When Learning Situations turn into Achievement Situations: Investigation of Mistake Culture in a Video Study

Abstract

In this article we investigated how facets of mistake culture can be systematically measured by video analysis and to what extent physics classrooms differed in the extent of turning learning situations into achievement situations. The blending of learning and achievement situations is an intensively discussed problem area in the culture of teaching in Germany. The findings of this article showed that our video rating instrument proved useful in reliably measuring blended learning and achievement situations. In addition, the findings of the video analysis were corroborated by the students’ individual perception of learning conditions in the classrooms. Thus, a video analysis instrument is available that can be used to pinpoint the mistake culture in a classroom on the basis of video material. Moreover, the approach offers multiple opportunities for aditional in-depth analyses. In this article, we conclude by illustrating some of these possibilities in two case studies.