The Knowledge Construction Lab deals with the analysis of processes of individual learning in interaction with collective knowledge construction, in which a group jointly uses interactive digital media to develop and process new knowledge. In particular, the group deals with knowledge construction in the context of collaboration of relatively large groups, such as in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, in citizen science communities or in online forums. With regard to the content aspects of the investigated knowledge construction scenarios, a broad spectrum of topics is addressed, ranging from scientific content to medical, historical, political and current social topics.
The lab concentrates its projects on three main topics: Knowledge construction on the internet, knowledge construction in health and science communication, and knowledge construction in higher education. The main focus of its research is on the application fields knowledge-related internet usage and teaching and learning with digital media in universities.
Projects
How do we obtain scientific information? Who do we get it from? What if artificial intelligence could provide us with complicated topics and technical information in an easily understandable way? This research project investigates how lay people perceive and evaluate intelligent language assistants who communicate scientific information. In particular, it will investigate how different textual representations of automated content affect the acceptance and reception of scientific information.
Are individual biases mirrored in collaborative web contents? For instance, is the Ukraine presented in a systematically more favorable light than Russia in the Ukrainian Wikipedia article about the Crimean Crisis and is Russia favored in the Russian Wikipedia article about the Crimean Crisis? If biases such as this in-group bias are contained in online encyclopedias as well, these biases could shape the view of a broad audience.
With the increasing use of digital media, the "space" in which teaching and learning take place at universities is also changing. The systematic linking of physical and digital learning environments creates hybrid learning spaces in which teaching and learning scenarios can be implemented in a wide variety of personal constellations in different places and times. Such hybrid learning spaces and their design are the focus of the project HybridLR.
In this research project we examine how different forms of presenting factual information influence people’s knowledge about and attitudes toward foxes. In particular, the project deals with the impact of different forms of visual and textual representations. It examines whether emotionalization through visual methods has a similar effect as emotionalization mediated by textual representations.
Patients and medically interested laypeople use online platforms to acquire knowledge about diseases and medical treatments. These online sources offer a broad range of information that differs in quality and comprehensiveness. A presentation format that is particularly suitable for representing the complexity of medical content are educational videos about medical interventions.
The design and use of technology, as well as the promotion of knowledge about teaching with technology, are central fields of action in education. For this purpose, the meta-project "Digi-EBF" (Digitalisation in the Fields of Education) supports research projects of the BMBF funding line for “Digitalisation in the Fields of Education” in the framework program “Empirical Educational Research”.
Accompanying the practical training of physiotherapists at the vocational school ulmkolleg, an internet-based learning platform was designed and implemented in the clinical education period. This platform also represents the research environment of the project. The aim of this platform is to accompany and support the clinical training on patients and the learning process of the students. Furthermore, research questions in the field of collaborative knowledge construction and individual learning are investigated over the entire course of training.
The Internet has become indispensable when it comes to searching for information. Such an information search can be understood as a self-regulated learning process: Constructing knowledge while surfing the seemingly endless data stream is a challenging task. The SALIENT project contributes to a better understanding of search as learning and develops methods to support the acquisition of knowledge through the Internet with the help of ranking and retrieval algorithms.
The project investigates integration processes of individuals who possess more than one social identity because they belong to several relevant groups. Social identities can be more or less integrated in the self-concept. The project investigates the impact of social identity integration on well-being, on the effects of stereotype threat, and on the perception and selection of information coming from diverse group-related domains.
The project examines how barriers of knowledge transfer in the field of human-carnivore coexistence can be overcome. It aims to develop a Digital Transfer Tool that addresses emotional barriers in addition to media and scientific literacy. The Digital Transfer Tool will be based on the use of tablets and a modular application featuring surveys and games in public locations in Germany and abroad.
Former Projects
Projektende: 2018-11-30
Projektende: 2017-01-31
Projektende: 2020-09-30
Projektende: 2015-07-31
Projektende: 2017-06-01
Projektende: 2017-05-31
Projektende: 2020-02-29
Projektende: 2016-12-31
Projektende: 2014-12-06
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2014-12-31
Projektende: 2012-03-13
Projektende: 2009-04-27
Projektende: 2018-04-30
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2014-11-06
Projektende: 2014-12-06
Projektende: 2020-03-31
Projektende: 2013-04-17
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2017-06-30
Projektende: 2019-12-31
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2012-05-31
Projektende: 2017-06-01
Projektende: 2017-06-01
Projektende: 2014-12-31
Projektende: 2018-09-30
Projektende: 2017-06-30
Projektende: 2013-09-09
Projektende: 2020-05-31
Projektende: 2021-02-28
graduation papers
