The school as an institutionalized place of education and socialization is constantly reviewed to see if it meets its requirements: inclusion demands that all pupils can fully participate in the learning environment that is designed for all students. This goes hand in hand with minimizing discrimination and maximizing social participation and educational opportunities. The ongoing digitalization of living- and working environments implies the modernization of school. Designing the school of tomorrow, in which all pupils learn with new media, is a global challenge, as shown in international documents (UN 2006; UNESCO 2022). Here the interdisciplinary joint research project „DiLernProfis“ (Formative Assessment and teaching methodology - incremental scaffolds as a concept for professionalization for adaptive teaching), funded by the BMBF, is located. It focuses on the use of a digital incremental scaffold (as an app for tablets) for biology experiments in secondary inclusive science classes.

In differentiated school classes, the scientific experiment challenges teachers as well as pupils. While incremental scaffolds (Leisen 2010) already offer a good solution for such complex situations (Kleinert et al. 2021) digital media provides new opportunities for handling diversity in school: the app was designed as an instrument to face diversity in classes to support the independent work process. We use an extended construct of inclusion, which covers all forms of diversity, which lead to exclusion in school and society and contribute to social inequalities (Löser & Werning 2015, p. 17).

“DiLernProfis” offers a possible answer to the question of the challenging handling of diversity in inclusive science classes and experiments. Our qualitative subproject uses an ethnographic approach to analyse inclusive and exclusive practices in classes with the digital scaffold and aims to evaluate this solution. This includes individual, as well as classwide uses of the app.

There are many international studies about the use of tablets in school (see Aufenanger & Bastian 2017). The use of digital media is often seen as a catalyst for inclusion, although simultaneously pupils digital skills are strongly related to socio-economic backgrounds (Senkbeil et al. 2019). Many studies focus on the compensating tablet-use for pupils with disabilities (Cumming & Draper Rodriguez, 2017) and less on the integration in a general teaching concept for diverse classes. Another focus lies upon learning outcomes: those studies show a slight positive trend in the tablet-use (Haßler et al. 2016). The potentials of tablets for science classes are highlighted (see e.g. Cotič et al. 2020). Furthermore, qualitative studies are needed for a deeper understanding on changing classroom practices with digital media. So far, there is no evidence for innovative teaching practices, but incremental adaptions: Regulation practices by teachers for the use of tablets as well as new forms of publicity of learning products in connection to smartboards can be found (Thiersch & Wolf 2021). The use of digital devices leads to an acceleration of workflows and fosters the expectation to share learning products (Herrle et al. 2022). The research of the precise use of digital incremental scaffolds in inclusive science classes is a desideratum, which our project addresses. In our subproject we use a praxeological approach (Schatzki 2003) and therefore locate the social within practices. This enables us to analyse the ensemble of human actors and material artefacts (Röhl 2015). The use of artefacts is embedded in normative orders (e.g. teaching, performance) (Rabenstein 2018). The specific use uncovers different subject positions and can stabilize or destabilize normative orders. A praxeological approach therefore allows us to analyse social differentiations in practices with the app and gain findings about their inclusive and exclusive potentials.

The first phase of data collection in the project has just finished. Four classes of comprehensive schools have been visited for a number of lessons. Our subproject uses ethnographic observations to collect data about the practices in class. During those observations notes have been made and afterwards transferred into detailed protocols to describe the proceedings in class with a special focus on practices with and around the tablets and the science experiment. In most lessons at least two researchers have been present to observe as many experiment groups as possible. In a total of eleven lessons, nineteen protocols have been produced. The ethnographic approach offers many benefits. It is open for diverse practices in the classes (Thomas 2019) and therefore allows the discovery of the unexpected. The steady influx of new data from the field gives chances for deeper clarification and differentiation of theory (ibid.). An ethnographic approach also assumes that only in interaction with non-locals, for example through the presence of researchers, social fields show their specific properties (Breidenstein et al., 2020). In addition to the ethnographic observations, we will conduct episodic interviews with teachers and pupils in the next field phase to gain further information on specific observations in a triangulative matter. This allows us to further understand situations of interest. The data analysis is performed in the style of the grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin 2010), which is an open approach. The different analytic steps lead to a more precise focus in strong relation to the empirical data and allow a systematic development of theory (ibid, p. 39ff). This openness has good synergetic effects with our methods of data collection by allowing the discovery of the unexpected and, even with the specific focus of our project, makes the complexity and diversity of the social situation of science classes comprehensible. The praxeological approach and the used methods of data collection and analysis offer a fitting methodological framework to meet our subprojects goal. The research design enables us to relate the various elements of practices in a methodological secured way. This way we are able to assess the influence of the app and capture its meaning for handling diversity in science classes.

The Project “DiLernProfis” pursues the development of an incremental scaffold in form of an app for inclusive science classes and aims for the participation of all pupils. Our subproject examines the use of the digital scaffolds with a strong emphasis on inclusive and exclusive practices. The data analysis has shown diverse practices with and around the app. On the one hand, the app was used in the intended sense. The pupils used the scaffold to keep working on the experiment independently without asking for support. On the other hand, pupils rejected the tablet use. Because of its stigmatizing potential as an additional aid, the app became a symbol of dependence. The complex arrangement of artefacts (tablet, worksheets, containers with water, thermometer, etc.) required pupils to spatially organize them. In conjunction with the tablet’s material vulnerability, this led to a disuse of the app. The experiment was performed in groups with one tablet each. Pupils developed group-intern rules that regulated the app-use, which resulted in verbal sanctions for divergent practices. Overall our analysis shows complex forms of practices of the app-use on an individual, group, and class wide level and sheds light on the unintended effects of the didactical solution. The practices promoted participation in its original idea as well as they produced specific forms of exclusion. For ECER 2023 we want to present and discuss our findings with a focus on how our methodical and theoretical framework contributes to the development and implementation of the digital scaffold in inclusive classrooms.

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