Interest, Instructional Strategies, and the Creation of Group Space

Research on small-group work and on whole class discussions has shown specific benefits for student learning. At the same time, research on interest stresses the generation of situational interest when particular learning conditions are met. This qualitative study explores whether the type of instructional strategy (small group vs. whole class discussion) influences triggering of situational interest about theoretical and practice-oriented pedagogical topics among preservice science teachers (N = 44). Triggering of interest was identified by participation rate, degree of comfort during interactions, and quality of arguments. Results show that whole class discussions of theoretical topics shifted towards practical teaching issues, while small groups sustained the theoretical nature of a topic. Both interaction patterns imply triggering of situational interest. But the small group interaction patterns indicate the collective construction of a “triple problem-solving space”, in which content, social/relational, and interest were balanced from the start; the whole class discussions needed first to renegotiate the content

Constructing School Knowledge after the Wall: The Case of Textbook Publishing in the Former German Democratic Republic

Organisational ecology and world cultural perspectives are used to analyse the struggle of the former East German textbook publisher Volk und Wissen after reunification. We argue that the normative expectations of Western Germany with respect to instructional materials clearly emulate world cultural principles, and so Volk und Wissen\u27s transition into Germany\u27s fiercely competitive educational publishing market offers an interesting test of the effects of educational globalisation. Reliance on the marketing expertise of Cornelsen, a Western German firm that acquired Volk und Wissen in 1991, helped the firm survive, but also retaining a monist epistemological stance that was consistent with that of teachers trained in the socialist system