Course commentary: Doing research in didactics

According to the educational standards laid down by the Kultusministerium, language teachers-in-training need to develop the ability to embed scientific research in their classroom teaching. In practical terms this means that teachers-in-training learn how to:
a) critically evaluate studies conducted in the field;
b) test own hypotheses and answer own research questions through systematic empirical practice;
c) recognize various classroom implications of research and include them in the planning, organization and evaluation of their own teaching.

This seminar aims to develop and practice the above-mentioned skills through a mix of theoretical discussions and empirical projects. Upon the completion of the course, the participants should be able to:

• perform a critical literature review
• generate related questions and formulate unsolved research questions/hypotheses
• discuss the advantages/disadvantages of various data elicitation, collection and analysis methods
• discuss various types of data
• discuss various ways of documenting research results
• discuss the structure of a scientific paper
• choose an appropriate methodological approach for the intents and purposes of own study
• collect and analyze data for own study
• recognize and critically discuss classroom implications of research