The effectiveness of invention activities on student teacher learning

In higher education, relatively little research has been done on the “problem-solving prior to instruction” approach, with its demonstrably positive effect on learning. This paper presents a study of a programme to foster a professional understanding of classroom management among student teachers (N = 106) in educational science. Two different forms within this approach were examined – invention activities and worked solution. Their effects on the process variables “epistemic curiosity” and “awareness of knowledge gaps” were investigated. The results show that epistemic curiosity is high in both groups, but knowledge gaps are more likely to be perceived by those completing the invention activities than by those using the worked solution approach.