TY - JOUR

T1 - The Complexity of Teacher Questions in Chemistry Classrooms

T2 - An Empirical Analysis on the Basis of Two Competence Models

AU - Nehring, Andreas

AU - Päßler, Andreas

AU - Tiemann, Rüdiger

N1 - Funding information: This work was supported by AFOSR MURI research grant FA9550-07-1-0136 and AFOSR grant FA9550-13-1-0119 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research , with Drs. Julian Tishkoff and Chiping Li as the technical monitors. This work is also prepared in memory of Prof. Kenichi Takita, a pioneer of plasma torch application in supersonic combustors.

PY - 2017/2

Y1 - 2017/2

N2 - With regard to the moderate performance of German students in international large-scale assessments, one branch of German science education research is concerned with the construction and evaluation of competence models. Based on the theory-driven definition of competence levels, these models imply a correlation between the complexity of a question or a problem, its difficulty and the cognitive demands that are required to answer or solve it. The aim of the study was to apply two competence models in order to analyse the complexity of questions that chemistry teachers use to promote learning in class as well as to compare the results of this analysis. Two model-based coding schemes were constructed and evaluated on the basis of interrater reliability before analysing the teacher questions in 40 chemistry lessons. The results show that between 60 and 65 % of the questions refer to low complexity levels. Although there is a considerable correspondence between the results (69.2 %), neither model can be considered as redundant. These findings are discussed with regard to the level and the development of students’ skills in science.

AB - With regard to the moderate performance of German students in international large-scale assessments, one branch of German science education research is concerned with the construction and evaluation of competence models. Based on the theory-driven definition of competence levels, these models imply a correlation between the complexity of a question or a problem, its difficulty and the cognitive demands that are required to answer or solve it. The aim of the study was to apply two competence models in order to analyse the complexity of questions that chemistry teachers use to promote learning in class as well as to compare the results of this analysis. Two model-based coding schemes were constructed and evaluated on the basis of interrater reliability before analysing the teacher questions in 40 chemistry lessons. The results show that between 60 and 65 % of the questions refer to low complexity levels. Although there is a considerable correspondence between the results (69.2 %), neither model can be considered as redundant. These findings are discussed with regard to the level and the development of students’ skills in science.

KW - Chemistry

KW - Classroom research

KW - Competence models

KW - Complexity

KW - Teacher questions

KW - Video study

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84944692017&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10763-015-9683-9

DO - 10.1007/s10763-015-9683-9

M3 - Article

VL - 15

SP - 233

EP - 250

JO - International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education

JF - International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education

SN - 1571-0068

IS - 2

ER -