Project Details
Projekt
On the Mediality of physics teaching: A empirical study on the educational use of orality, literacy, and multi-mediality
Subject Area
General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
Term
since 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 436398868
Competence-oriented physics education does not alone focus on the structured knowledge in physics, but also concentrates on the process of scientific thinking and working methods. This results in the development of content-structure in the classroom, gaining in significance and becoming qualitatively different in meaning. This development does not only serve in the deduction of structured knowledge but is itself the subject of learning. Therefore, the development of content-structure must also be documented and made repeatable for further systematic and cumulative learning. Conventionally, only the result of the structure was recorded. The process of the development itself was only noted briefly.The classic medium of the documentation of structured knowledge is writing. The oral medium, on the other hand, is only considered as a medium of provisional nature, which is solely used to develop structure and knowledge. Nowadays, this coupling is relativized in times of differentiating media. As an example, also videos can be used as a documentation of knowledge. Vice versa, in these times of interactional writing (such as messenger communication), written language has lost its preserving and rigid character. Today, ephemerality and repeatability are central properties of the media, which can be implemented in a written as well as oral and multimedia manner.Since competence-oriented teaching implies structuring as well as using structures and both can be realised by complex medialities, the question of mediality is of central importance for competence-oriented education. It raises the question of how teachers in physics lessons are creating tasks in regard of competence-orientation and mediality. In addition, it must be clarified how the teachers’ attitudes towards changing mediality are manifested. It is also still unclear how these attitudes are reflected in the teachers’ actions and how they are related to language, familiarity with the media and teaching experience.Within our project, the physics lessons of 45 classes are video recorded. Thereafter these videos are analysed in order to categorize the given tasks regarding competence-orientation, mediality and cognitive activation. In addition to the video analysis, a questionnaire captures the attitude of the teachers towards mediality. This questionnaire is then brought together and compared with the results of the video analysis. Guideline interviews also provide information on whether additional moderating or mediating variables need to be considered.The aim of this project is to describe how the use of media in physics lessons is shaped regarding the backdrop of competence-orientation and changing mediality. The project is also trying to distinguish what attitudes of the teachers are connected to this.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
