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.
