Two sides of the same coin? A comparison of research and practice orientation for teachers and doctors

Abstract

Teacher training and medical degrees prepare students for evidence-based practice. This study examines how the learning opportunities of both programmes qualify students for this. Until now, a large-scale perspective on the university courses of student teachers and medical students in Germany has been lacking. The present study aims to fill this gap by comparing learning opportunities in teacher training and medical degrees. Three research questions are addressed: (1) Are the learning opportunities oriented to research and practice? (2) How are the learning opportunities designed didactically? (3) Which didactic designs are related to research orientation and practice orientation? NEPS-data from student teachers (N = 6322) and medical students (N = 1063) were used for the analyses. On this basis, implications for the design of teacher training learning opportunities are discussed.

Keywords

• Research orientation
• Practice orientation
• Teacher training
• German national educational panel study
• Learning opportunities