissor blades).We elaborate on how bounded rationality is usually conceived in psychology and on its relationship with logic. We focus on the relationship between heuristics and some non-monotonic logical systems. These two categories of cognitive tools share fundamental features. As a step further, we show that in some cases heuristics themselves can be formalized from this logic perspective. We have therefore two main aims: on the one hand, to demonstrate the relationship between the bounded rationality programme and logic, understood in a broad sense; on the other hand, to provide logical tools of analysis of already known heuristics. This may lead to results such as the characterization of fast and frugal binary trees in terms of their associated logic program here provided.