Chemists refer to chemical phenomena on different representational levels--macroscopic, symbolic, and submicroscopic--which are directly related and connected to each other. Especially in the laboratory, students have to reason about various mechanistic features at the submicroscopic level and connect them in a meaningful way to make sense of the…

Analysis of data from single-case intervention studies commonly involves visual analysis. Previous research indicates that visual analysis may suffer from low reliability and unpromising error rates. We investigated the reliability and validity of visual analysis and explored to what extent data trends affect judgments. We administered a…

Stereotypical assumptions associating high levels of giftedness and outstanding performance with maladaptive behavioral characteristics and personality traits (cf. disharmony stereotype) are rather prevalent in the school context as well as in the musical domain. Such preconceptions among teachers can influence student assessment and corresponding…

Primary school teachers need adequate professional knowledge and motivational orientations to qualify scientifically and technologically literate students. Previous studies have focused on the impact of coursework on (pre-service) primary teachers' content knowledge, rather than on the development of academic self-concepts. In addition, the…

Developing scientific reasoning (SR) is a central goal of science-teacher education worldwide. On a fine-grained level, SR competency can be subdivided into at least six skills: "formulating research questions," "generating hypotheses," "planning experiments," "observing and measuring," "preparing data…

One focus of distance learning research is to explore the extent that learner characteristics and skills determine learning outcomes and to elaborate predictive models of performance. Modern approaches can benefit from objective data, such as various time indices and frequencies of learner actions, provided by log systems catching online traces to…

Evolution understanding is often positively connected with magnitudes of evolution acceptance, whereas religiosity mostly interferes negatively. However, comparisons between studies and countries must be treated cautiously due to the diversity of used instruments and samples. This study aims to generate new evidence concerning the interplay of…

Can immigrant school students profit from an immigrant teacher sharing their minority background? We investigate preservice teachers' (Study 1; M[subscript age] = 26.29 years; 75.2% female) and school students' (Study 2; M[subscript age] = 14.88 years; 49.9% female) perceptions of a teacher as well as immigrant school students' learning gains…

In order to educate scientifically literate children, teachers are required to include nature of science (NOS) in their classroom practice. However, as biology teachers' own understanding of NOS is limited, promoting an initial understanding of NOS in teacher education is crucial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the importance of the first…

Professional teaching competence is significantly influenced by beliefs about teaching and learning. Prospective teachers start their teacher training with quite persistent beliefs about learning processes. These beliefs are mainly influenced by the way they experienced their own lessons as a student at school. Previous biology lessons at school…

Biodiversity issues can fruitfully be adopted as contexts of Education for Sustainable Development, as they involve ecological, economic and social dimensions. But as these contexts are demanding to teach, we need to know more about motivational factors to determine how teacher education should be conducted to lead to motivated teachers. To study…

Diagnosing is an important aspect of teachers' professional competence. To successfully diagnose classroom situations, one has to apply pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in diagnostic activities (DA). Simulated classroom situations with embedded scaffolding can be an effective way of practising skills needed to foster diagnostic competences. In…

Although aspects of sustainability in communication such as nonviolence are discussed from time to time, hardly any theoretical basement with an empirical validation can be found. In the broadest sense, sustainability refers to the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. This paper asks for the theoretical approach that…

What is known about places we have not been to before we learn from maps, geographical magazines, or maybe travel reports. Ordinarily, this information is for granted without reflecting on its origin and underlying theoretical premises. Usually, this lack of reflection does not appear as problematic. However, what can can be learned from the fact…

Context: The current shortage of teachers in Germany, especially in vocational schools, is of relevance to the education system and labour market policy. To recruit future teachers more effectively, it is of great importance to gain a better understanding of pre-service teachers' career choice motivation. However, research has concentrated so far…