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The main research aim of this Ph-D thesis is to develop students�understanding of the nature of science on the background of Alexander von Humboldt's legacy for Grade 5 and Grade 6 classrooms in Baden-Württemberg schools. The Ph-D research questions are: 1.What conceptions do students of the age group 10-12 regarding the nature of science hold? 2.Does students� understanding of science change as a result of discovery-based science activities taken from Alexander von Humboldt� scientific observations during his expedition to Latin America between 1799-1804? If yes, in what way? This was done by: 1.Gathering background information about students� images of scientists and how they work. 2.Designing the most appropriate learning environment for improving their understanding of science. At the beginning of the intervention study, Humboldt�s life was used as a stimulus of student�s thoughts about science at. Students were put in the same situation of a scientist: posing a question about a theme of their interest, designing and realizing an experiment in order to satisfy their curiosity. By doing so, students� understandings of the construction of scientific knowledge would be improved. After a preliminary study between June and July 2002 at the Bammental Gymnasium, a case study took place from March till July 2003 at the Realschule Linkenheim for students of Grade 5. Students� epistemologies about science and scientists at the Realschule Linkenheim were collected by using the current trends in science education research: pre- and post-questionnaires, classroom observation, pre- and post- interviews, the Draw-A-Scientist-Task and portfolio work. This intervention study was realized in 26 school sessions and all the work sessions were also video taped. Students� views about their actual nature of science aspects were characterized and coded using a framework drawing on the following areas: characteristics of scientists, history of science and the epistemology about science and scientists. Finally, students were asked to write about their learning process by using portfolios. As to the recommendations: This study suggests that in order to develop some aspects of the nature of science, students need a free space at school to realize hands-on inquiry and a trained teacher who can translate to his students besides content knowledge, the nature of knowledge and the historical evolution of scientific knowledge.
ix Introduction The study has the purpose (1) to describe and explore the Mathematics student teachers’ performance inside the classroom during the training course “teaching practice” at the University of Jordan/ Amman, and (2) to include the main factors which influence the development of the professional teaching competence in their mode of action. This study has particularly the aim to investigate the difficulties which face the student teachers’ performance, and the facilities which help them in their performance and decrease the obstacles of the development of student teachers’ performance. The study has the aim to answer the following questions: 1. How does the performance of student teachers develop with respect to time of the training course? 2. What difficulties do the student teachers face during the training course? 3. What are the facilities that help in developing student teachers’ performance during the training course? 4. What are the factors related to performance? Are they personal, social, methodological, or related to mastering the curriculum? 5. What is the relation between student teachers’ performance and supervision? The 1st opening chapter of the study describes some facts about Jordan, the school system there, the system of pre-service teacher education, the background of the study, and the purpose of the study with the questions mentioned above. In the 2nd chapter a review of the existing literature follows with the theoretical concepts which are connected with the questions. Main concepts are: development of teachers’ performance, factors affecting the trainees’ performance, supervision and teacher development, problems of beginning teachers, models in teacher development, facilities that help trainees, standards of teaching competences, methodological basis of teaching Mathema tics. Chapter 3 describes the plan of the empirical research and the four methodological tools which are used: video tapes, interviews, questionnaires, and self reports. It is a case study with the seven Mathematics student teachers of the academic year 1999/2000 at the university of Jordan/Amman. Chapter 4 contains the data collection from the four resources in English. The data material was collected in Arabic and then translated into English by the author. Chapter 5 starts with the data analysis and description of the 7 cases. Chapter 6 continues the data analysis, presents the results, discusses these in an overview. This leads in chapter 7 to a combination of the results which come from the analysis of chapters 5 and 6, and to the answers to the que stions 1—5. The main results are concentrated around the main features of performance, which are in the teacher education plan of Amman five areas: lesson plan, mastering content knowledge, methods of teaching, assessment of teaching, and classroom management. This study is the first one which describes and analyses scientifically the phase of practice teaching at Jordanian universities. It is done exemplary at the University of Jordan/Amman with all Mathematics student teachers of one academic year. It for the first time is possible to win insight in the individual professional development of single student teachers in Jordan, and insight in the influence of specific relating factors. This study has a valuable starting point, looks to be won for a further development of the teacher-training in Jordan. These are attached in a short section as "recommendations".