The University of Potsdam - A portrait
Profile
Lifelong Learning
Focus Area Empirical Educational Studies
Foto: K. Fritze
To constantly absorb new information beyond school or profession is one of the great challenges of the modern knowledge society. The Focus Area Empirical Educational Studies provides the theoretical equipment to meet this challenge.
In order to analyze the processes of learning from elementary school to adult age in greater detail, scholars have maintained close contact with practitioners in education. An innovation alliance has been created between the university and schools in Brandenburg, which makes it possible to conduct research during classes, to question students, and to test new teaching and learning methods for their effectiveness. Only such investigations allow for a better assessment of different models of learning and for understanding and influencing paths of educational development.
These empirical investigations transgress the boundaries of a single discipline, and thus it goes without saying that education specialists, pedagogues, sociologists, and psychologists conduct collaborative research within the focus area. Issues in society become issues in scholarship - for example in investigating why so many teenagers in Brandenburg drop out of school. Or how children of immigrants can learn German better so that they are not excluded from further educational opportunities. Understanding language as a key to all other learning processes has led to cooperation with the Area of Excellence Cognitive Sciences: the first collaborative project is investigating how street speech affects the way that students of Turkish background learn in school.
Building on a long tradition of teacher training in Potsdam, many research projects are directly connected to institutional learning processes. Thus the focus is currently on two clusters: "Life-long Learning" and "School and Classroom." With empirically supported knowledge and verified methods, Potsdam's scholars want to contribute significantly to the national educational discourse. Cooperation with international partners is being expanded further.
"Educational research in Potsdam profits greatly from
its proximity to teacher training. Academia and real life
benefit from one another and thus produce optimal results."
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lauterbach,
Spokesperson for the
Focus Area Empirical Educational Studies
Foto: privat
