On the development and potential influential aspects of prospective science teachers' competencies for the use of...

Studies point to the potential of explainer videos in science education as a part of STEM-education but at the same time criticize their heterogeneous quality. As explainer videos can only be effective as digital educational resources if both - the quality and the embedding - are adequate, teachers need to be able to evaluate the quality aspects of explainer videos and embed them accordingly in their lessons to potentially enhance learning outcomes. The present study therefore aims to investigate the extent to which science teachers can draw on their competencies for the use of explainer videos from participatory platforms such as YouTube for their teaching.

The study utilizes a mixed methods approach to investigate the development of (prospective) science teachers' competencies for formal learning in physics education (N = 229). To this end, the (prospective) teachers' professional vision of learning support features of two explainer videos about concepts for electrical circuits at the lower secondary level is assessed. A proprietary instrument is employed to record and analyze content-specific professional knowledge and subprocesses of professional vision as situated skills related to criteria-based selection and effective integration of explainer videos into learning processes related to concepts for electrical circuits.

Prospective teachers' professional vision of learning support features is limited but increases with the years of study (F (3, 198) = 11.12, p < 0.001). A path model reveals that the level of training in the present sample significantly predicts both the professional vision and the topic-specific PCK. The results further show a lack of correlation between topic-specific PCK and professional vision of learning support features in the explainer videos. Neither the TPACK self-concept nor the educational attitudes towards digital media influence the professional vision on a significant level.

The results indicate that prospective teachers are unable to draw on their topic-specific PCK about the electrical circuit for an adequate selection and effective embedding of explainer videos in teaching and learning. This points to the need to strengthen media-related training for prospective science teachers in their subject-specific training with a focus on the selection and integration of explainer videos.