E-Learning Scenarios to Support Student Teachers’ Development of an Inquisitive Mind-Set in Study Projects at the University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract

Since 2015 the seminar that provides scaffolding during the long internship (Praxissemester) at the University of Duisburg-Essen has taken the form of a blended learning course that combines three long face-to-face sessions with online activities on a Moodle platform. This concept aims for flexible and individual support of students that is not bound to a specific time and space. The central institution and port of call for any support that has to do with the design of the  blended  learning  courses  is  the  PSESS  (Praxissemester  E-Support  Center). They help lecturers from all the different subjects to create courses that serve the
purpose of guiding students through the whole Plan-Do-Reflect & Review processes connected with their research-based projects, aiming at developing inquisitive  mind-sets  in  students,  which  is  the  prerequisite  of  lifelong  learning  in  the teaching profession. Research-based learning in the context of the Praxissemester at  the  University  of  Duisburg-Essen  requires  student  teachers  to  approach  their
future  field  of  work  from  a  theory-driven  perspective  and  with  a  focus  on  research  methods,  which  help  to  understand  and  reflect  the  complex  structure  of conditions, challenges and different natures of action and interaction within the school  environment.  Enquiries are,  for  example,  based  on  interviews,  questionnaires, observations, case studies or material analysis. Through the development of basic research competences, the future teachers should be enabled to question their own practice and to do Practitioner Research in their future field of work. This article provides samples of good practice from the perspective of the PSESS as  well  as  from  the  perspective  of  lecturers  from  two  different  subjects.  These
perspectives illustrate the various ways in which e-learning activities can help to guide students through their projects and in which they can scaffold students in their reflection on the link between theory and practice, so that they can develop transferable knowledge for their future practice.