Learning to Diagnose Secondary School Students’ Scientific Reasoning Skills in Physics and Biology: Video-Based Simulations for Pre-Service Teachers

Amadeus J Pickal,Birgit J Neuhaus,Christof Wecker,Raimund Girwidz

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-89147-3_7

Amadeus J Pickal, Birgit J Neuhaus + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89147-3_7

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Abstract

AbstractSince the ability to teach and therefore also diagnose not only subject-specific but also cross-domain skills are an important part of every teacher’s day-to-day work, we developed simulations to quantify and furthermore support the competence to diagnose secondary school students’ scientific reasoning skills. For this purpose, the simulations also include the possibility to rehearse interdisciplinary collaborations between physics and biology pre-service teachers. The simulations are video-based, containing short, scripted videos showing two students working on different inquiry tasks, including a physics and a biology experiment. Participants have to observe the students and can individually decide which pre-formulated questions they want to ask the students before, during and after the experiments to gather relevant information. The corresponding simulated answers are subsequently presented via additional videos. The information gained during the simulations is supposed to be used to diagnose the students’ scientific reasoning skills later in the process.

Highlights

Teacher education Scientific reasoning in physics and biology To adopt the role of a physics or biology teacher and diagnose—individually or in interdisciplinary collaboration—a student’s scientific reasoning skills Pre-service teachers Individual and collaborative diagnosis (Interactive) videos of pairs of students who perform inquiry activities in physics and biology Standardized and parallelized simulations for two different school subjects; possibility to directly interact with the students by “asking” them questions concerning their inquiry activities
Many educational objectives in schools refer to subject-specific knowledge and skills, but others refer to cross-curricular or cross-domain skills such as learning strategies, media literacy, or scientific reasoning skills
It may be advisable for teachers of subjects that can serve as exemplifying domains for such cross-domain skills to collaborate in this joint task and share information about individual students’ learning progress

Summary

Chapter 7

Learning to Diagnose Secondary School Students’ Scientific Reasoning Skills in Physics and Biology: Video-Based Simulations for Pre-Service Teachers. Teacher education Scientific reasoning in physics and biology To adopt the role of a physics or biology teacher and diagnose—individually or in interdisciplinary collaboration—a student’s scientific reasoning skills Pre-service teachers Individual and collaborative diagnosis (Interactive) videos of pairs of students who perform inquiry activities in physics and biology Standardized and parallelized simulations for two different school subjects (physics and biology); possibility to directly interact with the students by “asking” them questions concerning their inquiry activities. Neuhaus Biology Education, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.

Scientific Reasoning as a Cross-Domain Skill

Collaborative Diagnosis of Scientific Reasoning Skills

Simulations as a Learning Opportunity

Video-Based Simulations for Pre-Service Teachers’ Diagnosis of Students’ Scientific Reasoning Skills