The Study Projects in the Practical Semester

How Do Students Per-ceive the Academic Preparation in the Project Seminars?

Abstract

At  the  Westfälische  Wilhelms-Universität  Münster,  research-based learning is an essential objective of the practical semester  in teacher education. The  students  should be  enabled  to  learn  with  an  explicit  research-oriented  attitude. In the practical semester this takes place in the form of three study projects,
which  the  students  plan  in  three  project  seminars,  implement  in  the  practical phase under the supervision of the lecturers and finally reflect. The article focuses on the project seminars from the students’  perspective. How are they introduced to the study projects in the project seminars? What experiences do they gain in the various seminars and how do they evaluate them with regard to the preparation  of  the  study  projects?  Ten  students  were  interviewed  using  guided  interviews.  The  data  is  analysed  with  the  content  analysis  in  order  to  illustrate  the students’  perceived  thematisation  and  preparation  for  the  study  projects  in  the project seminars. The findings indicate different arrangements of the project seminars as well as different requirements and ideas of the lecturers with regard to the study projects, which in turn lead to ambiguities on the part of the students. The question  arises  how  a  research-oriented  attitude  can  be  successfully  established under these circumstances. The results will be discussed with regard to implications  for  the  further  development  of  academic  education  in  the  context  of  the practical semester, based on findings from implementation research.