HOW DO STUDENTS PERCEIVE MATERIAL PHENOMENA AND HOW DO THEY INTERPRET OBSERVATIONS? EXAMPLE: MIXING EFFERVESCENT (FIZZ) POWDER – A STUDENT RESEARCH REPORT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF TEACHER EDUCATION STUDIES

Abstract

The higher education didactics approach “research in teaching” promotes students’ competencies: reflective independence in teaching, interpretations and understandings of “facts” related to chemistry instruction and chemical education. Especially during teaching practicums, students apply theoretical fundamental insights into the planning and design of chemistry lessons for the first time. Concrete occasions, often contradictions between theory (planning) and practice (chemistry instruction), are explored and clarified through research depending on the students’ needs. Students construct or reconstruct subject-didactic insights. In doing so, they increasingly reflect on “realities” or “practice” against the background of the theoretical knowledge they have learned, which is likely a condition for the development of professional teaching behavior. The teaching of chemistry methodology or chemistry didactics is qualitatively enriched through a conscious focus on practice and reports about real chemistry instruction-this is my experience and also the opinion of the students.