Early Childhood Science Education

How do early science skills develop?

Observing phenomena, forming hypotheses, comparing, measuring, and testing hypotheses – so far, there is very little knowledge of how such basic science skills (inquiry skills and practices) effect subsequent learning development. The aim of the project of the Leibniz Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Education was to investigate the extent to which the promotion of these competencies has an impact on the acquisition of new knowledge. The study compared different interventions in which the instructional support for inquiry skills was systematically varied. The overarching question was to what extent available inquiry skills and practices support the development of conceptual knowledge, e.g., in the domains of magnetism, swimming and sinking or aggregate states.

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.

German Education Index

The German Education Index (FIS Bildung Literaturdatenbank) presents the most comprehensive compilation of educationally relevant references in the German language area. This service predominantly targets educational science (research and training), but it also delivers comprehensive services to educational practitioners (pre-primary school, primary and secondary education, special needs education etc.). The database records scholarly literature from all of the disciplines in educational science, as well as educational policy papers and practice-related texts and materials. Printed and online material published after 1980 is indexed: Journal articles, collective works, contributions to collective works, and monographs are described by keywords and occasionally abstracts. Users are assisted in obtaining titles by direct links indicating where journals are held in German libraries and other links informing about the obtainability of journals.

Systematic Review for Improving Language Skills

The project “Interventions for Improving Language Skills in Three to Six-Year-Old Children in Day-Care Facilities in German-Speaking Countries: A Systematic Review ” aimed to give an overview over which interventions exist for improving language skills in the children’s first language and national language of instruction in German-speaking countries. Moreover, it was reviewed the current knowledge regarding which language intervention approaches will (or can) deliver which effects in the context of specific institutional and individual conditions.

Language competencies are among the prerequisites for individual success in education. In Germany, children with delays in language development or children with an immigrant background whose native tongue is not the language of instruction bear a significantly higher risk of experiencing poorer school and vocational progress than might be expected given their general cognitive skills. Consequently, unrestrained participation in society is endangered owing to delays in the cognitive, emotional and social development of the children concerned.

Policy makers in Germany have recognised that society needs to foster educationally relevant language competencies even in very young children, a need that has recently gained in urgency by the arrival and likely stay of large groups of refugees from war zones in Asia and Africa. As yet, it remains an open question, however, how to best proceed: Which language intervention approaches will (or can) deliver which effects in the context of specific institutional and individual conditions?

The proposed project aimed to remedy the situation and to systematically document and integrate the available information about successfully tried and tested language interventions.

TOSCA

Starting point for the project „Transformation of the secondary school system and academic careers“ (TOSCA) was the unsatisfactory data base on the efficacy of senior grades education in Germany and the transition to university and vocational training. This is why TOSCA examined the educational biographies of high school graduates over the course of several years.

The Assessment of Teacher’s Instructional Quality in National Large-Scale Studies

Instructional design is of crucial significance in students’ educational progress. It is often possible to make connections between aspects of classroom management, student-orientation, or the level of stimulus with the learning progress in mathematics or German. However, measuring or assessing such qualitative characteristics remains a great challenge.

The project addressed the quality of student evaluations. Both established analytical models for the evaluation of nested verdicts were reviewed and frequently used survey instruments (items) were processed.

Hector

Since 2010 sixty Hector children academies have been created in the state of Baden-Württemberg with the financial funding of the Hector-Stiftung II in order to support highly gifted primary school students. The academic support and scientific monitoring is designed as a formative evaluation, so that vital findings of associated studies can be directly integrated into the work of the children academies.

The overall aim of the project is to examine to what extent the children academies contribute to a positive development of the talented and highly gifted primary school students. Furthermore the project aims at drawing generalizable findings that can later be used in the development and support of highly gifted children.

Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education

The Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education is an institute of the University of Cologne, initiated and funded by Stiftung Mercator. Its aim is to improve language education. To achieve this objective, it researches and develops innovative concepts, measures and tools for language education. It provides regional training for prospective teachers and national training for educators in nurseries, schools and adult education, and prepares academic findings specifically for decision-makers in educational policy, administration and practice. Through its research and the academic services it provides to language education in a multilingual society, the Mercator Institute helps create more equal opportunities in the education system.

Important work and services:

Research: The Mercator Institute for Language Support and German as a Second Language researches and develops concepts, instruments and measures for language education in a variety of projects. It conducts practical and application-oriented research on current and socially relevant issues of language education, from daycare to the transition to work. Its research covers the entire breadth and complexity of linguistic education: It focuses on the chain of effects from research to the training and continuing education of specialists and teachers, the framework conditions in the various educational institutions, implementation in educational practice, and the effects on children and young people. The research focuses on linguistic learning and development processes, classroom research, and teacher training and professionalization. The project teams use both qualitative and quantitative methods and are interdisciplinary. The institute also offers research-based services.

Development: The Mercator Institute advises educational actors on the basis of scientific findings relating to development and implementation processes, e.g. curricula or for the realization of language education concepts. In doing so, its objective is to help initiate systemic changes that will allow consistent language education standards to be maintained throughout all educational stages and institutions.

Professional Development: When it comes to staff development of educators in nursery schools, schools and adult education, the Mercator Institute cooperates with institutions at a regional and national level so as to develop and implement staff development concepts. Due to time constraints and the considerable need for continuing education, educators are increasingly calling for training courses that can be adapted to their individual schedules. This is why the Mercator Institute is also developing digital learning opportunities that combine independent learning with digital materials and face-to-face classes.

Transfer: There are many different stakeholders in language education: from the organizations that run child and youth welfare services, to nurseries and schools, and to ministries and authorities at the local and state level. Through its publications and events, the Mercator Institute promotes the transfer of good practice and scientific findings to education policymakers, education authorities and the educational institutions themselves. In addition, it is available to journalists as a point of contact for topics relating to language education. Current research into topical and socially relevant questions of language education is analysed and then made available in a variety of formats – from short basic knowledge and fact checks to detailed studies and expert reports.

Promotion of young researchers: At the Mercator Institute, there are various measures to promote young researchers. These include AcadeMI, a network of young researchers who meet in a self-coordinated manner and at regular intervals to promote peer exchange at the Mercator Institute and to support each other in their own qualification. Among other things, they organize workshops that all young researchers can profitably use for their work, and they are involved in the implementation of the annual Young Researchers Conference. Within the framework of AcadeMI, some staff members have joined together to form four internal research groups dealing with the topic of multilingualism and vocabulary. In addition, there is a mentoring program.

Research Data at the Mercator Institute:

The Research Database “Lernertexte” (FD-LEX) provides educational researchers access to over 6,200 texts by students of various ages that were collected in different writing projects. Transcripts and handwritten originals as well as anonymized metadata of the participants can be used for own research projects.

Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)

The Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) in Bamberg analyses educational processes from birth to old age. In order to promote longitudinal educational research in Germany, the LIfBi provides fundamental, nationally and internationally significant, research-based infrastructures for empirical educational research. One core of the institute is the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which is based at the LIfBi and brings together the expertise of a Germany-wide, interdisciplinary network of excellence. In addition to the ReGES and BildungswegeFlucht refugee studies, the LIfBi is also in charge of other major projects such as the Data Literacy monitoring study. This is based on their own research and development work, in particular the well-founded development of instruments and methods for longitudinal educational studies, from which other research projects also benefit.

Important work and services:

LIfBi runs the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The NEPS collects longitudinal data that are representative of Germany on the development of competencies, educational processes, educational decisions, and returns to education in formal, nonformal, and informal contexts throughout the whole life span.
NEPS data are made available to the national and international scientific community in the form of Scientific Use Files that can be accessed through various innovative ways using state-of-the-art technology. Interested data users are invited to attend regular user trainings.
NEPS data provide an empirical basis for research and offer a rich potential for analysis with regard to educational research and related disciplines (e.g., demography, educational science, economics, psychology, and sociology).
In addition to the standard documentation material for every single Scientific Use File, the NEPS Research Data Center offers a number of supplemental information and assisting tools for handling the NEPS data.
The Research Data Center LIfBi (RDC LIfBi) is primarily responsible for the user-friendly preparation of survey and test data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and its dissemination to the scientific community in the form of Scientific Use Files.
Third-party funded projects by LIfBi: LIfBi continually acquires new third-party funded projects.

Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB)

The associated partner “Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB)” is a research institute that supports the federal states of Germany in developing and monitoring the quality of primary and secondary education. As an academic institution of the German states, the IQB is an associated institute of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The educational standards, which have been introduced by the Standing Conference of the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs of the federal states of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK), form the basis of their work. These educational standards describe competencies students are expected to have developed at a certain point in their school career. The mission of the IQB is to monitor regularly to which degree these goals are met by schools in Germany (educational monitoring). Furthermore, the IQB supports the German states in implementing the educational standards, which are expected to serve as a central orienting framework for all actors in the educational system (implementation). In addition, the IQB is a research institute that conducts research projects in several areas of empirical educational research.

Important work and services:

Educational Monitoring and Implementation:

Under the auspices of the IQB, experienced teachers develop large collections of test items designed to measure competencies aligned with the educational standards.
The IQB develops proficiency level models as tools for interpreting test scores. These models provide a more concrete description of what students with a given test score are able to do.
The IQB conducts National Assessment Studies (Ländervergleiche) in order to determine the extent to which educational standards are being met in the 16 German federal states.
The IQB coordinates the development of items for state-wide comparison tests. These tests provide teachers with information on the strengths and weaknesses of their students with regard to the educational standards and are expected to promote the implementation of competence-oriented teaching.
In collaboration with experts in subject-matter education, the IQB publishes collections of annotated learning tasks which teachers may use in class.
The IQB coordinates the development of a pool of Abitur examination questions based on the educational standards.

Research – Some of the central research questions are:

How are students’ competencies structured and how can they be assessed?
Which factors influence educational success of children and adolescents?
How can methodological and statistical requirements of educational testing and large-scale assessments best be met?
Language skills are vital for school success. How can their development be measured and promoted?
To what extent and under which circumstances do teachers successfully adopt competence-oriented teaching methods?

Research Data Centre:

The Research Data Centre (FDZ) at IQB archives and documents data sets from national and international large-scale assessment studies and makes them accessible to researchers.