Research

 

The Chair of School Pedagogy and Educational Research was established as part of the Department of Educational Science at RWTH Aachen in 2004. Prof. Dr. Marold Wosnitza has been Chair since August 2009.

Current research topics currently include:

  • motivation and emotion
  • cooperative learning
  • processes of learning
  • teacher responsibility
  • self-regulated learning
  • pedagogic diagnostics in cooperative learning

Current Research Projects

SelfAssessment for Prospective Students

Team members: Kathrin Bürger, Katharina Zay, Ralph Delzepich, Philip Nolden, Markus Suchalla, Kerstin Theilmann

Direction: Prof. Dr. Marold Wosnitza
Consultation: Prof. Dr. Lutz F. Hornke

The SelfAssessment tools of RWTH Aachen were developed to inform all students, who are interested in studying at RWTH Aachen. The SelfAssessment provides prospective students with the opportunity to get a better understanding of the entry requirements of distinct study programs and to learn more about personal strengths and weaknesses. The self-assessment can be accomplished through online questionnaires. After completion of a SelfAssessment, students receive informative feedback, for instance where to seek further advice or or to make an appointment with study advisory services.

This project was initiated and managed by Professor Dr. Hornke. Since 2010 it is has become part of the Chair of School Pedagogy and Educational Research.

Funding: RWTH Aachen, Bund-Länder-Programm

Website: SelfAssessment

Keeping Cool: Embedding Resiliency in the Initial Teacher Education Curriculum

in cooperation with Murdoch University, Perth, Australia & Curtin University, Perth, Australia

There is an alarming rate of Early Career Teacher attrition both in Australia and internationally. Successive national and international reports have shown that between 25 percent and 40 percent of Early Career Teachers leave the profession in their first five years of teaching. This attrition rate has serious implications for governments, teachers, teacher educators and the wider community. While much research has investigated teacher attrition, stress and burnout, recent perspectives on this issue have focused more positively on the concept of resiliency and its relationship to retention.  This project draws on the experiences of Early Career Teachers or ECTs and Initial Teacher Education or ITE students to identify key characteristics of resilient teachers and gain a deeper understanding of how resilience develops and in what contexts. These understandings will form the basis of an effective practice framework for the redesign of Initial Teacher Education curriculum. A focus on resilience will be a fundamental strategy to create more effective education to workplace transitions and ultimately improve retention rates for ECTs. A key deliverable will be the construction of an interactive website Keeping Cool which will be accessible to ITE students, lecturers, ECTs, professional associations, school administrators and unions.

Funding: Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd.

Website: Keeping Cool

Scientific Support: Schulverband Aachen Ost

 

Team members: Dipl.-Gyml. Kerstin Helker, StR Alexandra Imgrund-Witthöft

Three schools – three different school types – one idea: The development of the School Union Aachen-Ost offers a networked school system which provides all pupils, especially those who live within this city area, with the opportunity to graduate from a range of school types.

Since September 2010, the division of 'School Pedagogy and Educational Research' accompanies and supports this project scientifically.

Funding: Mercator-Stiftung

Website: Schulverband Aachen Ost

Development and Evaluation of a Knowledge-Based Computerized Educational Game for the Studies of Electrical Engineering

in cooperation with the Institute of High Voltage Engineering

This project examines the positive effects which might emerge while playing a computerized educational game in the studies of electrical engineering. It is assumed that this learning setting will not only promote students' motivation, but will also enhances students' knowledge acquisition. For this purpose an educational game has been developed and evaluated. This project is a cooperation of the Institute of Electrical Engineering and the Institute of Educational Science. The adopted interdisciplinary approach allows for optimal development and implementation with regard to subject-oriented, electronical and educational dimensions. The use and success of this educational game will be evaluated at multiple stages of the project, in order to examine and determine the game's effects on students learning experience.

Funding: Exploratory Teaching Space (ETS)

Social Skills Diagnostics in the Context of Cooperative Learning Projects in the Mechanical Engineering Study Program

in cooperation with the Institute of Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics

The main aim of this project is the development of an instrument which combines external assessment and self assessment of social and methodological skills. The instrument development is based on the learning goals of the engineering study programme (i.e., team work, group organisation and self-organisational skills) which were operationalised in terms of cooperation, conflict management, social responsibility, group management and autonomy.

Funding: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen

Self-Financed Projects