After successful completion of the course, students are able to...

• identify potential influencing factors on the individual learning process (positive as well as negative);
• describe the presumed effect (direction & intensity) of concrete characteristics of a learning situation or of changes in it tentatively (in the sense of a subjective theory);
• justify the actual effect (direction & intensity) of concrete characteristics of a learning situation or of changes in it in a comprehensible way with the aid and interpretation of scientific theories;
• explain on the basis of scientific theories and in a comprehensible way the dependence of the concrete effects on individual previous experiences and prerequisites of the learners;
• describe meaningful/necessary changes in the behaviour of the learners concerned, with the help of which negative effects can be compensated and/or positive ones reinforced;
• describe meaningful/necessary changes in the behaviour of the responsible individual teachers in order to compensate negative and/or reinforce positive effects on learners;
• describe meaningful/necessary changes within the education system to compensate negative and/or reinforce positive effects of the influencing factors on learners;
• demonstrate the efficacy/correctness of all the above descriptions and theoretical justifications on the basis of empirical studies;
• present all their work results in written and oral form in a way that is comprehensible to their peers;
• work methodically clean (at beginner level) and scientifically honest when writing their texts.

The participants take part in the further development of a (learning) game, which reveals the effects of various influences on the educational biography of an individual. The basic structure is intended as a board game, but a computer-based versio is also possible.

The concrete contents of the discussion result from the intended learning outcomes on the one hand (see above) in connection with the individual interests of the participants on the other hand.

Methods: Product-oriented learning with peer review

Details: The participants will write two papers with the following elements

Part 1: Initial situation & subjective theories

• Starting point: the (if possible!) concrete situation of the learners, or the concrete change therein
• Effects: the initially only intuitively assumed effects of this situation change on learning process and further learning possibilities (positive or negative)
• Differentiations (if appropriate): information on which different characteristics of a person (group of persons) could lead to different effects.
• Trigger: those concrete characteristics of the situation (change) which cause the presumed influence.

Part 2: Scientific explanation & empirical evidence:  On the one hand, you research scientific literature that offers you (theoretical) clarification of the effects you suspect, and on the other hand you research literature that presents empirical evidence that the theoretically explained mechanisms of action have actually been proven.

In addition, the participants give their colleagues feedback on the individual parts of their work in each work phase. Participants can work individually or - preferably - in teams of two. However, the feedback should always be written as an individual.

At the end of the semester each participant presents the most important results of one of the two papers in a short lecture (max. 4 minutes).

The course is partially blocked and combines attendance phases with independent work (blended learning).

The participants should - as far as possible - work in teams of two.

The presence meetings (most of which can be attended according to individual needs) serve to clarify open questions (in terms of organisation and content), to make decisions and to provide feedback. The acquisition of the necessary knowledge, on the other hand, takes place - almost exclusively - in independent work (Inverted Classroom Model).

3 ECTS points correspond to approx. 75 working hours. See https://www.help.gv.at/Portal.Node/hlpd/public/content/16/Seite.160120.html

All papers can be written in German or English. The oral communication in the attendance blocks takes place in German.

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• The second of the two written works
• Written and oral feedback on the work of others
• Presentation of the most important results of one of the two works