Gesche Pospiech

Quantum Physics in Teacher Education

Teacher education forms the decisive link between physics education research and the realization of research results in school. The actions of teachers are influenced by their own experience from school, from study at university and the need to follow the school curriculum. Discrepancies between these factors have to be overcome. In quantum physics, the gap between teaching traditions at university, recent experimental results and the possibilities of teaching at school is especially big. Therefore it seems desirable to study this gap in detail in order to diminish it within given resources.

Preliminary Data Analysis of SSQ-HOPE Questionnaire on Factors Inspiring Secondary Students to Study Physics

SSQ (Secondary School Student Questionnaire)-HOPE questionnaire is one of the actions of the EU HOPE-Project (Horizons in physics education), a cooperation project of 71 European partners. The HOPE-project is striving to find ways to inspire young people to study physics (Working Group 1—WG1). SSQ is part of it in concentrating on the transition school-university with a focus on the factors motivating secondary school students which are talented in physics to study physics. In order to reach the pre-defined target group the questionnaire was distributed in events with physics content mostly taking place at universities, research institutions or at similar occasions. In order to identify promising activities information on the type of event, its characteristics and the process of selection of students were collected. From the preliminary administrations the role of open questions emerged which are necessary to get a quite precise impression of the reasons inducing students to study physics and the role of the school in relation to outreach activities. A preliminary analysis of the data collected with a restricted sample of 139 students participating in the International IPPOG-Masterclasses in the universities of Udine and Dresden is presented here. From the data emerged that a positive decision to study physics seams highly correlated to existing deep interest and perceived traits of a physicist.

Content-Focused Research for Innovation in Teaching/Learning Electromagnetism: Approaches from GIREP Community

This paper summarises research presented in the symposium organised by the Groupe International de Recherche sur l’Enseignment de la Physique (GIREP) on content-focused research and research-based instruction. A specific topic area, electromagnetism, was chosen to provide focus and continuity. The interpretative ideas developed by physicists to account for electromagnetic phenomena and the mathematical formalism used to represent these ideas make the subject ideal for exploring issues in learning and teaching that include the impact of students’ prior real-world experiences, their understanding of the nature of the interpretative process and their ability to relate formalism to phenomena. Electromagnetism also offers the opportunity to explore the relationships between macroscopic and microscopic models, as well as the ‘field’ concept. Thus the research findings presented have implications that go beyond the nominal content of electricity and magnetism. The symposium addressed learning among primary, secondary and university students pursuing careers as engineers or scientists and pre-service teachers. The themes include the study of conceptual knots related to the content, the implications for teacher training and the persistence of difficulties at the university level. Instructional approaches motivated by research findings were discussed. Researchers from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States presented results from their own investigations. As shown in this paper, the perspectives vary with regard to research questions, methods, interpretative frameworks and the role of specific research findings in driving educational innovation.

Improving Synergies through the Mentoring of Student Teachers during Practical Training in Schools and their Integration in Applied Research

Pre‐service teachers at TU Dresden should have profound theoretical knowledge of the studied school subjects. Furthermore, they need sufficient opportunities of acquiring practical experience at school. At TU Dresden pre‐service teachers have five practical trainings with different intentions. During the first semester at the university they have a short training on the observation of the daily routine at school. The second time pre‐service teachers sit in on different lessons at school. After this training they learn how to teach physics lessons on their own. We organize these first lessons of the students in small groups. Five or six students are trained together in one school for three months. A lecturer of the physics education department of the university accompanies them. Afterwards students go to different schools in Saxony twice for a four‐week training. During this time they have to teach several lessons in a class of the mentor. The mentor should be a committed teacher. Once per training a lectu...