How research-based learning can increase teacher students’ knowledge and abilities – a design-based research project in the context of pupils’ (mis)conceptions in science

The beliefs and preconceptions that pupils bring into the classroom influence their understanding of scientific topics. Empirical studies show that many teachers know little about pupils’ (mis)conceptions and are therefore unequipped to handle them in an appropriate way. The design-based research project presented in this article describes the development and evaluation of a seminar in the didactic education of chemistry teachers. This seminar introduces teacher students to the topic of pupils’ conceptions according to the principle of research-based learning. The seminar is based on an expert-validated model of knowledge and skills that teachers need in the context of pupils’ conceptions. Furthermore, the article describes a structural model of design-based research (DBR) that can be used for structuring DBR projects. The article concludes by presenting a theory development derived from the evaluation results and their theoretical embedding which describes how subjective theories can be affected and changed by research-based learning.