Maria Knobelsdorf, University of Dortmund, Germany - Didaktik der ...

2. DATA MODELING AND DATABASE
SYSTEMS IN GERMAN SCHOOLS
In consequence of the results of international comparative studies
(e.g. International student assessment - PISA 2000) in Germany
the “Principles and Standards for School Informatics –
Educational Standards of Informatics in Lower Secondary
Education” (translation in accordance with: [8], abbreviated:
educational standards of informatics SI) were developed. These
are output-orientated minimum standards and specify the
competencies which should be acquired when completing 7th and
10th grade. They consist of process standards and content
standards (see Figure 1) and were proposed to bridge the
knowledge about information and communication technology
(ICT) and CS (see [3]). Therefore, in this study these competencies
are used to evaluate exercises.
Figure 1. Process and content standards 2
“Data modeling and database systems” influences several process
and content standards. For this study it is reasonable to focus on a
few main competencies. Most contents and processes associated
with “data modeling and database systems” are summarized in the
content standard Information and data and the process standard
Model and implementation (see table 1).
Table 1. Associated competencies of the “educational
standards of informatics SI”
Standards Competencies
Content
Standard 3
Information
and data
Process
Standard
Model and
implementation
Learners of all age should …
…understand the connection between data and information
and different forms of representations of data,
…understand operations on data, and interpret these
with regard to the represented information,
…be able to trigger suitable operations on data.
Learners of all age should …
…create informatics models based on given facts,
…implement models with suitable applications,
…reflect models and their implementation.
Currently, in Germany no educational standards for upper
secondary education of informatics exist. The “Einheitliche
Prüfungsanforderungen Informatik” [9] (translation: standardized
requirements for final examinations in CSE, abbreviated: EPA)
were developed to ensure transparency, comparability, and
standardization of final examinations. They define examination
areas and assist in compiling exercises (especially requirement
areas). “Data modeling and database systems” is included in all
examination areas. The requirement areas are often used for
grading of competencies and exercises (e.g. see [10]). In this
2 [8], translated by [3].
3 The translations of the content standards are taken over by [3].
144
study the levels reproduction performance, transfer performance
and constructive performance are also used to evaluate the
cognitive complexity of exercises. On the first level students are
able to account known facts, to explain and present methods and
principles of CS. Transfer performances allow the independent
use of known facts, methods and principals in order to solve new
problems. Learners on the last level independently decide on
methods in new and complex problem situations (see [12]).
The “educational standards of informatics SI” and the EPA are
structured in several ways. Nevertheless, it is possible to assign
the competencies and contents of the EPA to the process
standards and content standards of the “educational standards of
informatics SI” [7]. Therefore, in this study parts of both
educational principals are used to evaluate exercises.
3. RESEARCH QUESTION AND DESIGN
Education is influenced by many details. There are, for example:
the teaching methods, the scientific contents and processes, the
asked questions, and the used exercises. This study focusses on
the contents and processes in exercises.
Material
By comparing five recent German schoolbooks, it was shown that
the topic “data modeling and database systems” is divided into
exercises about storage of large data volumes, data modeling,
implementation and queries. Developing schoolbooks is a longterm
process, in which the authors’ entire expert-knowledge about
education and science is used and discussed in several ways.
Therefore, it is assumed that exercises in schoolbooks are typical
exercises. This selection enables a nonreactive research, which
excludes experimenter effects, test or other answer falsifications.
In this study, 61 exercises taken out of one frequently used
schoolbook (see [5]) for lower secondary education are analyzed.
The book is permitted in all funeral states of Germany and allows
to achieve the existing curricula. The chosen exercises include the
whole topic “data modeling and database systems” and are similar
to the exercises in the other four schoolbooks.
Analysis method
To analyze the teaching material the qualitative content analysis
by Mayring [11], more precisely the structuring analysis is used.
Table 2. Schematic representation of the analysis method
Operation Explanation
Selection of material 61 exercises taken from one school book
Determination of
analyzing units
Deductive development
of categories
Ensuring of the interrater
reliability
One exercise is one unit
Developing of categories, anchors, and
coding rules
The categories were discussed with
members of the department of didactics
of mathematics and computer science.
Rating All exercises were rated by two Raters.
Interpretation Structuring analysis
In order to provide criteria for exercises in “data modeling and
database systems”, the following questions are posed to the
material:
Question 1: Which contents and processes are necessary to
achieve the competencies of the “educational standards of
informatics SI”?
The “educational standards of informatics SI” allow an outputorientated
teaching, simultaneously they were proposed to bridge