Fostering Pre-Service Teachers’ Diagnostic Abilities Regarding Students’ Conceptions

Anwendung der Didaktischen Rekonstruktion zur Gestaltung eines hochschuldidaktischen Seminars

Abstract

The development and training of skills enabling pre-service teachers (PSTs) to diagnose students’ conceptions is an important aspect of university teacher education. In order to achieve this goal, a course concept using the Model of Educational Reconstruction as a scaffold was created and tested at the University of Hannover in the field of chemical education. The goal of this article is therefore twofold: Firstly, a course concept for the development and training of pre-service teachers’ diagnostic skills will be presented. Secondly, the concrete use of the Model of Educational Reconstruction for establishing a course will be outlined. PSTs’ feedback and evaluation from two years show that PSTs’ knowledge and abilities regarding students’ conceptions increase during the course. Furthermore, PSTs’ perception of students’ conceptions as well as their critical role for learning change towards an appreciating perspective. When confronted with alternative conceptions, PSTs begin to reflect critically on their own content knowledge and draw parallels between their personal learning processes and those of the students. In addition, starting points for future courses are outlined.