Didactic reduction

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The term didactic reduction is used in the context of didactics , in particular the school subject didactics .

It is about the method of simplifying and reducing a complex reality in order to enable a student-friendly presentation of the respective learning content . The didactic reduction reduces complex issues to their essential elements in order to make them clear and understandable for learners.

Synonyms

The following synonyms of didactic reduction are frequently used: elementarization , comprehensibility, simplification, isolation of difficulties, object preparation , transformation. The didactic reduction is not about simplification, trivialization ( triviality ) or thinning of the material, but a qualitative or quantitative adaptation of the learning material to the learning group .

The term "didactic reduction"

Dietrich Hering used the term “didactic simplification” in his article on the comprehensibility of scientific and technical statements , published in 1958, using the example of the blast furnace process (for the field of chemistry didactics or chemistry lessons ). His main statement: "Didactic simplification of a scientific statement is the transition from a differentiated statement to a general statement of the same scope of validity about the same subject under the same aspect." In 1963, Hans Bokelmann took up corresponding thoughts by Wolfgang Klafki and Josef Derbolav under this name .

The term “didactic reduction” was first coined in 1967 by Gustav Grüner . He picked up Herring's thoughts and developed them further. He divides the didactic reduction into "The didactic reduction as the core of didactics" in two directions of reduction, the vertical and the horizontal didactic reduction.

Fundamental insights into didactic reduction are presented in the approaches of Hering (1958) and Grüner (1967) as well as the more educational-theoretical , methodical-oriented approach of Salzmann (1970). Furthermore, Kirschner (1971) and Jung (1973) made important contributions to didactic reduction. Then the curricular- oriented approach of Hauptmann / Kell / Lipsmeier (1975) was taken into account.

The presentation by Bleichroth (1991) reflects the current state of the discussion.

Qualitative / quantitative reduction

Didactic reduction is an activity of the teacher with the aim of preparing specialist content accordingly in order to improve its comprehensibility. This can be a quantitative as well as a qualitative reduction of the learning material.

Quantitative reductions represent limitations of the learning material with the aim of conveying the essential aspects of a learning material and neglecting the aspects that are irrelevant for the learning objective . This method is used whenever the subject area is too complex. Above all, individual aspects are reduced so that the learner can deal with a manageable subject. The teacher makes decisions as to which focal points of a course material to emphasize and which to neglect. With this reduction, it is important that the learner is informed about the process of setting priorities so that the process becomes transparent.

Qualitative reductions influence the structuring of the learning content. Such changes are aimed at modifying the way learning material is presented. A qualitative change is more about using a different teaching method in order to convey the material in a different way.

Gustav Grüner further divides the qualitative reduction into the vertical didactic reduction and the horizontal didactic reduction. The vertical didactic reduction (content reduction) describes a detail representation of a situation. The content reduction can limit both the scope of difficulty and the scope of validity. With the horizontal didactic reduction (display reduction), the technical facts remain the same. The change takes place in the teacher's attempt to present abstract statements in a simplified manner using suitable aids. This can be done, for example, through media such as sketches, images, graphics, or through certain methods.

Principles

The principles of didactic reduction are professional correctness, professional expandability and appropriateness.

Technical correctness

In a didactic sense, technical correctness does not necessarily mean teaching according to the latest research. However, it means that the material must be consistent with the current knowledge of the students and can be expanded to reflect the latest research. In addition, technical correctness naturally also means that the teacher's level of presentation must be adapted to the level of knowledge and the thinking skills of the learning group.

Technical expandability

Processes according to the scheme “forget what you know so far” are not very helpful in learning. Therefore, the most important criterion for lesson planning should be to convey such content or to select examples and models that later only need to be improved, but not significantly revoked.

appropriateness

When planning a lesson, it is important to know the prior knowledge of the learning group in order to design the lesson appropriately according to this prior knowledge.

Measures for didactic reduction

  • Elementization
  • Neglect: (for the time being) partial aspects of a technical content are not considered.
  • Particularization : break down into sub-aspects and consideration according to their degree of complexity. First of all, one considers a partial aspect that leads to fundamental knowledge and laws.
  • Generalization : by generalizing a suitable individual example, a technical content becomes understandable for a certain group of students
  • Restriction to the qualitative level
  • Recourse to historical levels of knowledge
  • Neglect of conceptual differentiation

Typical application situations

  • Daily lesson planning
  • Development of teaching materials
  • Writing of user-related textbooks
  • Writing of academic summaries
  • Journalistic work in the broadest sense

Examples

  • Example: Reaction equations: If they are used in the introductory chemistry (year 9 Realschule and Gymnasium), students do not learn anything about
    • Impurities in the starting materials
    • Intermediate stages in the course of the reaction
    • Byproducts
    • Activation energies for starting the reaction
    • Catalysts
    • the role of the reaction medium (solvent, pH, phases, temperature)
    • the equilibrium position
    • quantitative aspects such as molar ratios and yield.

The "quantification", for example, can then be added in stages: first as a simple relationship ("more than ..., greater than ..., faster than ..."), then as the more-the-relationship and finally expressed in numerical values, tables, diagrams , Laws and math formulas.

The same principle can be applied in the conceptual area: first of all, matter consists of particles, then of atoms and groups of atoms (molecules), and finally of charged particles (anions and cations, atomic or molecular) or higher-level structures (unit cells, micelles, microcrystallites).

Related terms: didactic transformation , didactic reconstruction

literature

  • Gustav Grüner : Didactic reduction as the core of didactics. In: The German School. 1967.
  • Horst Rumpf : On the problem of didactic simplification. 1968. In: Kahlke / Kath (1984).
  • Jochen Kahlke, Fritz M. Kath: Didactic reduction and methodical transformation. Source volume, Darmstadt 1984.
  • Karl Aschersleben: What kind of education do students need? How to deal with the subject matter. Bad Heilbrunn 1993.
  • Gerhard Hauptmeier, Adolf Kell, Lipsmeier Antonius: On the selection problems of learning content and on the didactic reduction of scientific statements. In: The German Vocational and Technical School 71 . (1975), 12, pp. 897-922.
  • Gerhard Hauptmeier: Didactic reduction or pedagogical transformation. F.-J. Kaiser, 1999.
  • Fritz M. Kath, Jochen Kahlke: The implementation of statements and content. Didactic reduction and methodological transformation - an inventory. Alsbach / Bergstrasse 1985.
  • Martin Lehner: Didactic reduction. 1st edition. Haupt, Bern / Stuttgart / Vienna 2012.
  • Peter Vogel: Didactic reduction. Haller / Meyer, 1986.
  • Science Practice - Chemistry in School. Aulis-Verlag, Cologne 2005, issue 8.
  • Hans Ahlborn, Jörg-Peter Pahl (ed.): Didactic simplification. A critical recapitulation of Dietrich Hering's work. Kallmeyer'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1998.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Hans Bokelmann: asceticism and education: contribution to the anthropological foundation of education . In: Education and Upbringing . tape 16 , 1963 (doi.org/10.7788/bue-1963-jg74).
  2. ^ Horst Friedrich Rösler, Heinz Schmidkunz: The didactic reduction - an inventory. In: Praxis der Naturwissenschaften , 2005, Issue 8.
  3. ^ Jung, W .: Technical admissibility from a didactic point of view. Seminar II . Ed .: IPN. Kiel (first edition: 1973).
  4. ↑ Lecture: Chemistry Didactics at daten.didaktikchemie.uni-bayreuth.de.