The new year also brings changes to the IWM committees. There are two new faces on both the Executive Board and the Scientific Advisory Board.

Prof Dr Stephan Schwan, head of the Realistic Depictions research group, held the position of Deputy Executive Director at the IWM Executive Board almost since the institute was founded. His last term of office ended in 2024. "I would like to express my sincere thanks for his commitment and contribution. It has always been a great pleasure to steer the fortunes of the IWM together with him as a partner in our three-member Executive Board – thank you very much!" said IWM Director Prof Dr Ulrike Cress.

Stephan Schwan's successor will be Prof Dr Markus Huff (right), Head of the Perception and Action lab. ‘We are looking forward to working together and to the fact that Markus Huff will be focussing more on the interests and promotion of young IWM researchers, among other things. As he is already Chairman of the PhD Committee and is also networked in various committees at the University's Department of Psychology, he will be able to fulfil this task on the Executive Board in the best possible way,’ Ulrike Cress and Executive Board Member Dr Robert Polgar are pleased to say.

There was also a change to the IWM Advisory Board at the turn of the year. Prof Dr Tamara van Gog has stepped down - Prof Dr Jan Plass (left) will be a new member of the Advisory Board from 2025. He holds the Chair of Digital Media and Learning Sciences at New York University, is Founding Director of the CREATE Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education and Co-Director of the Games for Learning Institute. Jan Plass draws from a broad range of fields, including cognitive science, learning sciences, computer science, and design, to conceptualize, implement, and study new and more effective ways of learning with digital technologies, especially for underserved communities. ‘We are delighted to have Jan Plass, an extremely competent and productive scientist, as a member of the Advisory Board,’ says Ulrike Cress about the new addition. ‘We already held him in high regard as a member of the advisory board of the WissenschaftsCampus ‘Cognitive Interfaces’.’

For Dr. Helen Fischer, member of the IWM's Perception and Action Lab, the year 2024 ended with fantastic news:: Her application to the Heisenberg Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been approved. The programme is considered prestigious and competitive, as it is only open to highly qualified researchers with particularly outstanding scientific achievements. It offers researchers who meet all the requirements to be appointed to a permanent professorship an ideal platform to advance their own scientific research programme. Therefore it offers various formats, including the well-known Heisenberg professorship, but also a Heisenberg position or a Heisenberg fellowship.

In terms of content, her application was aimed at expanding her research into the topic of metacognition - the ability to critically assess one's own knowledge and thinking. She is particularly interested in the question of what role metacognition plays in forming opinions on politicised scientific topics such as climate change or Covid-19. Her work provides important insights into how people evaluate scientific information and make decisions.

The DFG reviewers particularly emphasised Helen Fischer's exceptional academic productivity, which is especially impressive in light of her motherhood of two children. Her Google Scholar profile documents 19 publications in peer-reviewed journals, two handbook articles and several preprints in the last five years alone. ‘Being accepted into the Heisenberg Programme is a great opportunity for me to further expand my research under very comfortable and free conditions,’ says Helen Fischer.

We have gathered knowledge, organized data, and shared important insights – none of which would have been possible without your inspiring and constructive support. Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and an exciting start to the New Year, full of anticipation for new discoveries!

Psychologist Jessica Kathmann, who is earning  her doctorate in Prof. Dr Peter Gerjets' Multimodal Interaction lab on learning with digital games, will receive funding for two years, starting in the winter semester, 2024-2025.   from the Mathilde Planck Lectureship Programme.

The programme  supports young female academics on their way to a professorship at a university of applied sciences and is funded by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts.   It will pay for a lectureship and accompanying framework programmes.

Jessica Kathmann has already had considerable  teaching experience at several universities, including the SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg and Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences. From the winter semester onwards, she will be teaching the subjects ‘Psychology for Game Developers’ and ‘Edutainment’ as part of the ‘Virtual Worlds & Game Technologies’ degree programme at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences.  Her focus will be on motivational processes in gaming and learning.

Further information: Mathilde Planck Teaching Assignment Programme / website in German: Mathilde-Planck-Lehrauftragsprogramm

The Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) took part once again this year in the Science & Innovation Days 2024 in Tübingen. As part of the event,  a science slam was held at the institute on November 15, which attracted numerous visitors.

The participating scientists spoke entertainingly, vividly and with a  dash of humour for 10 minutes each about their research topics related to this year's SIDays motto, ‘Arguing better’.

Four IWM scientists competed against each other: Dr. Jürgen Buder, Dr. Helen Fischer, Dr. Tjark Müller and Reena Pauly. The audience voted Tjark Müller the best slammer (see image 12). The event was moderated by Dr. Danny Flemming.

The first online event organized by schule-mal-digital.de and the Zukunftsraum on the topic "The School of the Future – What Role Could Augmented and Virtual Reality Play?" has taken place, and the recording of the event is now available for interested parties. The event was part of the "Community Call" series, hosted by the competence network lernen:digital. Around 40 participants, including researchers, teachers, and educational administration representatives, joined the event on November 6, 2024, to discuss the potential and requirements of immersive technologies in education with experts Florian Brückner, Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets, and Nicola Przybylka.

In addition to insights from research and school practice on current developments involving VR and AR in the school context, discussions also focused on experiences regarding motivation, best practices, the role of pedagogically meaningful settings, and the production of educational VR/AR applications. The current state of research and the accompanying research gaps were also critically examined.

A Productive Discussion
Florian Brückner, a vocational schoolteacher for electrical engineering and social studies at the Vocational School Center in Kronach and project manager at the Stiftung Bildungspakt Bayern, highlighted the importance of clear use cases: "The definition of a clear use case is essential: VR/AR should not be seen by learners as just a gimmick. We need a clear, subject-related, curricular connection. Only then can a VR/AR application be successful."

The Future with VR and AR
Looking ahead, the discussion focused on how VR and AR could evolve in the next 10 to 20 years, considering opportunities, such as more immersive, hands-on learning experiences, as well as challenges, such as the need for teacher training and critical handling of risks and ethical concerns.

Opportunities and Challenges
Peter Gerjets, Professor of Learning Research at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and head of the Multimodal Interaction research group at IWM, provided an illustration of opportunity: "Of course, I learn something if I float through the ISS in a 360-degree sphere: I learn what it might feel like to float in space. But no school test would assess that – it's not standard declarative or procedural school knowledge. But I think it’s certainly valuable knowledge!"

Nicola Przybylka, research associate in the project "DigiProSMK – Digitalization-related and digitally supported professional development of sports, music, and arts teachers" at the competence network lernen:digital at the University of Duisburg-Essen, pointed out an example of the challenges: "The experiences you gain with AR and VR can be emotionally challenging. If they're marketed as harmless fun, important ethical dimensions might be overlooked."

Recording Now Available Online
For those who couldn’t attend the online event live and want to learn more, the recording of the event is available on the event page of schule-mal-digital.de. You can also find further contributions on the topic of learning and teaching with Augmented and Virtual Reality.

In his dissertation, which he successfully defended on November 6, Georg Pardi, a doctoral student in the Multimodal Interaction lab, investigated what determines whether people select a video or a text as the result of their web search in the hit list.

His doctoral thesis focuses on the question of the extent to which the knowledge type someone is searching for, influences the modality of the search result, i.e. whether someone selects a video or a text as a result. 

“A classic type of knowledge that people search for is procedural knowledge. Examples of this are 'how to' questions, such as 'How do I tie a figure-eight knot?’. Another type is declarative knowledge, which is often asked with 'what', for example 'What is direct current?”, explains Georg Pardi.

The result of his investigation: the type of knowledge has a significant effect on the preference for certain modalities - but does not fully explain the choice of modality. The degree of spatio-temporal change contained in a task also plays a role. Or as Georg Pardi explains “When it comes to explaining how a figure-eight knot is tied, this explanation contains a lot of elements that we call spatio-temporal changes: ‘First down, then through the loop, then up again, etc.’”. The degree of these expected spatio-temporal changes significantly influences the decision to prefer a certain modality.

Georg Pardi's work contributes to a better understanding of search processes in web use, to increasing their predictability and thus to communicating knowledge more effectively in the long term.

On October 24 to 25, the INTERACT! workshop took place at the Kunstmuseum Bochum, bringing together international experts to discuss interaction with intelligent systems. The title of the workshop was "Interaction with Intelligent Systems: The Significance of Scripts, Fiction, and Imagination." The focus was on ethical and philosophical questions surrounding technologies like chatbots and voice assistants.

On the second day of the event, IWM scientist Prof. Sonja Utz gave a presentation titled "Credibility of Language-Based Agents: The Influence of Social Presence and Social Roles." She shared the work of the Everyday Media research group on the credibility of ChatGPT and other voice assistants, as well as initial findings from a cross-group longitudinal study in collaboration with the Human-Machine Interaction Group. A key finding of that research: Information is perceived as more credible when it is presented in a dialogue format, which creates a sense of social presence.

Never before have people collected more data about their lives than they do today. But what impact does this have on memory? A research team from the University of Würzburg and the Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media (IWM) in Tübingen have examined how digital self-recording influences autobiographical memory.

A hundred years ago, most people owned only a few photos of themselves and their families. Today, almost every moment can be captured – from a child's first steps to a holiday snap on the beach. In addition, there are countless digital traces in emails, social media posts, or fitness data.

The field of research to which the scientists, including Prof. Stephan Schwan, head of the IWM Realistic Depictions research group, have dedicated themselves has barely been explored until now. Regarding memory in the digital age, both opportunities and risks have emerged. For instance, digital recordings can assist people in everyday life and preserve important memories. On the other hand, they also open up possibilities for manipulation, for example through deepfakes, which could play a role not only in politics but also in personal memories.

The team has now published an overview of their research findings in the renowned journal Psychological Inquiry. A current press release summarises the key results.

On June 21, 2024, the 2nd AI Symposium took place at the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien. The event examined in detail how initial expectations and concerns regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools have developed and how the current status can be described. In addition, the focus was on the opportunities and challenges of teaching and learning with AI for the future.

The event was jointly organized by the ZSL Regional Office Tübingen, the IWM, the TüCeDE (Tübingen Center for Digital Education), the KI Makerspace and the Regierungspräsidium Tübingen.

Subject-specific panels: natural sciences, languages, social sciences and aesthetic subjects

A particular highlight of the symposium were the four subject-specific panels, which were organized in close cooperation between ZSL subject advisors and didactic experts from the University of Tübingen. Months of preparatory work and organization by the Future Innovation Hub of the MINT ProNeD project under the direction of Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets resulted in these panels, which examined the use of generative AI in the form of adapted (custom) GPTs in eight different school subjects.

The results were presented in the form of panels on the natural sciences, languages, social sciences and aesthetic subjects. The collected subject-specific findings were presented in the individual panels, discussed with teachers, and presented to the students. The 2nd AI Symposium thus provided a valuable platform for evaluating the current status of AI use in specific subjects and developing forward-looking perspectives for teaching and learning with AI.

Project presentations at the "Market of Opportunities"

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In addition, various projects on "Teaching and learning with and about AI" were presented with posters and demo stands as part of the one-hour "Market of Opportunities". Among other things, members of the e-teaching transfer working group collected questions from participants on the digital future of schools. Answers from experts will soon be published in the new "Future Room" of the learning:digital competence network at https://lernen.digital/.
Further information on the AI symposium can be found on the MINT-ProNeD website.

In this application period, two IWM researchers were accepted into the Leibniz Mentoring Programme: Dr. Thérése Eder (le.) from the former Leibniz Research Group Digitalisation and Education and Dr. Ayse Simsek (ri.) from the Perception and Action lab. With this program, which is being launched for the tenth time this year, the Leibniz Association offers excellent female researchers with doctorates support on their way to a management position or professorship.
 
‘I applied for Leibniz Mentoring because I think the programme offers ideal support for my further development and prepares me for the challenges of being a leader in science’, says Dr. Thérése Eder. She also hopes that mentoring will provide her the impetus to reconcile her academic career and family responsibilities and to take a concrete approach to career planning, which often comes up short in everyday life.  Dr. Ayse Simsek is also looking forward to the exchange with the mentors, which is one of the pillars of the programme: ‘My goal is to hold a faculty position in a respected research university. To achieve it, the exchange with someone who has already been through this academic journey will certainly help me grow as a scientist to reach this goal,’ says the postdoc.

Organisational psychologist Marisa Tschopp successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the end of april. She is an associate scientist at the IWM and also works for Scip AG, an IT service and consulting company based in Zurich. In her dual roles, she investigates how people perceive their interactions with conversational AI, specifically in the area of voice shopping, and how these perceptions affect their behaviour.

Her dissertation applies A.P. Fiske's theory of relational models to examine the human-machine dynamic. Through her research, she identifies three primary modes that characterise the relationship with AI, each with different implications for consumer purchasing behaviour. In particular, she highlights the significance of the social aspect and the importance of user-friendly design in shaping a positive user experience.

Reflecting on her achievement after the successful defence, Marisa Tschopp expressed her satisfaction: "Completing my dissertation is an important milestone for me and our organisation. In the dynamic field of AI, it's crucial to delve deeply into the subject matter, engaging in both rigorous scientific research and meaningful dialogue with people who are not experts in the field. Through my work, we aim not only to equip our clients for the challenges ahead in AI, but also to better prepare ourselves".

• Assistant Professor Minha Lee (Eindhoven University) discussed the design of voice agents to express moral emotions and addressed the attribution of blame or punishment to these agents.
• Prof. Dr. Nils Köbis (Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security & University of Duisburg-Essen) presented research on how AI influences human ethical behaviour, showing that people are more likely to make unethical decisions when guided by AI or when they entrust decisions to AI.
• Prof. Dr. Detmar Meurers , who took up a professorship in AI in Education at the IWM in April, shed light on the role of AI in language acquisition, particularly in foreign language learning. He emphasised that while AI alone cannot solve problems due to its lack of insight into learners and their goals, the development of targeted and adaptable AI tools offers significant opportunities.
  
  

As an educational researcher, Professor Cress has long been involved in studying the impact of digitalisation on cognitive processes. She believes that it is a key social responsibility to equip people to navigate our increasingly digital world. Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann praised her work in his award speech on 19 April: "Her research is essential for our knowledge-based society, especially in the areas of learning, teaching and information dissemination."

Education research with a practical focus
Prof. Cress emphasises the importance of research in identifying how digital tools can enhance knowledge processes and in addressing the challenges posed by digitalisation. She also stresses that research shouldn't exist in a vacuum but should actively contribute to practical improvements. With success: Her research into the impact of digital media and artificial intelligence on knowledge processes has directly influenced practical applications and improvements.

Influencing the academic landscape
Beyond her research, Prof Cress plays a key role in advising education policy as a member of the Standing Scientific Commission of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK). In addition, her involvement in organisations such as the Deutsche Telekom Foundation and the Academic Advisory Board of the German Literature Archive (DLA) enables her to share her insights for the benefit of the general public. "She leads the discourse on relevant topics of the future, is internationally networked and plays a major role in shaping Baden-Württemberg as a science location and the research landscape in Tübingen," said Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann at the ceremony in the New Palace in Stuttgart on Friday.

"I am truly honoured by this recognition, which underlines the vital role of science in shaping our society," says Prof. Cress. She is grateful to the state of Baden-Württemberg, which had the foresight to establish a research institution on this highly relevant topic back in 2001.
 

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Leibniz Mentoring Programme. Since its launch in 2014, the programme has been open for applications on an annual basis. During this time, IWM women scientists have successfully participated seven times.

Designed as a competitive platform, the Leibniz Association aims to support outstanding female postdoctoral researchers and guide them towards leadership positions or professorships. The programme enables these scientists to strategically manage their careers, expand their professional networks and take on leadership responsibilities with confidence. To facilitate these goals, mentees benefit from both a structured mentoring partnership and a comprehensive seminar programme.

More information: Leibniz Mentoring

How are ChatGPT and similar technologies reshaping our professional lives, our daily routines, and our society? Join us for a thought-provoking discussion as top experts explore the profound implications of these advancements. The panel discussion, entitled "The Impact of ChatGPT and Similar Technologies on Individuals and Society", will be held in English at the IWM in Tübingen, and will be live-streamed for remote viewers.

The panel discussion is part of the final conference of the Human-Agent Interaction Network (MAI) at the Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien, to which experts have been invited separately. After four successful years, the event marks the festive conclusion of the network's research activities and brings together experts in the field of Human-Agent Interaction from various disciplines in a poster session and several keynote lectures. The event will conclude with a panel discussion open to the public. To register for the event in person, please email mai-conference@iwm-tuebingen.de by 9 April 2024. A livestream will also be available on the IWM YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@IWMtue

About the Panel Discussion:
Title: "The Impact of ChatGPT and Similar Technologies on Individuals and Society"
Language: English
Panellists:
Dr. Anne Scherer (Co-founder of Delta Labs; author of "You & AI: Alles über Künstliche Intelligenz und wie sie unser Leben prägt")
Prof. Dr. Leo van Waveren (Head of the Technical Didactics Working Group at the RPTU)
Dr. Sarah Fischer (Project Manager Digitalisation and Public Good, Bertelsmann Foundation)
Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets (Head of the Multimodal Interaction lab, IWM Tübingen)

Moderation:
Eva Wolfangel, freelance journalist and author

Start: 6 pm

To attend the event in person (with registration):
Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien, Schleichstr. 6, 72076 Tübingen
Please register by email to mai-conference@iwm-tuebingen.de by 9 April 2024.

Via livestream (without registration):
https://www.youtube.com/@IWMtue

About the research network:
Over the past four years, the Human-Agent Interaction research network at the IWM has been investigating the interaction of humans with artificial intelligence and natural language. Eight interdisciplinary projects have been carried out in collaboration with researchers from several universities and institutions, including the Universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart and the German Literature Archive Marbach.

In a joint response to the widely discussed Karolinska Statement, educators and researchers have expressed their opinions in the online magazine "Campus Schulmanagement". Among the contributors are well-known figures from the education sector, including our IWM Director, Prof. Dr Ulrike Cress, and Prof. Dr Peter Gerjets, who leads the Multimodal Interaction lab at the IWM.

The prestigious Karolinska Institute in Sweden, renowned for its work in medicine and health sciences, published a statement in April 2023 that also attracted considerable attention in Germany. The statement highlighted research showing that increased digitalisation in schools, especially through the frequent use of digital devices in the classroom, has a negative impact on students' learning, especially on their concentration and study habits.

Important stimulus, but paints a black and white picture

While acknowledging the Karolinska Statement as a valuable catalyst for discussion, the authors of the response criticise it for oversimplification. They note that the broad reception of the statement in Germany has led to an exaggerated perception of the risks of digitisation, sometimes even leading to calls for a halt to digitisation efforts - a reaction that they argue lacks a scientific basis.

Less digitalisation in German schools? No!

Contrary to calls for less digitalisation in German schools, the authors stress the importance of focusing on the quality, rather than the quantity, of technology use in the classroom. They point to research that demonstrates the potential of digital technologies to enhance learning.
The authors argue for a forward-looking approach, emphasising the need for intelligent use of new technologies. They argue that the discussion should move beyond the mere provision of technology and focus on ensuring successful digital transformation in schools. "In other words, it's not a question of WHETHER, but of HOW successful digital transformation in schools will be."

Education experts warn of two potential short-sighted responses: blindly adopting policies from other countries, and failing to critically evaluate initiatives and projects for evidence and potential impact.

Further Information:

"We should not be distracted by the statement of the Karolinska Institute", a response by Tim Fütterer, Peter Gerjets, Ulrike Cress, Andreas Lachner, Detmar Meurers, Olaf Köller, Frank Fischer, Katharina Scheiter, Ralph Müller-Eiselt, Florian Nuxoll, Patrick Bronner, Bob Blume, Ulrich Trautwein in the online magazine Campus Schulmanagement.

The Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) is contributing its expertise in science communication to "Leibniz Labs", a new initiative of the Leibniz Association to promote inter- and transdisciplinary excellence.

Leibniz Lab "Systemic Sustainability"
With a network of 41 research institutions and 11 research clusters, the "Systemic Sustainability" lab serves as a central hub for knowledge and advice on issues related to biodiversity, climate, agriculture, and food security. It focuses on a critical question: How can we protect biodiversity and tackle climate change while ensuring resilient agricultural practices for food security?
Recognising the urgent need for a more holistic and action-oriented approach to scientific research, the lab emphasises the importance of working with multi-sectoral stakeholders to find transformative solutions to biodiversity, climate, agriculture and food security challenges by integrating scientific knowledge and identifying innovative approaches. In pilot areas in different parts of the world, the lab addresses regional needs and links them to global trends in order to understand complex interrelationships from a holistic perspective and propose appropriate solutions. The lab serves as a link between the relevant scientific communities and promotes the exchange between science and society.

How can information be presented in a way that is accessible and actionable? This is where the IWM will contribute its expertise to the new Leibniz lab "Systemic Sustainability".

"Our goal is to bridge the gap between science and citizens" through successful science communication, says Prof. Dr. Markus Huff, who heads the Perception and Action lab at the IWM.

Leibniz Lab "Pandemic Preparedness"
The "Pandemic Preparedness: One Health, One Future" lab brings together excellent inter- and transdisciplinary expertise from 41 Leibniz Institutes to address the challenges of future pandemics. This lab represents the first collaboration in Germany between pathogen-focused sciences (such as virology, bacteriology, mycology, and immunology) and other life sciences, including ecology, health technologies, health economics and education research. It will be funded with three million euros over three years. The aim is to pool research efforts to provide evidence-based recommendations to policymakers on how to prepare for, prevent and respond to future pandemics.

Dealing with misinformation and information uncertainty is a key concern for this lab. The IWM's expertise will focus on addressing key questions such as: How can scientific evidence be effectively communicated in the dynamic context of a pandemic? How should uncertainty be communicated? And: How can we empower the public to recognise misinformation?

The labs will be officially launched during the Leibniz Association's spring reception on 16 May 2024.

Further information: 
Press release of the Leibniz Association

On Monday, the exhibition "Administration as Crime: The SS-Agency 'Concentration Camps Inspectorate'" was opened in the so-called T-Building in Oranienburg. Also on display: An application for an interactive multimedia table developed by the IWM. The table was presented on site by experts Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets, who heads the Multimodal Interaction lab at the IWM, Laura Peiffer-Siebert and Dr. Tjark Müller.

Bureaucratic history of the Nazi regime

Peter Gerjets explains the background to the project and how the multi-touch table will help visitors understand the content of the exhibition: "Through various empirical studies, we've explored ways to improve the communication of complex content about the bureaucratic history of the Nazi regime. Our aim is to stimulate visitors' interest and at the same time promote an understanding of the central psychological principles and mechanisms underlying the functioning of Nazi administrative structures".

Understanding connections through the multi-touch table 

The T building on Heinrich-Grüber-Platz, which now houses the tax office and the offices of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation, was the headquarters of the 'Concentration Camps Inspectorate' (IKL) from 1938 to 1945. Based in Oranienburg, the IKL oversaw the entire network of concentration camps. The new permanent exhibition explores the elaborate bureaucratic system developed by the IKL to control prisoners in an appalling manner and to determine the training, pay and equipment of the camp staff.

The multi-touch table is the centrepiece of the exhibition. It allows visitors to explore and interpret various documents. This interactive experience helps explain the significance of file numbers, stamps, annotations and signatures, and provides context for visitors.

The exhibition is open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 12:00 and on Tuesdays from 09:00 to 17:00.

Further Information
Sachsenhausen Memorial website: Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum (sachsenhausen-sbg.de)
Media coverage of the exhibition: Berlin & Brandenburg: KZ-Gedenkstätte zeigt "Verwaltung als Verbrechen" - n-tv.de (German only)

The initiative, whose title loosely translates to "TogetherCountry -Diversity Makes Us Strong", has brought together around 500 companies, foundations, associations and research institutions committed to upholding the values of freedom, inclusivity and a culture of hospitality. The campaign was launched by the German newspapers Die ZEIT, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt, WirtschaftsWoche, Tagesspiegel and Ströer.

We at the Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) are also part of the initiative.

For more details, please visit the ZEIT website.

What are the benefits and risks of using ChatGPT and similar technologies in schools? Where is it appropriate to use AI, and does it threaten to replace teachers altogether?

These were some of the questions addressed by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress, Director of the Leibniz Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), in her interview with ARD presenter Sven Lorig in the ARD Morgenmagazin on Friday, 15 March 2024.
Cress highlighted the potential of AI to provide personalised learning experiences tailored to the needs of individual students, noting that "nothing is more boring than being under- or over-challenged in school." By tailoring instruction to each student's abilities, AI has the ability to combat boredom and increase engagement in the classroom.

Personalised learning experiences 
Cress has high hopes that AI will be able to identify each student's individual learning level and provide tailored tasks for each child. But she stresses that while AI has potential, it still needs to be developed to match the precision of existing tutoring systems: "Educational psychology and learning research have been working for a long time to create tutoring systems that are very complex to develop. AI is now approaching the point where it can achieve near-identical performance, but development efforts are still needed."

Will AI make teachers redundant?
In response to concerns that AI will replace teachers when it comes to assessing students, Cress has a clear answer: Teachers will remain essential in the classroom to adaptively support students' learning needs. "Of course, teaching is about more than just assessment," says Cress. It is an event that takes place in the classroom and involves conversation, reflection, thinking, effort - and therefore learning.
AI can support certain aspects as an intelligent tool, but it can never take over the entire teaching process. Cress also stressed the importance of further developing students' writing skills before integrating AI-assisted writing into the curriculum: "A basic level of skill is necessary. Children should practice writing until they reach 7^th or 8^th grade, by which time they are usually proficient. Only then does it make sense to work with AI in writing. This involves learning how to interact effectively with AI by asking it questions - in other words, prompting it."

Concepts are needed 
To ensure the meaningful integration of AI in education, Ulrike Cress emphasised the need for concrete pedagogical concepts and resources to support teachers in the effective use of technologies such as ChatGPT. This is in line with recent recommendations from the Permanent Scientific Commission of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK), of which Cress is a member, which emphasised the potential of large-scale language models in the educational system.

Watch the ARD report and interview with Prof. Cress here:

​Video: KI an der Schule - Morgenmagazin (German only)

Algorithms have the potential to unfairly disadvantage or favour certain groups of people, often due to biased training data.

In two experiments published in a paper in the International Journal of Communication, Professor Sonja Utz and her Everyday Media lab investigated how people perceive bias in algorithms. "We wanted to find out whether women and men differ in how they evaluate an algorithm that discriminates against women," explains Sonja Utz.

In the first group, participants were asked to evaluate an algorithm that unfairly favoured men, while another group evaluated a gender-fair algorithm. Surprisingly, the results showed significant gender differences: In particular, women found the fair algorithm more discriminatory than men.

Women seem to expect algorithms to discriminate 

"Women seem to assume that algorithms often discriminate against women. Whether this is because they read reports about discriminatory algorithms more carefully or because they experience discrimination more often, we cannot tell from this study," says Sonja Utz.
Although men also found the algorithm that favoured men to be discriminatory, this didn’t affect their willingness to accept its use in everyday decision-making.

Second study with an additional unfair algorithm 

In a follow-up study, participants evaluated an additional algorithm that favoured married people, alongside the fair and unfair algorithms from the first experiment. The aim was to see whether participants were more concerned about perpetuating existing biases or about the unfairness itself.
The results showed that men found both unfair algorithms to be more discriminatory than the fair one, while women found the algorithm that favoured married couples to be particularly discriminatory. According to Sonja Utz, "these results suggest that women see a greater danger in algorithms introducing new forms of discrimination into the world."

Link to the article: 
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20806

On  January 31, Dr. Anne Schüler, deputy head of the Multiple Representations lab, successfully cleared the final hurdle in the habilitation process with an oral presentation. The psychologist  discussed the effects of brief contact with nature on cognitive processes.

Anne Schüler's actual research project focused on the question of whether the so-called text-image integration, which the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) considers crucial for a deeper understanding of learning content, actually takes place. In other words, is the assumption correct that when learning with illustrated texts, a mental visual model and a mental verbal model are formed, and that these two models are linked and eventually mentally integrated?

The empirical results of Anne Schüler's work support this assumption. In a total of six studies, she was able to show that text and images are indeed linked and compared during processing, regardless of the length of the illustrated text. An interesting twist is that, contrary to CTML assumptions, the underlying cognitive processes appear to be partly automatic and unconscious. Moreover, the comparison of text and picture seems to be guided by the text itself.

Artificial intelligence, through tools like ChatGPT or voice assistants like Alexa, often simplifies our daily tasks. But our reliance on these innovations is often accompanied by a nagging concern: how much of our (personal) information should we willingly entrust to the powerful algorithms of tech giants like Google and Microsoft?

In her dissertation, which she successfully defended the week before last, Miriam Gieselmann explored the question of when people are willing to share their personal data when interacting with artificial intelligence. Among other things, she examined the extent to which the (perceived) capabilities of the technology being used influence whether or not people are willing to share personal data. The result: When users perceive a certain level of capability in an AI tool, their willingness to share personal data also increases. However, if the perceived capabilities of the AI exceed a critical qualitative threshold - for example, if the AI is able to make cross-domain inferences - the opposite effect may occur.

These reservations about powerful AI extend beyond individuals to decision-makers in professional settings. "We have also observed that decision-makers in the workplace are less inclined to invest in AI systems if the AI has very high capabilities," reports Miriam Gieselmann.

What potential do Large Language Models (LLMs) have for the education sector? This question is explored by a panel of renowned experts in the latest episode of the German-language podcast "Im Dialog. Der IPN Podcast rund um Schule, Bildung und Wissenschaft " released on 1 February 2024.

The recently published white paper "Large Language Models and their Potential in the Education System" by the Standing Scientific Commission (SWK) provides groundbreaking recommendations for the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) in schools. A practical guide on "AI and School" has also been published by the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, offering a wealth of practical insights. In the podcast episode, Jacob Chammon, CEO of the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, Chairman of the SWK from the Leibniz Institute for Science Education and Mathematics Education (IPN), and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress, Director of the Leibniz-Institute für Wissensmedien (IWM) and member of the SWK, discuss "AI and the future of teaching and learning."

During the conversation, they explore the practical applications of LLMs in everyday school life and discuss the challenges of integrating AI into the educational landscape. In addition, the experts outline a strategic roadmap for further digital transformation in the education sector.

You can listen to the podcast (in German) here: „Im Dialog. Der IPN Podcast rund um Schule, Bildung und Wissenschaft“

Work-from-home arrangements, flexible working hours and virtual teams – our working landscape has changed significantly over the past five years. While these changes offer greater flexibility and freedom and are therefore viewed positively by many, "they also introduce a potential increase in uncertainty among employees (followers) about expectations related to their tasks and their relationship with their managers (leaders). These uncertainties could ultimately jeopardise the followers' performance in terms of taking responsibility for and engaging in their tasks," says Dr. Daniel Wroblewski.

In his dissertation, which he successfully defended on 20 December, Wroblewski examined strategies to counteract the potential negative effects of these new working models. His research highlights the importance of maintaining consistent communication between leaders and followers, whether through digital channels or face-to-face interactions, as such interactions positively influence employee performance by increasing clarity and perceived ownership of tasks. In addition, positive perceptions of leaders' commitment and goal orientation have a positive impact on overall work outcomes. In summary, Wroblewski suggests that remote managers can positively influence employee performance with minimal effort.