Co-Design and Use of Open Online Materials for Mathematics and Science Didactics Courses in Teacher Education: Product and Process

Abstract

The design and use of online materials for blended learning have been in the spotlight of educational development over the last decade. With respect to didactical courses, however, the potential of online and blended learning seems to be underexplored; little is known about its affordances for teacher education, and for domain specific didactical courses in particular. To investigate this potential, as well as the ways to organize the co-design of such learning units, we carried out a small and short-term research project in which teacher educators in the Netherlands engaged in a co-design process of developing and field-testing open online learning units for mathematics and science didactics. We focused on the features of the designed online learning units, on the organization of the co-design process, and on the experiences with the learning units in teacher education practice. A first conclusion was that it was most fruitful to design building blocks rather than ready-to-use courses, and that students should have play a role in the materials. With respect to the co-design process, intensive meetings of small design teams seemed an efficient approach. The experiences in the field tests revealed that the learning units were inspiring, but needed finalization, and educators needed time to prepare the incorporation in their existing educational practices. In the future, the resulting learning units will be maintained and extended, and are expected to contribute to a community of practice of mathematics and science educators.

Appendix: Pre- and Post-field Test Questionnaires

1.1 Pre-field Test Questionnaire

• 1. Which learning unit do you intend to use in a course mathematics didactics?

• 2. Do you already have an impression of this learning unit and if so, could you describe it? Relevance, consistency, usability? Content, design, appearance?

• 3. In which subject and for which target group will you use the learning unit? Size in ECTS⁶? In what period?

• 4. What are the goals you hope to realize with the deployment of the learning unit? What expectations do you have? In what need the learning unit can hopefully provide?

• 5. How are you going to tackle this?

  • a. Technically: refer to the online learning unit, or import parts in your own web-based learning environment?

  • b. Practical: replace parts of the existing course, as additional material, as part of homework, as part of assessment? In what way do the students will work with the learning unit?

  • c. Content: which content parts of the learning unit do you intend to use?

1.2 Post-Field Test Questionnaire

• 1. Which of the learning units did you use in your course didactics of mathematics?

• 2. What is, looking back, your opinion about this learning unit? Relevance, consistency, usability? Content, design, appearance?

• 3. To what extent have the goals you hoped to achieve with the deployment of the learning unit actually been achieved?

• 4. How did you use the learning unit:

  • a. Technically: refer to the online learning unit, or import parts in your own web-based learning environment?

  • b. Practical: replace parts of the existing course, as additional material, as part of homework, as part of assessment? In what way do the students will work with the learning unit?

  • c. Content: which content parts of the learning unit do you intend to use?

• 5. How did the learning unit please the students? Were there any positive or negative reactions?

• 6. Do you have assignments to share with us that were given to students regarding the learning unit? Do you have students’ work with respect to these assignments to share with us?