Empirical Educational Research
Teachers are the key players in the success of schools with their teaching programmes. Above all, the professional competence of teachers plays a decisive role in the quality of teaching and learning at school. An evidence-based understanding of the (causal) interplay between teaching-learning processes on the one hand and the professionalism of teachers, both in training and in the teaching profession, on the other, is therefore an elementary idea for the quality development of schools.
Based on a broad understanding of empiricism, the doctoral programme Empirical Educational Research investigates current subject-specific and subject-independent questions about modelling, recording, genesis, development and impact of both the development of teaching and the development of professional competence of (prospective) teachers.
Research Forum
The research group offers regular colloquia. Please check myStudy or the course catalogue for current sessions.
Recently defended dissertation projects
- Annika Bahls: The technical and linguistic complexity of learning tasks in politics textbooks – a feature-specific task analysis
- Vanessa Bräuer: Sketching as a strategy for solving geometric modelling problems. A quantitative study in lower secondary education
- Lena Dammann: The influence of connectors on text comprehension and mathematical performance in modelling tasks
- Denise Depping: Development of professional competence among teacher training students. Investigation of components of professional competence and their connections to learning opportunities within and outside teacher training
- Henrike Diekhoff: Teaching sports games in primary schools: Pupils' perspectives on the staging of physical education lessons with the help of digital media
- Fabian Alexander Emde: Family and personal characteristics of pupils in the context of the German school system
- Sven Hardersen: Academic continuing education in Germany as a tool for human resource management
- Katharina Horst de Cuestas: Peer feedback as a support for collective songwriting processes in music lessons
- Anna Holstein: The potential of video use to foster and assess teacher-student feedback in teacher education.
- Alina Kristin Hase: #FromDataToAction – How teachers use data from digital learning platforms to design their lessons
- Fenja Kuchenbuch: Learning to perceive and plan tasks (orientation) in competence-oriented English teaching: A qualitative study on the professionalisation of teacher training students
- Anna-Katharina Poschkamp: Working on problem-solving tasks for calculating surface area with the help of paper- and video-based solution examples
- Farina Weiher: Estimating lengths, surface areas, capacities and volumes: Development and evaluation of an estimation test for children in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades
- Prof. Dr. Michael Ahlers
- Prof. Dr. Anne Barron
- Prof. Dr. Michael Besser
- Prof. Dr. Timo Ehmke
- Prof. Dr. Harald Hantke
- Prof. Dr. Marc Kleinknecht
- Prof. Dr. Poldi Kuhl
- Prof. Dr. Dominik Leiß
- Prof. Dr. Astrid Neumann
- Prof. Dr. Marcus Pietsch
- Prof. Dr. Markus Reihlen
- Prof. Dr. Silke Ruwisch
- Prof. Dr. Stephan Schiemann
- Prof. Dr. Torben Schmidt
- Prof. Dr. Jessica Süßenbach
If you wish to pursue your doctorate at Leuphana, you must be enrolled as doctoral student. Information about admission to the doctorate at Leuphana and the application procedure can be found here.
Leuphana Graduate School offers advice and coaching to academics in the qualification phase. The Graduate School's advisor will be happy to support you in questions of decision-making, challenges in the course of your doctorate, and career planning and development. You can find more information about the counselling and coaching services here.
Why did you decide to do a doctorate at Leuphana?
The doctorate was a good opportunity for me to combine two things: my interest in dealing with subject areas in more depth and over a longer period of time and to get to know other professional fields besides school. I chose Leuphana because I already knew many professors through my studies and work as a student assistant (SHK) at Leuphana, and Leuphana offers good support opportunities for doctoral candidates.
When did you first think about doing a doctorate?
During my work as a student assistant, I worked closely with doctoral candidates, so my inhibitions about entering academia diminished. Since I enjoyed the SHK job and writing and researching during my studies, the idea of doing a doctorate myself came up more and more often. While writing my Master's thesis, I pursued this idea and exchanged ideas with professors and other doctoral candidates in order to better inform myself about doctoral courses.
What is different about the doctorate compared to the Master study times?
As a doctoral candidate, you have more time for your own research. However, this also requires greater independence and organisation, which is why it is important to structure your time effectively and prioritise your own tasks. Compared to the Master's, you focus much more on a specific research area, which you work on in greater depth.
What do you benefit most from during the doctoral phase?
I benefit most from the scientific discourse with my colleagues and at conferences. Getting feedback on my own work is important for me and also a reassurance that I don't lose focus. At the same time, I learn to justify my own ideas and projects to other scientists and to stand up for them.
What would you say is different at Leuphana than at other universities?
Leuphana is committed to personal and academic (further) development with various offers from the Graduate School. In addition, Leuphana supports doctoral candidates financially with conferences, stays abroad, etc. through the Qualification Fund.
What do you benefit from most as a doctoral candidate?
I have improved my time management and task prioritisation skills. The doctoral phase also offers the opportunity to exchange ideas with other doctoral candidates from different disciplines and learn from their research areas, perspectives and experiences.
To whom would you recommend a doctorate in your subject?
People who are interested in working on topics in detail and enjoy learning about new topics (e.g. statistics). In general, you should have a certain degree of self-organisation and time management.
Do you already have plans for the future after your doctorate?
At the moment, I am exploring the different options after my doctorate and weighing up what I like best. One option for me is to do the preparatory service, complete my teacher training and gain practical experience in schools. To explore other options, I am participating in the Graduate School's career coaching and development programme and continuing my education in various areas.
Thank you very much for the interview!