Helmut Fischler

Modern physics and students’ conceptions

The learning of modern physics is made more difficult for students because teaching often uses semi‐classical models (e.g. Bohr) and concepts (e.g. dualism). An introduction to quantum physics was designed which omits all analogies to classical physics. In the evaluation of the teaching unit, students’ conceptions were recorded both at the beginning and the end of the teaching. Students in the test groups dispensed with visualized conceptions and reached an understanding which is more suitable to modern physics.

Didaktik—An Appropriate Framework for the Professional Work of Science Teachers?

In the perception of science teachers and in the activities of researchers in science education a marginalization of content is currently taking place. This has been induced by both the shift to give priority to concepts of cognitive psychology in research on teaching and learning and the processes of standardization in the many countries participating in large-scale international studies like TIMSS and PISA. In this situation Didaktik can be a corrective, providing a bridge between content-related issues on the one hand and pedagogical aspects on the other. In the central and northern European pedagogical community Didaktik does not have a negative connotation (as didactic has in the English-speaking countries)—Didaktik as a scientific discipline constitutes the platform of reflections on and discussions about goals and contents of Bildung. Bildung is more than education. Some scholars translate Bildung with “formation”, covering the forming of a personality and the product of this formation. Bildung encompasses knowledge in a holistic view of the personality of an individual whereas scientific literacy emphasizes the capability to use this knowledge effectively. In science education, Bildung can be approached by learning environments in which students have the chance to decide for themselves which aspects of a phenomenon they intend to investigate and which methods they plan to apply. The decision processes and their implementations are of equal significance as the results of students’ work.

Concept Mapping as a Tool for Research in Science Education

In recent years concept mapping has become a powerful tool that is frequently applied in different contexts in science education. There are still, however, questions and problems that arise when researchers in science education begin to design concept map formats and search for appropriate methods of analysis. In a symposium, five research groups from different countries shared experiences of using concept maps and hence provided some answers to the questions and some illumination of the problems.

The Need for and the Role of Metacognition in Teaching and Learning the Particle Model

The research focus of this symposium on teaching and learning the particle model (discussant: Robin Millar) addressed the following questions: How can misconceptions on atoms be avoided and how can we gain insight into and describe the learning processes involved? Three major influences were identified: metaconceptional awareness, the order in which concepts are learnt and the metaphoric content of language.

Video-based studies on investigating deficiencies of school science teaching

Video based research has become a powerful tool to investigate teaching and learning processes in science education. These studies have been employed to reveal the microstructure of teaching and learning processes and to investigate the interplay of instructional scripts and various variables of the particular learning environments. In the following synopsis of a poster symposium at the ESERA Conference in Thessaloniki we present four studies that employ video-analysis of science instruction in various ways. All studies were initiated by the rather disappointing results German students achieved in TIMSS. It is the aim of these studies to investigate means of improving science teaching and learning.

Orientations of the actions of physics teachers

Although teachers’ thinking and their subjective (implicit) theories have been investigated for many years, little research has been carried out into teachers’ thinking and decision‐making in specific areas. This paper describes the main orientations of physics teachers that are assumed to be typical for this subject. The findings demonstrate that the everyday orientations of trainees and novices teaching physics are very different from the standards that are taught in teacher training courses. Within these orientations teachers’ conceptions of experiments performed in the classroom refer more to their possible contribution to pupils’ classroom activities than to their functions concerning the process of learning physics. One reason for this is that teachers aim to make physics as a school subject more attractive and popular with pupils. Teachers’ decision‐making is influenced to a greater extent by the bad image of their subject than by learning conditions.

Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und Scientific Literacy

In Deutschland wird in den naturwissenschaftlichen Fachdidaktiken eine intensive Diskussion uber die Bedeutung von naturwissenschaftlicher Bildung und Scientific Literacy gefuhrt. In dem Artikel wird diese zum Teil kontroverse Debatte nachgezeichnet. In besonderer Weise wird dabei auf den Begriff „Bildung“ (im Anschluss an z.B. Humboldt, Klafki, Litt, Koller) und auf den angelsachsich gepragten „Literacy“-Begriff eingegangen und auf die naturwissenschaftlichen Gegenstandsbereiche bezogen. Es wird herausgearbeitet, dass gleichermasen naturwissenschaftliche „Bildung“ wie „Scientific Literacy“ uber die Naturwissenschaften hinausgehen mussen und Teilhabe, Mundigkeit und Aufklarung zum Ziel haben. Mit Bildung ist sowohl das Ergebnis (z.B. das Erreichen von Bildungsstandards) als auch der Prozess (sich bilden) gemeint.

Schülervorstellungen zu Teilchen und Wärme

Das Kapitel befasst sich im ersten Teil mit Vorstellungen uber kleinste Teilchen. Als Bausteinen makroskopischer Korper werden ihnen deren Eigenschaften zugeordnet, z. B. Farbe. Weitere Bereiche sind Vorstellungen uber die Bewegung mikroskopischer Teilchen und Uberlegungen von Schulern, was sich zwischen den Teilchen befindet. Im zweiten Teil des Kapitels geht es um Schulervorstellungen uber den Zusammenhang von Temperatur und Warme sowie die Vorstellung, manche Stoffe seien von Natur aus warm oder kalt. Grundlegende Konzeptionen eines Unterrichts uber Teilchen werden gegenubergestellt. Dabei spielt der Modellaspekt eine wichtige Rolle. Ubungen sowie Hinweise auf Unterrichtskonzeptionen, Testinstrumente und vertiefende Literatur runden das Kapitel ab.

Aus- und Fortbildung von Physiklehrkräften

In die Kulturhoheit der Bundeslander fallen auch alle wesentlichen Entscheidungen im Bereich der Lehrerbildung. Ahnlich wie auf dem Feld der Schule gibt es eine grose Vielfalt inhaltlicher und organisatorischer Konzepte, die jeweils landesspezifische Auspragungen besitzen und nur durch Beschlusse der Standigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Lander (KMK) ein Minimum an Vergleichbarkeit erhalten. In dieser Situation macht es keinen Sinn, in einer Ubersichtsdarstellung den vielfaltigen Verastelungen im Detail zu folgen, vielmehr kann es nur die Aufgabe sein, Tendenzen zu identifizieren und das Gemeinsame der gerade abgeschlossenen bzw. noch stattfindenden Reformen hervorzuheben. Interessenten an bundeslandspezifischen Bedingungen der Lehreraus- und -fortbildung werden nicht umhin konnen, regionale Informationsquellen hinzuzuziehen. Eine knappe Darstellung der wichtigsten bundeslandspezifischen Regelungen bietet die KMK mit dem regelmasig aktualisierten „Sachstand in der Lehrerbildung“ an (KMK 2012).