The Potential of Video Studies in Research on Teaching and Learning Science

Abstract

Video technology has played a substantial role in research on teaching and learning in actual practice and in teacher professional development since the 1970s. However, the more recent advances of digital video technology and video analysis facilitate much deeper insight into the interplay of teaching and learning processes than the analog video technology available so far. It turned out that the new technology not only allows much more fine-grained coding than has been possible until now, it also enables investigating patterns of instructional scripts in rather large samples of classes and numbers of lessons Three projects on investigating key patterns of lower secondary physics instruction in two countries (Germany and the German speaking part of Switzerland) closely cooperate. Major emphases are video-based analyses of dominating instructional patterns by employing common coding schemes and drawing consequences for improving actual instructional practices e.g. by teacher professional development. The following issues are the focus of the studies presented: (1) Standard basic coding of surface structures of instruction; (2) a coding scheme for investigating the practice of using experiments in science classes; (3) methods to investigate linkages of teaching and learning processes in instruction