Lab courses for prospective physics teachers: what could we learn from the first COVID-19 lockdown?

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

Abstract

At the universities of Dresden, Vienna, and Zagreb, a laboratory course for prospective physics teachers was transferred to an online environment because of the lockdown in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper is to present and compare students' and instructors' considerations about the experiences with this laboratory course at these three universities and to formulate guidelines for organizing lab courses for prospective physics teachers. The research was conducted in three steps: first, interviews were conducted with prospective physics teachers (N = 10); second, an online questionnaire was administered to course participants (N = 99); and third, lab course instructors completed an online questionnaire (N = 8). The results show that an increase in creativity and confidence was expressed when conducting home experiments. Students who received support and guidance benefited more from the online lab course, but some students also experienced a greater time commitment. On a positive note, all participants thought outside-the-box during this lab experience and found solutions that led to new ways of conducting labs. Our study suggests that in future online or regular lab courses, students should have the chance to make decisions about experiments and be creative, with an emphasis on peer discussions and support from instructors.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer055701
FachzeitschriftEuropean Journal of Physics
Jahrgang43
Ausgabenummer5
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 16 Juni 2022
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

Scopus 85133636657
Mendeley 52ba1e19-a384-3e62-a2d8-386422252974
WOS 000816883000001

Schlagworte

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Schlagwörter

  • COVID-19 lockdown, physics education, university education

Bibliotheksschlagworte