Evaluation of Student Teachers’ Perceived Quantitative Workload and Usefulness of an On-line Elementary Science Education Course Unit

Abstract

We have designed a 1 ECTS on-line science pedagogy unit as a part of a 6 ECTS science education course for elementary school student teachers. To improve the unit, we asked 169 participants to estimate their use of time and the usefulness of the themes and contents in it. We analysed the responses in the framework of students’ perceived workload. The Basics of School Science was perceived as the most useful section, followed by Science Teaching and Learning Methods and Basics of Science and Scientific Knowledge in Schools, respectively. This in mind, we discuss the rescaling of the workload and the respective weights student perception and teacher expertise should have in the process.