Project IGEL

Individual Support and Adaptive Learning Environments in Primary School

Teachers are challenged to support students’ learning within the classroom and to adjust their teaching to students’ different preconditions for learning. The present study aims at evaluating three teaching approaches (scaffolding instructional discourse, formative assessment, and peer-assisted learning) in primary school science education. The study uses a cluster-randomised control trial with professional development workshops for all participating 54 teachers. After the workshops, the teachers employed the teaching approaches in their science classes teaching standardized lesson units. Teachers and students were provided with questionnaires prior, during, and after the lesson units. Furthermore, selected science lessons were video recorded. Our main research questions are:

1. What are the effects of the professional development workshops on teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and instruction?
2. What are the effects of the teaching approaches on students’ knowledge and motivation compared to a control group?
3. What are the effects of the teaching approaches particularly on knowledge and motivation of students at risk of school failure?
4. What are the links between the teaching approaches, self-regulated learning, and teaching quality?

Time Frame of the Project

The project started in December 2009 and will end in June 2014. The intervention was implemented in 54 German primary schools during the academic school year 2010–2011.

Selected Publications

Decristan, J., Hondrich, A. L., Büttner, G., Hertel, S., Klieme, E., Kunter, M., Lühken, A., Adl-Amini, K., Djakovic, S.-K., Mannel, S., Naumann, A., & Hardy, I. (2015). Impact of additional guidance in science education on primary students’ conceptual understanding. The Journal of Educational Research. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1080/00220671.2014.899957

Fauth, B., Decristan, J., Rieser, S., Klieme, E., & Büttner, G. (2014). Student ratings of teaching quality in primary school: Dimensions and prediction of student outcomes. Learning and Instruction, 29, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.07.001

Hardy, I., Hertel, S., Kunter, M., Klieme, E., Warwas, J., Büttner, G., & Lühken, A. (2011). Adaptive Lerngelegenheiten in der Grundschule: Merkmale, methodisch-didaktische Schwerpunktsetzungen und erforderliche Lehrerkompetenzen. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 57, Themenheft Individuelle Förderung und adaptive Lerngelegenheiten im Grundschulunterricht (Hrsg.: S. Hertel, J. Warwas, & E. Klieme), 819–833.