University Physics Students’ Motives for Taking Part in an Orientation Teacher Education Course

A problem posing orientation teacher education course has been developed at Utrecht University for physics students. For that purpose, an inventory study of the 1995 orientation physics course was carried and is reported here. The research focus was: What were students’ initial motives for attending the orientation course? How do these motives change during the course? In this study, students were asked at three different moments to describe (the change in) their motives for taking part in the course: at the start, halfway and at the end of the course. Moreover, students’ logbooks and learning reports were analysed. Five motives have been found, the most important being the desire to learn whether being a secondary school teacher will suit them, with job prospects and acquiring presentation skills being important motives as well. These results offer a basis for the development of a preliminary ‘didactical structure’ for the course.