As part of the project module, a research study was carried out during the summer semester of 2015 to investigate the impact of different ways of linking theory and practice over time on pupils’ intrinsic motivation. To this end, the students taught a year group at an integrated secondary school (IGS) in Oldenburg for seven double lessons on a selected technical topic (flying). The lessons were delivered in two different formats: firstly, with an alternation between theory and practice within each double lesson (alternating lessons); and secondly, with three and a half double lessons of theory followed by three and a half double lessons of practice (block teaching). The pupils were asked about their motivation after each double lesson. The results showed that, in this setting, the chronological sequence of the teaching formats had no influence on intrinsic motivation.

In the next phase, a third teaching variant was introduced, in which a strict distinction was no longer made between theory and practice; instead, lessons were designed so that the content of both areas complemented one another (combined teaching). For example, the wing was built and the principle of lift was then explained using it.

The initial findings were presented as early as 2015 at the conference of the German Society for Technical Education (DGTB) and published in the conference proceedings. The third round of the study is currently taking place at two partner schools.