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Cultural Studies of Science Education

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21-08-2017 | Original Paper

A cross-cultural comparison of biology lessons between China and Germany: a video study

Authors: Ning Liu, Birgit Jana Neuhaus

Published in: Cultural Studies of Science Education | Issue 3/2018

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Abstract

Given the globalization of science education and the different cultures between China and Germany, we tried to compare and explain the differences on teacher questions and real life instances in biology lessons between the two countries from a culture-related perspective. 22 biology teachers from China and 21 biology teachers from Germany participated in this study. Each teacher was videotaped for one lesson on the unit blood and circulatory system. Before the teaching unit, students’ prior knowledge was tested with a pretest. After the teaching unit, students’ content knowledge was tested with a posttest. The aim of the knowledge tests here was for the better selection of the four samples for qualitative comparison in the two countries. The quantitative analysis showed that more lower-order teacher questions and more real life instances that were introduced after learning relevant concepts were in Chinese lessons than in German lessons. There were no significant differences in the frequency of higher-order questions or real life instances that were introduced before learning concepts. Qualitative analysis showed that both German teachers guided students to analyze the reasoning process of Landsteiner experiment, but nor Chinese teachers did that. The findings reflected the subtle influence of culture on classroom teaching. Relatively, Chinese biology teachers focused more on learning content and the application of the content in real life; German biology teachers emphasized more on invoking students’ reasoning and divergent thinking.

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Title: A cross-cultural comparison of biology lessons between China and Germany: a video study
Authors: Ning Liu
Birgit Jana Neuhaus
Publication date: 21-08-2017
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Cultural Studies of Science Education / Issue 3/2018
Print ISSN: 1871-1502
Electronic ISSN: 1871-1510
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-016-9797-6

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