Since the end of November, the LEIFIchemie online portal provides teachers and students in lower and upper secondary levels with teaching materials, tasks and experiment instructions free of charge. The Hamburg-based Joachim Herz Foundation is thus continuing the successful concept of LEIFIphysik - one of the most successful studying portals for natural sciences for 20 years - for chemistry. The IWM contributed to the vast collection of materials with design recommendations for texts, illustrations and videos on the particle model. For the material conception, research findings originating from the eChemBook project played an important role.

The eChemBook is the result of a DFG-project with the aim of developing an evidence-based teaching concept for the use of digital media in chemistry classes. The IWM carried out the project in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Sascha Schanze, Leibniz University Hannover, the Schroedel Westermann schoolbook publisher and SMART Technologies. "For the development of the teaching materials, findings from both empirical teaching/learning research and didactical research were used. This resulted in general design recommendations that were also taken into account in the creation of LEIFIchemie," explains Prof. Dr. Katharina Scheiter, who is responsible for the project at IWM. She also welcomes the initiative for LEIFIchemie in her role as Senior Fellow in the Joachim Herz Foundation's "Kolleg Didaktik:digital."

"The idea of LEIFIchemie is to offer a portal for teachers where they can download high-quality teaching materials," adds Katharina Scheiter. In the long term, LEIFIchemie could also become the basis for new research projects to improve the development and distribution of digital materials for science education in schools. In this way, the successful cooperation with Sascha Schanze, who heads the LEIFIchemie project, can also be continued.

Are robots stealing jobs from employees in industrial production? Many employers are confronted with their employees’ fears when it comes to the introduction of new technologies. Close cooperation between research and practice on this issue can not only contribute to the economic success of companies, but also indirectly increase employee satisfaction. Nora Hampel demonstrates this in her dissertation titled „When digital technologies enter the factory – Improving blue-collar workers’ attitudes towards new technologies.“ At Daimler AG, the PhD student has spent the last three years researching which strategies can contribute to a positive attitude of employees towards the implementation of new technologies in the company. 

25 percent of all psychological papers on the topic of conspiracy theories were published in 2020. The fact that the topic is currently shaping research so strongly is due to its social relevance: As a result of the Corona pandemic and the presidency of Donald Trump, conspiracy narratives have become part of wide areas of social discourse.

"For us, the boom in this research field means that we urgently need to exchange ideas about research on this explosive topic," says Prof. Dr. Kai Sassenberg, head of the Social Processes lab. No sooner said than done: On November 18 and 19, his lab, in cooperation with Matthew Hornsey from the University of Queensland, hosted the international online conference “Social implications of conspiracy theories” - a so-called Small Group Meeting - supported by the European Association of Social Psychology.

However, there is no question of "small": A total of 30 contributions from scientists from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Israel, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, France, Norway and Greece were selected from more than 50 submissions. With about 80 participants the conference was a huge success. "The international exchange with our colleagues was exciting. We had the chance to learn what approaches and results they have found on the emergence, dissemination, but of course also on the prevention and containment of conspiracy theories," say Lotte Pummerer and Dr. Kevin Winter from the organizing committee.

How do you calculate the oxygen content of water? How does the European Union work? These and many other questions are addressed in countless videos on various internet platforms, the most prominent of which is YouTube. But how do people actually use these educational videos? In the context of an interdisciplinary research project, scientists at the Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) and the TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology have now gained first insights into when and why users of online video platforms push the pause button. “This essentially depends on two factors,“ explains IWM researcher Prof. Dr. Markus Huff. The head of the IWM’s Knowledge Exchange lab notes that “a frequent use of the pause button can be observed at particularly complicated passages and between different content sequences in the videos.” In contrast, the formal video structure, such as edits and graphic design elements on the video platform, did not affect viewing behaviour.

The study findings can not only be incorporated into the conceptional design of educational videos. Moreover, for their study, the researchers relied on anonymised usage data from real applications and not on data from controlled experimental settings in order to obtain the most authentic picture of viewing behaviour possible. In the future, this approach can help shed light on further questions concerning the natural viewing behaviour of users.

You can find further information in our press release.

IWM doctoral student Lara Wolfers becomes Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam. Even though she only recently submitted her dissertation, she won the competitive application process directly. The communication scientist attributes her remarkable success primarily to the perfect thematic fit. At the IWM, her research focused on media use within families, particularly parental smartphone use and its effects. She will continue her research on this topic in the Netherlands in the working group "Youth & Media Entertainment", focusing primarily on entertainment media. She particularly appreciates that in her new position, which is comparable to a junior professorship in Germany, she can develop her research activities independently and autonomously. 

However, there is more to taking this major career step directly after completing her doctorate than just finding the right topic. She also attributes the good starting opportunities to the IWM: "It is a good experience that at the end of a doctorate at the IWM you feel that you are competitive for positions that open the way to an academic career," Lara Wolfers finds.

Prof. Dr. Yvonne Kammerer has accepted a call from the Hochschule der Medien (HdM) in Stuttgart. Since 1 September, she has been working there as a professor for Information and Communication Psychology at the Faculty of Information & Communication. In this function, she is also co-responsible for the study programme Information Design. Interdisciplinarity lies at the heart of her new job, as research and teaching span across the fields of design, psychology, computer science and linguistics. This is reflected both in the subject areas covered in the courses and in the composition of the professors. "To me, this makes the study programme particularly attractive. I am therefore very much looking forward to the interdisciplinary exchange, just as I’m already used to from my work at the IWM and the projects I’ve been involved in," says Yvonne Kammerer.

Her scientific career has been closely linked to the IWM as early as 2003: First as a student assistant and later as a doctoral student in the Multimodal Interaction lab, where she completed her PhD in 2011 and has since stayed on as a postdoc. Even though she is looking forward to the new challenges, Yvonne Kammerer is having a hard time saying goodbye to the institute after all these years: "I am very grateful to the IWM for all the instructive years and hope to continue cooperating with the institute in the future."

Dr. Lara Ditrich, researcher in the IWM’s Social Processes lab, was selected for the Margarete von Wrangell Programme. The programme is considered one of the most competitive funding schemes for excellent female junior researchers in Germany and aims to support women on their path to a professorship.

Baden-Württemberg's universities submitted 68 applications, only ten of which made it to the final round. The fellowship provides Lara Ditrich with a five-year permanent employment and offers all fellows a platform for scientific exchange, such as at the Nobel Laureate Meeting, where they are given the opportunity to meet the world’s brightest minds.

As part of her habilitation, Lara Ditrich will investigate the role emotions play for collective action, for example, protest participation.

ESocial polarization is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. This dynamic is fuelled by the current media landscape, which encourages the spread of disinformation. Against this backdrop, researchers from interdisciplinary scientific fields presented and discussed their findings on these topics at the IWM’s symposium "Belief Polarization."

Three keynotes by renowned scientists formed the highlight of the three-day event. The lecture by the Australian cognitive psychologist and professor at the University of Bristol, Stephan Lewandowsky, was particularly well received. His keynote focused on the influence of social media on political participation: because nowadays, the dissemination of information is regulated less and less by media companies and increasingly via direct communication between politicians and citizens.

The participants engaged in a lively discussion on these current developments. In doing so, they highlighted the fact that polarization is not primarily attached to topics but sheer group affiliation. “This essentially means that many people no longer merely reject certain contents, but rather refuse to accept those contents altogether if they are presented by the ‘wrong’ group,’ explains PD Dr. Jürgen Buder, who was involved in organising the symposium. Moreover, it was also debated how effective various measures are in curbing polarization. Jürgen Buder adds that "the extent to which external measures, such as regulations or technical means, as well as an improved education of citizens, are helpful was a particularly central topic of the conference."

 The international symposium hosted by the IWM and the University of Tübingen took place from 4 to 6 October. The recordings of the keynotes are available here.

As an expert in the field of computer-supported collaborative learning, Prof. Dr Ulrike Cress is a member of the editorial board of the "International Handbook of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning" (CSCL), which was published in September. With this publication, the IWM director and three other renowned scientists closed a gap in the scientific literature: the handbook is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the research spectrum in the field of computer-supported cooperative learning. "I am pleased that we have succeeded in combining the very diverse streams of CSCL research in an international compendium”, says Ulrike Cress. All 34 chapters were written by internationally renowned authors. They provide a comprehensive picture of the current theoretical and methodological approaches in CSCL research. The handbook targets both newcomers and experienced researchers in the field.

 The handbook is published by Springer-Verlag and is available both in print and as a digital publication.

From 4 to 6 October, an interdisciplinary symposium organised by the IWM and the University of Tübingen brings together renowned experts from all over the world to share their insights on topics such as opinion polarization, fake news mechanisms or conspiracy theories. The aim is not only to understand these phenomena, but also to develop practical solutions to the challenges they pose.

The following keynotes of the "Belief Polarization" symposium will be streamed live and are open to the public:

Monday, 4. October, 11:00 am: 
„From agenda-setting to furtive manipulation: The role of (social) media in political polarization”
Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol, Australia

Tuesday, 5. Oktober, 9:00 am: 
„Investigating Social Dynamics in the Digital Era: A Data-driven Approach”
Fabiana Zollo, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy

Tuesday, 5. Oktober, 16:00 am: 
„Confronting Digital Challenges with Cognitive Tools”
Ralph Hertwig, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany

All further information can be found here.

What was part of the everyday life of all scientists two years ago is now a cause for special joy: The IWM was represented by a total of seven people at the Media Psychology in Aachen last week. Lara Wolfers, Stefanie Ritz, Franziska Gaiser, Dr. Christine Anderl and Prof. Dr. Sonja Utz from the junior research group Social Media presented their research results on-site at the poster sessions, while Fritz Becker from the lab Knowledge Exchange participated remotely.

In addition, Dr. Dominik Neumann presented his new research project on the topic of "Morality in Social Media" in a so-called position paper. The project aims to investigate how people construct their moral foundations and what role information and opinions conveyed via social media play in this process. "We know quite a lot about how information is spread on social media and what factors contribute to a topic going viral. However, we know much less about which cognitive processes take place inside the individual when, for example, posts are read in which moral questions play a role," says Dr. Dominik Neumann about the rationale behind his project.

Should researchers be able to successfully gain insights into how people process information and statements shared via social media, new opportunities for mediation could be unlocked: instead of contributing to the polarisation of a topic, posts containing moral issues could be designed to keep avenues for exchange and discussion open. Following the lecture, the international audience, which participated both on-site and via digital means, engaged in a lively discussion on the topic. Prof. Dr. Sonja Utz was pleased about her first on-site conference in a long time. Summing up the experience, she said "it was great to finally meet many colleagues again in presence and to exchange ideas in person. An all-around successful event."

Scientific findings have increasingly become the focus of public interest. Behind supposedly simple results are usually complex research processes that are often difficult for non-professionals to comprehend. Nevertheless, an understanding of research processes is vital for an accurate interpretation of their results. So how can scientific research processes be communicated better? This is the question that Hannah Greving and Joachim Kimmerle from the Knowledge Construction Lab at the IWM are investigating in their sub-project "VideT: Fragility and Credibility of Scientific Findings", which is part of the interdisciplinary joint project "VideT: Communicating the Research Process - a Video-based Transfer Tool for Pupils."

"The overall project aims to develop and create videos that can be used to communicate scientific research processes in student labs and schools," says Hannah Greving about the new project. The IWM's focus is primarily on researching the effects of these videos. "At the IWM, we are taking a closer look at how different video formats and thematic orientations of the videos affect the perception of the fragility of scientific findings as well as the credibility of the researchers."

The interdisciplinary project is funded over a period of three years by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and combines different research perspectives: In addition to the IWM, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) in Kiel, the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and the Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) are involved as collaborating partners.

Despite a rise in Covid-19 cases, the number of daily administered vaccinations is declining because many people are still sceptical about immunisation. One factor that can lead to such a vaccine refusal is the influence of conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines, which are circulating on social media. In cooperation with the University of Queensland (Australia), IWM researchers were, for the first time, able to gain insights into how the negative influence of conspiracy theories on vaccination intentions could be reduced. "The crucial factor is the social environment," says project leader Dr Kevin Winter, research associate in the Social Processes lab at the IWM. If friends and family signal positive attitudes and expectations, even people who are otherwise sceptical about vaccinations are more willing to get vaccinated.

Having said that, even a conducive social environment will most likely not be able to convince everyone. In assessing the study results, Winter acknowledges that "people who fundamentally reject vaccinations or are already deeply immersed in a conspiratorial worldview are probably difficult to reach.” Nevertheless, talking to acquaintances and relatives who express such concerns at an early stage could not only counteract the spread of conspiracy theories but also increase their willingness to get vaccinated.

You can find more information in the press release.

As of 1 July, companies in Germany no longer have to offer a remote working option, but many employees have mixed feelings when thinking about returning to the office. IWM researchers PD Dr. Annika Scholl and Prof. Dr. Kai Sassenberg look at this transition from a psychological perspective.

While some are looking forward to more opportunities for personal exchange and less screen time, others fear the loss of working independently. In addition, people and companies have changed their way of working in the pandemic. "The sum of these changes suggests that the return may not naturally be smooth. If employees expect that everything will be the same as it was before the pandemic, unpleasant surprises and disappointments can arise," says Prof. Dr. Kai Sassenberg.

Together with PD Dr. Annika Scholl, he has published an article on this topic in the online magazine wissensdialoge.de, of which Scholl is the managing editor and co-founder. The most important thing for the two researchers is a good preparation of the transition phase. "Workshops or events can make the return to the office meaningful. Explicit and revisable agreements also help to avoid conflicts and disappointments when it comes to new norms such as not shaking hands anymore," recommends Annika Scholl. Nevertheless, the end of remote work will not go along with returning to the old normality. To cope well with this situation, people need one thing above all: time to get back together.

After its early exit from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Germany as a football nation could face the next disappointment at the UEFA Euro 2020. In this case, researchers from the IWM and the University of Tübingen can offer some tips for crisis communication: bad news on social media elicits fewer angry reactions by fans when posted by the players.

After the 2018 FIFA World Cup exit, the researchers investigated how fans reacted to Facebook posts by the DFB team and the individual players Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller. "Although Neuer and the DFB posted an identical statement after the defeat, Neuer received significantly fewer angry emojis than the DFB team. Müller received fewer negative reactions than the team, but more than Neuer," said the head of the study Prof. Dr. Sonja Utz.

The fact that the players were rated more positively by the fans than the team was also reflected in additionally collected questionnaire data. This can be explained by the so-called parasocial relationships between fans and football players. This term refers to people's relationship with media personalities, such as fans with their football idols. The closer the fan-player relationship is in good times, the milder the fans' reaction after a lost game. Nevertheless, no matter how good the crisis communication is, a game won is always the better option.

During the pandemic, many decisions with far-reaching consequences had to be made. Algorithms could have helped in making these. Researchers at the IWM in collaboration with the German University of Freiburg have now discovered that citizens generally do not object to the use of algorithm-based advice by those in responsible positions - as long as a human is the final decision-maker.

Various COVID-19-related decision scenarios were presented to the study participants. The distribution of ventilators among COVID-19 patients was considered the most morality-laden scenario. Decisions about financial support for suffering businesses or curfew rules for members of risk groups were presumed less severe and therefore less moral-laden. The result: In general, people had positive attitudes towards human-algorithm teaming – as long as a human has the final say.

Another important insight arose from the various perspectives the study participants took. They either had to imagine themselves in the role of the decision-maker or the person affected by the decision. For the most moral-laden scenario, a clear effect could be seen. “In the role of the physician, the study participants were more willing to get an initial assessment from an algorithm than when they imagined being the patient about whom the decision was being made,” said Prof. Dr. Sonja Utz. The IWM researcher is heading the study as part of the Tübingen Excellence Cluster “Machine Learning: New Perspectives for the Sciences.”

For more information, please refer to our press release.

Virtual and digital aspects are playing an increasingly important role for museums, as well. For example, materials scientists often no longer work on real samples, but are much more concerned with digital image data output from high-precision measuring instruments. New exhibition and education formats for digital exhibits are therefore now the subject of a scientific cooperation among the IWM, the German Maritime Museum - Leibniz Institute of Maritime History (DSM), and the University of Bremen.

In the joint project entitled "Digital Materialities. Virtual and Analogue Forms of Exhibition," selected objects from the DSM collection will be recorded using state-of-the-art measuring technology such as CT scanners and spectrographs and thus made visible and tangible in a new way. An image of a submarine model, for example, has already been taken with a 3D x-ray microscope in order to investigate which aspects of an object can only be experienced and analyzed through digitization. The cognitive process between observer, object, and the object's "digital twin" is also explored in the lab and museum context.

The project’s findings will be highly transferable for similar interdisciplinary projects and for experimental applications in standard exhibitions. A travelling exhibition with both analog and digital formats is planned starting in 2024.

The spread of the Corona virus and the resulting restrictions led to an increased awareness and reporting on conspiracy theories. Scientists from the IWM in Tübingen in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen investigated the influence these theories have on society and the fight against the corona virus.

In this recently published study, the researchers found that even confronting people with conspiracy theories can have negative societal consequences: Trust in state institutions and the support of governmental measures declines, as does the adaptation of physical distancing. "Remarkable here was that the effects were not only found in subjects who already believed in conspiracy theories, but also in other subjects, only after reading about a fictitious conspiracy theory," explained the initiator of the study Lotte Pummerer, who is a research associate in the Social Processes lab at the IWM.

Link to study: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506211000217

Researching scientific topics on the internet, one often encounters contradictory information due to developing science, lack of quality control of online media or even misinformation. Especially for laypersons who do not have access to the necessary prior knowledge, it is often difficult to understand and evaluate contradictory claims. 

In his dissertation, Steffen Gottschling, who is a research associate in the Multimodal Interaction lab at the IWM, investigated how laypersons can be supported in evaluating information and which role the perceived trustworthiness of sources plays in this process. The research results show: The more credible a source, the greater the agreement with its claims. "As there is a huge amount of conflicting information and misinformation circulating on the internet, source evaluation is an increasingly important skill for scientific literacy and communication," explained Steffen Gottschling after his successful dissertation defense on March 12, 2021.

What factors lead to successful education in a digital world and how can the quality of teaching be ensured? These questions were the focus of this year's educational research conference, which was held by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and took place on March 9 and 10. The online event was attended by Dr. Anne Thillosen and Marcel Capparozza, two IWM researchers representing the meta project “Digitisation in the Fields of Education" (Digi-EBF).

In collaboration with researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen and from projects of the BMBF funding line “Digitisation in Education”, the two IWM scientists organised and led a forum on the topic of "Challenges and Perspectives of Teacher Education in a Digitally Shaped World”, in which participants from academia and practice discussed issues related to the education and training of teachers.

Teacher training courses which had to be designed and offered as online events on very short notice in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic were a topic of discussion. "All participants agreed that these formats have a lot of potential that must also be used in the future. At the same time, little is known about the conception of online formats in teacher training courses from an empirical perspective”, said Marcel Capparozza, who is conducting research at IWM as part of the meta project on digitisation in teacher education.

Dr. Anne Thillosen, scientific head of of the meta project at the IWM, discussed with another group the hypothesis that media didactics should be a mandatory part of teacher education. Despite the participants' fundamental agreement with this idea, it quickly became apparent in the discussion that opinions differed widely as to which competencies prospective teachers or students should possess. "That's exactly why this discussion is so important. And that's exactly what we want to contribute with the IWM online platform e-teaching.org and its associated dialogue and expert forums”, said Anne Thillosen.

Creating optimal research conditions to combat widespread diseases is a key concern of the German Centers for Health Research funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The University Hospital and the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen, together with other Tübingen cooperation partners, are going to take on the establishment of the new German Center for Mental Health. That was announced yesterday by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

As part of the research network, the IWM will also contribute to expand psychotherapy research and provide innovative ways to communicate new research findings to the public. After all, digital media are already applied in different parts of the healthcare sector: "They can provide in-depth training for physicians and therapists or support the doctor-patient relationship”, explained Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress, Executive Director at the IWM. "We look forward to working with the other research partners to use the potential of knowledge media across the spectrum of mental health and therapies”, she stated.

In the past, there have already been numerous cooperation projects with the University Hospital Tübingen, for example as part of the Leibniz Science Campus Tübingen (WCT) as well as other BMBF- and DFG-funded projects. Among other projects, computer interfaces have been developed for a variety of medical purposes and studied with respect to doctor-patient communication, interprofessional collaboration in health care, and medical education. In addition, the use of social networks to educate patients and VR interfaces that can be used in therapies were explored.

Over the next six months, the cooperation partners involved will develop implementation concepts. The Federal Ministry of Research stated that the funding phase, in which the federal and state governments participate, will then begin.

In many medical situations, there is not just one possible treatment method from a scientific point of view. Instead, there are several possibilities. Physicians must then work together with their patients to find the best solution, taking into account the patients’ personal wishes and preferences. This process is called Shared Decision Making (SDM) and can be very challenging for both parties.

In her dissertation, which she successfully defended on January 20, 2021, Marie Eggeling researched which factors play a role in SDM and which measures could help to improve participatory decision making. In four experimental studies, she examined both formal and substantive aspects of decision aids, patient-physician communication, and the utility of narrated patient experiences for health care professionals. "In the process, we found that patient safety and satisfaction improved with the use of decision support tools, while the communication of factual information in particular played a key role," Eggeling stated. In addition, physician recommendations also strongly influenced participants' decisions, but did not increase decision confidence. "Our results suggest that both direct patient support, for example in the form of decision aids, and training of healthcare professionals may be helpful to optimally support patients in decision making in the future," she said following her successful dissertation defense.

To successfully convey knowledge, textbooks and digital learning environments often present complex subject matter using text and pictures. While the effectiveness of text-picture combinations is already well researched, little is known about how these two elements are processed. Dr. Anne Schüler, deputy head of the Multiple Representations lab at the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, is addressing this research gap in a new project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project was launched in January.

Empirical research shows that the combination of text and pictures often leads to better learning results than if the information is presented only as a text. The explanation given is that learners actively select relevant pieces of information and link them mentally. However, previous research findings suggest that additional cognitive processes such as the validation and reactivation of information could play a key role when learning with text-picture combinations. The validation mechanism checks whether the link between information presented in the text and picture makes sense based on general knowledge and the specific context, while in contrast, the reactivation mechanism reactivates information that is no longer currently in the working memory but is necessary to establish connections. Typically, these two cognitive processes are passive, that is, they occur automatically. Dr. Anne Schüler’s research team therefore aims to discover whether these kinds of automatic reactivation and validation processes also take place when learning with text-picture combinations.