How did I become who I am? How does learning work and how can it be improved? Since when and why do schools exist at all? What is the significance of education, upbringing and socialization in our society and in other societies, and how can all this be studied scientifically?
At our institute, researchers in the General Educational Science specialisation are dedicated to the foundations of educational science, to which this selection of questions and problems belongs. They are concerned with clarifying basic concepts and fundamental questions of the discipline as well as with communicating, applying and critically discussing the research perspectives that are typical of thinking in educational science today.
Have you ever satisfied your hunger for knowledge with explanatory videos on the internet? Have you ever participated in a parliamentary visitors’ programme? Have you ever improved your foreign language skills with the help of a learning app or explored a historical memorial with virtual reality glasses?
The list could go on almost indefinitely. The common thread is that these are educational opportunities that exist outside of educational institutions. Depending on their location, design and didactic support, these are referred to as non-formal or informal learning opportunities. Learning contexts with varying degrees of formalization are the focus of the innovative research and teaching specialism ‘Non-formal and Informal Learning Environments at the Institute of Educational Science’.
School - a place where everyone has had their own experiences of teaching and learning and has formed an opinion on questions of good school organization or the school system. During your own school years, you probably noticed that how well you learn can be influenced by the learning conditions and learning strategies. And you may even have reached the point where you no longer knew what you were learning in class. What are the reasons for this? Have you ever noticed that different teachers sometimes teach the same content very differently? What do you think about a system in which, after a few years of elementary school, students are assigned to different types of schools that will determine the course of their life? Why do you think success or failure at school is linked to social background? How can schools in challenging situations be supported and what characterises good teaching in the culture of digitalisation? These are all questions that directly affect school students, teachers, school administrators, and education policymakers. They should not be dealt with on the basis of personal experiences and opinions, but require answers based on empirical research into schools and teaching and learning.
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Last update: Jan 06, 2025
