Research

About the study

The PHYDIV project will work with school classes in Hamburg’s district schools (secondary schools) with highly multilingual student bodies.

To study the extent to which the use of native languages supports physics learning, a physics lesson on energy will be conducted in two intervention groups and one control group. The physics lessons will vary according to the group. Students in all lesson types will receive high-quality instruction in physics based on findings in physics education. One intervention group will receive physics instruction alongside language tuition in the use of academic language. The other intervention group will incorporate phases in which multilingual students work together in their own respective languages.

In addition to the work in the classrooms, tests will be used to measure the students’ grasp of the material and their language skills.