MoKoKo
Modellierkompetenz im Kontext: Eine explanative Studie zur Wirkung von Kontextmerkmalen in Modellierprozessen von Biologie-Lehramtsstudierenden
Das Projekt untersucht, wie unterschiedliche kontextuelle Merkmale biologischer Problemstellungen die Fähigkeit von Biologie-Lehramtsstudierenden beeinflussen, Modelle zu entwickeln und zur Problemlösung einzusetzen.
Project data
| Research lines | Research Line Professional Competence and Learning of Teachers | ||
| Departments | Biology Education | ||
| Funding | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft | ||
| Period | 2/3/2025–1/31/2028 | ||
| Status | current | ||
| IPN researchers | Prof. Dr. Moritz Krell (Project lead), Felicitas Haupts | ||
| Members of the research alliance | IPN Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik (Lead), Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität zu Köln | ||
Modelling is one of the key competencies required of prospective biology teachers: They should be able to analyse, represent and solve disciplinary problems using scientific models. Although it is known that modelling performance strongly depends on the task at hand, previous studies have been predominantly descriptive in nature. The mechanisms underlying this context dependency have hardly been investigated systematically to date.
This project addresses that gap by investigating how different task characteristics influence the modelling processes of pre-service biology teachers. It focuses on two features: the epistemological goal of modelling and the transparency of the topic's deep structures.
The study employs an experimental design in which students work on two digital modelling tasks. Their models are developed using the tool SageModeler and then systematically analysed. The aim is to understand which task characteristics increase or facilitate cognitive demands – and how this affects the quality of the modelling processes.
The project is part of a DFG-funded collaborative initiative between the IPN – Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel (project lead), Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Cologne. It contributes to the targeted design of teaching and learning settings in university biology programs so that future teachers can learn scientific modelling and later promote it in the classroom.
Project participants
Prof. Dr. Jörg Großschedl (Universität Köln)
Felicitas Haupts (IPN Kiel)
Dr. Nina Minkley (Universität Bochum)
Prof. Dr. Moritz Krell (IPN Kiel)
