Courses // University of Oldenburg

Orientation of the teaching internships

Experimental practical course with a career focus

Target group: Teacher training students specialising in physics for secondary schools, general secondary schools, special educational needs and physical education; 8 credit points, Bachelor’s stage

The placement has two objectives. Firstly, students are to further develop their experimental skills in physics, having already completed the introductory placement. Secondly, they are to use the experiments to build up a deeper understanding of school-level physics – that is, the physics knowledge they will need in a school context; this in-depth school-based knowledge is a school-related extension of the subject-specific knowledge gained in the physics modules. During the placement, students use the experiments to restructure their knowledge of physics for the teaching process in schools. They relate this knowledge to typical pupils’ preconceptions, contextualise it and design short teaching and learning sequences (for lower and upper secondary levels) in which the practical experiments are embedded. The students’ own experiences – gained through setting up and carrying out the experiments, and in understanding their strengths and weaknesses – play a key role in this process.

In terms of subject matter, the experiments draw on classical areas of physics that are also relevant to the core school curriculum: mechanics, ray and wave optics, electricity and electromagnetism, thermodynamics, and contextualised areas such as wind physics and space travel. Digital measurement systems (Smartlink) are integrated. A distinctive feature of the placement is the implementation of teaching and learning sequences in the physiXS school laboratory. School classes from the region visit the laboratory, where the placement students have set up experimental stations on specific topics (building physics; the physics of plastics; renewable energies, etc.). The students guide the school pupils, support their experimental processes and analyse their actions and cognitive processes, partly in order to draw conclusions regarding the experimental set-ups.

Experimental practical course for secondary schools (Hauptschule, Realschule and special needs schools)

Target group: Physics teacher training students (GHR, SoPäd); 6 credit points, Bachelor’s phase

This placement builds on Placement a), but focuses on the experimental conditions in upper secondary schools and special needs schools, taking into account the specific learning requirements of pupils at these types of school. In collaboration with partner schools, students develop experiments and experimental set-ups which they implement at the school but outside regular lessons, e.g. on special research days. Topics include the measurement of physical quantities and the associated construction of their own (digital) measuring instruments. Students first test their experiments in the university’s laboratories before taking their mobile laboratory equipment to the schools (phymobil_OL).

Experimental Practical Course in Interdisciplinary General Studies

Target group: Students studying general studies; 3 credit points, Bachelor’s stage

The aim of this teaching placement in General Studies is to introduce students to physical phenomena and experiments and to equip them with basic experimental skills. In this practical course, too, students develop a variety of experiments for primary schools and test them with pupils in partner schools. The thematic focus is on fundamental physics topics: elementary mechanics, forces and motion; ray optics, shadows and colours; temperature and heat transfer processes; electricity and the generation of electrical current. The content is contextualised around specific phenomena in each case. The construction of simple measuring devices for use in schools, e.g. for measuring weather, is also part of the course’s programme.