Abstracts - Earli

additional reflection prompts were implemented in order to encourage mindful processing ofsubject matter. N = 12 students were prompted to ask questions, give their opinions etc. whileworking with EULE, N = 11 students dealt with EULE without reflection prompts. First resultsrevealed significant and substantial learning gains in both groups; students in the reflectioncondition, however, were only descriptively more successful. Interest in the topic was high bothbefore and after the learning phase. Findings also indicated that conceptual change was incitedconcerning some misconceptions about cooperative learning. A broader field study involving asample of about 300 students is currently prepared. We again investigate effects of reflectionprompts; also, we examine the helpfulness of systematic student activation through interactivetasks.A 2328 August 2007 15:00 - 17:00Room: 0.100BSymposiumDo instructional methods matter?Chair: Kurt Reusser, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandOrganiser: Christine Pauli, University of Zuerich, Institute of Education, SwitzerlandOrganiser: Tina Seidel, IPN Leibniz-Institute for Science Education, GermanyDiscussant: Cornelia Gräsel, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, GermanyThe TIMSS Video Studies resulted in a growing interest in teaching patters as a feature of teachingquality. Thereby, video studies in mathematics and science education identify teaching patterns byanalyzing instructional methods or the social organization of classrooms - and, thus, focus on theanalysis of sight structures in teaching. When linking those analyses of teaching patterns todevelopments in student learning, ambiguous results are found. In most cases, no substantialimpact of patterns in instructional methods on students’ cognitive or motivational-affective isfound. Does this mean that instructional methods are irrelevant to teaching and learning? No.However, the results are puzzling and researchers recognize that more research is needed withregard to the interplay of instructional methods and additional quality indicators such as cognitiveactivation, quality and clarity of learning tasks, and quality of teacher-student interactions. In thisdiscussion leading questions are: What is the scope and the boundary of certain instructionalmethods in providing students opportunities to learn? What differences are found when teacherswho use the same instructional method are being compared with regard to other quality indicatorsof teaching? What happens if specific instructional methods are being implemented in classroomswhile other quality indicators are being kept constant? The symposium focuses on the interplay ofinstructional methods with additional quality indicators of teaching, and on the effects of theseinteractions on student learning progress. Researchers from different countries discuss the resultsof their studies with regard to the questions outlined above. All of them share the approach ofinvestigating instructional methods and additional quality indicators of teaching by video analysis.Thus, their results are based on rich video data bases in mathematics and science teaching, as wellas on linking video analysis with additional measures on student perceptions and studentcompetencies.– 68 –