LISA – Individually Regulating and Applying Learning Strategies

Background of the Research Project

The transition into higher education poses substantial challenges for many students. New learning formats, a high degree of personal responsibility, and digital learning environments require well-developed skills in self-organization and self-regulation. Empirical research shows that self-regulated learning strategies—such as time management, motivation, and metacognitive planning—are key predictors of academic success, study satisfaction, and student persistence. At the same time, many first-year students lack concrete, practice-oriented support to systematically develop these competencies.

Against this backdrop, the project LISA – Individually Regulating and Applying Learning Strategies addresses this gap. It develops a digital teaching and learning environment that supports students in the early phase of their studies in identifying, reflecting on, and actively coping with typical challenges of university learning. Through interactive and authentic learning formats, learning competence is not only conveyed but made experientially accessible.

The central research question of the project is:

How can digital, interactive learning environments be designed to effectively foster students’ self-regulated learning strategies during the transition into higher education, thereby sustainably supporting academic success and study persistence?

Research Objectives

The aim of the LISA project is to systematically promote the conscious and sustainable use of self-regulated learning strategies among students. To this end, interactive learning videos are developed in which students navigate realistic decision-making situations, choose between different courses of action, and experience their consequences immediately. This experience-based learning is complemented by a digital learning logbook that supports individual reflection and facilitates the transfer of learning into students’ everyday academic practice.

In the long term, LISA contributes to reducing dropout rates, strengthening self-directed learning competence, and better preparing students for the demands of an increasingly digitalized and self-organized higher education context.

Funding Period and Cooperation Partners

The planned funding period of the project runs from 1 April 2026 to 28 March 2027.

LISA is based at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Potsdam and is implemented through close cooperation between Business and Economics Education for Teacher Training and the Department of Accounting and Auditing in the Private and Public Sector.