JURE 2012 Programme book - EARLI Jure 2012

JURE 2012 Conference Programme Wednesday, July 25
Wednesday, July 25
Registration
08:30-­‐09:30, Foyer, Ground Floor
Paper sessions
09:30-­‐10:30
PA.4.1. Teacher Competences in the Workplace
Paper Session, 9.30-­‐10.30, Room: VG 1.30
Chair: Anett Kádár
Experts beat Intermediates -­‐ Why Experts’ Explanations are More Effective in Fostering
Novices’ Transfer of Learning than Explanations Generated by Intermediates
Andreas Lachner
Johannes Gurlitt, & Matthias Nückles
Although prior research has shown that explanations by subject matter experts are superior
compared to explanations by intermediates with regard to transferring knowledge to novices,
little is known about which features of experts’ explanations foster novices’ transfer. To
investigate the effect of the instructor’s subject matter expertise on novices’ learning, we
conducted an experiment (N = 74). Novices were provided with one of four randomly selected
explanations. Two explanations were experts’ explanations and two were intermediates’
explanations from a former experiment that varied in the degree of coherence and generality.
We showed that novices who learned from experts’ explanations outperformed novices who
learned from intermediates’ explanations on transfer tasks. Contrast analyses showed that the
high coherence and medium generality of expert’s explanations accounted for novices’ transfer
of learning. Additional explorative qualitative analyses of novices’ verbal protocols during the
learning phase suggested that high coherence and a medium generality of experts’ explanations
fostered novices’ active processing of the explanations, i.e. novices who learned with an expert’s
explanation generated more elaborations and draw more bridging inferences, whereas novices
who learned with an intermediate’s explanation predominantly relied on surface learning
strategies. Thus, for tasks that require novices to apply their knowledge, it seems to be an
effective instructional strategy to provide novices with experts’ explanations as an appropriate
generalized domain schema to transfer their knowledge to other tasks.
Mentors matter!
Hans van der Linden
This paper presents the outcomes of a research on successful mentor competences in the
Regional training school West Friesland, which is a partnership of thirteen secondary schools
and five teacher training institutes on school based teacher training.
In the Netherlands schoolbased teacher training is a common aspect of initial teacher education.
Schools and training institutes together realize the training of prospective teachers. In school
student teachers train their teaching skills; teacher training institute delivers support and tools
to cope with the questions and concerns in the student teachers development that arise at the
workplace. Mentor teachers are crucial in student teachers’ learning at the workplace and play
an important role in connecting theory (institute) and practice (school). However, it is unclear
what competences mentor teachers should have and how these competences can be developed.
63