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Physics Outreach in Schools: Evaluating New Interventions for Excellence (PHOENIX)
As part of the outreach program of the cluster of excellence „Center for Chiral Electronics“, the project PHOENIX investigates the promotion of a positive self-perception and identity regarding physics and science as well as the choice of physics courses in school and university. Especially groups that are underrepresented in this field are in the focus of the study to strengthen the development of all students’ potentials in science domains such as physics. To achieve this goal, a long-term psychological intervention with different modules for students from the ninth grade on will be developed, implemented in schools, and evaluated in cooperation with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Regensburg.
Funding
Excellence Strategy of the German federal & state governments
Project description
The central aim of the project PHOENIX is the development of a positive self-perception and identity in the domain of physics as well as the promotion of the choice of physics courses in school and university. For that purpose, different psychological and didactic intervention modules are combined and evaluated to optimize effectiveness. The different intervention modules are based on established concepts, such as the promotion of the perceived relevance of physics, employing positive role models, and conceptions of the nature of science.
By closely cooperating with our project partners at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Regensburg, complementary perspectives stemming from both psychology and the didactics of physics will equally be considered and integrated in the development, implementation, and evaluation of the intervention.
Students participate in the longitudinal study from ninth grade until after they have left school. While in school, intervention units will be implemented yearly. All students take part in the intervention, with a special focus on those groups of students who are often underrepresented in the physics domain despite their potential. These are especially girls and young women as well as students from non-academic households and families with a history of migration. In total, 1500 students from 45 schools in the states Bavaria, Berlin, and Saxony-Anhalt will participate in the intervention study.
The project PHOENIX is part of the outreach program of the cluster of excellence “Center for Chiral Electronics”, a joint project of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Regensburg, in cooperation with other institutions such as the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and the Center for Research on Education and School Development at TU Dortmund University.
Lead researcher at IFS
Project management
Externe Projektpartnerinnen und -partner
- Prof. Dr. Thorid Rabe (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Physics)
- Prof. Dr. Karsten Rincke (University of Regensburg, Didactics of Physics)