News Archive

Coming up

20/11/2023 Impressions from Turku

Currently, our Double Degree students, Sophia Wäldele, Ellen Heimburger, Veronika Süß and Chantal Bogutz are enjoying their semester abroad at University of Turku. Thanks for sharing some beautiful pictures!

Goodbye

Johanna Reill, Rieke Breffka, Sophia Wäldele and Agnes Müller, thanks a lot for your valuable contributions and being part of our team for the past years. We wish you all the best for your future careers and hope to stay in touch. You are always most welcome to drop by!

Welcome to Regensburg

We warmly welcome Richard Göllner at the University of Regensburg. For the forthcoming year, he will be the acting chair, teaching in the Bachelor and Master Educational Science, and supporting the research team. Have a smooth start and an inspiring time with us!

06/10/2023 EARLI Centre for Excellence in Research (E-CER)

We, Dorothy Duchatelet (Open Universiteit), Andreas Rausch (University of Mannheim) and Helen Jossberger, are grateful and honoured that the review committee has accepted our E-CER application. Starting from the 1st of January 2024, our E-CER group can start its activities. The E-CER initiative is aimed to stimulate excellence in research in an international context. Our group can meet twice a year for a period of four years. We are happy to have Halszka Jarodzka (Open Universiteit), Charlott Sellberg (University of Gothenburg), David Gijbels (University of Antwerp), Piet van den Bossche (University of Antwerp/Maastricht University), Marcella Hoogeboom (University of Twente), and Bas Kollofel (University of Twente) in the team. We look forward to collaborating and sharing our findings.

Partial Retirement

Time flies. Enjoy the partial retirement. We keep in touch!

28/08/2023 JURE and EARL Conference

In August, the 27th JURE 2023 Pre-Conference invited Junior Researchers from around the world to engage in compelling discussions on educational research. Immediately after this vibrant meeting, the 20th Biennial EARLI Conference took place. The conferences were hosted by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Macedonia. This year, the conference theme was "Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times". Barbara Hrabetz, Stefan Hanus, Simon Schmidt, Helen Jossberger and Hans Gruber participated actively and profited from meeting academic colleagues from across the globe in Thessaloniki (Greece). Check out the programme if you want to learn more about the contributions. Thanks a lot for this inspiring and well-organised event!

31/05/2023 New Publication

Happy to announce a new publication by Isabell Stein, Helen Jossberger and Hans Gruber entitled "MAP3D: An explorative approach for automatic mapping of real-world eye-tracking data on a virtual 3D model", which was published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research. If you are interested in reading the open access article please find it here.

Abstract

Mobile eye tracking helps to investigate real-world settings, in which participants can move freely. This enhances the studies’ ecological validity but poses challenges for the analysis. Often, the 3D stimulus is reduced to a 2D image (reference view) and the fixations are manually mapped to this 2D image. This leads to a loss of information about the three-dimensionality of the stimulus. Using several reference images, from different perspectives, poses new problems, in particular concerning the mapping of fixations in the transition areas between two reference views. A newly developed approach (MAP3D) is presented that enables generating a 3D model and automatic mapping of fixations to this virtual 3D model of the stimulus. This avoids problems with the reduction to a 2D reference image and with transitions between images. The x, y and z coordinates of the fixations are available as a point cloud and as .csv output. First exploratory application and evaluation tests are promising: MAP3D offers innovative ways of post-hoc mapping fixation data on 3D stimuli with open-source software and thus provides cost-efficient new avenues for research.

26/04/2023 SimPro Conference in Gothenburg

The third international conference on analysing practices and advancing pedagogies for professional learning (SimPro 2023) was held in Gothenburg on the 26th of April 2023. In his presentation entitled “Examining the transfer from simulation to patient: perspectives from a novel approach to teach airway management”, Stefan Hanus introduced the design of a planned empirical study aiming at investigating the transfer of skills learned in a simulated environment to real-life patients. The SimPro conference was focussed on bringing together research on simulation-based training from several professional domains. Researchers from Sweden, Norway, and Germany participated. The conference was held in a free hybrid format so that educators, researchers, practitioners, and students in simulation-based training could join. More information about the programme and the conference can be found here.

26/04/2023 Workshop at the HNPW

Helen Jossberger was involved in an interactive workshop entitled “Training the Next Generation of Humanitarian Workers Through University Simulation Exercises - An Interactive Workshop” that was organised by Marie Goss and Alicia Schumann (OTH Regensburg) at the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks (HNPW) in Geneva. The HNPW is an annual event where humanitarian networks and partnerships organize meetings to inform about, and further advance related activities, and to collaborate with other networks and partnerships in areas of common concern. The objective of the workshop was to elaborate on the function of university simulation exercises like GLOBE in equipping next-generation humanitarians with important skills as well as competencies and in recruiting them for the humanitarian sector. In her presentation, Helen talked about the potential of simulations for learning followed by an engaging discussion with the audience. Here you can find more information about the programme and the conference.

13/02/2023 New Publication

Klaus D. Stiller, Silke Schworm, and Hans Gruber jointly contributed a chapter entitled “Learning with and from illustrations: Cognitive, motivational, affective, social and metacognitive processes” to a book edited by Dominic E. Delarue and Christoph Wagner (Institute of History of Art at the University of Regensburg). The book is a collection of essays from the “Sehen und Verstehen Alliance of the University of Regensburg”, an interdisciplinary network focusing on visualisations, visual artifacts and visual processes.

Abstract of the chapter: Illustrations are an essential component of all kinds of learning material. Although there is a long empirical tradition of investigating learning with illustrations, the research has been primarily based on cognitive theories. Two influential theories that continue to advance the literature is the Cognitive Load Theory and the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. More recently, research has also focussed on motivational, affective and social processes that are triggered or influenced by illustration design and thus can affect learning processes, but studies in this area are limited. In this paper, we introduce an integrative theory of learning with media that builds on the two cognitive theories, discuss how illustrations affect learning by evoking and supporting cognitive, motivational, affective, social and metacognitive processes, report empirical evidence and present examples of how it can be put into practice.

27/01/2023 New Publication

Anja Taylor, Helen Jossberger and Hans Gruber published an article entitled "Purposeful practice as the key to superior sales performance: An exploratory analysis" in the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. Interested readers can find the article here.

Abstract

Although sales performance is well researched, relatively little is known about what salespeople actively do to improve and achieve superior reproducible performance. We extend existing research by examining purposeful practice, a core concept from expertise research, as a potential contribution to skill development in sales, a heretofore unexplored framework. The exploratory research sets out for a better understanding of purposeful sales practice and potential activities that successful professionals engage in for self-improvement using a sequential two-phase research approach. By comparing different expertise level groups, particular characteristics of expert performance are identified and can be used so less-skilled salespeople become better.

14/11/2022 Special Issue

Interested in simulation-based learning in higher education and professional training? Check out the completed special issue “Assessment and Evaluation of Simulation-Based Learning in Higher Education and Professional Training” in Studies of Educational Evaluation that Dorothy Duchatelet, Helen Jossberger, and Andreas Rausch edited.

You can find the introduction, the nine contributions of various disciplines and professions, and the discussion here.

11/10/2022 Congratulation

The commission (f.l. Prof. Dr. Hans Gruber, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Frick, Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee) with doctoral student Miles Tallon (2nd from right). © Greenlee/University of Regensburg

The first doctoral student of the HSD Hochschule Döpfer, Miles Tallon, has defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Assessment of Visual Literacy – Contributions of Eye Tracking" successfully at the University of Regensburg (see the press release at the UR Homepage).

22/09/2022 New Publication

Helen Jossberger, Jan Breckwoldt und Hans Gruber published an article entitled „Promoting Expertise Through Simulation (PETS): A conceptual framework” in the journal Learning and Instruction. Happy to share the 50 days' free access to the article.

Abstract

Questioning how and why simulations can be suitable for supporting intraindividual learning and expertise development motivated this study. We depart from an empirically well supported cognitive perspective of expertise that focusses on cognitive adaptations through long-term engagement with professional work activities. The strength of simulation learning is seen in its multiple explanatory base, which is used to build the framework PETS (Promoting Expertise Through Simulation). The PETS model specifically addresses how simulations can contribute to intraindividual knowledge restructuring through case processing and learner-tailored guidance of a trainer supporting the thorough engagement in deliberate practice activities to go beyond automatization. Preparation, briefing, repetitive practice opportunities, and debriefing are phases of instructional embedding in simulation learning for which the PETS model identifies important prerequisites to enhance understanding of what works for whom under which conditions and why during expertise development.

23/08/2022 Defense of Linda Puppe's doctoral thesis

On August 23rd, 2022, Linda Puppe defended her doctoral thesis entitled "Professional development in sculpture" successfully. The defense lasted about one hour with a 20-minute presentation of the main findings and 40 minutes of questions by the examination committee. The members of examination committee were Prof. Dr. Sven HIlbert (University of Regensburg), Prof. Dr. Els Boshuizen (Open University of The Netherlands), and Prof. Dr. Hans Gruber (University of Regensburg). The defense took place in a hybrid format and about 20 persons attended live or via Zoom.

The doctoral thesis will be published soon via the library of the University of Regensburg. Then, Linda Puppe is authorized to use the doctoral title officially.

Congratulations, Linda! Well done and all the best wishes for your future career.

22/08/2022 New Publication

Helen Jossberger published a chapter entitled "Eye tracking in professional learning and development: Uncovering Expertise Development Among Residents in Radiology" in the book "Methods for researching professional learning and development: Challenges, applications and empirical illustrations" edited by Michael Goller, Eva Kyndt, Susanna Paloniemi, and Crina Damsa (SpringerLink).

Abstract

Eye tracking is a particularly interesting technology for investigating professional learning and development in vision-intensive professions. At the workplace, professionals are often confronted with complex visual tasks that they must solve quickly. From a psychological and educational point of view, it is interesting to examine professionals’ attentional behaviours during work activities and to understand how they analyse and interpret visual input. Common to vision-intensive professions is the notion that professionals need the ability to perceive the relevant from the irrelevant and correctly interpret it. A radiologist, for instance, needs to make correct medical diagnoses based on complex visual material. Eye tracking enables the measurement of eye movements. By tracking the movements of the eyeball(s), we can learn where a person is looking, the duration of his or her gaze, and the order of the eye movements. Eye-tracking technology does not explain the underlying motives of looking; it only visualises gaze behaviour. The focus of this chapter is the meaning of eye tracking, the purposes of its application and the aspects of eye tracking that warrant attention. To illustrate the challenges and benefits of using eye-tracking technology in workplace learning, an empirical study in the medical domain is presented. A longitudinal quasi-experimental study with three measurement points was designed with the aim of investigating expertise development among eight residents of a radiology department and to identify changes in their way of analysing and diagnosing medical X-ray images during their residency.

22/08/2022 SIG 14 Conference in Paderborn

The 11th Sig 14 conference was held in Paderborn from 17-19 August 2022. After the conference cancellation in 2020 due to the pandemic, it was a special pleasure to be able to exchange ideas again, listen to exciting presentations and attend social events live. It was the conference's 20 years anniversary and as one of the founders of the SIG 14 Learning and Professional Development, Hans Gruber shared valuable insights about the past, present and future of the SIG in his keynote speech. Moreover, he acted as discussant in the symposium "Methods for researching professional learning and development: Challenges, applications, and empirical illustrations". Melanie Troll and Stefan Hanus both presented a poster. You can download them: Poster Troll et al. and Poster Hanus et al. Helen Jossberger presented a study entitled "Expertise differences in translating Latin: An eye-tracking study", in which she joined forces with Alfred Lindl. If you are interested in the full programme have a look here. The organising team did a wonderful job. Thanks a lot! It was a great conference!

28/07/2022 Good Reasons for Writing a Learning Diary

In a short blog entry, Helen Jossberger reports on her experiences in teaching. As a term paper, the students wrote a learning diary. Writing a diary is usually top secret. Can it be used for teaching at all? Or is the idea of a diary even outdated? Together with her students, Helen gave it a try during her advanced course "Nature-nurture debate in expertise research”. If you are interested, you can find the blog in Lehrblick.

25/07/2022 JURE 2022 in Porto

From July 18th – 22nd, 2022 the 26th Conference of the JUnior REsearchers of EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) took place in Porto, Portugal. The theme of the conference was “Unpredictable challenges – Education in an unpredictable world”. During the conference, many junior researchers presented their current research in poster, paper, or roundtable sessions. Three keynotes were held by established researchers and 16 workshops offered the possibility to gain insights into different research methodologies and the PhD career in general. Different social events provided the possibility for the participants to get known to each other in an informal setting. Check out the conference homepage to learn more about JURE 2022.

Simon Schmidt, Stefan Hanus, and Barbara Hrabetz presented their projects in paper sessions. Simon presented his work on “Does music genre matter? Effects of motivation, self-efficacy, and experience on deliberate practice”, Stefan’s presentation focused on “Comparison of verbal and video-assisted debriefing: Perspectives of participants and facilitators” and Barbara’s presentation on “The social dimension of pro-environmental commitment”. Manuel Längler presented his work on “Using MMSNA to explore change in networks of popular musicians” in an invited symposium of the SIG17 entitled “Illustrations of innovative (mixed) methods in educational research”. Hans Gruber and Laura Mesquita (Elsevier) offered a workshop on “Academic Publishing“.

The feedback and discussions during the sessions were very valuable. Thanks for a great conference!

19/07/2022 New Publication

Recently, Rainer Schliermann, Irmgard Schroll-Decker, Rabia Kökten, and Hans Gruber published an article on „Engagement for social justice: Findings on the acquisition of a typical learning aim for students of social work“ (title in German: „Engagement für soziale Gerechtigkeit als Lernergebnis. Eine Untersuchung zur Rolle des Praxissemesters und informeller Lernkontexte bei Studierenden der Sozialen Arbeit“) in the prestigious social education journal neue praxis. Their contribution is a collaboration between the University of Regensburg and the OTH Regensburg and resulted from findings of a master thesis.

Abstract (in German)

Die Fähigkeit und Bereitschaft zur Förderung sozialer Gerechtigkeit ist ein wichtiges Studienziel in Studiengängen Sozialer Arbeit. In einer Studie wurde überprüft, ob das Studium der Sozialen Arbeit und die währenddessen selbstinitiierte Praxis von Studierenden mit höherem Engagement für soziale Gerechtigkeit einhergehen. Theoretische Grundlage war das Entwicklungsmodell Social Justice Interest and Commitment (Miller et al., 2009). Es wurde untersucht, ob sich mit formalen und informellen Lernerfahrungen die sozial-kognitiven bzw. motivationalen Voraussetzungen des Engagements für soziale Gerechtigkeit verbessern, insbesondere auch die Selbstwirksamkeits- und Ergebniserwartungen. Dazu wurden 362 Studierende befragt; einerseits wurden Studierende der Sozialen Arbeit und der Betriebswirtschaft im ersten Studienabschnitt miteinander verglichen, andererseits wurden unter anderem Studierende der Sozialen Arbeit vor und nach dem Praxissemester miteinander verglichen. Im ersten Studienabschnitt wiesen Studierende der Sozialen Arbeit höhere Werte im Engagement für soziale Gerechtigkeit auf als Studierende der Betriebswirtschaft. Demgegenüber unterschieden sich Studierende der Sozialen Arbeit nach dem Praxissemester nicht von jenen vor dem Praxissemester. Vorangegangenes soziales bzw. ehrenamtliches Engagement erwies sich hingegen für die Förderung des Engagements für soziale Gerechtigkeit als bedeutsam. Insgesamt scheinen informelle Lernkontexte in Bezug auf die Entwicklung des Engagements für soziale Gerechtigkeit bedeutsamer zu sein als formale Lernarrangements.

Schliermann, R., Schroll-Decker, I., Kökten, R., & Gruber, H. (2022). Engagement für soziale Gerechtigkeit als Lernergebnis. Eine Untersuchung zur Rolle des Praxissemesters und informeller Lernkontexte bei Studierenden der Sozialen Arbeit. neue praxis. Zeitschrift für Sozialarbeit, Sozialpädagogik und Sozialpolitik, 52(2/2022), 159–181.

01/07/2022 New Publication

Isabell Stein, M.A.	Dr. Helen Jossberger	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Isabell Stein, Helen Jossberger and Hans Gruber published an article on "Investigating visual expertise in sculpture: A methodological approach using eye tracking". The article is published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research and can be viewed here.

Abstract

Research on visual expertise has progressed significantly due to the availability of eye tracking tools. However, attempts to bring together research on expertise and eye tracking methodology provoke several challenges, because visual information processes should be studied in authentic and domain-specific environments. Among the barriers to designing appropriate research are the proper definition of levels of expertise, the tension between internal (experimental control) and external (authentic environments) validity, and the appropriate methodology to study eye movements in a three-dimensional environment. This exploratory study aims to address these challenges and to provide an adequate research setting by investigating visual expertise in sculpting. Eye movements and gaze patterns of 20 participants were investigated while looking at two sculptures in a museum. The participants were assigned to four different groups based on their level of expertise (laypersons, novices, semi-experts, experts). Using mobile eye tracking, the following parameters were measured: number of fixations, duration of fixation, dwell time in relevant areas, and revisits in relevant areas. Moreover, scan paths were analysed using the eyenalysis approach. Conclusions are drawn on both the nature of visual expertise in sculpting and the potential (and limitations) of empirical designs that aim to investigate expertise in authentic environments.

03/06/2022 PhD Meeting

This year, the PhD Meeting took place from 2-3 June 2022 in Windischeschenbach. This event offers doctoral students the opportunity to present their research projects and engage in stimulating discussions. In addition, workshops can be attended and there are various opportunities for informal exchange and networking. From our group, Stefan Hanus, Barbara Hrabetz, Melanie Troll and Helen Jossberger took part. Melanie presented her research ideas in a poster presentation entitled "A longitudinal study on
professional development in visual arts" and Helen gave a workshop about reviewing. We enjoyed the lively exchange.

23/06/2022 International Guest

We are happy to announce that our proposal for an international guest professor was approved. This funding allows us to welcome Dominik Fröhlich, PhD, as guest at the University of Regensburg during the winter term 2022/23. Dominik Fröhlich is senior lecturer at the Centre for Teacher Education and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Education at the University of Vienna. His research mainly focusses on the application of mixed-method social network analysis in educational and workplace settings. He is the founder of the Networking Coffee Club (an online platform for co-working). Moreover, he has won four teaching awards for his innovative ways of teaching. During his stay in Regensburg, he will provide a course about social network analysis. The title of the course is “Soziale Netzwerkanalyse in der Bildungswissenschaft“. Students of Educational Science (BA and MA) can subscribe. Do not miss this unique opportunity! We look forward to collaborating.

19/05/2022 Approval of Dissertation Project

Melanie Troll is accepted as PhD candidate by the Faculty of Human Sciences. The overall aim of her dissertation project is to investigate the course of professional development in visual arts based on two components: autonomy in the decision-making process and public credibility. Two empirical studies will be conducted. Study 1 is a quantitative cross-sectional survey to investigate how attribution of meaning and critical events regarding autonomy and public credibility differ between artists with different levels of expertise. In Study 2, a two-year longitudinal mixed-method design will be used to identify perceived processes of change in autonomy in decision-making and public credibility among beginning artists during their professional development.

Congratulation and all the best for the research project!

09/05/2022 New Publication

Prof. Dr. Christian Harteis	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Christian Harteis and Hans Gruber published a contribution (in German – Bildungspsychologie des mittleren Erwachsenenalters) for the textbook Bildungspsychologie:

Harteis, C., & Gruber, H. (2022). Bildungspsychologie des mittleren Erwachsenenalters. In C. Spiel, T. Götz, P. Wagner, M. Lüftenegger, & B. Schober (Hrsg.), Bildungspsychologie (2., vollst. akt. Neuaufl., S. 181-207). Hogrefe.

The contribution analyses contexts and circumstances of adults‘ learning in the middle age, a phase of biography during which vocational and private consolidation occurs. This age group is main target group for pedagogical offers in adult education. The article describes the field of adult education as market-driven and heterogeneous before developing practical implications for pedagogical offers for adults on individual, institutional, and societal level.

22/04/2022 New Publication

Linda Puppe, M.A.	Dr. Helen Jossberger	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Linda Puppe, Helen Jossberger and Hans Gruber published an article on "Learning environments and the role of feedback in sculpting lessons". The article is published in Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education and can be viewed here.

Abstract

At universities and academies, teaching and learning occur in a range of environments as art students continue to develop their skills. The aims of the study were to determine how art students evaluate the role of their learning environments in achieving their learning goals, and what kind of feedback they consider important for their artistic development. Therefore, ten university students were interviewed. They were advanced art students who had successfully completed different courses in sculpting. The findings indicate that during studio learning the students addressed technical or formal problems related to their artworks, as well as how to implement their artistic intentions, with the help of feedback from lecturers and fellow students. All participants referred to experimentation and trying out different materials, forms or motifs as central to their artistic development and said that exhibiting their own artworks in public as part of university projects motivated them to continue.

12/04/2022 New Publication

Prof. Dr. Joachim Brügge	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Together with Joachim Brügge, Professor of Musicology at the University Mozarteum, Salzburg (Austria), Hans Gruber edited a book in which the outcomes of an interdisciplinary conference are collected. Contributions from the Arts (Musicology, Art History, Literature Studies, etc.) and from different Sciences (Psychology, Educational Science, Computer Science, etc.) outline how the game of chess served as a subject in different fields and thus linked them together. In one chapter, Hans Gruber analysed the role of chess in the development of cognitive science and research on expertise.

Reference (original text is published in German language)

Brügge, J., & Gruber, H. (Eds.). (2022). Schach als Sujet in den Künsten und der Wissenschaft. Rombach Verlag (Reihe klang-reden, Schriften zur Musikalischen Rezeptions- und Interpretationsgeschichte, Vol. 27).

11/04/2022 New Publication

Simon Schmidt, M.A.	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Simon Schmidt and Hans Gruber published an article on "Does genre make a difference? Classical orchestra/popular band musicians' motivation, self-efficacy, and practice experiences' effects on deliberater practice". The article is published in Psychology of Music and can be viewed here.

Abstract

This study investigates the motivational conditions, self-efficacy beliefs, and practice of classical (symphonic, wind) orchestra/popular (rock, pop) band musicians. It thus complements previous research which has shed light on individual aspects of music learning. In both individual and collective work, high quality practice performed in a sufficient amount of time was shown to be very effortful. A mixed-method approach combined a questionnaire and an additional prototypical case interview for each genre with professional musicians. The results show that classical musicians were younger than popular musicians when they started to learn their first and main music instrument and entered their first orchestra or band. While it was confirmed that individual experience was crucial for the time invested in and the quality of deliberate practice, collective practice experiences were also indicated to be a determinant. Furthermore, individual and collective practice were shown to be interrelated. Professional level was suggested to be a more discriminating factor with regard to the variables studied than genre, as professional musicians from both genres deploy deliberate practice strategies in an individual and in a collective context. Improvisation and jamming, however, only appeared in the popular collective and classical individual practice context.

01/04/2022 Goodbye and Welcome Back

Patricia Reger, M.A.	Rieke Breffka

We thank Patricia Reger for her good support as double degree coordinator during the last years and wish her all the best for her professional career. After a semester abroad, we welcome back Rieke Breffka. Together with Sophia Wäldele, she will manage the Finnish-German Master Programme in Educational Science.

23/06/2022 International Guest

We are happy to announce that our proposal for an international guest professor was approved. This funding allows us to welcome Dominik Fröhlich, PhD, as guest at the University of Regensburg during the winter term 2022/23. Dominik Fröhlich is senior lecturer at the Centre for Teacher Education and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Education at the University of Vienna. His research mainly focusses on the application of mixed-method social network analysis in educational and workplace settings. He is the founder of the Networking Coffee Club (an online platform for co-working). Moreover, he has won four teaching awards for his innovative ways of teaching. During his stay in Regensburg, he will provide a course about social network analysis. The title of the course is “Soziale Netzwerkanalyse in der Bildungswissenschaft“. Students of Educational Science (BA and MA) can subscribe. Do not miss this unique opportunity! We look forward to collaborating.

10/03/2022 Congratulations Dr. Manuel Längler!

On February 16th, 2022, Manuel Längler defended his doctoral thesis titled “Social networks in music” successfully. The defense lasted about one hour with 20 minutes presentation of the main findings and 40 minutes of questions by the examination committee. The members of examination committee were Prof. Dr. Sven Hilbert (University of Regensburg), Prof. Dr. Andreas Lehmann (University of Music Würzburg), and Prof. Dr. Hans Gruber. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the defense took place online and about 35 persons watched it live via Zoom.

The doctoral thesis was published on March 9th, 2022, via the library of the University of Regensburg and can be viewed here. Since then, Manuel Längler is authorized to use the doctoral title officially.

What a milestone, well done!

09/02/2022 Doctoral Defence Ahead

Save the date: February 16 at 3 pm. We are looking forward to an exciting topic and a nice discussion about soical networks in music. If you like to join, please find more information here.

01/02/2022 New Student Assistant

We welcome our new student assistant and wish her a good start in our team. Happy to have you on board!

31/01/2022 Goodbye

Thank you for actively supporting the team over the past years. We wish you all the best for your professional career.

10/01/2022 New Publication

Stefan A. Hanus, Helen Jossberger, and Hans Gruber published an article on “Evaluation of mountain rescuers’ (non-)technical skills during simulated resuscitation”. The article was published in Studies in Educational Evaluation and can be viewed here.

Abstract
Mountain rescuers work voluntarily but must provide high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitations (CPR). As demands for their services rise, the factors influencing CPR skills are investigated. Research has shown that technical skills (TS), non-technical skills (NTS), experience, experienced patient deaths, and monitoring impact resuscitation performance. This study explores the influence of these factors for this kind of voluntary medical personnel. A total of 103 mountain rescuers participated. A specially created NTS observation form, questionnaires and simulation manikin were used to measure NTS, TS, experience, and monitoring skills. Results indicate that NTS and TS did not correlate significantly. Only the number of real resuscitations differed significantly between the TS of experienced and inexperienced mountain rescuers. Experienced patient deaths were not significantly related to CPR performance. Furthermore, mountain rescuers could not fully correctly assess their colleagues during simulation. The study shows that previous research results might not hold true in a different medical domain.

28/11/2021 International Visit

We warmly welcome Prof. Els Boshuizen in Regensburg. She will stay for two weeks and will participate in different BA and MA courses of Educational Science. On Monday, she will give a lecture on "Expertise (& Career) Development: Learning - Workplace - Society". Great to have her here.

22/11/2021 New Publication

Helen Jossberger, Michael K. E. Scheumann, Hans Gruber, Berhard M. Graf and York A. Zausig published an article on “The effects of negatie knowledge video training on medical students' non-technical skills in cardiopulmonary resuscitation”. The article was published in Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung and can be viewed here.

Abstract
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a complex medical task that requires technical skills (TS) as well as non-technical skills (NTS). In medical education, CPR training focuses on teaching TS, although research has indicated that poor NTS are often the reason for medical errors. The aim of the present study was thus to investigate the effects of training on medical students' NTS performance. 80 medical students par­ticipated in an experimental design. The control group took part in traditional CPR training that focuses on TS. The experimental group participated in CPR training that addressed NTS and emphasised learning from errors. The results revealed significantly higher ratings in all NTS for the experimental group, indicating that NTS can be trained effectively. Using videos as instructional means to pinpoint errors in NTS increases students' CPR performance and they appear to learn from errors. A time-efficient intervention in medical education is enough to make a difference.

01/10/2021 New Double Degree Coordinator

Sophia Wäldele

We welcome our new double degree coordinator. Together with Patricia Reger, she will manage the Finnish-German Master Programme in Educational Science. We wish her a good start at the chair.

01/06/2021 New Publication

Linda Puppe, Helen Jossberger, and Hans Gruber published an article on “Creation processes of professional artists and art students in sculpting”. The aim of the study was to examine how professional artists and students in sculpting differ in their perception and in their creation processes as well as how perception and creation processes are related to each other. The article was published in Empirical Studies of the Arts and can be viewed here.

Abstract
In some creative domains, it is easy to make performance visible. For example, musician can be observed while they perform. In other domains, such as sculpting, less is known about the creation process. The objective of the present study was to analyze how professional artists and students in sculpting differ in their perception and in their creation processes as well as how perception and creation processes are related to each other. Ten experts, 10 intermediates, and 10 novices participated. First, participants’ eye movements while looking at a stimulus were recorded with a remote eye-tracker. Second, they explained which elements of the stimulus were of particular interest for creating a sculpture. Third, they had to create their own sculpture. Finally, questions were asked about their creation processes. The results showed differences between the three groups regarding the start-up period, use of the stimulus, working process, reflection of problems, and final sculptures.

29/04/2021 Informationsabend CampusAsyl am 05. Mai

CampusAsyl (e. V.) ist ein gemeinnütziger Verein, der vorhandene Ressourcen der Universität/OTH Regensburg für die Arbeit mit Geflüchteten mobilisiert und nutzt. Unterstützt wird der Verein von Studierenden, Lehrenden sowie Bürgerinnen und Bürger. Zudem fördert CampusAsyl Forschung in den Bereichen Migration, Asyl und Integration.

Wer sich für die Arbeit von CampusAsyl interessiert oder den Verein unterstützen möchte, kann am Informationsabend (05.05.2021 um 19:00 Uhr) per Zoom teilnehmen. Der Link und eine Vorstellung des Vereins sind hier zu entnehmen: Kurzpräsentation

21/04/2021 New Publication “Mythos Reflexion”

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Reflections on reflection

Hans Gruber contributed to a Special Issue of the journal für lehrerInnenbildung on the topic “Mythos Reflexion” (no. 1/2021). In his conceptual paper, he outlined the crucial role of reflection for successful development of expertise. The theoretical perspectives by von Wright (reflections on reflection), Collins (cognitive apprenticeship), Ericsson (deliberate practice) and Boshuizen (knowledge restructuring) were reviewed, and it was argued that reflection that is based on the conclusion from those perspectives could be most attractive for teacher training.

The Special Issue is available open access:
https://jlb-journallehrerinnenbildung.net/heft-01-2021-mythos-reflexion/

Reference
Gruber, H. (2021). Reflexion. Der Königsweg zur Expertise-Entwicklung. journal für lehrerInnenbildung, 21(1), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.35468/jlb-01-2021-10

19/04/2021 New Publication

Manuel Längler, M.A.	Dr. Jasperina Brouwer	Dr. Anneke Timmermans	Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Recently, Manuel Längler published an article on “Exploring change in networks supporting the deliberate practice of popular musicians” in collaboration with Jasperina Brouwer, Anneke Timmermans and Hans Gruber. The article was published open access in Psychology of Music and can be found here.

Abstract:
Popular musicians are embedded in dynamic networks supporting their expertise development across different phases. During these phases, network actors support different aspects of deliberate practice in which a musician needs to engage to become an expert. Research in the domain of music is scarce in terms of investigating the change in the supportive networks of deliberate practice over time. Semi- structured interviews with five expert and five intermediate popular musicians were used to explore changes in networks supporting the deliberate practice during their childhood, apprenticeship, and career phases. Egocentric network analysis revealed that networks supporting the deliberate practice of expert musicians are more dynamic and less stable when considering the different phases than the networks of intermediates. In addition, experts are supported by a larger number of network actors during the developmental phases. In both groups, the number of network actors decreased as the musicians progressed through the phases. This decrease was more precipitous between the childhood and apprenticeship phases. Overall, expertise development as a popular musician depends not only on deliberate practice but also on the diversity and change in an adaptive support network from childhood to adulthood.

25/02/2021 GRG members participated at the JURE Career Day 2021

On February 23rd, Agnes Cichy, Vanessa Gratton, Stefan Hanus, Barbara Hrabetz, Manuel Längler, Simon Schmidt, and Melanie Troll participated at the first JURE Career Day (online). All participants had the opportunity to take part in workshops by Thomas Martens on “Academic Publishing”, Catherine MacHale Gunnarsson on “Academic Writing”, Debra Myhill on “Academic Writing for Publication”, and Lynn McAlpine on “Career Trajectories”. Beyond that, it was possible to have lunch with professors and to get more detailed information about the JURE Mentoring Grant. All GRG members learned a lot and enjoyed the day.

23/02/2021 New Publication

Simon Schmidt, M.A.     Manuel Längler, M.A.           Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Recently, Simon Schmidt published an article on “Acquiring the art of conducting: Deliberate practice as part of professional learning” in collaboration with Manuel Längler, Amelie Altenbuchner, Louisa Kobl, and Hans Gruber. The article was published in the Journal of Advanced Academics and can be viewed here.

Abstract
Research was and still is involved in the controversial issue about innate talent or extensive practice as the determinants of excellent performance in a range of domains. This study aims to contribute by presenting an analysis of practice activities in a domain that appears to be particularly suitable—orchestral conducting. Most conductors usually attain expertise in instrument playing prior to commencing conducting studies. Twenty-seven students of German study programs of orchestral conducting (approximately 18.7% of the population) responded to a questionnaire about their practice activities in conducting programs and their instrumental experiences. Descriptive results show the wealth of prestudy experiences conducting students have. A clear influence on practice activities cannot be stated. During study, students rated conducting-specific practice activities as more demanding and devoted more time to them than to general music practice activities. Therefore, conducting-specific practice activities might have been practiced more deliberately than general music practice activities.

18/02/2021 Obituary for Fritz Oser

Fritz Oser (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) was an internationally leading educational scientist with many fields of expertise. He may be best known for his research and his practical pedagogical impact on issues of moral and religious learning, decision-making and learning from errors. He was a regular visitor to the University of Regensburg and was teaching together with Helmut Heid, Elena Stamouli and Hans Gruber. He passed away on September 5th, 2020. An obituary was published in the most recent issue of Unterrichtswissenschaft (open access link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42010-021-00098-8 ).

Reference
Gräsel, C., Neumann, K., Gruber, H., Rothgangel, M., & Prenzel, M. (2021). Der Einfluss von Fritz Oser auf vier Themen der Unterrichts- und Schulforschung: eine dankbare Rückschau und ein Blick in die Zukunft. Unterrichtswissenschaft. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-021-00098-8 (Online first publication, February 16th, 2021).

12/01/2021 New Publication

Recently, Christian Harteis, Stephen Billett and Hans Gruber published a book chapter on “Conversion of knowledge into skills” (title in German: “Umwandlung von Wissen in Können”). The book “Implicit knowledge. Approaching vocational education and business education” (title in German: „Implizites Wissen. Berufs- und wirtschaftspädagogische Annäherungen“) was edited by Rico Hermkes, Georg H. Neuweg and Tim Bonowski. The book brings together various perspectives on implicit knowledge in vocational education and business education, focusing on how implicit knowledge can be taught and guided.

Harteis, C., Billett, S., & Gruber, H. (2020). Expertiseentwicklung: Umwandlung von Wissen in Können. In R. Hermkes, G. H. Neuweg, & T. Bonowski (Eds.), Implizites Wissen. Berufs- und wirtschaftspädagogische Annäherungen (pp. 155–174). Bielefeld: wbv.

Abstract
An important concern for research on vocational education and professional learning is to investigate occupational mastery and the contributions of knowledge and experience to it. Understanding these contributions and, particular, authentic work experiences assists drawing conclusions about how best to support individuals in their professional development. It is a core characteristic of scholastic and academic traditions to strive for precise, codified and comprehensive declarations of such a phenomenon. This contribution explores insights from research on expertise to understand the role of different qualities of knowledge for the development of occupational expertise. The main argument is that the crucial contributions to mastery and expertise cannot be completely verbalized, but remain implicit and, thus, idiosyncratic. Hence, supporting professional learning requires the provision of supportive social and material conditions at workplaces.

12/01/2021 New Publication (in German)

Recently, Rainer Schliermann, Irmgard Schroll-Decker, Julia Schuder and Hans Gruber published an article on „Intercultural sensibility: Findings on the acquisition of a typical learning aim for students of social work“ (title in German: „Interkulturelle Sensibilität: Erkenntnisse zum Erwerb eines typischen Lernziels für Studierende des Studiengangs Soziale Arbeit“) in the prestigious social education journal neue praxis. Their contribution is a collaboration between the University of Regensburg and the OTH Regensburg and resulted from findings of a master thesis. In their article the authors attempted to examine which effects study- and practice-related intercultural encounters have on the acquisition of intercultural sensibility of students of social work. The investigated framework included personal, vocational, and work related intercultural experiences assuming that these experiences support the acquisition of intercultural sensibility. It could be shown that students of social work have a higher intercultural sensibility from the beginning of the study program onwards, compared to student of e.g. economics. However, this sensibility did barely change through absolving an internship semester, which might lead to a reconsideration of its contribution.

Deutsch: Eine neue Publikation, die aus einer Kolloboration der Universität Regensburg und der OTH Regensburg entstand und in einer Masterarbeit vorbereitet wurde, wurde in der in der Sozialpädagogik in Deutschland prestigeträchtigen Zeitschrift neue praxis publiziert. Rainer Schliermann, Irmgard Schroll-Decker, Julia Schuder und Hans Gruber unternahmen mit ihrer empirisch-quantitativen Studie den Versuch herauszufinden, welche Auswirkungen studien- und praxisbezogene Interkulturalitäts- Begegnungen auf den Erwerb Interkultureller Sensibilität der Studierenden der Studiengänge Soziale Arbeit haben. Die untersuchten Rahmenbedingungen wurden in personen-, ausbildungs- und berufsbezogene interkulturelle Erfahrungsbildung eingeteilt, wobei unterstellt wurde, dass diese Erfahrungsbildung den Erwerb Interkultureller Sensibilität fördert. Es zeigte sich, dass Studierende der Sozialpädagogik schon zu Studienbeginn höher interkulturelle Sensibilität aufwiesen als Studierende etwa der Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Jedoch änderte sich die Sensibilität kaum durch das Absolvieren eines einschlägigen Praxissemesters, so dass dessen Beitrag zu überdenken ist.

Schliermann, R., Schroll-Decker, I., Schuder, J., & Gruber, H. (2020). Interkulturelle Sensibilität: Erkenntnisse zum Erwerb eines typischen Lernziels für Studierende des Studiengangs Soziale Arbeit. neue praxis, 50(5/2020), 440–480.

30/11/2020 Andreas Gegenfurtner Completes Habilitation

In the middle: PD Dr. Andreas Gegenfurtner

As an external candidate and member of the GRG, Dr. Andreas Gegenfurtner recently completed his habilitation in Educational Science at the University of Regensburg (“Lehrbefähigung mit der Venia Legendi für Erziehungswissenschaft”). The mentoring group was composed of Hans Gruber (chair), Erno Lehtinen (University of Turku, Finland) and Christian Wolff (Media Informatics, University of Regensburg). The cumulative habilitation thesis “Professional Vision and Visual Expertise” comprises a total of 16 publications. Together they build the conceptual and empirical base for Andreas Gegenfurtner’s theoretical contribution, the “Cognitive Theory of Visual Expertise”. The studies use different methods (eye tracking, verbal reports, neurophysiological activities, visual practices) to investigate visual expertise in different domains (medicine, teaching).

Andreas Gegenfurtner graduated from the University of Regensburg, completing his diploma thesis 2008 in the (then not yet so-called) GRG. As a post-graduate, he worked at the University of Turku (Finland) where he completed his dissertation in 2011. As a post-doc, he was assistant professor at the Technische Universität München and the University of Maastricht (The Netherlands), then he worked at the Technische Hochschule Deggendorf. At the University of Passau, he acted as a substitute for a full professor, before he recently got tenured at the University of Regensburg (Department of Special Education).

Congratulations to PD Dr. Andreas Gegenfurtner and all the best for the career as a researcher – the GRG will be keen to report when he gets a permanent professorship.

27/10/2020 Webinar Approaches to Skill Learning and Expert Development

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber

Hans Gruber presented a paper Expertise and expert performance in a Webinar “Näkökulmia taidon oppimissen ja asiantuntijuuden kehittymiseen” (Approaches to skill learning and expert development), organised by the Sibelius Academy and Aalto University, Helsinki (Finland). The Webinar was hosted by Atso Almila, Professor emeritus of Conducting at Sibelius Academy. In the presentation, recent approaches to expertise research and results from GRG studies in conducting, popular music and sculpting were presented.

12/10/2020  Approval of Dissertation Project

Agnes Cichy, M.A.

The dissertation project of Agnes Cichy was accepted by the Faculty of Human Sciences.

Agnes Cichy investigates expertise development in science. Her project addresses the interplay of individual characteristics and the collaborative relations in research groups and its effects both on the research performance and the professional development. The results should provide a deeper insight into the interplay of variables that influence research performance and the development of scientific expertise in general.

We congratulate her and wish her all the best for the research project!

17/08/2020 New Publication

Recently, Manuel Längler published an article on “Quality of network support for the deliberate practice of popular musicians” in collaboration with Markus Nivala, Jasperina Brouwer, and Hans Gruber. The article was published in Musicae Scientiae and can be found here.

Abstract
To become an expert in music, an individual goes through different phases of deliberately practising domain-specific activities with the support of actors within his or her network. These network actors are often referred to in the research literature as “persons in the shadow,” because they are for the most part unnoticeable to an audience. Systematic research on popular music does not touch upon who these persons in the shadow are and how they support deliberate practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine which network actors have supported popular musicians to deliberately practice their craft during childhood, the period of apprenticeship, and throughout their careers, along with the type of support that was provided. A mixed-method egocentric network analysis, combined with quantitative and qualitative analyses of data from interviews with five experts and five intermediate-level popular musicians, has shown that band members and instrumental teachers were perceived as being most supportive of musicians’ deliberate practice during childhood and period of apprenticeship. However, during the musicians’ careers, band members were perceived as being most supportive. Experts differed from intermediate-level musicians as follows: (a) experts had contact with a larger pool of band members and instrumental teachers during their careers; (b) their networks, especially of band members in different formations and instrumental teachers, changed constantly and frequently throughout their careers; (c) they were regularly confronted with unfamiliar musical content, which expanded their musical knowledge. In this article we suggest that future research should investigate how change in networks influences deliberate practice and the acquisition of expertise.

21/07/2020 New Publication

Recently, Natalia Chitalkina, Marjaana Puurtinen, Hans Gruber and Roman Bednarik published an article on “Handling of incongruences in music notation during singing or playing” in the International Journal of Music Education. The article can be viewed here.

Abstract
During music reading, performers create expectations of the upcoming music. When these expectations are violated due to changes in the notation, performers have to adjust their reading and adapt their motor responses to match this new information. In this study, we examine how selected background, outcome, and process measures reflect the successful handling of incongruences during music reading. Twenty-four performers were tasked with singing or playing versions of “Mary had a little lamb” in two different tonalities. Some versions contained a surprising element: a bar shifted down a tone. Selected outcome and process measures, such as performance accuracy and eye-movements during music reading (eye-time span, duration of first-pass fixations and pupil dilation), were analyzed. In sum, incongruence in music notation not only increased the number of performance mistakes, but incongruent melodies also led to micro-level changes in the reading processes. We propose that understanding the cognitive strategies for successful music reading requires going beyond the more traditional outcome measures and focus on the detailed analyses of the reading process itself.

20/07/2020 New Publication

Recently, Linda Puppe, Helen Jossberger, and Hans Gruber published an article on “Creation processes of professional artists and art students in sculpting”. The aim of the study was to examine how professional artists and students in sculpting differ in their perception and in their creation processes as well as how perception and creation processes are related to each other. The article was published in Empirical Studies of the Arts and can be viewed here.

Abstract

In some creative domains, it is easy to make performance visible. For example, musician can be observed while they perform. In other domains, such as sculpting, less is known about the creation process. The objective of the present study was to analyze how professional artists and students in sculpting differ in their perception and in their creation processes as well as how perception and creation processes are related to each other. Ten experts, 10 intermediates, and 10 novices participated. First, participants’ eye movements while looking at a stimulus were recorded with a remote eye-tracker. Second, they explained which elements of the stimulus were of particular interest for creating a sculpture. Third, they had to create their own sculpture. Finally, questions were asked about their creation processes. The results showed differences between the three groups regarding the start-up period, use of the stimulus, working process, reflection of problems, and final sculptures.

06/07/2020 New Publication

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans Gruber

Recently, Hans Gruber published an article on “Whom to believe? (And why?)” in the International Journal of Educational Research. The article focuses on the role of “others” and “change”. It can be found here.

Abstract:
The Special Issue aims to explore how research on learning and instruction could be innovated by a more systematic interaction between the areas of conceptual change and professional learning. In this commentary it is claimed that both views have their specific strengths and blind spots but can mutually profit from each other. The meeting points – and contentious points – can be allocated to the ascribed roles of others and of changes. The analysis of complex transitions could be a field of investigation in which research on conceptual change and on professional learning fertilise each other mutually. It is analysed in-how-far the contributions to this Special Issue address such cross-fertilisation.

19/06/2020 EMIP Workshop

The EMIP (Eye Movements in Programming) workshop took place from June 1-5 2020. This workshop was focused on the recording and analysis of eye movements in software development by using eye tracking. Normally the workshop should have taken place as part of the ETRA (Eye Movements Research and Application) conference in Stuttgart this year, but due to the current COVID-19 situation it had to be held virtually via Discord.

Our chair was represented by two contributions of our external PhD students Natalia Chitalkina and Florian Hauser:

Natalia Chitalkina from the University of Turku presented a short paper "When you ignore what you see: How to study proof-readers’ error in pseudocode reading". In her talk, Natalia reported how overlooking of bugs in a familiar (pseudo)code namely proof-readers' error is reflected in eye movement parameters of an experienced programmer. The paper was published in the ACM digital library and can be found here

Florian Hauser (M.A.) from the OTH Regensburg also presented a short paper with the title “Code reviews in C++: Preliminary results from an eye tracking study”. This study examines experience-related differences in eye movements between experts and novices while they perform reviews of short code examples in C++ programming language. Furthermore, this study is the first publication which used the new eye tracking classroom jointly operated by the OTH and the University of Regensburg.
The paper is also published in the ACM digital library and can be found here

02/06/2020 New Publication

Recently, Andreas Gegenfurtner published an article on “Teacher expertise and professional vision: Examining knowledge-based reasoning of pre-service teachers, in-service teachers and school principals” in collaboration with Doris Lewalter, Erno Lehtinen, Maria Schmidt, and Hans Gruber. The article can be found here.

Abstract:
Classroom professional vision is a teaching skill that refers to the ability of teachers to rapidly notice information in class and engage in knowledge-based reasoning about the noticed information. Knowledge-based reasoning includes three interrelated processes: description, explanation, and prediction. The present study aimed to examine how pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and school principals differed in these three reasoning processes after viewing classroom photographs with varying presentation time and interactional complexity. A 3 × 2 × 4 factorial design was used. Teacher expertise (pre-service teachers vs. in-service teachers vs. school principals) was a between-group factor, presentation time (1 vs. 3 s) and complexity (teacher vs. dyad vs. small group vs. whole class) were within-group factors. Analysis of verbal reports suggested that in-service teachers and school principals used significantly more episodic knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge in their reasoning than pre-service teachers did. Explanations with mathematical content knowledge were more frequent for in-service teachers, for shorter rather than longer presentation times, and for photographs showing the teacher only. Explanations with pedagogical content knowledge were more frequent for in-service teachers, for shorter rather than longer presentation times, and for photographs showing a small group. Across time and complexity, school principals verbalized less frequently what they noticed. In-service teachers and school principals verbalized significantly more self-monitoring and more predictions of teacher actions than pre-service teachers. The study findings contribute to the growing body of evidence on classroom professional vision, teacher noticing, and visual teacher expertise, and provide initial evidence on expert teachers' frequent metacognitive self-monitoring.

01/06/2020 New Double Degree Coordinator

Rieke Breffka

We welcome our new double degree coordinator. She will manage together with Patricia Reger the Finnish-German Master Programme in Education. We wish her a good start at our chair.

22/05/2020 UR Fellows

Alfred Lindl

Helen Jossberger

Sven Hilbert

Halszka Jarodzka

With great pleasure, we announce that the Universität Regensburg granted the research proposal written by Alfred Lindl, Helen Jossberger and Sven Hilbert on the topic “Perception and strategy use in the translation-oriented reading of old languages”. Our international partner is Halszka Jarodzka from the Open Universiteit in the Netherlands. The UR Fellows programme financially supports interdisciplinary research cooperation and networking within the university. Moreover, the fellows receive a teaching reduction during the granted term. We look forward to an exciting project, in which we will use eye-tracking technology.

20/05/2020 New Publication

Recently, Helen Jossberger, Tanja Franzen, and Hans Gruber published an article on the topic “Studying while in Employment: Motives, Problems, and Support” in Zeitschrift für Berufspädagogik.

Abstract
The opening of the university admission for professionally qualified persons should improve the permeability and connectivity between vocational and academic training. The aim of the present qualitative interview study was to investigate the motives to enrol in a study programme while in employment and to gain insight into the problems that may arise. Twelve professionally qualified students were interviewed. The most important motives to enrol in the study programme were the prospect of vocational promotion and the wish to qualify further. Difficulties due to insufficient study conditions made the combination of job and study more difficult for students. The present qualitative interview study identified instructional design aspects that might be considered by universities of applied sciences to facilitate studying alongside the job. The connection between working and learning contexts requires the coordination and integration efforts of various stakeholders.

Kurzfassung
Die Öffnung des Hochschulzugangs für beruflich Qualifizierte soll die Durchlässigkeit
und Konnektivität von beruflicher und akademischer Bildung verbessern. Ziel der vorliegenden qualitativen Interviewstudie war es, Erkenntnisse über die Beweggründe für ein berufsbegleitendes Studium zu gewinnen und auftretende Probleme zu beleuchten. Zwölf beruflich qualifizierte Studierende wurden interviewt. Die wichtigsten Gründe für die Aufnahme des Studiums waren die Aussicht auf einen beruflichen Aufstieg und der Wunsch, sich fachlich weiter zu qualifizieren. Durch unzureichende Studienbedingungen wurde die Kombinierbarkeit von Beruf und Studium erschwert. Die qualitative Interviewstudie zeigt auf, was bei der Gestaltung von Lernarrangements in der Hochschule berücksichtigt werden kann, um ein berufsbegleitendes Studium zu erleichtern. Durch die Verknüpfung von Arbeits- und Lernkontext sind Koordinations- und Integrationsbemühungen verschiedener Akteure erforderlich.

Reference
Jossberger, H., Franzen, T., & Gruber, H. (2020). Berufsbegleitend studieren ohne Abitur. Beweggründe, Probleme und Unterstützungswünsche. Zeitschrift für Berufspädagogik, Beiheft Konnektivität und lernortintegrierte Kompetenzentwicklung in der beruflichen Bildung, Beiheft 29, 139–162.

20/05/2020 New Student Assistant

Florian Niebauer

We welcome our new student assistant Florian Niebauer. He will support Katrin Lessel-Schuler in the secretary office and the staff members. We wish him a good start at our chair.

15/05/2020 PDRnet in Antwerp

From the 2nd to the 4th of March 2020, the 9th PDRnet took place in Antwerp, Belgium. Helen Jossberger represented the GRG. Almost 40 participants from Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Finland attended the meeting. In total, 13 presentations about research in the domain of learning and professional development in different fields were provided and lively discussed. The meeting was organised with support from the FWO network on learning strategies in informal and social learning context. An overview of the programme can be found on the website https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/projects/learning-strategies/pdrnet-2020/

Next year, the PDRnet will be hosted by University of Gothenburg, Sweden. We are already looking forward to that event.

13/03/2020 Erasmus+ Staff Mobility: Visit in Groningen

Manuel Längler, M.A.

From 9th to 13th of March, Manuel Längler participated in the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program. During his visit at the University of Groningen, he possibility to discuss the intership program with the Denise Leidelmeijer, the internship coordinator in Groningen. He also had the possibility to discuss his dissertation project on “Networks in Music” with Jasperina Brouwer and to present it to the team in Groningen. Moreover, the visit was used to discuss research ideas, collaborations and publications with colleagues at the University of Groningen.

11/03/2020 New Publication

Recently, Linda Puppe, Helen Jossberger, Isabell Stein, and Hans Gruber published an article on “Professional development in visual arts”. The aim of the study was to analyse which kinds of domain-specific practice activities and social interactions experts, intermediates, and amateurs rate as relevant to their artistic development in visual arts. Therefore, a questionnaire was conducted. The article was published in Vocations and Learning and can be viewed here.

Abstract
In the domain of visual arts, professional artists usually graduate from academies and universities. For professional development, art students must practise domain-specific activities. Support from lecturers and exchanges with fellow students also help advance accomplishments. Amateurs without academic or vocational artistic education can acquire their skills autodidactically or attend courses such as those at an adult education centre. Empirical research in the domain of visual arts remains scarce; therefore, the present study’s objective was to analyse which kinds of domain-specific practice activities and social interactions artists, intermediates and amateurs rate as relevant to their artistic development in visual arts. The Professional Development in Arts Questionnaire (PDA-Q), including closed and open questions, was developed to examine artists’ activities and interactions. In this study, 81 experts, 58 intermediates and 31 amateurs participated. Experts and intermediates perceived domain-specific practice activities working on artworks and reflecting as the most important in their professional development. Experts and intermediates also rated these two activities as the most demanding. Amateurs rated these activities as less relevant and demanding. Experts and intermediates most often received feedback from lecturers and fellow students, while amateurs most often received feedback from friends and family. Experts and intermediates cited lecturers as being the most helpful sources of feedback, while amateurs cited family.

Reference
Puppe, L., Jossberger, H., Stein, I., & Gruber, H. (2020). Professional development in visual arts. Vocations and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-020-09246-0

01/03/2020 New Academic Staff

Vanessa Gratton, M.A.

We welcome our new PhD candidate Vanessa Grotton. Before her position at our chair, she was the Double Degree Coordinator for the program with Finland. In her master thesis Vanessa used eye-tracking, think-aloud protocols, and questionnaires to investigate how assistant and experienced radiologists of different on-the-job training cohorts differ in their performance to analyse of thorax x-ray images. Vanessa’s PhD thesis will focus on different aspects of eye-tracking. She will also be involved in teaching.

We wish her a good start and look forward working with her!

19/02/2020 Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility: Visit in Turku

From 9th to 15th of February, Agnes Cichy und Simon Schmidt participated in the Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility Program. During his visit at our partner university in Turku, both had the possibility to discuss their dissertation projects with Tuire Palonen (University of Turku), Els Boshuizen (Open University of the Netherlands, Visiting Professor of University of Turku) and Hand Gruber. Agnes Cichy presented her project on “Expertise in Science” and Simon Schmidt presented his work on “Collective deliberate practice”. Moreover, the visit was used to discuss research ideas, collaborations and publications with colleagues at the University of Turku.

11/02/2020 New Publication

Recently, Andreas Gegenfurtner published an article on “The gaze relational index as a measure of of visual expertise” in collaboration with Jean-Michel Boucheix, Hans Gruber, Florian Hauser, Erno Lehtinen and Richard K. Lowe. The article was published at the Journal of Expertise and can be found here.

Abstract:
Eye tracking is a powerful technique that helps reveal how people process visual information. This paper discusses a novel metric for indicating expertise in visual information processing. Named the Gaze Relational Index (GRI), this metric is defined as the ratio of mean fixation duration to fixation count. Data from two eye-tracking studies of professional vision and visual expertise in using 3D dynamic medical visualizations are presented as cases to illustrate the suitability and additional benefits of the GRI. Calculated values of the GRI were higher for novices than for experts, and higher in non- representative, semi-familiar / unfamiliar task conditions than in domain-representative familiar tasks. These differences in GRI suggest that, compared to novices, experts engaged in more knowledge-driven, top-down processing that was characterized by quick, exploratory visual search. We discuss future research aiming to replicate the GRI in professional domains with complex visual stimuli and to identify the moderating role of cognitive ability on GRI estimates.

10/02/2020 New Publication

Recently, Hans Gruber published an article on “Knowledge restructuring through case processing: The key to generalise expertise development theory across domains” in collaboration with Henny P. A. Boshuizen and Josef Strasser. The article was published in Educational Research Review and can be viewed here.

Abstract
In many domains evidence exists that expertise development goes along with the adaptation of cognitive structures and processes. Whilst it is generally assumed that expertise and its acquisition is domain-specific, there are nevertheless similarities across domains that may evoke comparable processes and lead to similar cognitive restructuring. The “Knowledge Restructuring through Case Processing” (KR-CP) theory is proposed as a domain-general framework that takes into account similarities and differences between domains in order to explain corresponding processes and performances of professionals in different domains. The KR-CP theory is based on the assumption that dealing with complex cases plays a major role in many professional domains and allows for cognitive adaptations to routine as well as novel situations. The focus of this review is to investigate the capacity of this assumption to explain expertise development in multiple domains. Starting from the domain of medicine, in which such outcomes have been extensively studied, three further domains are analysed. Evidence is reviewed from counselling and psychotherapy, business management, and law. Thereby specific methodological complications emerge concerning the criteria for expert selection, the definition of levels of expertise, or the degree of authenticity of participants' tasks. Nevertheless, direct and strong indications for restructuring knowledge into scripts and macro-concepts could be identified in all three domains. To further substantiate the KR-CP theory, studies are needed that explicitly address the comparison of case processing in different domains.

10/02/2020 New Publication

Recently, Manuel Längler, Jasperina Brouwer and Hans Gruber collaborated on a book chapter on “Data collection for mixed-method approaches in social network analysis”. The book “Mixed Methods Social Network Analysis was edited by Dominik E. Froehlich, Martin Rehm, & Bart C. Rienties. The book brings together diverse perspectives on how to design, implement, and evaluate mixed methods social network analysis (MMSNA). It describes how researchers can conceptualize, develop, mix, and intersect diverse approaches, concepts, and tools. In doing so, they to reader can improve their understanding and insights into the complex change processes in social networks.

Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to support researchers with their data collection and provide an overview how mixed-method approaches can be applied in social network analysis. This topic is seldomly discussed in the literature, although the selection and combination of formats and instruments for data collection is very demanding and complex. This chapter provides an overview how different methods can be combined and integrated to address relational research questions from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The pros and cons of combining different methods are illustrated with recent examples of social network research. Finally, we provide a guideline to support researchers with their data collection in a mixed-methods social networks research design.

13/01/2020 New Publication

In December, the scientific network “Migration and Integration” (initiated by CampusAsyl) published an open access anthology named “Nach der Flucht – Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven eines Netzwerks von Hochschulen und Zivilgesellschaft” (online link: https://epub.uni-regensburg.de/41311/). It is the result of a conference, which was aligned by the network in June 2018, and provides insights in research projects and the state of research of different disciplines.

The contribution of Barbara Hrabetz and Hans Gruber illustrates possible synergy effects between science and civil society. The article thematises four student theses from educational science, which resulted from a cooperation between the chair of Hans Gruber and CampusAysl. A wide range of subjects are discussed, reaching from a network analysis of refugees, to the challenges for volunteers to work with refugees, to the successful integration of refugees into the labour market and apprenticeship market. The authors plead for an analytical approach to investigate structures and processes in education to generate an impression of the overall situation of refugees in Germany and to make recommendation to improve usual practice.

28/11/2019 KOLI Conference 2019

From November 21-24, 2019 the 19th Koli Calling Conference took place in Koli, Finland. Koli Calling is a leading international conference dedicated to the exchange of research and practice relevant to the scholarship of teaching, learning, and education research in the computing disciplines.

Two of our external doctoral candidates presented their research projects. Natalia Chitalkina from the University of Turku presented her research project on “Prediction as a prerequisite of skilled reading: The cases of source-code and music notation“. Bianca Bergande from the Hochschule Neu-Ulm presented her research project on “NAO Robot vs. Lego Mindstorms - The Influence on the Intrinsic Motivation of Computer Science Non-Majors“.

Short descriptions and feedback on their presentations can be found on Amy J. Ko’s (University of Washington) blog under the following link: https://medium.com/bits-and-behavior/koli-calling-2019-trip-report-computing-education-research-at-the-limits-572da5218414

20/11/2019 Research Visit of Prof. Dr. Ladislao Salmerón

Ladislao Salmerón visited our chair on November 7th. Currently, he is working as Associate Professor at the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Valencia (Spain). His main research focus is on reading strategies in complex tasks (hypertext, task-oriented reading), eye-movements and hypertext comprehension, and critical reading on the Internet. He used to be the coordinator of EARLI SIG 27, which is dedicated to online learning measures.

During his stay, Ladislao Salmerón was meeting with Hans Gruber to discuss new developments in eye tracking. They also visited our new eye-tracking classroom. Moreover, Ladislao Salmerón exchanged research ideas with our team and got a guided campus tour. On Friday, he presented at the Reading Conference hosted at the University of Regensburg. The title of his talk was ‘Fostering Undergraduate Students’ Information Evaluation on the Internet’. It was nice having him in Regensburg!

05/11/2019 New Book Chapter Publication

In a recent book publication, Elena Stamouli (Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Regensburg) jointly with Hans Gruber contributed with a chapter on teacher expertise. Due to the constantly changing demands placed on teachers, many different aspects can be postulated that require a teacher to be an expert in the field. The aim of this chapter is to review the findings of expertise research on teachers and their possible significance for teacher training. The chapter addresses mainly teacher trainers, but also educated teachers, students and connoisseurs of educational science.

Link to the book

Reference:
Stamouli, E., & Gruber, H. (2019). Lehrerexpertise. In E. Kiel, B. Herzig, U. Maier, & U. Sandfuchs (Eds.), Handbuch Unterrichten an allgemeinbildenden Schulen (pp. 141–148). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt. ISBN: 9783825253080

28/10/2019 New Publication

Dr. Helen Jossberger

Recently, Helen Jossberger published an article on “Exploring Students’ Self-Regulated Learning in Vocational Education and Training” in collaboration with Saskia Brand-Gruwel, Margje W. J. van de Wiel, and Henny P. A. Boshuizen. The article was published in Vocations and Learning and can be viewed here.

Abstract
The aim of the present empirical study was to explore students’ self-regulated learning behaviours in vocational education and training and to describe the micro processes associated with planning, monitoring and evaluating during practical learning tasks. The 18 participants were well-performing students from upper secondary vocational education. We collected data from observations, interviews and self-reports to gain detailed insights into students’ behaviours and thoughts during practical task performance. The results reveal that most of the students planned their time and resources, but did not develop elaborate plans to regulate their learning behaviours. They monitored their work carefully and adjusted when necessary. When evaluating, students focussed more on work outcomes than learning processes. The results also showed that the students’ actual behaviours corresponded with self-reports on internal regulation, with three students overestimating their internal regulation. This study sheds light on an underexplored context and population regarding self-regulated learning. Though the well-performing vocational students engaged in self-regulation, their self-regulating behaviours were led by a combination of hands-on activities and evolving work outcomes. Thus, it was the emerging performance and experiences that triggered their learning. Although self-regulated learning behaviours in vocational education and training were present, we conclude that instructional support needs to be developed and empirically tested to actively facilitate and foster vocational students’ learning by doing and reflection.

Reference
Jossberger, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., van de Wiel, M. W. J., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2019). Exploring Students’ Self-Regulated Learning in Vocational Education and Training. Vocations and Learning. doi.org/10.1007/s12186-019-09232-1

22/10/2019 New Eye Tracking Laboratory Openend on Campus

On October 18th, the president of the University of Regensburg Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel opened the new eye-tracking laboratory on the campus. The eye-tracking laboratory is an interdisciplinary project run the by Software Engineering Laboratory for Safe and Secure Systems (LaS3) at the OTH Regensburg, the Chair of Learning and Instruction of Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber und Media Informatics at the University of Regensburg. It contains 15 interconnected high-performance eye-trackers enabling a new research infrastructure at the University of Regensburg.
During the opening ceremony Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber explained that eye-tracking technologies open up new possibilities for research. Prof. Dr. Chrisitian Wolff explained that there is now the possibility provide the same stimuli to a number of people at the same time and thus develop more solid empirical studies. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mottok, leader of the LaS3 laboratory, hopes to provide new support systems for the domain of software engineering through eye-tracking research. Prof. Dr. Andreas Gegenfurtner explained how it is possible to use eye-tracking to make difference between experts and novices in various domains like sports, arts or medicine measurable. He also explained how to use eye-tracking as instructional method for training in domains like medicine and the teaching professions.
We are looking forward to many exciting research projects in the next years.

Link to press release (in German language only)

15/10/2019 Approval of Dissertation Projects

Two dissertation projects focusing on expertise were accepted by the Faculty of Human Sciences.

Simon Schmidt (internal candidate) aims to unravel the process of “collective deliberate practice” and its interplay with individual practice in popular music ensembles. Mutual assessment and group interaction will be observed in particular. Results should provide deeper insights into inter-individual group processes in the domain of music and their contribution to the development of expert music performance in general.

Anja Taylor (external candidate) investigates expertise and expertise development in the professional domain of sales. A particular focus is put on probing and asking questions in client interactions. The results of the three studies contribute to a better understanding of the expertise development in sales and help to design instructional scenarios.

We congratulate both and wish them all the best for their research projects!

18/08/2019 EARLI 2019

From August 12-16, 2019 the 18th Biannual EARLI Conference was hosted by the RWTH Aachen, Germany. The theme of the conference was "Thinking tomorrow’s Education: Learning from the past, in the present and for the future". As part of the Gruber Research Group Dr. Helen Jossberger, Stefan Hanus, Manuel Längler and Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber presented their research projects in different sessions.
Dr. Helen Jossberger presented a paper on "Specialists’ views on feedback at the medical workplace".

Stefan Hanus was part of an invited symposium by SIG 14 on “Potentials of simulations across professions” and presented his work on Simulation as assessment tool for mountain rescuers’ (non-)technical skills.
Manuel Längler presented a symposium on “Mixed method social network analysis: The past, the present, the future” his research on Networks of musicians at different expert levels.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber presented in an invited symposium by SIG 7 on “Using today’s technology to improve learning and performance in (complex) professions” research findings on Simulation-based learning of non-technical skills in medicine and at an invited symposium SIG 3 on “Learning with conceptual change in professional working life and teacher training” research findings on “How can knowledge restructuring and conceptual change be coupled?”. Additionally, he was discussant at a symposium on “Learning during internships and learning through practice – crucial contributions to professional development”.

The whole research group want to thank the organizers for an interesting and well-organized conference.

13/08/2019 JURE 2018

From August 10-11, 2019 the 23rd Conference of the JUnior REsearchers of EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) took place in Aachen, Germany. The theme of the conference was “Junior Researchers Thinking Tomorrow’s Education”. Besides poster, paper and roundtable sessions interesting 16 workshops about the research methodology and the PhD career were held.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber conducted together with Lauren Ashby (Elsevier) a workshop on “Academic Publishing“.

Agnes Cichy presented her work on “Networks in a scientific community – development of the community and the individual” and Simon Schmidt his work on “Practice of music ensembles at different professional levels” in roundtable sessions.

The feedback and discussion during the sessions by all participants were very valuable and useful for the further success of the dissertation projects.

22/07/2019 Congratulations Halszka Jarodzka

Dr. Halszka Jarodzka

Dr. Halszka Jarodzka was appointed Full Professor at the Open University of the Netherlands, starting on 1st September 2019. The focus lies on instructional design for online learning. That is great news. We warmly congratulate!

22/07/2019 Congratulations Jasperina Brouwer

Dr. Jasperina Brouwer

Jasperina Brouwer, Ph.D., who was recently accepted as habilitation candidate, received the prestigious VENI grant. VENI funds innovative and sound research for a period of three years. This is great new and we warmly congratulate!

Jasperina’s contribution has the title “Back to Nightingale: A social network perspective on the development of professional commitment in nurses”. By using a social network perspective, this project will investigate the role of social support. Social network data and data on work experience will be gather by multiple methods to establish insights into nurses’ professional commitment.

03/06/2019 Joint Teaching with Halszka Jarodzka

Dr. Halszka Jarodzka

Halszka Jarodzka and Helen Jossberger joint forces and set up an intensive course for bachelor students. The course took place on May 26 and 27 and had the German title “Expertise: Diskussion, Exploration und Vertiefung”. During the course, expertise and expert performance was explored from different angles. Various professional domains (medicine, sports, arts, mathematics and chess), different methods (task analysis, protocol analysis, cases, psychometrics, historiometrics, practice activities, and eye tracking) and theoretical approaches were introduced and discussed critically. In groups, students designed their own empirical expertise studies combining a particular domain with a theoretical approach and method. We received creative study designs. Thanks. It was great fun!

09/05/2019 Research Visit of Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen

Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen

Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen from the University of Turku is visiting our chair from May 7th till 15th. In collaboration with our chair, his visit got funded by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. During his visit he will be giving a course about “Enhancing Adaptive Expertise in Mathematics”.

Currently Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen is working at the University of Turku as a professor of education. During his career he has worked as a teacher and researcher in several universities in Finland, Europe and USA. He has published more than 300 scientific articles. His research interests include computer supported collaboration in the development of powerful learning environments, problem and case-based learning in technology-assisted environments, conceptual change in mathematics, early development of number concept and mathematical thinking, and motivation and metacognition in different learning environments.

24/04/2019 New Book Chapter Publication

In a recent book publication, Michael Scheumann (formerly at GRG), Stefan Krauss (professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Regensburg) jointly with Hans Gruber contributed with a chapter of problem-solving and acquisition of expertise. An overview of both research fields is presented, with an analysis of similarities and dissimilarities. The chapter addresses mainly teacher training students, but also students and connoisseurs of educational science.

Reference
Gruber, H., Scheumann, M., & Krauss, S. (2019). Problemlösen und Expertiseerwerb. In D. Urhahne, M. Dresel, & F. Fischer (Eds.), Psychologie für den Lehrberuf (pp. 53–66). Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55754-9

25/03/2019 PDRnet

From March 21st till 23rd the 8th PDRnet meeting took place at the University of Landau, Germany. PDRnet is a network of scholars interested in research on professional learning and professional development in education and workplace setting. During the annually three-day symposium young researchers (graduate students, doctoral students, and Post-Docs) present their ongoing research projects to the participating PDRnet members. This year 36 participant from six Universities took part in the meeting. Agnes Cichy presented her work on “Scientific communities of practice”, Simon Schmid presented his work on “Practice of music ensambles at different stages of expertise” and Manuel Längler presented his work on “Networks of musicians at different expertise levels”. Hans Gruber and Helen Jossberger took part at the meeting as discussants.

24/03/2019 Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility: Visit in Turku

From February 24th to March 2nd, Manuel Längler, Simon Schmidt and Agnes Cichy participated in the Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility Programme. During their stay at our partner university in Turku, all three had the possibility to present and discuss their dissertation projects in a PhD seminar. Manuel Längler presented his work on “Networks of musicians at different expert levels”, Simon Schmidt presented his work on “Collaborative learning in music ensembles”, and Agnes Cichy her work “Scientific communities of practice”. Moreover, new research ideas, applications for collecting SNA data and collaborations with colleagues at Turku University were part of the discussions.

10/03/2019 Research Day

At March 8th the first research day of the GruberResearchGroup took place the University of Regensburg. The aim of the meeting was to get-to-know each other, support exchange between internal and external students, and to receive feedback for the own dissertation project. Six presentations in a group discussion format were given by internal PhD students (Agnes Cichy, Barbara Hrabetz, Simon Schmidt, Stefan Hanus, Manuel Längler, Linda Puppe) and four by external PhD students (Bianca Bergande, Anja Tylor, Julia Mitterdorfer, Barbara Mayerhofer). As closing session, habilitation candidate Halszka Jarodzka gave a public presentation of her work in several projects. Further participants of the research day were Prof. Dr. Silke Schworm, her PhD student Tobias Mannhart and Prof. Dr. Tamara van Gog from the University of Utrecht.

23/01/2019 Research Visit of Natalia Chitalkina

Natalia Chitalkina, M.Sc.

Natalia Chitalkina is visiting our chair from January 21st till 25th. Currently she is an accepted PhD candidate at the University of Turku. Her PhD Thesis is focusing on “Eye movements and the development of expertise in music reading.” Her general research interests include expertise in music, eye-tracking, code reading and expertise in programming. During his stay, she will exchange her research ideas with the members of our chair.

06/12/2018 Research Visit of Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen

Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen

Prof. Dr. Erno Lehtinen visited out chair from December 3rd till 7th. Currently he is working as a professor of education at the University of Turku. He has also worked as a teacher and researcher in several universities in Finland, other European countries and USA, and has published more than 300 scientific publications. His research interests include computer supported collaboration in the development of powerful learning environments, problem and case-based learning in technology-assisted environments, conceptual change in mathematics, early development of number concept and mathematical thinking, and motivation and metacognition in different learning environments.

During his stay, he is working together with Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber on an article and is supporting the doctoral students of our chair with their research projects.

29/11/2018 Elections for the University Council at PHW

Prof. Dr. Hans Gruber is a new member of the university council of the Pädagogische Hochschule Weingarten (PHW). The university council is responsible for the development of the PHW. It provides measures for the profile development and evaluates the performance and competitiveness of the PHW.

Chairmen of the council is Prof. Dr. Hermann Reichhold, law, University of Tübingen, Dr. Walter Döring, former business secretary of Baden-Württemberg and assistant chairman of the FDP (national), entrepreneur Rosemarie Miller-Weber, Prof. Dr. Andreas Schwab, geography-didactics, PHW, Dr. Doreen Patzelt as representative of the non-professorial teaching staff, and Gela Burkhardt as representative for the students.

27/11/2018 Research Stay of Christoph Fischer

Christoph Fischer, M.A.

Christoph Fischer visited our chair from November 19th - 23rd. He is working at the Department of Educational Science at the University of Paderborn. His general research interests are workplace learning, learning culture, and knowledge management. Currently, he is part of a working group on education management and research and member of the NRW Forschungskolleg focusing on the design of a flexible world of work (work 4.0). He is also an active member of the PDRnet, an international research colloquium, which meets every year to discuss research on learning and professional development.

During his stay, he reworked the chapters of his dissertation on human-centred usage of cyber-physical systems in industry 4.0. The aim is to finalise the project this year. We wish him all the best for the last stages and look forward to an interesting research book to come.

22/11/2018 New Book Publication

A new book, “Individual and social influences on social learning”, has been published by Hans Gruber and Christian Harteis at Springer Publishers. The monograph reviews research about how individual and social factors contribute to the acquisition and maintenance of expertise. A focus is set on workplace settings. The authors introduce the i-PPP model which proposes an integrated model of individual and social components of expertise development.

Here is a short summary of the content:
This book examines professional learning and relates it to the acquisition of expertise, and the influence of individuals. Professional learning, as discussed in the book, comprises all kinds of occupational domains because employment and paid work usually follow the achievement principle, i.e. workers are expected to perform efficiently. The book suggests that the perspective of expertise research is an appropriate lens to use for gaining insight in how individuals can be prepared and enabled to autonomously master the requirements of daily working life. Expertise is understood as the capacity to reliably perform on an extraordinary level, and the basic assumption is that experts are best prepared to successfully cope with future challenges at workplaces. The book comprehensively discusses issues of expertise research and explores the nature of a successful individual and an impeded individual. It proposes an integrated model of individual and social components of expertise development, the i-PPP model. The model provides insight in and an understanding of how individuals can be enabled to develop and maintain professional expertise in the context of daily work.

Across all paradigms, researchers, policy-makers, employers and trade unionists agree that working conditions undergo permanent change through economic, societal, and technological developments. Recently, the digitalisation of (working) life became a hot topic of scientific and societal discourses. Workplaces, thus, provide challenges for individuals who have to be able to cope with workplace changes. Accordingly, new challenges emerge for an adequate understanding of learning for work as well as learning during work.

Link to the book: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-97041-7

24/09/2018 EARLI SIG 14 Conference

From September 11th to 14th 2nd the 9th EARLI SIG 14 Conference was hosted by the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The topic of the conference was "Interaction, learning and professional development".

The Special Interest Group (SIG) 14 focuses on professional and vocational education and training and has a particular set of interests associated with learning at and for work.

As part of the Gruber Research Group, Michael Scheumann, Dr. Helen Jossberger, Manuel Längler, Linda Puppe and Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber presented their research projects in different sessions. Helen Jossberger presented a poster on „Difficulties in diagnostic performance: Does systematic viewing help” and a paper on “The creation processes in sculpting – An observation study” (together with Isabell Stein). In addition, she organized a Symposium on “Simulations for professional learning”. Michael Scheumann presented in this symposium a paper on “Montain rescuers’ (non-)technical skills and the role of self-efficacy and attitude in simulated resuscitation”. Manuel Längler presented in a roundtable his project on “Networks of musicians at different expert levels”. Linda Puppe presented her work on “The creation processes of professional artists and beginners” in a paper session.

17/07/2018 JURE 2018

From Juli 2nd-6th, 2018 the 22nd Conference of the JUnior REsearchers of EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) took place in Antwerp, Belgium. The theme of the conference was “Learning and instruction with an impact: scaling up the skill, will and thrill of learning”. Besides poster, paper and roundtable sessions interesting 14 workshops about the research methodology, PhD career and the conference keynotes were held. Additionally, three keynotes were given in the scope of the conference theme.

One the keynotes was given by Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Gruber on the topic “Learning and professional development in science: Young researchers' acquisition of expertise”. Additionally, he conducted a workshop on “Everything you always wanted to know about life as a researcher (but were afraid to ask)” and participated at a Panel Discussion about “Strengthening the ties between research, policy and practice in order to increase impact”.

Dr. Helen Jossberger, together with Lauren Ashby (Elsevier), conducted a workshop on “Writing and reviewing for international scholarly journals“. Manuel Längler presented his work on “Networks of musicians at different skill levels” in a roundtable session. He also won the “Award for the Best Roundtable Session”. Linda Puppe presented a poster on “Pictorial Perception of Professional Artists and Beginners“. The feedback and discussion during the sessions by all participants were very valuable and useful for the further success of the dissertation projects.

18/06/2018 EARLI SIG 27 Conference in Warsaw

From 15th until 17th of June, the 2nd EARLI SIG 27 Online Measures of Learning Processes took place in Warsaw, Poland. This year, the conference joined forces with the 6th Polish Eye Tracking Conference. It was an inspiring conference. Hans Gruber, Helen Jossberger and Isabell Stein presented current research projects of GRG:

Chitalkina, N., Puurtinen, M., & Gruber, H. (2018, June). Eye-movement effects of added cognitive load in music reading. Paper presentation, 6th Polish Eye Tracking Conference and 2nd EARLI SIG 27 Online Measures of Learning Processes Conference, Warsaw (Poland).

Gruber, H., Hurme, T.-R., & Puurtinen, M. (2018, June). Revealing gaze? The role of eye-movement data in identifying triggers of group-level regulation in a collaborative music task. Paper presentation, 6th Polish Eye Tracking Conference and 2nd EARLI SIG 27 Online Measures of Learning Processes Conference, Warsaw (Poland).

Jossberger, H., Hahn, L., Gruber, H., Stroszczynski, C., & Müller-Wille, R. (2018, June). Systematic viewing and diagnostic performance. Poster presentation, 6th Polish Eye Tracking Conference and 2nd EARLI SIG 27 Online Measures of Learning Processes Conference, Warsaw (Poland).

Stein, I., Jossberger, H., & Gruber, H. (2018, June). Visualising gaze data on a virtual 3D model. Poster presentation, 6th Polish Eye Tracking Conference and 2nd EARLI SIG 27 Online Measures of Learning Processes Conference, Warsaw (Poland).
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