Physics instruction based on core concepts: Cumulatively building competence in physics using the energy concept [Knowlege transfer project]

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Foundation of a scientific literacy is a an integrated knowledge organized around the core concepts of the individual disciplines of science - the so called basic concepts. The systematic development of such knowledge requires insights into how students develop understanding of the basic concepts throughout school. A preceding project generated such insights for the core concept of energy. These insights served as the basis for developing a model that describes how students' developing understanding of energy can serve as a basis to link different content areas of physics in order to cumulatively build an integrated knowledge organized around the core concept of energy. The main aim of the present project is, to transfer these insights into practice. Together with the Westermann Group, one of the largest educational media companies in Germany, the model developed in the preceding project will be used to develop small instructional units based on existing instructional units and materials to support linking different content areas of physics through the energy concept and thus to support the cumulative development of an integrated knowledge about physics. The units will be implemented and distributed digitally in order to allow for maximum configurability and thus effortless integration with existing instruction. This will on the one hand demonstrate, what physics instruction based on basic concepts can prototypically look like, and on the other hand, how the textbook of the future must be designed in order to best support such instruction. The procedure for designing the units developed in this project will be documented in order to allow for a comparable transfer of findings from research on other basic concepts in other disciplines of science. This will create know-how in the educational media business on how to design innovative instruction based on basic concepts in order to pave the way for the cumulative development of an integrated knowledge in physics and other disciplines of science.