Oberflächen- und Tiefenmerkmale: Eine Reflexion zweier prominenter Begriffe der Unterrichtsforschung

'Surface characteristics' (also 'sight structures') and 'deep characteristics' (also 'deep structures') of teaching are prominent terms in current research because they provide opportunities for bridging teaching and learning. This paper provides an overview of the origins of the terms and briefly summarizes current understandings of them. The paper also points to literature from didactics and psychology of education research on teaching that implies different conceptualizations of deep characteristics of teaching. After examining empirical research on surface characteristics and deep characteristics, the paper provides suggestions for sharpening the definitions of these terms and discusses further directions for theoretical and empirical research on this conceptual pairing.