Increase in knowledge about the European Union in political education lessons: Results of an intervention study

Abstract

The present study examined predictions of increased learning effectiveness in connection with WebQuest as a self-instructional learning environment in the context of political education. Analyses were based on the data of 502 students from nineth- and tenth-grade classes from middle-track (German: Realschulen) and high-track (German: Gymnasien) German secondary schools. In the framework of the TEESAEC project, lessons employing WebQuest were compared with teacherdirected lessons in a total of 22 classes. This study does not support the effectiveness of new types of teaching methods in comparison to traditional teaching methods. While girls clearly profited more from the lesson series than boys, there was no substantial influence of sex on prior knowledge. Adolescents with a Turkish migration background performed considerably poorer and those with a southern European background somewhat poorer in the pre-test than adolescents without a migration background. With regard to political interest, it was found that while interest in politics in Germany exerted a positive influence on prior knowledge, specific interest in European politics did not explain any unique variance. Pupils may generally profit from parents’ cultural capital and too little from political education lessons. The results of the study suggest that motivation and academic self-concept represent factors that are more important than the specific methods applied when it comes to lesson efficiency.