CATALPA – Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics

As a central scientific institution of the FernUniversität in Hagen, CATALPA integrates theoretical knowledge with practical applications. This results in scalable findings and AI-supported prototypes for innovations in higher education, including feedback, self-regulation, assessments, teaching and learning concepts, and group processes.

More than 60 scientists collaborate on an interdisciplinary basis at CATALPA. They examine practical issues from the perspectives of psychology, computational linguistics, educational science, computer science, and organizational sociology. All CATALPA researchers share the vision of offering the best possible individual support to all students.

The FernUniversität in Hagen’s 70,000 students are more diverse in terms of age, origin, and educational background than those of almost any other German university. Where better to research how digital systems can improve teaching and learning than here?

CATALPA operates as a living lab, generating findings from practice that feed directly back into it — be it through interventions to reduce stereotyping or technological developments in digital learning environments. In close cooperation with the Center for Learning and Innovation (ZLI) and the Center for Digitalization and IT (ZDI) at the FernUniversität, CATALPA investigates the impact and potential of educational technologies in a protected environment and tests prototypes in practice.

KISS-Pro

Language plays a central role in learning at school – both as a communicative prerequisite and as a learning medium and learning objective. At the same time, it also represents a central dimension of heterogeneity. However, teachers often lack the time to support pupils with very different language learning needs individually in their acquisition of language skills. The use of new digital technologies, such as AI-based systems, offers the opportunity to constructively address the linguistic heterogeneity of learners in the context of participation and equal opportunities.

Natural language processing (NLP) applications such as ChatGPT or DeepL are currently developing extremely dynamically and have recently made great progress in the linguistically correct translation of texts and in AI-supported machine text production. The use of such systems therefore has the potential to support teachers in designing individualised language learning opportunities for pupils, for example.

Appropriate professionalisation concepts are needed to prepare teachers for the competent use of AI-based systems in schools and subject lessons. The joint project is therefore developing target group-specific information and qualification programmes that not only impart knowledge about the opportunities and potential of AI-based systems, but also address fears and reservations as well as concrete, factual limits and problems of using AI in the school context.

The joint project will specifically highlight the possibilities of individual feedback for pupils through NLP as well as the possible applications of intelligent tutorial systems and social robots. It also focuses on reflecting on the ethical, legal and social implications of using AI-supported systems in the school context.

Connection to practice, transfer and implementation

The transfer of the developed professionalisation offers for the use of AI-based systems in language teaching into teacher training and thus also into school practice is a central goal of the project network. The concepts are being developed in close collaboration with the cooperating state institutes in Berlin-Brandenburg, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. In addition, the developed concepts are to be embedded in the university teacher training programme. In this context, a transfer conference on the topic of AI for university teaching in teacher training programmes will take place at the University of Potsdam in 2025.

The concepts developed will be made available in the form of Open Educational Resources (OER) to enable the modular professionalisation courses to be implemented beyond the participating federal states. The sustainable transfer into practice is also supported by Zukunft Digitale Bildung gGmbH, the Forum Bildung Digitalisierung and the KI-Campus as transfer partners.

Profan

The Profan project focused on using process data to predict successful work on tasks in the domains of complex problem solving and reading of digital texts. To this end, data from a computer-based assessment for PISA 2012 was examined. Suitable indicators were built to demonstrate which particular processes of the two competence domains are not sufficiently mastered by students who failed or only partially succeeded in solving the tasks. The indicators were subsequently checked for their appropriateness regarding the explanation of differences in the achievement of students from distinct sociodemographic groups. Based on the information thus gained, a prototypical formative assessment item was finally developed for each of the two domains.

Meta project: Language education in the immigration society

The project pursues the following research questions:

  • What transfer strategies do the individual projects in the funding line ‘Language Education in the Immigration Society: Developing Individual Potential and Shaping Transitions’ pursue?
  • How can the individual projects be systematically located within a common body of research on language education?
  • To what extent is the phenomenon of multilingualism taken into account in research?
  • How can research findings be successfully transferred into educational practice?
  • What role does the evaluation of evidence, relevance and usefulness by practitioners play in the successful transfer of knowledge when implementing empirically proven concepts?

The aim of the meta-project ‘Language Education in the Immigration Society’ is to place the research questions, strategies and findings of the funded individual projects and their contributions to the further development of educational practice in a larger scientific and social context. To this end, the meta-project accompanies the individual projects and also works on independent research questions. On the one hand, the state of research on language education in the immigration society is systematically communicated to the funded individual projects through research syntheses and expert opinions and introduced into the scientific discourse. On the other hand, concepts and findings from transfer and implementation research are used to investigate the personal, organisational and institutional conditions under which the funded projects succeed in putting research knowledge and innovative concepts into practice and thus fulfilling the transfer and implementation promise of language-related educational research.

The meta project also contributes to knowledge and technology transfer through its own transfer and communication activities and by supporting the funded projects.

SchuMaS

In the federal-state initiative SchuMaS – “Schule macht stark”, researchers from 13 institutions are working with a total of 200 schools to develop measures to improve the learning conditions and performance of socially disadvantaged students. The common feature of the selected 200 schools is the socially challenging situation in which the schools find themselves and the more difficult conditions for teaching and learning that accompany this. These conditions are: Increased language support needs, high staff turnover, parent homes at risk of poverty. The current pandemic situation is also not ignored. 

The actual success of the students is the main focus of “SchuMaS”. The overall goal of the project is to improve the educational opportunities of socially disadvantaged students and thus reduce social inequalities.
Particular attention is paid to improving the basic mathematical skills, learning motivation and social skills of the students. 

In relation to the special requirements of the schools, four thematic fields of action are in the foreground, for which individual measures are to be developed in close scientific and practical cooperation. These are:

1. to further develop teaching – with a special focus on mathematics and German,
2. to qualify the pedagogical staff working at the schools in a more targeted way, taking into account the specific conditions of schools in socially challenging situations,
3. further develop schools as an organization, school culture and leadership, and
4. to promote learning outside the classroom and support in the social environment.

In four regional centers of the interdisciplinary research network, the 200 participating schools are advised and supported in mastering their challenges in close cooperation with the state institutes, quality development agencies and school supervisory authorities. The scientific monitoring and evaluation is carried out by other working groups of the project network, the results of which are to be used to produce a recommendation for action after five years, which can be used as a handout to other schools in challenging situations.

Leibniz-Institut for the German Language (IDS)

The Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) is the leading international scientific centre for the research and documentation of the German language. Our research and theoretical modelling of the diversity of linguistic manifestations, their structure and use, are based on empirical methods and are documented by reference works (including (comparative) grammars and dictionaries) as well as highly diversified language resources (especially corpora and information systems).

The IDS is a leading provider of sustainable research infrastructures that are of central importance and benefit to the entire professional community. With our research results and documentation services, we provide scientifically-based support and advice to politics and society on issues of standardization, language policy and language education, and actively participates in public debates on language-related topics. In doing so, we convey a scientifically sound picture of language that emphasizes the diversity and variance of linguistic manifestations, and we are aware of our linguistic cultural responsibility.

We are partners of scientific institutions in the region, in the state od Baden-Württemberg, within Germany, as well as in the entire German-speaking and international area, and network at all these levels. For international German linguistics, we act as a central hub; on an international level, we cooperate with partners in the fields of linguistics and the humanities. As part of the Leibniz Association, we contribute to the achievement of overarching goals of the Association and cooperate with other member institutions. In terms of science diplomacy, we are committed to international scientific exchange based on Leibniz’s ideals.

ReCo

The project “Automatic Response Coding” (ReCo) centers around text responses in tests. The computer programme ReCo automatically assesses whether a text response is correct, for example “The author aims at saving the trees.” as an answer in the PISA test. Moreover, ReCo extracts further features, for example whether a student adds knowledge to their response beyond the explicit information in the text.

The computer programme ReCo was originally developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the ZIB. In cooperation with both institutions, the Centre for Technology Based Assessment (TBA Centre) at DIPF is now developing the software package further. The project comprises the general software development as well as scientific studies employing ReCo. For this, TBA is responsible for the conceptual and technical development on the one hand and acts as the project manager for projects such as ReCo-Multi on the other hand. Also, TBA supports external research groups using the program.

REACH

The cooperation project “REAching young adults with low ACHievment in literacy” (REACH), which was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), was led by the Stiftung Lesen (German Reading Foundation). REACH was aimed at young adults between 16 and 35 years old who are on the so-called alpha-level 3 – a special group among adults with poor literacy: They profit most strongly from remedial programs for their long-term professional life.

Focus of REACH

The project focused on young adults between 16 and 35 because …

  • They can have the greatest and most sustainable benefit from remedial programs,
  • Addressing them early will hopefully lead to maintaining and strengthening their reading competence,
  • Addressing them will motivate and empower them to become reading role models for their children.

To find ways of access, there was a necessity to identify …

  • (Key) persons and locations through which target groups can be reached,
  • Communicative approaches and pathways such as the media,
  • Content-related links: topics, fields of interest, and activities.

Goals of REACH

  • Reviewing the suitability of access ways, which can already be derived from practical experience,
  • Identification and review through characterizing the target group in the most differentiated and precise way possible,
  • Analysis of living conditions, features, habits, and mindsets (e.g., media usage, activities in social media, living situation, family situation, interests and habits during leisure time, etc.)

To achieve this, no new data was collected, but rather existing data was used as effectively as possible, and linked with each other. Subsequently, a small number of potential ways of accessing and addressing was tested by way of a pilot study and simultaneously evaluated.

COLD

For actively participating in school, daily life or at work excellent German language skills are needed. While learning a new languague teachers have a key role in teaching German as a second language. The project COLD (Competencies of school teachers and adult educators in teaching German as a second language in linguistically diverse classrooms) focuses on the following questions:

  • What skills and knowledge do teachers have?
  • How do they structure their lessons?
  • Are there any differences between school teachers and adult educators?

The project is a cooperation between DIE and the MI and is led by the DIE.

From April 2019 until September 2022 researchers will focus on professional competencies of school teachers and adult educators in teaching German as a second language in linguistically heterogeneous groups. The project adresses the special needs in teaching and didactics which occured through the immigration of children, teenagers and adults. The surveys take place in real teaching situations in preparatory classes and integration courses.

The interdisciplinary project team includes experts in adult education, subject-related didactics German/German as a second language, empirical educational research, linguistics, computer lingustics, and psychology. The project is mainly performed by PhD students so that a special focus on promoting young researches is set.

NEPS

The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) is a study carried out by the LIfBi. It is an interdisciplinary and multilocational network of excellence consisting of research institutes, research groups, and individual scientists. To find out more about the acquisition of education and its effects on individual life courses and to describe and analyze key educational processes and trajectories over the entire life span, this longitudinal study examines educational processes and competence development from early childhood to late adulthood. Data collected by NEPS are made available free of charge to international scientists aiming to study educational processes. Over the mid- and long-term, the design of NEPS will make an important contribution towards answering the following key questions:

  • How do competencies develop over the life course?
  • How do competencies influence decision-making processes at various critical transitions in educational careers (and vice versa)?
  • How and to what extent are competencies influenced by learning opportunities in the family, in the peer group, and in the learning environments of kindergarten, school, higher education, vocational training, and further education?
  • What competencies are decisive for obtaining educational qualifications, which for lifelong learning and which for a successful personal and social life?