Development of prospective physics teachers’ professional knowledge and skills during a one-semester school internship

Abstract

In academic teacher education programs prospectivephysics teachers are supposed to acquire professional knowledge and skills that enable them to carry out effective instruction. However, it is unclear which knowledge has animpact on teaching quality and how knowledge and teaching skills develop throughout studies. In particular, this is the case for practical parts of teacher education programslike school internships or other forms of field experiences. Therefore, we examine the development of pre-service physics teachers‘professional knowledge over a one-semester internship in schools. Furthermore, we analyze the development of their skills in (a) planning physics lessons, (b) reflectingphysics lessons, and (c) explaining physics overthat internship using an innovative approach of standardized performance assessments. So far, our longitudinal analyses of a cohort of prospective physics teachers from four German universities hardly show any development of their professional knowledge and skills during the internship. Further analyses are needed to gain more insight into this low efficacy of the internship.