Concept and meaning of the TIMMS assessment. On the debate about TIMSS of eighth to tenth grade physics exercises

In Heft 2/99 dieser Zeitschrift hatte Volker Hagemeister an den Testaufgaben der TIMSS-Studie heftige Kritik geübt. Viele grundsätzliche und eine Reihe konkreter Probleme wurden benannt. - Diese Kritik wird ebenso grundsätzlich und detailliert zurückgewiesen. In diesem Heft werden (im ersten Teil des Beitrags) die testtheoretischen und einige fachdidaktische Ansätze der TIMSS-Studie genauer erläutert und an Beispielen nachvolziehbar gemacht; in Heft 2/00 werden Mißverständnisse analysiert, die nach Meinung der Verantwortlichen der Kritik zugrunde liegen. (DIPF/Orig.)Volker Hagemeister heavily criticized the test exercises of the TIMSS study in No.2/99. Many basic and a number of concrete problems have been named. - This criticism has been refuted on equally fundamental and detailed terms. In the current number (in the first part of the contribution) the theoretical and some of the specific didactical proposals of TIMSS are explained and made plausible by examples. In No. 2/00 misunderstandings will be analyzed, which according to those responsible are the reason for criticism. (DIPF/Orig.

Concept and meaning of the TIMSS assessment. On the debate about TIMSS of eighth to tenth grade physics exercises

In Heft 2/99 dieser Zeitschrift hatte Volker Hagemeister an den Testaufgaben der TIMSS-Studie heftige Kritik geübt. Viele grundsätzliche und eine Reihe konkreter Probleme wurden benannt. - Diese Kritik wurde in Heft 1/00 grundsätzlich und detailliert zurückgewiesen. Dort wurden die testtheoretischen und einige fachdidaktische Ansätze der TIMSS-Studie genauer erläutert und an Beispielen nachvollziehbar gemacht; im vorliegenden Heft werden Missverständnisse analysiert, die nach Meinung der Verantwortlichen der Kritik zugrunde liegen. (DIPF/Orig.)Volker Hagemeister heavily criticized the test exercises of the TIMSS-study in No 2/99. Many fundamental and a number of practical problems have been named. - This criticism has been refitted in No. 1/00 on equally fundamental and detailed terms. The theoretical and some of the specific didactical proposals of TIMSS have been explained and made plausible by numerous examples. In the current number those misunderstandings are analyzed, which according to those responsible are at the root of. (DIPF/Orig.

An Educational Reconstruction of Special Relativity Theory for Secondary Education.

Einstein’s derivation of special relativity theory (SRT), based on hypothetical reasoning and thought experiments, is regarded as a prime example of physics theory development. In secondary education, the introduction of SRT could provide a great opportunity for students to engage in physics theorizing, but this opportunity is largely being missed in current teaching practice. One reason could be that secondary students lack some knowledge of electromagnetism that was central to Einstein’s argument. Therefore, we conducted an educational reconstruction to develop a teaching approach that would not rely on advanced understanding of electromagnetism, yet retain the modes of reasoning that were characteristic of Einstein’s approach. In our reconstruction, we identified the light postulate, which is notoriously difficult for students to grasp, as a central concept. We developed a teaching and learning sequence in which students perform relativistic thought experiments and try different interpretations of the light postulate. Through these activities, students experienced how the new concepts meet the requirements for a good theory. Experimental evaluation of the teaching and learning sequence indicates that this can be a fruitful approach to introduce SRT to secondary students

Inclusive STEM Teaching from a Language Perspective: Teacher Learning in a Professional Development Program

Worldwide, pupils with migrant backgrounds do not participate in school STEM subjects as successfully as their peers. Migrant pupils’ subject-specific language proficiency lags behind, which hinders participation and learning. Primary teachers experience difficulty in teaching STEM as well as promoting required language development. This study investigates how a professional development program (PDP) focusing on inclusive STEM teaching can promote teacher learning of language-promoting strategies (promoting interaction, scaffolding language and using multilingual resources). Participants were five case study teachers in multilingual schools in the Netherlands (N = 2), Sweden (N = 1) and Norway (N = 2), who taught in primary classrooms with migrant pupils. The PDP focused on three STEM units (sound, maintenance, plant growth) and language-promoting strategies. To trace teachers’ learning, three interviews were conducted with each of the five teachers (one after each unit). The teachers also filled in digital logs (one after each unit). The interviews showed positive changes in teachers’ awareness, beliefs and attitudes towards language-supporting strategies. However, changes in practice and intentions for practice were reported to a lesser extent. This study shows that a PDP can be an effective starting point for teacher learning regarding inclusive STEM teaching. It also illuminates possible enablers (e.g., fostering language awareness) or hinderers (e.g., teachers’ limited STEM knowledge) to be considered in future PDP design

Vrijheid voor onderwijs: Recensie

In de bundel Vrijheid voor Onderwijs, een uitgave van de landelijke vereniging van katholieke en christelijke schoolbesturen Verus, verkennen de auteurs vanuit diverse invalshoeken hoe de vrijheid van onderwijs in onze tijd betekenis zou moeten krijgen

Het weer van Bordeaux, So What?: Vragen bij het klimaat volgens Simon Roozendaal

Klimaat en duurzaamheid vinden we nauwelijks terug in schoolboeken en examenprogramma’s (behalve bij nlt), maar het zijn wel bèta-thema’s waar leerlingen zich druk over maken. De voorspellingen kunnen bedreigend zijn, en bèta-kennis zou minstens moeten helpen feit en fictie te scheiden. Als leraar hoef je niet alles te weten, maar je wilt goed geïnformeerd de dialoog aangaan. Welk boek helpt daarbij