Miriam Leuchter
Biographic Data
| ID | 3655500 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Miriam Leuchter |
| GIVEN NAMES | Miriam |
| FAMILY NAME | Leuchter |
| SIGNATURE | LEUCHTER M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Koblenz and Landau |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7962-6561 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Static, dynamic, or human? The role of slide dynamics and instructor cues in video lectures
The present study investigated the interplay of cognitive cues and social cues in instructional videos on students’ knowledge acquisition and sense of social presence. 312 preservice teachers took part in the study. Out of these, 238 participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups receiving an asynchronous online video lecture on three research methods topics, featuring either static slides with voiceover (minimal signalin…
The Interplay of Automated Formative Feedback and Instructional Prompts in Developing Summarising Skills
Hands‐on and Minds‐on? Findings on the Instructional Support of Preschool Teachers to Foster Children's Understanding of Scientific Practices
To participate effectively in modern society, it is essential to have both knowledge of scientific concepts and an understanding of scientific practices. Children develop initial knowledge and skills to engage in scientific practices, such as identifying patterns, long before entering school. It can be assumed that instructional support of scientific practices fosters children's understanding of these practices. However, little is known about how…
Instructional Talk in Early Science Education
The study investigates instructional support and children’s verbal participation in video-recorded science activities. Using multilevel regression, a longitudinal analysis of data from 51 German preschool groups (188 children aged 4–6) was conducted to examine how Concept Development and Language Modeling (two dimensions of instructional support according to the Classroom Assessment Scoring System; Pianta et al. 2008), along with children’s verba…
Building minds with blocks
The study examined the impact of Professional Development (PD) on preschool teachers' content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and scaffolding practice. In a pre-post-follow-up design, 77 teachers were assigned to three groups (EG1: block play curriculum materials + PD, EG2: block-play curriculum materials, CG: no materials). Results showed improvements in teachers' scaffolding after the PD, but no changes in CK or PCK. The us…
Teacher Guidance and On‐the‐Fly Scaffolding in Primary School Students' Inquiry Learning
In primary science education, inquiry‐based science instruction stands out as an optimal learning environment for fostering domain‐specific content and procedural knowledge. Recognizing the effectiveness of different forms of teacher guidance, there is an ongoing debate about the planning of high ( structured inquiry ) and low ( guided inquiry ) guidance and their optimal sequencing. This debate revolves around balancing the level of autonomy and…
First Insights into Preschool Teachers’ Instructional Quality in Block Play and Its Associations with Children’s Knowledge, Interest, Academic Self-Concept and Cognitive Aspects
Research Findings: Promoting children’s science knowledge by adequate measures such as guided or free play is a cardinal goal of preschool. However, there is considerable variability in preschool teachers’ instructional quality in block play, which might be associated with children’s domain-specific science skills but also their mathematic and language achievement. To examine preschool teachers’ instructional quality in a free block play episode …
Domain‐specific knowledge and domain‐general abilities in children's science problem‐solving
BACKGROUND: Problem-solving in early and middle childhood is of high relevance for cognitive developmental research and educational support. Previous research on science problem-solving has focussed on the process and strategies of children handling challenging tasks, but less on providing insights into the cognitive network that enables science problem-solving. AIMS: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether performance in science problem-s…
Improving the quality of adaptive learning support provided by kindergarten teachers in play-based mathematical learning situations
Adaptive learning support is a key element of high quality preschool education and includes the planning of learning situations and teacher–child interactions. The provision of effective adaptive learning support in kindergarten is challenging. This longitudinal experimental study examined the impact of two professional development programs on 132 kindergarten teachers. One program focused on teacher–child interactions (micro-adaptive learning su…
Pre-service teachers’ latent profile transitions in the evaluation of evidence
Teachers are expected to consider scientific evidence to inform their teaching, which requires skills, knowledge, and affirmative beliefs regarding the utility of science for teaching practice. We analyzed preservice teachers' profiles regarding evidence evaluation and whether taking a course on information-seeking and research methods resulted in a transition from a nonscientific to a scientific profile. The results revealed positive effects reg…
Preschool teachers' pedagogical content knowledge predicts willingness to scaffold early science learning
BACKGROUND: The importance of diagnostic and scaffolding activities for early science learning has been shown consistently. However, preschool teachers scarcely engage in them. We developed an instrument to assess preschool teachers' willingness to engage in diagnostic and scaffolding activities in science learning situations and examined its relation with teachers' knowledge, beliefs and practice. AIMS: We validate an instrument to assess willin…
Children's concepts of gears and their promotion through play
The mechanical transmission of motion, which is observable in gears’ turning direction (TD) and turning speed (TS) can be understood as part of the core concept “force and motion”. Previous studies have suggested that most children before the age of nine have naïve concepts of gears’ TD and TS. However, these studies relied on children's explanation data and might have therefore underestimated young children's potential. Moreover, these studies d…
Teaching for conceptual change in preschool science
To effectively support early science learning in preschool, teachers need to be aware of the constructivist nature of children’s learning. This study examined a sample of Swiss preschool teachers’ beliefs about science learning and teaching and their relation to their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and scaffolding practices within a curriculum about floating and sinking. In Study 1, beliefs and PCK were assessed by means of questionnaires. A…
Measuring preschool children's knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium in the context of building blocks
BackgroundPreschoolers' knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium is an important research focus for understanding children's science content knowledge. Hitherto studies have mainly used behavioural observation with small samples. Thus, extending these studies with a validated test instrument is desirable.AimsThe aim was to validate an instrument (the Centre-of-Mass Test), which is concerned with preschoolers' knowledge of the principle of…
Kinder erkunden die Welt
Schon Kleinkinder nehmen an den Dingen ihrer Umwelt Anteil und versuchen Zusammenhänge zu ergründen. Das Buch zeigt, wie drei- bis sechsjährige Kinder spielerisch an Naturwissenschaften herangeführt werden können, wobei entwicklungspsychologische Voraussetzungen und fachdidaktische Zugänge den Ausgangspunkt bilden. Anschließend werden die Grundlagen naturwissenschaftlichen Denkens und Handelns erklärt. Praxisnahe Beispiele zeigen, wie mit einfach…
Measuring preschool children's knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium in the context of building blocks
BackgroundPreschoolers' knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium is an important research focus for understanding children's science content knowledge. Hitherto studies have mainly used behavioural observation with small samples. Thus, extending these studies with a validated test instrument is desirable.AimsThe aim was to validate an instrument (the Centre-of-Mass Test), which is concerned with preschoolers' knowledge of the principle of…
Teacher Guidance and On‐the‐Fly Scaffolding in Primary School Students' Inquiry Learning
In primary science education, inquiry‐based science instruction stands out as an optimal learning environment for fostering domain‐specific content and procedural knowledge. Recognizing the effectiveness of different forms of teacher guidance, there is an ongoing debate about the planning of high ( structured inquiry ) and low ( guided inquiry ) guidance and their optimal sequencing. This debate revolves around balancing the level of autonomy and…
Kinder erkunden die Welt
Schon Kleinkinder nehmen an den Dingen ihrer Umwelt Anteil und versuchen Zusammenhänge zu ergründen. Das Buch zeigt, wie drei- bis sechsjährige Kinder spielerisch an Naturwissenschaften herangeführt werden können, wobei entwicklungspsychologische Voraussetzungen und fachdidaktische Zugänge den Ausgangspunkt bilden. Anschließend werden die Grundlagen naturwissenschaftlichen Denkens und Handelns erklärt. Praxisnahe Beispiele zeigen, wie mit einfach…
Teaching for conceptual change in preschool science
To effectively support early science learning in preschool, teachers need to be aware of the constructivist nature of children’s learning. This study examined a sample of Swiss preschool teachers’ beliefs about science learning and teaching and their relation to their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and scaffolding practices within a curriculum about floating and sinking. In Study 1, beliefs and PCK were assessed by means of questionnaires. A…
Measuring preschool children's knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium in the context of building blocks
BackgroundPreschoolers' knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium is an important research focus for understanding children's science content knowledge. Hitherto studies have mainly used behavioural observation with small samples. Thus, extending these studies with a validated test instrument is desirable.AimsThe aim was to validate an instrument (the Centre-of-Mass Test), which is concerned with preschoolers' knowledge of the principle of…
Children's concepts of gears and their promotion through play
The mechanical transmission of motion, which is observable in gears’ turning direction (TD) and turning speed (TS) can be understood as part of the core concept “force and motion”. Previous studies have suggested that most children before the age of nine have naïve concepts of gears’ TD and TS. However, these studies relied on children's explanation data and might have therefore underestimated young children's potential. Moreover, these studies d…
Improving the quality of adaptive learning support provided by kindergarten teachers in play-based mathematical learning situations
Adaptive learning support is a key element of high quality preschool education and includes the planning of learning situations and teacher–child interactions. The provision of effective adaptive learning support in kindergarten is challenging. This longitudinal experimental study examined the impact of two professional development programs on 132 kindergarten teachers. One program focused on teacher–child interactions (micro-adaptive learning su…
Pre-service teachers’ latent profile transitions in the evaluation of evidence
Teachers are expected to consider scientific evidence to inform their teaching, which requires skills, knowledge, and affirmative beliefs regarding the utility of science for teaching practice. We analyzed preservice teachers' profiles regarding evidence evaluation and whether taking a course on information-seeking and research methods resulted in a transition from a nonscientific to a scientific profile. The results revealed positive effects reg…
Preschool teachers' pedagogical content knowledge predicts willingness to scaffold early science learning
BACKGROUND: The importance of diagnostic and scaffolding activities for early science learning has been shown consistently. However, preschool teachers scarcely engage in them. We developed an instrument to assess preschool teachers' willingness to engage in diagnostic and scaffolding activities in science learning situations and examined its relation with teachers' knowledge, beliefs and practice. AIMS: We validate an instrument to assess willin…
First Insights into Preschool Teachers’ Instructional Quality in Block Play and Its Associations with Children’s Knowledge, Interest, Academic Self-Concept and Cognitive Aspects
Research Findings: Promoting children’s science knowledge by adequate measures such as guided or free play is a cardinal goal of preschool. However, there is considerable variability in preschool teachers’ instructional quality in block play, which might be associated with children’s domain-specific science skills but also their mathematic and language achievement. To examine preschool teachers’ instructional quality in a free block play episode …
Domain‐specific knowledge and domain‐general abilities in children's science problem‐solving
BACKGROUND: Problem-solving in early and middle childhood is of high relevance for cognitive developmental research and educational support. Previous research on science problem-solving has focussed on the process and strategies of children handling challenging tasks, but less on providing insights into the cognitive network that enables science problem-solving. AIMS: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether performance in science problem-s…
Building minds with blocks
The study examined the impact of Professional Development (PD) on preschool teachers' content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and scaffolding practice. In a pre-post-follow-up design, 77 teachers were assigned to three groups (EG1: block play curriculum materials + PD, EG2: block-play curriculum materials, CG: no materials). Results showed improvements in teachers' scaffolding after the PD, but no changes in CK or PCK. The us…
Teacher Guidance and On‐the‐Fly Scaffolding in Primary School Students' Inquiry Learning
In primary science education, inquiry‐based science instruction stands out as an optimal learning environment for fostering domain‐specific content and procedural knowledge. Recognizing the effectiveness of different forms of teacher guidance, there is an ongoing debate about the planning of high ( structured inquiry ) and low ( guided inquiry ) guidance and their optimal sequencing. This debate revolves around balancing the level of autonomy and…
Static, dynamic, or human? The role of slide dynamics and instructor cues in video lectures
The present study investigated the interplay of cognitive cues and social cues in instructional videos on students’ knowledge acquisition and sense of social presence. 312 preservice teachers took part in the study. Out of these, 238 participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups receiving an asynchronous online video lecture on three research methods topics, featuring either static slides with voiceover (minimal signalin…
The Interplay of Automated Formative Feedback and Instructional Prompts in Developing Summarising Skills
Hands‐on and Minds‐on? Findings on the Instructional Support of Preschool Teachers to Foster Children's Understanding of Scientific Practices
To participate effectively in modern society, it is essential to have both knowledge of scientific concepts and an understanding of scientific practices. Children develop initial knowledge and skills to engage in scientific practices, such as identifying patterns, long before entering school. It can be assumed that instructional support of scientific practices fosters children's understanding of these practices. However, little is known about how…
Instructional Talk in Early Science Education
The study investigates instructional support and children’s verbal participation in video-recorded science activities. Using multilevel regression, a longitudinal analysis of data from 51 German preschool groups (188 children aged 4–6) was conducted to examine how Concept Development and Language Modeling (two dimensions of instructional support according to the Classroom Assessment Scoring System; Pianta et al. 2008), along with children’s verba…
Psychology (10 works) · Science Education and Pedagogy (9 works) · Mathematics education (8 works) · Pedagogy (7 works) · Cognition (5 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (4 works) · Science education (4 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (3 works)