Key research area "Transformation in Education"

The Centre for Vocational Education and Training (cevet) sees itself as an international centre of competence for researching issues and professionalising the handling of challenges in vocational education and training. The involvement of actors with different perspectives on the respective problem is of central importance. cevet's target groups are VET experts and institutions that deal directly or indirectly with issues and challenges in VET. The guiding questions of cevet are, for example How can the quality of teaching and learning in VET institutions be improved? How can competence diagnosis and development of disadvantaged people be addressed? What challenges do megatrends such as globalisation and the transition to a knowledge society pose for vocational education and training? What potential do new media (not) offer and what steps are necessary to make them usable for VET? What future challenges need to be taken into account in today's research questions? What do VET systems look like around the world and what can we learn from each other?

The German Centre for Teacher Training in Mathematics (DZLM) is the first central contact point for teacher training in mathematics in Germany. Initiated and funded by the Deutsche Telekom Foundation from 2011 to 2021, the DZLM is now being continued by the established network. The DZLM develops research-based and practice-oriented training programmes at twelve different universities, including the University of Paderborn.  Its main focus is on the implementation and continuous improvement of research in cooperation with the federal states and educational institutions. In addition, DZLM members conduct research on the impact of in-service training, on the learning processes of participating teachers and on the use of DZLM training materials by in-service trainers.

In order to disseminate the concept of competence-oriented and technology-supported teaching, the following strategies are being pursued

The DZLM runs its own training courses, which are evaluated using a design-based research paradigm. The results will be used to improve the training courses and to qualify disseminators through in-service training or OER training materials (e.g. presentation slides and worksheets, facilitation guides). The suitability and application of the materials will also be evaluated by the DZLM.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Julia Bruns, Prof. Dr. Uta Häsel-Weide, Prof. Dr. Lena Wessel

Further information: https://fddm.uni-paderborn.de/projekte

In view of the complex challenges facing the educational system, empirical educational research is becoming increasingly important in research and teaching. The Research College for Empirical Educational Research therefore serves to support didactics and educational research in this area by networking existing research activities at the University of Paderborn and by initiating and intensifying interdisciplinary cooperation between educationalists, psychologists and didactics. The Research Training Group offers a forum, especially for young researchers, in which research projects can be presented and discussed in terms of content and empirical-methodological aspects. Within the framework of the Research Training Group, dissertations from the fields of didactics, educational science and other related disciplines (in particular from lecturers seconded to the University of Paderborn) are currently being presented. In addition, the Research Training Group serves as a forum for the exchange of information regarding the acquisition of third-party funding and other possibilities for research funding. The Research Training Group meets regularly during the lecture period to discuss various topics.

Contact: Dr. Andreas Seifert

The Paderborn Centre for Educational Research and Teacher Education - PLAZ-Professional School is a research and development agency that works closely with the faculties in the fulfilment of its tasks. Accordingly, the PLAZ sees itself as an institution with a task structure that transcends the faculties and is active in interdisciplinary areas in cooperation with them. The overarching tasks of the PLAZ are to support and develop teacher education with the aim of improving the organisation of studies and promoting innovative teaching; to conduct and support interdisciplinary research and development in the field of education and teaching research; to promote young academics in this field or support their advancement; to expand cooperation with schools, centres for practical teacher training and other institutions involved in teacher education; and to develop and implement quality assurance measures. In addition, the PLAZ has specific tasks in the areas of teaching and studies, research and cooperation with non-university partners.

Student teachers are faced with the challenge to apply the basic knowledge they have acquired during their (university) studies in typical professional situations. It is also vague to what extent a competence-oriented course of studies contributes to mastering basic professional requirements. This is also due to the fact that competencies that are closer to action (i.e., close to performance) are typically not the subject of examinations in teacher education. In contrast, such examination and teaching formats as role plays are increasingly being integrated into the training of medical students. They simulate typical standard requirements of the profession as authentically as possible, which can be assessed in a standardized manner.

Goals: The PERFORM-LA junior research group has the following overarching goals:

• Development & testing of prototypes of similar performance-oriented examination procedures for various exemplary areas of teacher training (English, physics, educational sciences).
• Analyses of the relationship between different aspects of performance and competence, and of prognostic validity for real-world classroom action.
• Studies on the acceptance and suitability for implementation as summative and formative examination procedures in teacher education.

Scientific contact: Dr. Christoph Vogelsang

Duration: 04/2021-12/2025

Funding: PERFORM-LA is promoted in the BMBF-Framework Program Empirical Educational Research (FKZ: NWGWIHO02).

More information:

• https://plaz.uni-paderborn.de/bildungsforschung/forschung-und-entwicklung/projekte/perform-la
• https://blogs.uni-paderborn.de/performla

Increasing digitisation is changing the demands of modern teacher education. In December 2019, a new framework – called the „Paderborner Rahmenkonzept“ - defined important digitalisation-related competencies for teacher education at UPB. The framework has already been integrated into the examination regulations during the reaccreditation in 2022.

So far, however, there is a lack of an evaluation instrument that evaluates the implementation of the „Paderborner Rahmenkonzept“. To achieve this, we develop innovative formats to be implemented into teacher education courses. Furthermore, we develop an evaluation instrument that takes into account  the various facets of the framework at the level of teaching courses. Following a design-based research approach, we focus on creating transfer potential as well as ensuring quality assurance.

The project will show possibilities and ways to put the existing theoretical framework into practice in teacher education courses. Furthermore,  changes in the implementation are to be assessed. The teaching formats developed will serve as an innovative example for other teachers who are faced with similar demands. We focus on designing a product that strengthens the implementation of the framework and makes it evaluable.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Rebekka Schmidt

Further project team members: Prof. Dr. Uta Häsel-Weide, Prof. Dr. Claudia Tenberge

Funding: Stifterverband - Curriculum 4.0

Duration: 2021-2023

The project 'DiPoLe' considers the digital transformation as a profound economic-social change that fundamentally questions the processes of vocational education, the professional attitude of vocational teachers and the way we educate teachers. In addition to challenges, the digital transformation also offers great opportunities to bring professional teacher education a decisive step further. DiPoLe aims to establish processes of exchange and collaboration between the central actors in vocational education and training in order to advance continuous course development. Based on three guiding principles, firstly that vocational teacher education must become more integrative and secondly that it must become increasingly dynamic, thirdly that it must also become more cooperative, DiPoLe pursues the objective of a more comprehensive integration of the topic 'digital transformation' in the study program "Business Education: Teacher Training at Vocational Colleges" at the University of Paderborn. However, as the sustainable development of study programs at universities is often a challenging process, DiPoLe strives for a cooperative interaction of many actors within the university as well as in schools and companies. The aim is to ensure that students recognize digitization as a thematic as well as a didactic-methodological thread throughout the entire course of study.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Tobias Jenert (tobias.jenert@upb.de)

Coordination: Niklas Sänger (niklas.saenger@upb.de)

Funding: funding line Curriculum 4.0 NRW of the state-wide digitalization offensive with DH.NRW

Duration: 01.10.2020 to 30.09.2023

Further information: https://wiwi.uni-paderborn.de/en/dep5/wirtschaftspaedagogik-prof-dr-tobias-jenert/research/translate-to-english-dipole

5G creates new challenges and opportunities for vocational education and training. Digital transformation is also changing the world of work and professions, and with it, vocational education and training. Many professions are changing fundamentally, some are even disappearing, others are emerging. In addition to IT skills, many non-technical skills (e.g. interdisciplinary thinking and acting, understanding systems and processes, self-organisation) will become more important. New digital forms offer new opportunities for personalised learning and access to education. This poses many challenges for teachers in vocational schools, school authorities and trainers in companies.

In Ostwestfalen-Lippe, the players in the education ecosystem are tackling these challenges together. The Leading-Edge Cluster OWL is researching the changes in requirements and skills profiles in tomorrow's world of work.

Objectives:

• Investigate application areas for 5G and develop learning scenarios for training in industrial-technical and commercial occupations.  
• Testing and comparative study of the learning scenarios in a 5G campus network and a 5G public network (including SWOT comparison with technology alternatives).
• Scientific, technical and didactic design and pilot implementation of distributed and networked learning offerings based on 5G technology
• Establishment of process and organisational innovations in educational institutions
• Sensitisation and qualification of teachers, trainers, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers for the potential of 5G (or with 5G)
• Transfer of results and experience into broad application in OWL and NRW

The starting hypothesis of the project is that the 5G standard offers enormous potential for the future of vocational education and training in NRW. This is because it enables the powerful networking of different learning locations, with which practical and cooperative learning scenarios can be realised that address the future interfaces between different occupations and build bridges between educational courses and institutions.

The project "5G Learning Locations for the Education of the Future" will investigate these questions in the region of OstWestfalenLippe (OWL). From the perspective of 5G and education research, cross-occupational, cross-organisational and cross-location learning scenarios will be developed for the 5G-based production of the future. The focus will be on predictive maintenance, quality control and remote maintenance with mobile devices as areas of application where the potential of 5G for industry lies in high real-time data volumes and the use of multimedia content, and where the cooperation of industrial-technical and commercial professions at different locations and in different companies will gain in importance. These scenarios will be tested and evaluated in two vocational colleges with an Industry 4.0 learning factory in the district of Gütersloh in a campus network and in two vocational colleges with a mechanical engineering company in the district of Paderborn in a public network, in order to work out the strengths and weaknesses of both types of infrastructure in the application context of education.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Cooperation: OstWestfalenLippe GmbH (Verbundprojektkoordiantion), Software Innovation Lab der Universität Paderborn im Software Innovation Campus Paderborn (SICP), Carl-Miele-Berufskolleg (CMBK), Reinhard-Mohn-Berufskolleg (RMBK), Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Berufskolleg (RvWBK) und Ludwig-Erhard-Berufskolleg (LEBK), Weidmüller, Beckhoff, ELHA Maschinenbau, Start-up Raumtänzer, pro Wirtschaft GT GmbH - Wirtschaftsförderungseinrichtung des Kreises Gütersloh, Wertkreis Güterloh - Werkstatt für Menschen mit Benachteiligungen, Nachwuchsstiftung Maschinenbau

Duration: 1.5.2022 - 31.12.2025

Funding: Landesmittel des Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Innovation, Digitalisierung und Energie des Landes NRW im Rahmen des Förderwettbewerbs 5G.NRW

The focus of the interdisciplinary DFG project between German language didactics and computational linguistics is the development of algorithmic methods for the automatic analysis of argumentative learner texts. The goal is to develop computer-based developmental and learner-sensitive feedback on the structure of argumentative learner texts.
The following research questions will be addressed: 1) How can the structure of argumentative learner texts be identified? (Text mining), 2) How can the competence level of the text be assessed? 3) How can developmental and learner-sensitive feedback be generated?

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Sara Rezat (UBP), Prof. Dr. Henning Wachsmuth (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

Further project members: Dr. Sebastian Kilsbach (UPB), Maja Stahl (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (453073654)

Duration: 2021-2024

Further information:

kw.uni-paderborn.de/institut-fuer-germanistik-und-vergleichende-literaturwissenschaft/germanistische-sprachdidaktik/rezat/forschung/dfg-projekt-computergestuetztes-lernen

Evaluation des Bundesprogramms "Kita-Einstieg: Brücken bauen in frühe Bildung"

The aim of the project is to use the scientific monitoring of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) programme "Kita-Einstieg: Brücken bauen in die frühe Bildung" (Kita Entry: Building Bridges in Early Education) to find out to what extent development processes in inclusive early education, professionalisation approaches for educators and transition management in the early childhood education landscape need to be initiated, designed and/or expanded. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth is funding the testing and implementation of a variety of proposals, measures and approaches at around 200 locations. The target group of the co-ordination and specialist offices is concerned with municipal needs assessment, networking and co-ordination. Another target group is professionals - here it is a question of checking qualifications, discovering pedagogical processes and discovering attitudes. The final target group is families in special circumstances, with the aim of facilitating and improving access and transitional arrangements, using questionnaires in three languages of origin and interviews. Due to the distribution over all federal states, the socio-spatial specificities, the diversity of providers and concepts, it is assumed that representative results will be obtained that can be transferred to the entire federal territory.

Scientific Contact: Prof. Dr. Timm Albers

Duration: 5.2017 - 12.2022

Funding: The research project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSJ).

The twelve teacher training universities of North Rhine-Westphalia and several institutions within the second and third phase of teacher training have joint forces in the cooperative project ‚COMeIN‘. Together they design products (e. g. teaching concepts) to systematically improve the digital skills of (pre-service) teachers, particularly with regard to support the organisational transformation processes of schools, and discipline-specific as well as interdisciplinary education. The collaborating project partners provide extensive scientific expertise and practical school experience, and pool their knowledge and experiences in so-called ‘Communities of Practice’ (CoP) to initiate reciprocal learning processes. The broad variety of players involved is a novelty for North Rhine-Westphalia, that is characterized by a considerably heterogeneous educational landscape. As a consequence of the research and design processes within the CoP, learning processes among the various players are initiated.

The development of a digital education framework in a digitalized world on a state and federal (Länder) level was completed in 2019. Thus, each phase of teacher training will need to face the challenge of its (practical) implementation and its further development. The findings of the COMeIN  project are to contribute to the digitalization strategies of universities, teacher training study programmes, and the second and third phase of teacher training in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Paderborn University is represented by different disciplines and departments: English studies, educational sciences, chemistry, German as a second language, primary school education, informatics, mathematics, social studies and science, and special needs education. In addition, the quality management of COMeIN is conducted by Paderborn University.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Bardo Herzig, Prof. Dr. Birgit Eickelmann

Duration: 2020 - 2023

Funding: The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Further information: https://www.uni-due.de/comein/

In physics, a professional development module regarding the effective and meaningful use of digital media in physics teaching (in particular subject-specific basics / opportunities, digital data acquisition as well as visualisation, simulations, explanatory videos) will be developed by iteratively refining existing test instruments on various aspects of professional competence of (prospective) physics teachers. At the University of Paderborn, the area of professional knowledge on the use of digital media is the main focus. Furthermore, the adaptation of selected assessments to other subjects is supported by the University of Paderborn. In view of the heterogeneity regarding the digital competences of (prospective) teachers, an adaptive approach is chosen by taking into account previous experience and initial competences and adapting the modules of the professional development module accordingly. The implementation of the professional development module will take place across all phases of initial and in-service teacher training. In order to ensure the learning effectiveness, practicability and acceptance of the professional development module in the target group and at the level of multipliers, we will carry out accompanying empirical research, which will also look at specific conditional factors such as the learning object, the format and the addressees of the module. A design-based research approach (DBR) is used in order to investigate in iterative cycles, for example, how the content of the professional development module is used and adapted by the participants. In addition, the project will also examine under which educational circumstances the professional development modules are accepted by schoolteachers.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Josef Riese , Rike Große-Heilmann

Coordination: Prof. Dr. Stefan Rumann, Universität Duisburg-Essen

Funding: BMBF

Duration: 01.04.2023 bis 30.09.2025

Projekt homepage: ComᵉMINT-Netzwerk – Kompetenzzentrum MINT | lernen:digital

Educational research faces the challenge of generating fundamental knowledge and choosing approaches appropriate to its object of knowledge; at the same time, there is a legitimate expectation that findings from research will trigger developments that can be used to both reactively change educational practice and proactively make it fit for the future. An obstacle to this is the frequently observed gap between research and educational practice, with the consequence that it takes a very long time for scientific results to become effective in practice, or that research-based practice does not achieve the expected results. Design-Based Research (DBR) is a methodological framework concept that demonstrates for educational research how a connection between fundamental knowledge and practical applicability in research can succeed. DBR can be briefly characterised as intervention-oriented, cyclical-iterative, contextualised and based on the principle of research through design. The network project "Design-Based Research as a Methodological Framework in Educational Research (DBR Network)" uses the expertise of researchers from subject didactic research, vocational training research and higher education research to anchor DBR more firmly in the German research landscape as a methodological framework for specific research questions and to advance the scientific-theoretical foundation of DBR. The systematic linking, discussion and further development of existing approaches, which is only possible in this way in scientific discourse across different educational contexts, creates a basis for higher quality and deeper theoretical yield of DBR studies. The planned working meetings (1) on the current constitution and orientation of DBR in educational research, (2) on the epistemological core and the scientific-theoretical foundation of DBR as well as (3) on the methodological-practical feasibility and communicability of DBR lead to publications and provide impulses for subsequent cooperations and applications. The integration of young researchers and the intention of a continuous exchange beyond the duration of the funding make the network project the starting point for the long-term establishment of high-quality design-based educational research.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Tobias Jenert (University of Paderborn), Prof. Dr. Gabi Reimann (University of Hamburg)

Duration: since 2021

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG) - project number 452077361

The joint research project DigiMal.nrw (Digital Mathematics Teacher Education) focusses on improving the quality of major courses in the mathematics teacher education programme (basic mathematics education, primary school and special needs education) to enhance the students' access to the subject of mathematics and mathematics education. For this purpose, the NRW-wide consortium of eight universities creates digitally supported teaching and learning materials. They are developed to enable students to solve subject-related problems and to efficiently and successfully cope with studies and examinations in mathematics and mathematics education.

Within the framework of the sub-project "Heterogenität im Mathematikunterricht" (Diversity in the Maths classroom), modularised course materials are being created in cooperation of Prof. Dr. Uta Häsel-Weide (UPB), Prof. Dr. Elke Söbbeke (WBU) and Prof. Dr. Christoph Selter (TU DO) in order to prepare teacher edcation students  for diversity in teaching mathematics. The materials enable students to build up professional knowledge and professional competences to act professionally and reflectively in the tension between individual support of students and collaborative learning in the classroom.

The developed materials for teaching and examination are evaluated by intensive mutual exchange between the actors with regard to a) the structuring of the content, b) the accuracy and adaptivity of the initiated cognitive activities for the acquisition of the content and c) their media-related implementation. In particular, the evaluation dimensions b) and c) are empirically evaluated by use-of-potential analyses and their effects among the students.

Scientific Contact: Prof. Dr. Uta Häsel-Weide

Funding: Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft and Digitale Hochschule NRW (OERContent.nrw)

Duration: 2020-2022

Further information: fddm.uni-paderborn.de/personen/arbeitsgruppen/ag-haesel-weide/personen/haesel-weide-uta/projekte

The "Corona semesters" have revealed various opportunities and challenges with regard to digital teaching. Inequalities in the learning requirements of students, especially with regard to skills for self-directed learning, have increased, for example. In addition, the functions of exams that could support these skills have not been fully exploited. Through "DigiSelF", comprehensive forms of digital testing as well as digital measures to support self-directed learning are to be developed and a sustainable in-terdisciplinary network for transfer is to be established. Innovative teaching measures were developed, but often remained exclusively in individual (subject) areas and were not used university-wide.  The project "DigiSelF" pursues the goal of developing digital measures to promote the self-directed learning of students in the facets of content/cognition, metacognition/resource management and motivational and volitional control. In addition, these levels will also be addressed through the development of digital assessment formats. These are understood as comprehensive assessment feedback. The third goal is to establish long-term networked structures for the development of teaching innovations. These goals are pursued in different ways and with different focuses by a total of 6 work packages at all faculties of the University of Paderborn.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Tobias Jenert

Coordination: Hannah Sloane (Transfer and Coordination), Jana Heidebrecht (Scientific Monitoring and Evaluation)

Funding: The project is funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre.

Duration: 01.08.2021 to 31.07.2024

Further information: https://www.uni-paderborn.de/en/universitaet/digiself/teilprojekte

The joint research project aims at improving inclusive science education for children through resource-oriented and support-related diagnostics of teachers. It is conducted together with colleagues from Bielefeld University. In particular, the subject-related potentials of primary science education are one major focus of the project.

In the beginning, video vignettes are used to identify the initial subject-related competences of primary science teachers. The results are used to provide professional development modules for pre- and in-service teachers. These modules are examined  and modified in a circular approach. Based on this, theory-practice analysis tools are provided for the first and third phase of teacher education. In the last phase, we will evaluate competence development of in-service teachers.

Further project participants: Education authorities of Herford, Bielefeld, Paderborn and Gütersloh

Scientific Contact: Prof. Dr. Eva Blumberg

Funding: Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code 01NV2126A9)

Further information: here.

The use of e-learning tools is not yet fully integrated into the daily routine of teachers and learners in vocational education and training, especially in vocational nursing education. This applies to both teachers, i.e. the pedagogical staff of the nursing schools, and practical instructors, i.e. the staff of the training institutions responsible for practical instruction, as well as to the trainees themselves. At the same time, the importance of an e-learning tool with integrated electronic/digital proof of training (FEL) for vocational nursing training is particularly important in order to be able to implement up-to-date nursing training. The aim of the project is to accompany the new nursing training with a digital tool with supporting and supplementary digital content and to combine this project with the possibility of a digital proof of training, taking into account § 17 sentence 2 no. 3 of the Nursing Training Act (PflBG). The approach is future-oriented and combines theory and practice.

The FEL project will develop, implement and evaluate an eLearning tool for the care sector. The basis of the development work is a didactic concept based on the PVEC - Paderborn Vocational Education Concept for eLearning - according to Beutner and combined with the three-shell model of vocational training evaluation according to Beutner (cf. Beutner 2018 and Beutner 2021) within the framework of the evaluation.

In the FEL project, the e-learning tool FEL will be developed, prototyped, implemented, iteratively developed and improved, evaluated and made broadly effective in a transfer concept in close cooperation between the University of Paderborn, the technology partner Ingenious Knowlegde GmbH, the Nursing School ZFG Münster with other nursing schools, nursing service providers, the BIBB / project management organisation and social stakeholders. A design-based research approach is being used, in which both the development and design of educational products as well as research and knowledge acquisition are taken into account according to a sound research design.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Cooperation: Ingenious Knowledge GmbH, Deutschland, Pflegeschule ZFG Münster - ZFG – Zentralschule für Gesundheitsberufe

Duration: 1.9.2021 - 31.8.2024

Funding: Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

The project ImTransRegio provides scientific monitoring for ten german transfer agencies. The project aims at developing educational concepts which are a basis for the agencies' advice to local authorities. In particular, the research group provides recommendations on best practice. The research group also examines the conditions under which regional educational processes will be effective and sustainable.

Scientific contact: Dr. Elmar Janssen

Duration: 2014-2022

Funding: BMBF

In September 2021, the digital portal for teaching and learning in North Rhine-Westphalia, ORCA.nrw ("Open Resources Campus NRW") was officially launched. ORCA provides quality-proofed materials for digitally supported teaching and learning at universities. In various funding lines of NRW and in cooperation with the institution Digitale Hochschule NRW, learning content is created as an Open Educational Resource (OER for short). These can be found, accessed, downloaded, used, modified and uploaded again in a new version on ORCA.nrw in the sense of 5v (cf. Hilton & Wiley 2018). In terms of ORCA's objectives, the aim in the future is to use the teaching/learning materials provided in a wide variety of granularity (modularised) in university teaching. The materials available on ORCA are not conceived as a static "cupboard of materials“  but are understood as a contribution to a new culture of teaching and learning, which can also be described as a "culture of sharing" in learning communities (cf. Otto 2019; Müller 2022). Both a didactical and an empirical foundation of Open Educational Practice (OEP) are a desideratum so far. well as an empirical foundation of Open Educational Practice (OEP) have so far been a desideratum.

The vision of transformative university teaching with open educational resources aims to be concretised by the consortium project "InDigO" for the area "Inclusion in Teacher Education" (LABG 2021). InDigO is funded by the MKW NRW as a pilot project for two years with approximately one million euros.

In this project, the subject of educational science in the disciplines of primary education and special needs education is exemplarily investigated, how teachers can integrate freely accessible educational resources of the platform ORCA.nrw in their inclusion-oriented teaching in a variety of ways. The pilot project includes seven universities in NRW to test and evaluate how OER materials can be used, disseminated, further developed and curricularly anchored within the framework of internal and cross-university learning communities for the promotion of inclusion-related competences of teacher students. The pilot concept is characterised by a coherence of content (inclusion, digitalisation, participation), innovative media didactics (teaching and learning in the Open Educational Practice format) and technology (technical infrastructure as an enabling and connecting element). Within the scope of an explorative, design- and development-oriented research approach (Kamin & Meister 2017), the project will provide fundamental, transferable insights into the conditions for success regarding a new "culture of sharing" of digital resources by lecturers in so-called learning communities. The aim is also to achieve a sustainable contribution towards profiling ORCA's content in the field of inclusion. In this way, the modules of different granularity (from the didactic concept of use and associated teaching/learning materials for accompanied teaching/learning processes in face-to-face and online teaching all the way to self-learning modules) tested and evaluated in the project as well as the tried out concepts of community learning are made available for further use.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Petra Büker; Prof. Dr. Gudrun Oevel

Coordination: Dr. Katrin Glawe; Jana Herding

Funding: InDigO is funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture NRW (MKW)

Duration: 01.12.2021 – 31.12.2023

Further information: Member of extended project management: Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Kamin, University of Bielefeld. Participating universities: Bielefeld, Dortmund, Duisburg-Essen, Siegen, University of Cologne, Wuppertal.  https://www.uni-paderborn.de/forschungsprojekte/indigo

In context of "inklud.nrw", digital teaching/learning offerings will be developed to link the cross-sectional tasks of teaching education: digitisation and inclusion. They will be made available for the planned online portal ORCA in North Rhine-Westphalia. The project thus contributes to the cross-university use of scientifically and didactically grounded digital teaching/learning offerings for teaching education. Led by Prof. Dr. Petra Büker, Institute for Educational Science, and Prof. Dr. Gudrun Oevel, (IMT, responsible for technical environment) all universities of the state will be provided with an online case collection as open education resource material. This is based on the online case collection “Diversity Tableau”/"Vielfaltstableau", which developed in Paderborn and successfully used in university teaching. Over the next two years, an innovative digital teaching/learning environment will be developed in cooperation with partner universities at the sites in Bielefeld, Duisburg-Essen, and Siegen. In addition to biographical descriptions of children and young people from the "Diversity Tableau"/”Vielfaltstableau”, this environment will also contain university media didactic offerings such as tasks and suggestions for the creative design of teaching in online and attendance phases. In this way, content (inclusion), technology (infrastructure) as well as media didactics (teaching and learning with online phases and methods) will be precisely matched to each other.

The prototype will be tested and evaluated at all four partner universities before the material can be used nationwide in both, educational science and didactics. This will open up the possibility for teacher trainees to link the topic of individual support for pupils with the development of media- and digitisation-related skills.

The "inklud.nrw" project is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia under the OER Content.nrw funding line.

Research contact: Prof. Dr. Petra Büker, Dr. Katrin Glawe

Duration: 7.2020 - 6.2022

Funding: Das Projekt „inklud.nrw“ wird in der Förderlinie OER Content.nrw durch das Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft NRW gefördert.

Consortium management: Paderborn University
Consortium: University of Bielefeld, University of Duisburg Essen, University of Siegen

Further information here.

A group of young researchers anchored within the Department for Business and Human Resource Education at the University of Paderborn carries out research activities for the project ITiB (‚Innovation and Transfer Processes in the German VET-System‘) since the beginning of 2022. Focussing beneficial settings and structures for innovation and transfer in VET-institutions, the research group studies processes for realizing transfer of innovations. Thereby, innovation and transfer are understood as active designing and transmission processes, requiring both accomodation and assimilation. Over the long term, the project contributes towards strengthening and developing the German VET-system against the background of transformation processes (digitalization, academization etc.) within society.    

ITiB focusses on the development of a more profound comprehension of the InnoVET-projects’ innovation and transfer processes. InnoVET is an innovation competition entailing 17 large-scale innovation projects in Germany across various sectors and areas within VET. ITiB takes a meta-perspective across all 17 projects to identify patterns, relevants concepts or prototypical developments regarding innovation and transfer. Initially, the project focusses on two content-related strands: 1) the understanding of innovation and transfer, and 2) basic innovation and transfer networks. Grounding on a systematic literature review and a document analysis, several qualitative studies within the context of InnoVET will be conducted during funding period. By doing so, the Design-based Research is one of the guiding methodologies.    

Scientific contact: Dr. Desiree Daniel-Söltenfuß, Dr. Marie-Ann Kückmann

Funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Duration: Jan 2022 – Dec 2025

Click here for further informations.

Due to the lack of teachers in primary schools, an increasing number of teachers from other disciplines or levels are teaching primary mathematics. Therefore, these teachers often do not have profound subject-specific professional knowledge. Hence, there is a need for professional training in this group of teachers, e.g. difficulties with the strategy of counting numbers.

Tranferring counting numbers into developing imagination-based arithmetic strategies is a complex process. Stimulating and accompanying this process requires a high level of professional expertise of teachers, e. g. the diagnosis and facilitation of students‘ learning on the basis of adequate subject-specific and pedagogical content knowledge.

Therefore, the project LeA focusses on developing and providing further educational training for non-specialist teachers (in cooperation with the district governments of Münster and Detmold). In addition, in-service training materials for learning in the classroom and e-learning phases are developed in collaboration with the German Centre for Teacher Education in Mathematics (DZLM). The LeA project takes into account specific learning difficulties of children, which is the research focus of the project.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Uta Häsel-Weide (UPB), Prof. Dr. Karina Höveler (WWU), Prof. Dr. Marcus Nührenbörger (WWU)

Project team member: Lara Marie Graf

Funding: DZLM (IPN)

Duration: 2021-2024

Learning a teaching profession as a student and consequently executing this profession as a teacher takes a variety of skills to meet all requirements involved. Next to content specific, didactic and educational competencies, it takes a set of additional cross-disciplinary competencies such as the ability to cooperate and communicate, learning and self-regulating strategies, a high level of orthography or basic computer skills to succeed in one’s professional life as a student or as a teacher. Cross-disciplinary competencies are defined as relevant, but not specific competencies to the job or the subject studied. Notably, these competencies are an important factor when coping with changes of the working environment and thus changing requirements within the profession.

When trying to meet these implicit challenges it is helpful to rely on a self-assessment-tool for orientation. Strengths and weaknesses can be identified and thus bear the potential of targeted improvement.

With two coordinated subprojects, LehramtsNavi offers such a self-assessment addressing a broad selection of cross-disciplinary competencies with an Online-Self-Assessment-Tool (LehramtsNavi im netz) on the one hand and Workshops (LehramtsNavi im raum) targeting specific cross-disciplinary competencies such as self-management or coping with stress on the other. It is central to these workshops, that students take their own experience and perspectives into the workshops and reflect upon their current level of the competencies addressed and how to improve them. Furthermore, these workshops are led by trained students which allows for a peer-to-peer exchange among aspiring teachers who are all focussing on crucial competencies at the job.

Both subprojects are available for students of the Paderborn University and require no fees. The Online Self-Assessment can be used from a personal computer providing personal feedback as well as helpful suggestions for further improvement.

The competencies addressed among the project derive from theory-based approaches as well as requirement analyses realized by the LehramtsNavi-team itself. By conducting regular evaluations, the project is checked and developed constantly. That way, it is ensured that attending student receive a useful contribution to their individual careers.

LehramtsNavi was funded by the Teaching Quality Pact (2011 to 2020). By now, it is routinely used for teacher training programs. Furthermore, attending each of the subprojects can be credited as academic achievement when chosen as an elective module. All studies conducted throughout this project align with the legal framework of data protection regulations for the systematic development of self-assessment instruments.

Professor Dr. Heike M. Buhl

is in charge of the project. The project’s website can be visited here: lehramtsnavi.uni-paderborn.de

The MaCo programme aims to improve the mathematical understanding and basic skills of children and young people at primary and lower secondary level who are most at risk of learning difficulties. We provide online training, support and teaching materials for teachers, support staff and non-specialist teachers. We also provide materials for multipliers to design their own training courses. In this way, MaCo disseminates offers for the promotion of the relevant foundations of mathematical understanding at all levels, from primary to secondary school.

In the sub-project "Understanding fractions in secondary school" we use the materials of the support concept "Being able to do maths safely". In the course of the project, these will be successively supplemented by explanatory videos for pupils and handout videos for teachers on the topics of understanding and working with fractions. All the resulting materials can be downloaded from the project websites by teachers and students who are involved in mathematics support in catch-up programmes, and can be used in class for diagnosis and individual support, or to support classroom teaching.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Lena Wessel 

Funding: Ministries of Education of the Länder Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt

Duration: 1.1.22 - 30.6.23

Further information: https://maco.dzlm.de

The math-related competence of early childhood educators is considered to play a crucial role in children's mathematical development. Theoretically based competence models assume three facets of early childhood educators’ math-related competence: math-related knowledge, the ability of situational observation and perception, and the ability of pedagogical-didactic action. A close connection is assumed between math-related knowledge and the ability for situational observation and perception on the one hand, and the ability for situational observation and perception and the ability for pedagogical-didactical action on the other hand. It is further assumed that the ability for situational observation and perception mediates part of the connection between math-related knowledge and the ability for pedagogical-didactic action. Initial studies-including teacher research confirm relationships between math-related knowledge and the ability to engage in situational observation and perception. The relationship between the ability for situational observation and perception and the ability for pedagogical-didactic action as well as the interaction of the three competence facets has not been empirically investigated so far. This leads to the research question: How does the ability for situational observation and perception influence the relationship between math-related knowledge and the ability for pedagogical-didactical action of early childhood educators in the field of 'early mathematics education'? To answer this question, an intervention study with N = 180 early childhood educators in two intervention groups and one control group is conducted in an experimental pre-post-test design. The data will be analyzed using repeated-measures analyses of variance. In addition, regression analytic mediation analyses are used to test the assumption about the mediating role of situational observation and perception ability between explicit knowledge and pedagogical-didactic action ability. The results of this study have practical relevance for the training and continuing education of early childhood educators, in addition to the theoretical insights gained. 

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Julia Bruns (Paderborn University) & Prof. Dr. Hedwig Gasteiger (Osnabrück University)

Funding: DFG

Duration: 04/2024-03/2027
 

Early childhood mathematics education is an integral component of the vocational training of early childhood educators. To support vocational school teachers in the high-quality implementation of this field in their practice the professional development course ‘EmMa-Fachschule’ (early childhood educators do mathematics – vocational school) complemented by research-based curriculum material was designed in cooperation with the University of Osnabrück and the German Centre for Mathematics Teacher Education. In the context of the ‘Multi_NRW’ project the effectiveness of the large-scale implementation of EmMa-Fachschule combined with the dissemination of the corresponding curriculum materials is compared to the effectiveness of the dissemination of the materials by itself. Effects will be investigated on the level of vocational school teachers as well as the level of prospective early childhood educators. The results in turn will be contributing to the general knowledge about these to scaling up strategies of professional development.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Julia Bruns

Project member: Alix Richter

Funding: German Centre for Teacher Education Mathematics

Duration: autumn 2021 to autumn 2024

Data science and artificial intelligence imply a growing importance for general education, for the development of one's own personality, for coping with everyday life and for participation in society. In the project Data Science and Big Data in School, interdisciplinary teaching and training materials are being developed, tested and researched in order to teach central topics and concepts of data science and artificial intelligence in the classroom. For this purpose, tools are didactically analysed and adapted, and implemented in a broad network consisting of teachers, schools and actors in curriculum development.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Rolf Biehler & Prof. Dr. Carsten Schulte

Scientific staff: Dr. Susanne Podworny (project management), Yannik Fleischer, Lukas Höper, Sven Hüsing

Funding: Deutsche Telekom Stiftung

Duration: 01.08.2023-31.07.2026

Further information: https://www.prodabi.de/

In the project ProfileP+, we developed instruments for assessing content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of prospective physics teachers. Likewise, we developed standardized performance assessments for planning physics lessons, reflecting on physics instruction and explaining physics following concepts from medical training. The main objective of ProfileP-Transfer is to modify and prepare the assessments for a wider implementation in academic teacher education programs for physics teaching.

The existing instruments will be transferred into digital formats, which in the case of the performance tests also requires specific modifications. The existing data pool from ProfileP+ will be supplemented by data collected with the modified instruments. Based on this, a benchmark is developed to provide feedback to students and lecturers. The instruments will be made available to other university teachers.

The Paderborn sub-project supports the development of the digital instruments for PCK and lesson planning skills. It coordinates the data collection in Paderborn and is in charge of project documentation.

Scientific contact: Dr. Christoph Vogelsang

Funding: BMBF (FKZ 01PK19005D).

Duration: June 2020 – May 2022

So far, the gold standard for book reading is a parent sharing a book with a young child – the iconic picture is a mother and her child looking at a book. However, research shows that this is often not realistic. Children tend to spend time on tablets and phones. In SAYL, the researchers want to show that digital books that can also be beneficial for young children. The project supports the transformation processes with the aim of developing digital books for young children who can benefit from them in their linguistic development.

Scientific contact: Katharina J. Rohlfing, Angela Grimminger

Funding: BMBF

Duration: 2022-2025

''SeiP'' (Selbstinszenierungspraktiken (similar to practices of self-realisation) as access to a self-determined, multimodal competence assessment for educationally disadvantaged young people) focuses on educationally disadvantaged young people within the framework of existing differences including gender, cultural context and precariousness (migration, poverty, refugee experience) and special educational needs. Thus, the project encompasses pre-existing heterogeneities of young people at the transition from school to work. This target group is over-represented in the vocational education system within the area of vocational preparation (§1(2) as well as §68 BBiG (Vocational Training Act, Germany)). The project primarily aims to develop support-oriented competence assessment which, in our opinion, requires a strength- and resource-oriented approach that can be integrated into everyday life. We deliberately place the principles of self-control/self-determination at the centre. Multimodal instruments, meaning especially open and creative self-expression and survey formats, open up opportunities for young people to explore their strengths and particularly to make them visible. Competence assessment thereby becomes a development and learning process in itself. Teachers, trainers and employers must be supported in the documentation, reception and utilization of the results. This involves meaningful integration into learning and development processes as well as subsequent processing for transition processes to training and employment - thereby enabling occupational participation. The project systematically incorporates suitable conceptual frameworks which are tested in practical contexts. Starting from a design-based research and development approach, an arena for innovation (Kremer 2014) will be instituted that brings together academic expertise, practice partners, network partners and transfer partners. Alongside the project, conditions of success are systematically identified, which in turn are incorporated into the development of a prototype rooted in academic research. This is accompanied by the professionalization of the actors involved through collegial training that enables a multiprofessional reappraisal of the understanding of the pre-existing disadvantages, participation and involvement of young people in the transition from school to work.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. H.-Hugo Kremer, Prof. Dr. Desirée Laubenstein

Coordination: Dr. Heike Kundisch

Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Funding indicator: 01NV2122A)

Duration: 01.01.2022 – 31.12.2024

Further information: https://www.uni-paderborn.de/cevet/forschung/aktuelle-projekte/seip 

For various reasons, entrepreneurs - especially in the start-up phase - often face the challenge of acting under great uncertainty based on incomplete information. Research is increasingly interested in the question of which psychological characteristics help entrepreneurs to cope with such uncertainties. In the context of our research, we draw on the concept of self-regulation to explore the dynamic relationship between entrepreneurial learning and acting under uncertainty. In doing so, we adopt a three-phase process model in which an individual attempts to control all three phases to achieve an appropriate goal. We consider the individual self-regulatory capacity as a central factor for why some (aspiring) entrepreneurs are able to design learning processes in such a way that they are better able to deal with uncertainty in decision-making situations and to control their learning in a goal-oriented way. Aspects in the planning as well as in the execution and reflection of learning processes Are a decisive point here. Self-regulation allows students to actively monitor and regulate their own cognition and motivation. Self-regulated learning (SRL) focuses on the "how" of self-regulation, i.e. concrete cognitive processes and action strategies. Therefore, in a one-year longitudinal interview study with >100 entrepreneurs and founders, we investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial self-regulatory ability and the use of cognitive and emotional regulation/ or learning strategies in uncertain situations.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Tobias Jenert

Coordination: Ronja Büker

Funding:  DFG

Duration: 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2024

The overarching objective of the weiterbildung4OWL project is to develop a didactic and technical-economic toolkit for the user- and quality-centred improvement of intermediary marketplace and learning platforms and their integration into regional further education spaces. The instruments are intended to systematically enable the actors of a regional education space or ecosystem to master the challenges of digitisation and to tap its potential through networking and platform-related innovations (see chapter III). The results are to be tested iteratively in the it's OWL Leading-Edge Cluster, which is one of the largest initiatives for Industry 4.0 in SMEs in Germany.

Since the central actor groups of a further education area are represented in the it's OWL ecosystem and cooperate in a trusting manner, the Leading-Edge Cluster is excellently suited to research the digital transformation of a regional further education area, including the associated challenges.

The focus of the developments is on the demand- and user-oriented improvement of the continuing education offer:

•     User-oriented design of digital learning and competence development.
•     Technical-economic design of the platform-based continuing education space

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: "INVITE - Innovation Competition Digital Platform for Continuing Vocational Education and Training

Duration: 06.09.2021-31.08.2024

Further information can be found here.

The international ERASMUS+ project 'Change Your Perspective: It's Just Dyscalculia' is in the field of school education. It focuses on the development, testing and evaluation of a curriculum and face-to-face and online courses for dealing with dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a pronounced impairment of mathematical thinking or calculation skills. Dyscalculia is a numeracy disorder that is not thought to be curable. It has a duration of 24 months and the project language is English.

The objectives of Change Your Perspective: It's Just Dyscalculia are:

•     Project activities will contribute to increasing the institutional capacity of project partner organisations, particularly in the area of school education and dealing with dyscalculia.
•     Ensure that students with learning difficulties are included in mainstream education.
•     The professional competences of the trainers in the project partner organisations will be strengthened at EU level.
•     With regard to European standards, project partner organisations will ensure that development plans for dyscalculia are conceptualised and prepared.

Contents / Results: The project is designed to achieve the following specific outcomes:

•     Dyscalculia curriculum and course materials.
•     Activity materials and orientation studies to be included in the dyscalculia curriculum.
•     Dyscalculia e-learning module (online courses)
•     Dyscalculia quick application solutions: Dyscalculia podcasts
•     Dyscalculia awareness statistics produced as a result of the analysis activities

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme School Education KA220-SCH - Cooperation partnerships in school education

Duration: 01.11.2022-30.10.2024

Further information can be found here.

The ERASMUS+ project CoopCities deals with the promotion of the skills and competences of urban actors with regard to sustainable urban development. For this purpose, the development, testing and evaluation of a status report, a blueprint for serious game development, the serious game itself and a learning platform are implemented. CoopCities has a duration of 24 months, whereby the project language is English.

The ERASMUS+ project CoopCities: Learning from urban cities sustainable solutions to deal with the global challenges faced due to COVID pandemic focuses on developing skills and competences of different urban actors to respond to unexpected challenges. In this framework, the project aims to develop an innovative training model for VET trainers/educators to help them acquire the skills and competencies to deal with the unexpected global challenges faced in their cities, e.g. the COVID-19 pandemic.

Content / Outcomes: The training model will be combined with training materials digital means, i.e. serious game and e-learning portal, video narratives, digital case study report cards, all available as OER in the project's e-learning portal. The results of the project will contribute to one of the most important global needs of overcoming climate change and environmental protection. Results are R1 CoopCities state-to-the-art report, R2 CoopCities 'Blueprint', R3 CoopCities Serious Game and R4 CoopCities e-Learning portal.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Vocational Education and Training KA220-VET - Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training

Duration: 01.11.2021-31.10.2023

Further information can be found here.

The ERASMUS+ project DigiComConsumer aims to provide practical solutions for introducing digital consumer education into school curricula, based on the 'Framework for Digital Literacy for Consumers'. The project aims to provide up-to-date training for teachers, encouraging them to integrate digital learning technologies, use them effectively and apply didactic practices (learning by creating, learning by exploring, problem-based learning). Students' competences as co-creators of the learning process will also be promoted. Teachers should be provided with digital tools for self-assessment and peer assessment.

Cooperation (selection): Hiend Publishing, Bulgarien (Koordinator), Universität Paderborn, Lehrstuhl Wirtschaftspädagogik II, Deutschland

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Duration: 1.11.2021 - 30.10.2023

Funding: ERASMUS+ Schulische Bildung Cooperation among organisations and institutions (2021-1-BG01-KA220-SCH-000027951)

The ERASMUS+ project EDU-VET focuses on digitalization and the development of learning modules for vocational education in the metal sector.

The main goal of the EDU-VET project is to create new teaching and learning environments for vocational education. The project focuses on the development of e-learning courses. For this reason, the partners will design a curriculum, an online teaching approach for learning technical education in vocational schools. This will support both teachers with appropriate innovative learning resources and learners with innovative modern ways to deal with topics and learning activities.

Contents/Outcomes: In view of the permanent change in technology and the use of mobile devices, the partners focus on the design of an innovative learning environment that combines the aspects of blended learning and digital media.

Therefore, the core idea of the consortium is to collaborate internationally to jointly develop, apply and assess multilingual and multimedia ECVET learning outcome units integrated in a web-based learning platform that provides not only learning units for learners but also community elements to work interactively and foster collaboration.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Program Vocational Education KA220-VET - Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training

Duration: 01.09.2019 - 31.03.2022

Further information can be found here.

The ERASMUS+ project EU-CERT - European Certificates and Accreditation for European Projects - focuses on the development, testing and evaluation of European standards for project accreditation and certification in adult education.

The consortium is developing an accreditation tool and an accreditation process for ERASMUS+ projects, their outputs and deliverables such as courses, modules, curricula, training, software etc. EU-CERT develops European standards for project accreditation in adult education.

The main objective of the EU-CERT project is to design and implement an accreditation and certification system and to define European criteria for ERASMUS+ project accreditation and develop a stable accreditation structure that will function after the completion of the EU-CERT project.

Contents / Results:

•     Detailed presentation of the developed EU-CERT accreditation process.
•     Comparisons of different European accreditation and certification processes
•     Quality assurance aspects for education and research

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Program Adult Education KA220 - ADU Cooperation partnerships in adult education

Duration: 01.02.2022- 31.05.2024

Further information can be found here.

The ERASMUS project Family Business Library is an adult education project funded by the European Commission. It promotes entrepreneurship education in non-urban and rural regions. The core idea of the project is to reach out to people in rural regions through local and regional libraries. A special focus of the activities is on promoting the creation of family businesses and local entrepreneurship. A key aspect of the approach is to use regional and rural libraries as a platform to reach out to the local population.

The six project partners are from Latvia, Germany, Croatia, Italy and Greece. The coordinator is ART-Smart from Latvia. The German scientific partner is the University of Paderborn, Chair of Business Education II. The other partners are NGOs in the field of education and training or libraries and municipalities active and interested in the field of entrepreneurship education.

Contents / Results:

•     Development and implementation of innovative practices to teach entrepreneurship in regional and rural areas.
•     Increasing the initiative and entrepreneurial spirit of people in regional and rural areas.
•     Development of a system in which libraries serve as centres for the development of rural entrepreneurship.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Adult Education, KA204 - Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Laufzeit: 01.10.2020-31.05.2022

Further information can be found here.

Greening the EntreComp Framework to Reconcile Economic Development and Environmental Security

The ERASMUS+ project Green-4-Future is a strategic partnership in vocational education and training (VET) co-funded by the European Commission. It aims to reconcile economic objectives with environmental and climate goals. The core idea of the project is to rethink the EntreComp reference framework developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's internal scientific service. In particular, it is about greening the EntreComp framework.
In addition to the creation of a Green EntreComp Framework, i.e. a green version of the EntreComp Reference Framework, the partners of Green-4-Future will focus on business modelling for circular economy enterprises, create an in-service training for VET teachers and design a Green-4-Future MOOC.
The nine project partners come from Germany, Cyprus, Croatia, Austria, Ireland, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal. The coordinator is the University of Paderborn, Chair of Economic Education II. The other partners are universities, research institutions and vocational training organisations. Thus, Green-4-Future comprises 4 universities, 3 research centres/institutes, 2 vocational training institutions, all active in the field of vocational training and green entrepreneurship.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Cooperations: Universität Paderborn, Lehrstuhl Wirtschaftspädagogik II (Deutschland), Centre for Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology Ltd-Cardet (Zypern), Callidus ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih - Institute for Adult Education (Kroatien), Berufsförderungsinstitut Burgenland (Österreich), Spectrum Research Centre CLG (Irland), Universitatea din Pitesti (Rumänien), University of Peloponnese (Griechenland), Burhaski Svoboden Universitet (Bulgarien), Instituto de Soldadure e Qualidade (Portugal)

Duration: 1.9.2020 - 31.8.2023

Funding: ERASMUS+ KA202 - Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training (2020-1-DE02-KA202-007429)

Further information: https://green4future.eduproject.eu/

Greenworld - Think Green for the World is a youth education project that raises awareness of sustainability and the green economy by adopting entrepreneurship approaches for young people and developing, testing and evaluating e-learning approaches and concepts.

The objectives are based on the idea of broadening young people's horizons, developing themselves, thinking critically, taking responsibility, being environmentally and climate conscious, being active and knowledgeable, and encouraging tomorrow's leaders to make positive changes not only in education and youth life, but also in society.

Content / outcomes: The ERASMUS+ project Greenworld - Think Green for the World focuses on the development, testing and evaluation of sustainable education and business start-ups in youth education contexts. It has a duration of 24 months. The project language is English. The project addresses aspects of climate change, environmental protection and sustainability and addresses them in the context of youth opportunities. The project will develop a country-specific environmental-climate sensitivity analysis report, a Green Entrepreneurship Handbook, an Environmental Literacy Handbook and a support measure in the form of a web tool and e-learning / e-books.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Youth Education KA220 YOU - Strategic Partnerships for Youth Education Cooperation partnership

Duration: 07.03.2022 - 07.03.2024

Further information can be found here.

With the ICILS 2023 (International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2023), the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) is realising the third cycle of the ICILS study after ICILS 2013 and ICILS 2018. Taking advantage of  internationally developed and elaborated set of instruments, student competences in the area of the most relevant computer and information-related competences (Computer and Information Literacy, CIL for short) in the countries participating in the study will be recorded in an empirically validated manner. As in the ICILS 2018 study, the study is supplemented by an additional module on the competence area 'Computational Thinking'. Germany is participating in both ICILS 2023 and the additional module.

As was the case for ICILS 2018, the national research centre for the ICILS 2023 study is located at the University of Paderborn under the scientific direction of Prof. Dr. Birgit Eickelmann (National Research Coordinator). The study is funded in Germany by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the funding period from 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2026. The international participation fees of the study are co-financed by the European Commission in EU member states.

The results of the previous study cycles can be found here: ICILS 2018 and ICILS 2013.

The implementation of the study is supported by a national consortium.

Scientific contact: icils2023(at)upb(dot)de
Further information: upb.de/icils2023

The ERASMUS IDEAL project is a strategic partnership in higher education funded by the European Commission. In the IDEAL GAME project, higher education institutions jointly create an online game developer for serious games to enhance teaching and learning in higher education institutions.
 

Content / outcomes: The project will develop, implement and evaluate an online tool for creating small serious games for higher education. This IDEAL GAME tool offers the possibility to create different types of small serious games that can be integrated into modules and lectures: e.g. (a) serious games for learning professional and subject-related vocabulary, (b) serious games for assigning relevant facts and concepts, (c) serious games that focus on process flows, (d) competitive serious games to enhance learning, and ( e) puzzle games to learn about models and theories etc.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Vocational Education and Training Higher Education KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education

Duration: 01.09.2020 - 31.12.2022

Further informations can be found here.

Link to the IDEAL-GAME-Serious Game Creator Tool

Using agile, interactive learning environments to promote work-based learning in cVET

The ERASMUS+ project INTERFACE - in Action deals with the development, testing and evaluation of WBT solutions and online solutions such as Digital Breakouts and WebQuests in the field of work-based learning in continuing education.
Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET), especially its work-based forms, are important in the current European economic and social context. Trends towards an ageing society, longer working lives, greater generational diversity and increasing globalised competition require workers at all levels to regularly update and improve their skills through CVET. Work-based learning (WBL) is an effective means of supporting CVET. Workplace-based training has the potential to promote inclusion and social cohesion, combat unemployment and underemployment, and support company and national policies and strategies for innovation, competitiveness and growth. Interactive infographics are a new type of learning environment that is attractive and engaging for learners and can be used in formal and non-formal settings.
In recent years, VET trainers have experimented with new ways of introducing the World Wide Web as a pedagogical resource. These experiences, based on different pedagogical perspectives, have led to teaching methods of which Digital Breakouts and WebQuests are core examples. These methods have found favour because of their flexibility in defining different pedagogical strategies, their adaptability to a wide range of subjects, and the way in which they maximise the use of the digital tools and environments available today. Digital breakouts and WebQuests provide learners with a variety of hands-on WBL experiences. Presenting these elements together in media-rich, highly interactive infographic learning environments is an important addition to the portfolio of resources available to forward-thinking, progressive VET teachers.

The aims of this project are to promote the acquisition of key transversal competences through the use of alternative pedagogical resources in WBL environments and to support the acquisition of key transversal competences through CVET in WBL environments. In addition, educators will be supported to develop their own interactive infographics with challenging learning resources to integrate Digital Breakouts and WebQuests across disciplines.

Coordination: Paderborn University, Lehrstuhl Wirtschaftspädagogik II, (Germany)

Cooperation: Auxilium pro Regionibus Europae in Rebus Culturalibus (Österreich), Latvijas Universitate (Lettland), Acumen Training Sp. z o.o. (Polen), CARDET - Centre for advancement of research and development in educational technology LTD (Zypern), EEO Group SA (Griechenland), Mindshift Talent Advisory lda (Portugal), Spectrum Research Centre - CLG (Irland)

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Duration: 31.12.2021 - 30.12.2023

Funding: ERASMUS+ Berufsbildung KA220 - VET Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training (2021-1-DE02-KA220-VET-000034783)

The ERASMUS+ project Learn STEM - Innovative Model of learning STEM in secondary schools focuses on the design, testing and evaluation of an innovative approach to teaching STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics - in Germany MINT: Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik). The Learn STEM project aims to strengthen the capacity of secondary schools to promote competences in subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics through innovative and interactive pedagogical methods and approaches. The project will provide schools with a pedagogical model and tools to help students connect with 'real life' and provide authentic insights into professional practice, opportunities and challenges. The focus is on STEM applications. Especially in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics, two very interesting areas for schools can be identified.

Contents / results: The project will develop a didactic model and incorporate existing practices in the countries for dealing with STEM. A learning package with 10 learning tools will be developed, implemented and evaluated and a LEARN STEM Teacher Training Programme based on an international interview study will be set up and tested. In addition, an online learning environment was designed and a MOOC for teacher training was developed and evaluated.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme School Education KA220-SCH - Cooperation among organisations and institutions

Duration: 01.09.2022 - 31.08.2024

Further information can be found here.

The project focuses on sustainability and the establishment of NGOs (non-governmental organisations). Focuses on improving relevant and high-level basic and cross-cutting competencies of EU citizens in the context of adult education from a lifelong learning perspective. Empowering new leaders for change engagement. In addition, the project contributes to improving entrepreneurial, digital and foreign language skills and promoting employability. NGEnvironment aims to support NGOs, especially those with an environmental mission, that aim to solve such problems while promoting social cohesion (promoting inclusion, integration, alleviating poverty, combating exclusion and marginalisation).

Content / outcomes: In NGEnvironment,(a) a pedagogical programme targeting NGO mentors hosting new potential NGO leaders in the immersion programme and (b) a programme specifically targeting adults new future NGO leaders and fostering a set of basic skills will be developed. An online platform with an integrated online observatory will provide insights into showcases and best practices. An in Engagement Toolkit is being developed to engage NGOs and also instructive videos are being designed with NGO best practices and their social impact. A survival guide will provide information for start-ups who want to open an NGO in the field of sustainability and an in policy paper will be produced. This will explain why a change in policy approach to support NGOs might be relevant and the policy options available to do so.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Adult Education KA204 - Strategic Partnership for adult education

Duration: 01.09.2018 - 31.08.2021

The ERASMUS+ project Reliable Green Remote work, telework and learning with innovative and accessible educational resources for businesses and labour markets in Europe's Green Economy is concerned with the development, testing and evaluation of solutions for remote work and digital working in European sustainable and green economy contexts and related training provision. The project aims to:

•     the establishment of a labour market hub at the level of each partner country to support the uptake of telework.
•     address a gap in the provision of vocational training to help SME employees improve their skills for a remote working environment
•     Equip VET tutors with skills, competences and attitudes needed for innovative / technology-oriented design Training activities and services for enterprises
•     Enhance the digital, social and cross-functional skills of SME employees to adapt to a telework environment
•     the well-being, motivation and productivity of employees working online
•     Innovative and easily accessible educational resources for innovative work practices.

Contents / Results: In the project, a detailed analysis of the labour market and an identification of home office implementations and options will be carried out. Subsequently, Reliable Green will develop a Continuous Professional Development Curriculum, a guideline on Getting ready to teach and train with technology and an e-learning platform to address the challenges of home office workplaces and sustainable work in these contexts.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Vocational Education and Training KA220 - Cooperation Partnerships for vocational education and training

Duration: 01.02.2022 - 31.01.2024

Further informations can be found here.

Evidence-based teaching plays an increasingly important role in initial teacher education. As current societal debates often lack reference to facts, it is necessary to strengthen the role of evidence in teacher education.

The project RiTE (Research in Teacher Education) aims at enhancing pre-service teachers‘ competences in using evidence to structure and reflect their teaching. A focus of the project is laid on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teachers as evidence plays a dominant role in STEM topics (e.g. climate change, epidemics) as well as in the fundaments of teaching itself (approaches to foster learning). Materials are developed to enhance competences in reflecting evidence in teaching. The implemented materials adapt the so-called evidence-use mechanisms by Breckon & Dodson (2016) which were originally developed for politicians and public stakeholders. The aim of the project is to evaluate whether the mechanisms can also be applied to teacher training.

Five partners from five universities in four countries are involved in the project. Apart from Paderborn University partners are Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (NL), University of Southampton (UK), University of Chester (UK) and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (PL).

The evaluation process embraces two phases: First, an intervention study is conducted in STEM Master Programmes of each partner. Afterwards, selected students of the intervention are accompanied in their first year of in-service teacher education.

Duration: Sept 2019-Dec 2022

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Sabine Fechner

Funding: The project is funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Commission (Agreement number: 2019-1-NL01-KA203-060339).

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the daily work in all schools. In a situation strongly marked by the impact of contact restrictions due to the Corona pandemic, it is clear that schools at all levels, i.e. primary, secondary and upper secondary, are facing the challenge of teaching in online formats. The ERASMUS+ project SAFE addresses this new and innovative way of learning and teaching in the age of digitalisation and COVID-19. It is located in the school education strand of the ERASMUS+ programme. The partnership raises awareness of the need for a didactic approach to e-learning. The SAFE approach focuses on the use of streaming in school education. The project is working on a basic concept for the integration of e-learning into daily classroom work. In this basic concept, teachers use tablets or laptops on which, for example, Blackboard applications such as LiveBoard, Doceri or Explain Everything are streamed, with the information on these devices and the teacher's language also streamed directly to the students. In this way, teachers can use familiar forms of teaching, such as writing on the board or on an overhead projector, as well as giving explanations and explanations and embedding them didactically.

SAFE aims to create a streaming concept, implement it in different schools, write a handbook for teachers and a book 'SAFE Streaming in School Education'. The implementation will also be evaluated. In addition, SAFE will produce a policy paper and a lay report with recommendations for further school education. The book 'SAFE Streaming in School Education' will be written in English and will contain information about the project, the implementation, a checklist for teachers, a guide for teachers, a survey as well as evaluation results and insights into the innovative SAFE concept. Part of SAFE will also be an acceptance study in the partner countries to get a European overview of acceptance, experiences, problems and opportunities in the field of eLearning and streaming in school education. The main target groups are teachers, learners and educators.

Project partners: Paderborn University, Lehrstuhl Wirtschaftspädagogik II (Deutschland), Ingenious Knowledge GmbH (Deutschland), CEIP Tomás Romojaro (Spanien), KURZY ZEBRA s.r.o. (Tschechische Republik)

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Duration: 1.3.2021 - 28.2.2023

Funding: ERASMUS+ Schulbildung KA226 Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness (2020-1-DE03-KA226-SCH-093590)

Further information: here.

Go to the KMK pad with information on projects in the funding round (incl. SAFE): here.

SKILLS4LIFE aims to support Care Leavers to improve their preparation for the transition into adulthood, using and building on their competences. It is about developing and practising the necessary skills, abilities and competences to feel prepared, integrated and accompanied. "Careleaver" (Care Leaver) comes from the English language. According to the wording, it means "care leaver". This term refers to people who have spent parts of their lives in a foster family or, for example, in a youth welfare institution and are now leaving this institution. They are on their way to an independent life with a view to a new future and profession.

Contents / results: Within the framework of SKILLS4LIFE, different learning activities are developed, implemented and evaluated. In order to support care leavers and adult educators, the following will be developed

•     a SKILLS4LIFE serious game or game-based learning tool will be developed and implemented
•     an in-service training programme including a training event is developed and tested, and
•     designed a manual for the development of programmes for the transition to autonomy, all of which are available on a digital platform.

The project will also have a broad impact (in terms of community engagement and outreach) through the publication of a policy paper, the organisation of multiplier events and a final conference.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Adult Education KA220 ADU - Cooperation Partnership for adult education

Duration: 01.11.2022 - 30.10.2024

Further information can be found here.

The STEM in Action - Open Educational Resources for Teachers project develops and evaluates free online and face-to-face STEM courses for teachers. 7 organisations from Turkey, Belgium, Romania, Ireland, Croatia, Greece and Germany are working on this project. All project partners have experience in the didactic approach to STEM (Mathematics, Informatics, Science, Technology). One of the educational objectives of ERASMUS+ is to promote open access to project results to support learning, teaching, training, education and youth work. Our STEM in Action project is committed to this objective. In addition, Erasmus+ supports that a common goal is to ensure that competences, skills and qualifications are more easily recognised and better understood within and beyond national borders. This aspect is also taken seriously by the project.

The project aims to provide tools, methods and approaches to facilitate the acquisition of the required skills in collaborative STEM learning and teaching environments. In addition, teaching resources and curricular materials in STEM will be made available for use by teachers in different types of schools (general and vocational) and teacher training will be provided in the partner countries. The impact on different types of schools and vocational education and on students' career choices will be evaluated.

Coordination: Tarsus Universitesi, Mersin (Türkei)

Project partners: Universität Paderborn, Lehrstuhl Wirtschaftspädagogik II (Deutschland), Pi Private Company (Griechenland), Sveuciliste  U Zagreb - Universität Zagreb (Kroatien), Katholieke Hogeschool Vives Zuid (Belgien), Universitatea din Craiova (Rumänien), Cork Institute of technology (Ireland)

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Duration: 31.12.2020 - 30.12.2023

Funding: ERASMUS+ Hochschulbildung KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education
Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices (2020-1-TR01-KA203-094309)

Further information: here.

The project "Future Teachers Education: Computational Thinking and STEAM" (TeaEdu4CT) aims to develop and evaluate teaching materials based on the concept of "Computational Thinking". The aim is to promote and strengthen the necessary competences associated with the concept in (future) teachers as well as in students. Each project partner will develop a module that will be piloted and evaluated by the other partners. In this way, theoretically sound and field-tested materials will be produced for use in day-care centres and all types of schools, as well as for the training and further education of teachers and educators. The modular structure of the materials allows them to be adapted to different target groups and national curricular requirements.
The Paderborn module and the materials developed focus on the use of learning robots and their programming. Against the background of educational policy guidelines (MKR 2018), learning theory and didactic principles of technology-related subject teaching, students plan lesson-like settings. These are implemented with small groups of students (microteaching). In addition to the acquisition of conceptual and pedagogical competences, the module also aims to promote students' self-efficacy and motivation to implement CT-related approaches in their future professional practice.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Claudia Tenberge, Prof. Dr. Carsten Schulte

Funding: Erasmus+ - KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices - KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for higher education, Project n. 2019-1-LT01-KA203-060767

Duration: 2019 – 2022

Further information: https://www.fsf.vu.lt/en/teaedu4ct/modules

Project partners: Vilnius Universitetas (Litauen, coordinator), Turun Yliopisto (Finnland), Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan (Schweden), Ankara Universitesi (Türkei), Tallinn University (Estland), CESIE (Italien), Technische Universitaet Wien (Österreich), Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (Niederlande), Universität Paderborn (Deutschland), Centre for Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology LTD CARDET (Zypern)

The ERASMUS+ project UglyFruitsNOT! deals with the promotion of sustainability awareness and the conception, implementation and evaluation of training measures for vocational trainers regarding consumption pedagogical issues with a view to reducing fruit and vegetable waste in the context of sustainable production.

Contents / Results: The UglyFruitsNOT! project responds to this challenge by developing an innovative training programme for vocational trainers and VET teachers involved in the training of professionals in the food supply chain in order to

(i) create knowledge and awareness among them about the importance of keeping these products in the economy to stimulate a reduction of food waste,

(ii) highlight the important role that "ugly" fruit and vegetables play in reducing fruit and vegetable waste in the context of sustainable production and consumption; and

(iii) become "ambassadors" for consumers by raising their awareness of the importance of "ugly" fruits and vegetables in reducing waste in the context of sustainable consumption.

Scientific contact: Prof. Dr. Marc Beutner

Funding: ERASMUS+ Programme Vocational Education and Training KA220-VET - Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training

Laufzeit: 31.05.2022-30.05.2024

Further information can be found here.