Evaluation of a theory of instructional sequences for physics instruction

Abstract

Background of the study is the theory of basis models of teaching and learning, a comprehensive set of teaching models which includes for example learning through discovery and problem solving. The combined use of different teaching models has not been fully investigated and it is frequently not clear under what circumstances a particular teaching model is used by teachers. In contrast, the theory of basis models of teaching and learning gives guidelines for choosing a particular teaching model and provides instructional sequences for each teaching model. Aim of the study is to investigate the implementation of the theory applied to physics instruction and to show if possible effects for the students may be attributed to the use of the theory. Therefore, a theory-oriented education program for 18 physics teachers was developed and implemented in the 2005/06 school-year. Main features of the intervention consisted of coaching physics lessons and video analysis according to the theory. The study follows a pre-treatment-post design with non-equivalent control group. Findings of repeated-measures ANOVAs show large effects for teachers’ subjective beliefs, large effects for classroom actions and small to medium effects for student outcomes such as perceived instructional quality and student emotions. The teachers/classes that applied the theory especially well according to video analysis showed the larger effects. Results of this study showed that differentiating between different teaching aims improves physics instruction. Effects can be followed through to student outcomes. The education program effect was clearer for classroom actions and students’ outcomes than for teachers’ beliefs.