Promoting Students’ Perception of Autonomy in Class

A Teaching Concept for Teacher Trainees within the Framework of the Practical Semester for the Subject Biology

Abstract

The development of students’ motivation during their school career is  described  as  decreasing  in  several  studies.  Teachers  often  lack  didacticmethodical skills to counteract this trend and foster their students’ motivation in class.  Theoretical  and  empirical  approaches  to  foster  students’  motivation  that have already been evaluated do not seem to find their way into practice, such as autonomy support in the sense of self-determination theory. In  order  to  address  these  problems,  a  teaching  concept  based  on  self -determination  theory  was  developed  and  evaluated,  which  should  make  the  theoretical
discussions and empirical findings on fostering students’ autonomy accessible to teacher trainees and support their professional development regarding the support of students’ motivation. In the current contribution,  the subject-specific, theoretical and didactic-methodological principles of this teaching concept as well as an exemplary implementation are depicted. Finally, the results of the formative and empirical evaluation as well as experiences in the implementation of the concept are reported.