This diploma thesis builds on results of national and international surveys of mathematical and natural science literacy of pupils. A collection of newly conceived experimental and laboratory tasks has been proposed. The chosen approach consists on heuristic exploration of physical patterns and rules in a virtual environment. In the theoretical part, the problems of using electronic media in education are discussed and several views on the motivation of pupils which affects it are summarized. The learning process and also participation of sensory perception on this are described. In the practical part, the pupils' opinions on the using of ICT in physics learning are surveyed and the selected virtual environment and methodology for the creating of worksheets are described. Further on, the analysis of a case study of the pilot verification of problems has been carried out. The final evaluation of the study has also been performed.

As avaliações externas, também designadas como avaliações em larga escala, vêm ganhando muito espaço, nas políticas educacionais, nos últimos anos. Uma das suas principais funções é a de estabelecer diagnósticos que possam orientar a melhoria da qualidade da educação. No entanto, qualquer aprimoramento da educação depende da ação dos professores em sala de aula. Neste sentido, considerando o status quo das avaliações e, na necessidade dessa articulação, é que se colocam algumas questões: É possível uma avaliação externa tornar-se também formativa, junto aos professores de Física? Caso contrário, como ir além do simples diagnóstico? Em que âmbitos poderia acontecer, de fato, um diálogo de seus resultados com os professores? Para investigar essas questões, o presente trabalho toma como objeto o Sistema de Avaliação do Rendimento do Estado de São Paulo (SARESP), no que diz respeito à avaliação em Física. Foram realizadas análises em diferentes âmbitos, seja sobre as intenções e objetivos do SARESP, a partir dos documentos propositivos, seja através dos resultados que disponibiliza às escolas e aos professores. Em particular, é analisado seu Relatório Pedagógico, onde são discutidas as provas e os resultados, através da escala de proficiência. Além disso, foi realizada, em escala piloto, uma entrevista com alguns professores, pela metodologia do grupo focal, sobre suas interações com o SARESP. De uma maneira geral, foi possível perceber que se trata de um sistema bem formulado, através de objetivos e metas explícitas, envolvendo índices gerais e específicos, bastante articulado entre o Currículo do Estado de São Paulo e a Matriz de Referência para a Avaliação. Por outro lado, o sistema não é bem aceito pelos professores, especialmente na medida em que assumem que o SARESP tem como consequência responsabilizá-los pelos problemas da educação. Também o bônus é um tema controverso. De uma forma geral, no entanto, a maior limitação do SARESP parece ser seu próprio Relatório Pedagógico, com ênfase excessiva nos percentuais e acertos, entretanto, sem justificativas em relação às opções realizadas e sem a disponibilização integral dos itens das provas. Esse último aspecto não promove a concretização dos entendimentos relativos às habilidades e competências, por parte dos professores, e de possíveis encaminhamentos para a sala de aula. Assim, nossas reflexões indicam que, para que o SARESP possa ultrapassar a meta puramente diagnóstica, é indispensável que venha a estabelecer novas formas de diálogo com os professores. / The external evaluations, also known as large-scale assessments, have been gaining a lot of space, in education policy, in recent years. One of its main roles is to establish diagnosis that can guide the improvement of education quality. However, any improvement of education depends on the action of the teachers in the classroom. Following this, considering the status quo of the assessments and, in need of this mobilization, some questions should be made: Can an external evaluation also become training, with Physics teachers? Otherwise, how to go beyond the simple results? In which areas it could happen, in fact, a dialogue between their results and the teachers? To investigate these issues, this paper takes as its subject the School Development Evaluation System of São Paulo State (SARESP), regarding to assessment in Physics. Analysis was carried out in different areas, such as the intentions and objectives of SARESP, from purposeful documents, either through the results it makes available to schools and teachers. In particular, it is analyzed their Pedagogical Report, where the tests and the results are discussed through proficiency scale. Besides this, it was conducted on a pilot scale, an interview with some teachers, through of focus group methodology, about their interactions with SARESP. In general, it had revealed itself as a well formulated system, through objectives and explicit goals, involving general and specific indices, quite articulated between the São Paulo State Curriculum and the Reference Matrix for Evaluation. Moreover, the system is not well accepted by teachers, especially in that SARESP assume that results in hold them by the education problems. Also the bonus is a controversial topic. In general, however, the biggest limitation of SARESP seems to be their own Pedagogical Report, with excessive emphasis on percentage and successes, however, with no justification for the options held and without the full availability of the items of evidence. This last point does not promote the realization of understandings related to the skills and competences of teachers, and possible referrals to the classroom. So, our reflections indicate that to make it possible to SARESP to exceed the purely diagnostic goal, it is essential that it begins to establish new forms of dialogue with teachers.

As avaliações externas, também designadas como avaliações em larga escala, vêm ganhando muito espaço, nas políticas educacionais, nos últimos anos. Uma das suas principais funções é a de estabelecer diagnósticos que possam orientar a melhoria da qualidade da educação. No entanto, qualquer aprimoramento da educação depende da ação dos professores em sala de aula. Neste sentido, considerando o status quo das avaliações e, na necessidade dessa articulação, é que se colocam algumas questões: É possível uma avaliação externa tornar-se também formativa, junto aos professores de Física? Caso contrário, como ir além do simples diagnóstico? Em que âmbitos poderia acontecer, de fato, um diálogo de seus resultados com os professores? Para investigar essas questões, o presente trabalho toma como objeto o Sistema de Avaliação do Rendimento do Estado de São Paulo (SARESP), no que diz respeito à avaliação em Física. Foram realizadas análises em diferentes âmbitos, seja sobre as intenções e objetivos do SARESP, a partir dos documentos propositivos, seja através dos resultados que disponibiliza às escolas e aos professores. Em particular, é analisado seu Relatório Pedagógico, onde são discutidas as provas e os resultados, através da escala de proficiência. Além disso, foi realizada, em escala piloto, uma entrevista com alguns professores, pela metodologia do grupo focal, sobre suas interações com o SARESP. De uma maneira geral, foi possível perceber que se trata de um sistema bem formulado, através de objetivos e metas explícitas, envolvendo índices gerais e específicos, bastante articulado entre o Currículo do Estado de São Paulo e a Matriz de Referência para a Avaliação. Por outro lado, o sistema não é bem aceito pelos professores, especialmente na medida em que assumem que o SARESP tem como consequência responsabilizá-los pelos problemas da educação. Também o bônus é um tema controverso. De uma forma geral, no entanto, a maior limitação do SARESP parece ser seu próprio Relatório Pedagógico, com ênfase excessiva nos percentuais e acertos, entretanto, sem justificativas em relação às opções realizadas e sem a disponibilização integral dos itens das provas. Esse último aspecto não promove a concretização dos entendimentos relativos às habilidades e competências, por parte dos professores, e de possíveis encaminhamentos para a sala de aula. Assim, nossas reflexões indicam que, para que o SARESP possa ultrapassar a meta puramente diagnóstica, é indispensável que venha a estabelecer novas formas de diálogo com os professores. / The external evaluations, also known as large-scale assessments, have been gaining a lot of space, in education policy, in recent years. One of its main roles is to establish diagnosis that can guide the improvement of education quality. However, any improvement of education depends on the action of the teachers in the classroom. Following this, considering the status quo of the assessments and, in need of this mobilization, some questions should be made: Can an external evaluation also become training, with Physics teachers? Otherwise, how to go beyond the simple results? In which areas it could happen, in fact, a dialogue between their results and the teachers? To investigate these issues, this paper takes as its subject the School Development Evaluation System of São Paulo State (SARESP), regarding to assessment in Physics. Analysis was carried out in different areas, such as the intentions and objectives of SARESP, from purposeful documents, either through the results it makes available to schools and teachers. In particular, it is analyzed their Pedagogical Report, where the tests and the results are discussed through proficiency scale. Besides this, it was conducted on a pilot scale, an interview with some teachers, through of focus group methodology, about their interactions with SARESP. In general, it had revealed itself as a well formulated system, through objectives and explicit goals, involving general and specific indices, quite articulated between the São Paulo State Curriculum and the Reference Matrix for Evaluation. Moreover, the system is not well accepted by teachers, especially in that SARESP assume that results in hold them by the education problems. Also the bonus is a controversial topic. In general, however, the biggest limitation of SARESP seems to be their own Pedagogical Report, with excessive emphasis on percentage and successes, however, with no justification for the options held and without the full availability of the items of evidence. This last point does not promote the realization of understandings related to the skills and competences of teachers, and possible referrals to the classroom. So, our reflections indicate that to make it possible to SARESP to exceed the purely diagnostic goal, it is essential that it begins to establish new forms of dialogue with teachers.

The main purpose of the study was to explore how learning cycle and traditional method as teaching methods contribute to the effect of contextual approach on 11th grade students&rsquo / achievement in &ldquo / impulse and momentum&rdquo / , and attitude towards physics. Therefore, a distinction between teaching approach (contextual vs. non-contextual) and teaching method (learning cycle vs. traditional method) was made and they were used as independent variables. Students&rsquo / gender was also used as an independent variable. Thus, the study was a 2x2x2 factorial design. The sample, drawn through the purposive sampling, included 226 students. Pretests and posttests were used for assessing students&rsquo / achievement in impulse and momentum, and attitude towards physics. Using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA), the main effects of contextual approach, learning cycle, and student gender as well as the interaction effects among them were investigated. Consequently, (1) contextual approach was more effective in supporting students&rsquo / conceptual understanding of impulse and momentum, (2) learning cycle was as effective as the traditional method, (3) gender related difference in attitude towards physics in favor of males could not be removed through the treatments, (4) contextual approach worked better with the traditional method than the learning cycle for achievement and attitude, (5) males benefitted a little more from learning cycle while females benefitted a little more from traditional method in terms of conceptual and non-conceptual scores.

In recent decades the teaching and learning of physics in secondary schools have been widely discussed. In academia many proposed changes are described by experts. The use of computers as a teaching tool in education, favors the construction of physical knowledge, breaking stigmas where the teacher moves the position of the owner and developer of knowledge to mediator of learning. Observing the growing interest of young people by computers and the introduction of educational computing in schools, developed the thesis within the research line Digital Technologies in the Teaching of Science and Mathematics, in order to encourage educators and learners regarding the use of educational technologies Kinematics and learning. This research investigates facilitating the development of the learning process Cinematic using an educational approach that values learning articulating the operational and pedagogical use of the Software Modellus. So, we left for a pedagogical action, which was conceived and developed with the students of the 3rd year of high school, a state school in the city of Cascavel - Ce. To effect it was designed an educational approach , basing himself on some theoretical assumptions : David Ausubel (Theory of Meaningful Learning), Joseph Novak (Concept Maps), Armando Valente (The pedagogical use of computers, according to the constructivist approach) and Almeida (model learning development , constructed by the learner and aided by the interactive use of the computer ) . To proceed with the development of research, this researcher - educator adopted a qualitative research approach and characteristics of action research. To realize the pedagogical practice, we conducted 16 classes divided into two phases, totaling 32 class hours, the first being to diagnose prior knowledge using a traditional methodology with lectures, questionnaires, pre -and post - tests. The second phase aimed to develop a methodology for collaborative learning applied to the use of software to work Modellus the construction of charts, tables, and animations with students in the computer lab. We conclude that such a strategy favored constructivist learning and education process. / Nas Ãltimas dÃcadas o ensino e aprendizagem de FÃsica nas escolas secundÃrias tÃm sido amplamente discutidos. Nos meios acadÃmicos muitas propostas de mudanÃas sÃo apontadas por especialistas. A utilizaÃÃo do computador como ferramenta pedagÃgica na educaÃÃo, favorece a construÃÃo dos conhecimentos fÃsicos, quebrando estigmas onde o professor passa da posiÃÃo de dono do conhecimento para colaborador e mediador da aprendizagem. Ao observar o crescente interesse dos jovens por computadores e a introduÃÃo da informÃtica educativa nas escolas, desenvolvemos a dissertaÃÃo dentro da linha de pesquisa Tecnologias Digitais no Ensino de CiÃncias e MatemÃtica, com a finalidade de fomentar educadores e educandos, quanto ao uso das tecnologias de ensino e aprendizagem de CinemÃtica. A presente pesquisa investiga a facilitaÃÃo do desenvolvimento do processo de aprendizagem de CinemÃtica utilizando uma metodologia educacional que valoriza a aprendizagem articulando-se o uso operacional e pedagÃgico do Software Modellus. Assim, partimos para uma aÃÃo pedagÃgica, que foi concebida e desenvolvida junto aos alunos do 3Â ano do Ensino MÃdio, numa escola estadual da cidade de Cascavel-Ce. Para efetivÃ-la, foi concebida uma proposta educativa, fundamentando-se em alguns pressupostos teÃricos: David Ausubel (Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa), Joseph Novak (Mapas Conceituais), Armando Valente (O uso pedagÃgico do computador, segundo a proposta construtivista) e Almeida (Modelo de desenvolvimento da aprendizagem, construÃdo pelo aluno e auxiliado pelo uso interativo do computador). Para proceder ao desenvolvimento da pesquisa, o presente pesquisador-educador adotou uma abordagem de pesquisa qualitativa e com caracterÃsticas de pesquisa-aÃÃo. Para efetivar a prÃtica pedagÃgica, realizamos 16 aulas, subdivididas em duas fases, totalizando 32 horas aulas, sendo a primeira para diagnosticar os conhecimentos prÃvios utilizando uma metodologia tradicional com aulas expositivas, aplicaÃÃo de questionÃrios, prÃ-teste e pÃs-testes. A segunda fase visava desenvolver uma metodologia de aprendizagem colaborativa aplicada ao uso do software Modellus para trabalhar a construÃÃo de grÃficos, tabelas e animaÃÃes junto aos alunos no laboratÃrio de informÃtica. ConcluÃmos que tal estratÃgia favoreceu a aprendizagem e o processo de educaÃÃo construtivista.

This thesis is divided into two parts dealing with the optimization problems in Markov decision processes (MDPs) and different neural network-based numerical solvers for partial differential equations (PDEs). In Part I we analyze the optimization problem arising in (partially observable) Markov decision processes using tools from algebraic statistics and information geometry, which can be viewed as neighboring fields of applied algebra and differential geometry, respectively. Here, we focus on infinite horizon problems and memoryless stochastic policies. Markov decision processes provide a mathematical framework for sequential decision-making on which most current reinforcement learning algorithms are built. They formalize the task of optimally controlling the state of a system through appropriate actions. For fully observable problems, the action can be selected knowing the current state of the system. This case has been studied extensively and optimizing the action selection is known to be equivalent to solving a linear program over the (generalized) stationary distributions of the Markov decision process, which are also referred to as state-action frequencies. In Chapter 3, we study partially observable problems where an action must be chosen based solely on an observation of the current state, which might not fully reveal the underlying state. We characterize the feasible state-action frequencies of partially observable Markov decision processes by polynomial inequalities. In particular, the optimization problem in partially observable MDPs is described as a polynomially constrained linear objective program that generalizes the (dual) linear programming formulation of fully observable problems. We use this to study the combinatorial and algebraic complexity of this optimization problem and to upper bound the number of critical points over the individual boundary components of the feasible set. Furthermore, we show that our polynomial programming formulation can be used to effectively solve partially observable MDPs using interior point methods, numerical algebraic techniques, and convex relaxations. Gradient-based methods, including variants of natural gradient methods, have gained tremendous attention in the theoretical reinforcement learning community, where they are commonly referred to as (natural) policy gradient methods. In Chapter 4, we provide a unified treatment of a variety of natural policy gradient methods for fully observable problems by studying their state-action frequencies from the standpoint of information geometry. For a variety of NPGs and reward functions, we show that the trajectories in state-action space are solutions of gradient flows with respect to Hessian geometries, based on which we obtain global convergence guarantees and convergence rates. In particular, we show linear convergence for unregularized and regularized NPG flows with the metrics proposed by Morimura and co-authors and Kakade by observing that these arise from the Hessian geometries of the entropy and conditional entropy, respectively. Further, we obtain sublinear convergence rates for Hessian geometries arising from other convex functions like log-barriers. We provide experimental evidence indicating that our predicted rates are essentially tight. Finally, we interpret the discrete-time NPG methods with regularized rewards as inexact Newton methods if the NPG is defined with respect to the Hessian geometry of the regularizer. This yields local quadratic convergence rates of these methods for step size equal to the inverse penalization strength, which recovers existing results as special cases. Part II addresses neural network-based PDE solvers that have recently experienced tremendous growth in popularity and attention in the scientific machine learning community. We focus on two approaches that represent the approximation of a solution of a PDE as the minimization over the parameters of a neural network: the deep Ritz method and physically informed neural networks. In Chapter 5, we study the theoretical properties of the boundary penalty for these methods and obtain a uniform convergence result for the deep Ritz method for a large class of potentially nonlinear problems. For linear PDEs, we estimate the error of the deep Ritz method in terms of the optimization error, the approximation capabilities of the neural network, and the strength of the penalty. This reveals a trade-off in the choice of the penalization strength, where too little penalization allows large boundary values, and too strong penalization leads to a poor solution of the PDE inside the domain. For physics-informed networks, we show that when working with neural networks that have zero boundary values also the second derivatives of the solution are approximated whereas otherwise only lower-order derivatives are approximated. In Chapter 6, we propose energy natural gradient descent, a natural gradient method with respect to second-order information in the function space, as an optimization algorithm for physics-informed neural networks and the deep Ritz method. We show that this method, which can be interpreted as a generalized Gauss-Newton method, mimics Newton’s method in function space except for an orthogonal projection onto the tangent space of the model. We show that for a variety of PDEs, natural energy gradients converge rapidly and approximations to the solution of the PDE are several orders of magnitude more accurate than gradient descent, Adam and Newton’s methods, even when these methods are given more computational time.:Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Notation and conventions 7 Part I. Geometry of Markov decision processes 11 Chapter 2. Background on Markov decision processes 12 2.1 State-action frequencies 19 2.2 The advantage function and Bellman optimality 23 2.3 Rational structure of the reward and an explicit line theorem 26 2.4 Solution methods for Markov decision processes 35 Chapter 3. State-action geometry of partially observable MDPs 44 3.1 The state-action polytope of fully observables systems 45 3.2 State-action geometry of partially observable systems 54 3.3 Number and location of critical points 69 3.4 Reward optimization in state-action space (ROSA) 83 Chapter 4. Geometry and convergence of natural policy gradient methods 94 4.1 Natural gradients 96 4.2 Natural policy gradient methods 101 4.3 Convergence of natural policy gradient flows 107 4.4 Locally quadratic convergence for regularized problems 128 4.5 Discussion and outlook 131 Part II. Neural network-based PDE solvers 133 Chapter 5. Theoretical analysis of the boundary penalty method for neural network-based PDE solvers 134 5.1 Presentation and discussion of the main results 137 5.2 Preliminaries regarding Sobolev spaces and neural networks 146 5.3 Proofs regarding uniform convergence for the deep Ritz method 150 5.4 Proofs of error estimates for the deep Ritz method 156 5.5 Proofs of implications of exact boundary values in residual minimization 167 Chapter 6. Energy natural gradients for neural network-based PDE solvers 174 6.1 Energy natural gradients 176 6.2 Experiments 183 6.3 Conclusion and outlook 192 Bibliography 193

Since the 1980’s, education had to face various challenges such as new technologies, new ways of information gathering but also a reconsideration of conventional educational approaches. As a result, more emphasis has been placed on laboratory work in school science. In many industry nations, this trend was likewise bolstered by unexpected poor results in international comparative assessments (e.g. PISA, TIMSS), as well as students’ poor perception of science and, in relation to that, negative effects on career choices. To combat this growing trend, in Germany many out-of-school science laboratories were established in the recent years to foster interest in science. However, despite their positive temporary effects, approaches to increase effects or to develop long term positive changes are in demand. This research investigates how the out-of-school laboratory effects are affected by a preparation and post enhancement based upon previous studies. Therefore, an online portal was developed which provided cognitive and affective content in order to prepare and post enhance students for their visit in an out-of-school laboratory. The research-based study was aimed at students from grade 10 of lower and upper secondary level who perform one-day experimental activities at the out-of-school laboratory located at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research center. In doing so, a comparative analysis was conducted between students who used the online portal and control group members who just regularly visited the laboratory without a special preparation or post enhancement. The evaluation follows a pre, post, and follow-up approach. Based on the results of this research, it could be confirmed that the online portal, as a tool to prepare and post enhance students, had a significant impact. Moreso, students’ situational interest was positively promoted through the online portal. This also applied for related features, like students’ self-concept as well as their perceptions of the out-of-school laboratory environment and even slight effects on their individual interest. As it turned out regarding the desired situational interest, females benefitted most. However, again most results suggest that evoked effects diminish over time. Even though this likely can be traced back to the characteristics of the post enhancement of the online portal, outcomes regarding students’ interest in science and a career in physics indicate the post enhancement’s ability to ensure sustainability. Within the sample three classes were identified based on their interests. Accordingly, for all classes’ members the portal fosters their situational interest. This especially applies for less scientific interested students. Assessments on the portal’s perception by the students revealed a high degree of willingness to prepare for the laboratory visit and to spend the time required. A large majority appreciated the online portal for their laboratory work. An extended preparation, like presented in this study, is still regarded as acceptable to the students. Nevertheless, a compulsory preparation and post enhancement is highly recommended. On the whole, it can be concluded that the online portal respectively a preparation and post enhancement is beneficial for activities out-of-school.:1. Science, Education, & Society 2. Out-of-school laboratories 3. Out-of-school science education 4. Applied educational psychological concepts 5. Studies on out-of-school science laboratories 6. Research Questions and Hypotheses 7. Methods 8. The Study 9. Statistics 10. Determination of the student groups 11. Verification of the hypothesis 12. Investigations on the online portal 13. Discussion 14. Summary 15. Limitations of the study 16. Implications and recommendations / Anfang der 1980er-Jahre ergaben sich im Bildungssektor eine Reihe von Herausforderungen, die im Zusammenhang mit neuen Technologien, neuen Wegen des Informationsaustausches, aber auch des Hinterfragens traditioneller Bildungsansätze standen. Im Ergebnis dessen kam der experimentellen Arbeit im naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht eine stärkere Rolle zu. Unerwartet schwache Ergebnisse internationaler Vergleichsstudien (z.B. PISA, TIMSS) sowie ein schlechtes Image der Naturwissenschaften und damit einhergehende negative Auswirkungen auf die Kurs- und Berufswahl verstärkten diesen Trend in vielen Industrienationen. Vor diesem Hintergrund und mit dem Ziel, Interesse an Naturwissenschaften zu fördern, wurden in Deutschland in den vergangenen Jahren zahlreiche Schülerlabore etabliert. Trotz der Tatsache, dass die Einrichtungen positive Effekte erzielen, sind diese teilweise gering oder schwächen mit der Zeit ab. Wie bisherige Studien vermuten lassen, scheint die Vor- und Nachbereitung von Veranstaltungen im Schülerlabor eine Lösung hierfür zu bieten. Anhand der vorgestellten Studie soll dies untersucht werden. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde ein Online-Portal für Schülerinnen und Schüler entwickelt. Basierend auf kognitiven und affektiven Inhalten bietet es Teilnehmern die Möglichkeit, ihren Schülerlaborbesuch vor- und nachzubereiten. Die Studie richtete sich an Schüler ab der 10. Klasse der Sekundarstufe 1 und 2, die einen Experimentiertag im Schülerlabor DeltaX am Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf absolvierten. Dabei wurden in Form einer Vergleichsstudie Teilnehmer mit und ohne Nutzung des Online-Portals gegenübergestellt. Die entsprechenden Daten der Untersuchung wurden durch eine Fragebogenerhebung im Pre-Post-Follow-up-Design erhoben. Die Ergebnisse der Studie bestätigen den signifikanten Einfluss des Online-Portals. So zeigen sich durchaus positive Effekte hinsichtlich der Entwicklung des aktuellen Interesses der Schülerinnen und Schüler. Gleiches gilt auch im Hinblick auf verwandte Konstrukte wie das Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept, die wahrgenommenen Merkmale der Laborumgebung und auch abgeschwächt für dispositionale Interessen. Bezogen auf die angestrebte Förderung des aktuellen Interesses zeigte sich, dass vor allem Schülerinnen profitieren. Allerdings ließ sich für die meisten der hervorgerufenen Effekte ein Absinken im Verlauf der Zeit erkennen. Möglicherweise ist das auf die Umsetzung der Nachbereitung im Rahmen des Online-Portals zurückzuführen. Die Ergebnisse lassen die Vermutung zu, dass die Nachbereitung bezüglich des Interesses an Naturwissenschaften und an einem physikalischen Beruf das Potenzial besitzt, mehr Nachhaltigkeit hervorzurufen. Um Vorinteressen der Teilnehmer zu berücksichtigen, konnten drei unterschiedliche naturwissenschaftliche Interessensklassen identifiziert werden. Es stellte sich heraus, dass die Entwicklung des aktuellen Interesses aller drei Interessenklassen durch das Online-Portal gefördert wird. Dies gilt vor allem für die gering naturwissenschaftlich interessierten Schülerinnen und Schüler. Untersuchungen, die sich auf das Online-Portal selbst bezogen, offenbarten zum einen ein hohes Maß an Bereitschaft, sich auch mit dem dafür notwendigen zeitlichen Aufwand auf den Experimentiertag im Schülerlabor vorzubereiten. Zum anderen schätzt die breite Mehrheit der Teilnehmer das Online-Portal für ihre Arbeit im Schülerlabor. Selbst eine umfangreichere Vorbereitung wird von den Schülerinnen und Schülern als akzeptabel betrachtet. Es wird dennoch dazu geraten, die Vor- und Nachbereitung obligatorisch durchzuführen. Insgesamt zeigen die Ergebnisse dieser Studie den positiven Einfluss des Online-Portals bzw. der Vor- und Nachbereitung auf außerschulische Aktivitäten.:1. Science, Education, & Society 2. Out-of-school laboratories 3. Out-of-school science education 4. Applied educational psychological concepts 5. Studies on out-of-school science laboratories 6. Research Questions and Hypotheses 7. Methods 8. The Study 9. Statistics 10. Determination of the student groups 11. Verification of the hypothesis 12. Investigations on the online portal 13. Discussion 14. Summary 15. Limitations of the study 16. Implications and recommendations