Effectivity of innovative Projects in Mathematics Teacher Education (TEDS-Telekom)
Project leaders:
- Prof. Dr. Sigrid Blömeke (University of Oslo, formerly Humboldt University of Berlin)
- Prof. Dr. Gabriele Kaiser (University of Hamburg)
- Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Rinkens (University of Paderborn)
Project staff:
- Dr. Nils Buchholtz (University of Hamburg)
- Dr. Björn Schwarz (University of Hamburg)
- Thorsten Scheiner (University of Hamburg),
- Dr. Ute Suhl (Humboldt University of Berlin),
- Prof. Dr. Johannes König (University of Cologne)
Project duration: 1.1.2008-31.12.2012
Funding:
Central objective of the TEDS-Telekom study – financed by the German Telekom Foundation – was the evaluation of effectiveness of the project „Mathematik Neu Denken“ – „Thinking Mathematics in new ways “ to improve teacher education at the University of Siegen and Gießen from 2008-2011). In 2009 also the University of Duisburg-Essen and in 2011 the Free University of Berlin were included into the evaluation.
The central aspect of the innovative projects funded by the German Telekom Foundation is the early – already at the beginning of the university study - integration of academic and school mathematics from a higher standpoint, which comprises a deeper content-based understanding of central concepts of school mathematics including an early integration of pedagogical content aspects into teacher education. This approach follows the tradition of Felix Klein, who emphasised a deeper insight into elementary mathematics from a higher standpoint.
These innovative approaches have been analyzed concerning the achieved effects in the development of students’ competences in the areas of mathematical content knowledge (MCK), mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) and general pedagogy (GPK) including the development of the related beliefs. We referred on the one hand to the comparison with control groups from other German universities, and on the other hand we refer to attempts of the IEA study of TEDS-M 2008 (see Blömeke, Kaiser & Lehmann, 2010) about the effectiveness of teacher education in order to get specific information about the innovative potential of these supported projects in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of German teacher education in an international comparison. The evaluation study focused on the central domains of knowledge and the related beliefs in the area mathematics and mathematics education of the first semesters of teacher education for the Gymnasium (higher track of lower and upper secondary school level):
- Academic mathematics content knowledge in the area calculus, linear algebra and analytic geometry, especially with regard to the approach by Felix Klein;
- Mathematics pedagogical content knowledge referring to didactics of calculus and linear algebra / analytic geometry;
- Elementary mathematics from a higher standpoint linking both domains of knowledge under the perspective of Felix Klein
- beliefs about mathematics as a science and about the teaching and learning of mathematics
- general pedagogical knowledge focusing on psychological learning aspects and classroom management.