Der Zusammenhang zwischen der Qualität von Experimentalpraktika und der Entwicklung der professionellen Kompetenz angehender Physiklehrkräfte

In this study, we analyze the contribution of laboratory courses on the development of pre-service physics teachers’ professional competence. Laboratory courses in physics teacher education pursue different goals that address both subject-specific learning and the development of positive motivational orientations. Both aspects are central facets of teachers’ professional competence. While individual intervention studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of teaching-specific laboratory courses, the contribution of this course format to pre-service teachers’ development in the field is still largely unclear. Therefore, to investigate the quality of laboratory courses, N = 105 quality assessments of pre-service physics teachers were analyzed and their impact for the development of content knowledge, interest, and self-efficacy beliefs over the course of an academic year were examined. The results show that pre-service physics teachers rate the quality of laboratory courses as relatively high. Using linear regression equations, it could also be shown that an increase in self-efficacy beliefs for planning and conducting experiments in physics classes occurs after attending a high-quality laboratory course. In contrast, no significant influence on content knowledge acquisition and interest development could be found.