News - EduTec Science

Dec182025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

A Year Full of Delights

Team

In December, I always take the time to sit down and reflect on the past year and on what my team and I have accomplished. As I now sit at my desk and review the past year’s events, I am interrupted by my stomach, which is growling. And on my desk before me is a nicely wrapped bag of mixed Christmas cookies. Every year around this time, local schools, kindergartens, sports clubs, etc. have bake sales to collect money for a good cause. I am always happy to help with such efforts, and so, of course, I bought a package. And here it is right in front of me, while my stomach is growling … Maybe just a peek inside my stomach tells me ... Maybe try a cookie ...…

Dec182025 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

New Pub: How Virtual Reality Mental Training Impacts Race Preparation in Recreational Runners

Augmented Reality, Computational Psychometrics, General education, Journal, New Pub, Publication

Can Virtual Reality Mental Training Help Recreational Runners Race Smarter? We’re glad to announce that our paper has just been published! 🎉 In this post, we share the key ideas and early findings from our newly published study exploring how virtual reality (VR) mental training—grounded in cognitive-behavioral (CB) techniques—may support long-distance recreational runners in adopting race strategies and strengthening motivation within a coaching context. What happens when cognitive-behavioral (CB) techniques like imagery and self-talk meet virtual reality (VR) in a coaching context? An exploratory study of recreational long-distance runners provides intriguing early signals. Why this study matters VR has been used in sports settings to support skill learning and performance, but it’s still relatively uncommon to see VR paired directly with cognitive-behavioral mental training—especially practical tools like imagery and self-talk…

Dec42025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Collaborative Research Center [in:just]

Artificial Intelligence, Project

We are excited to announce that we will be part of the newly launched Collaborative Research Centre [in:just]. This center is special as it will be the first such center in the field of educational sciences and will focus on justice and participation in the educational system. Its goal is to study why inequality in Germany’s educational system continues to exist and what factors contribute to this. The spokespersons are Prof. Merle Hummrich and Prof. Vera Moser, both of whom work in the Department of Educational Sciences at Goethe University. The first phase of the Collaborative Research Centre [in:just] will be funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2026 – 2029. A team of 31 researchers from fields such as education, sociology, philosophy, political science, law, geography and computer…

Dec22025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Moving Education Towards Didactical Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Event, Invited talk, Learning Analytics

ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are said to be good for learning. But does their usage really empower learners, or does it overwhelm them instead? Studies from Highly- Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) programs show how complex the effects of such AI-tools can be. While dashboards can potentially improve students’ learning outcomes, AI feedback can sometimes be helpful and sometimes be demotivating for students, depending on their feedback literacy. In a recent presentation at IWM Lectures Hendrik Drachsler argues that we need more research into Didactical Intelligence – a framework for understanding when, how and for whom AI and Learning Analytics truly improves learning and when not. Technology alone doesn’t guarantee better outcomes; its success depends on thoughtful integration into pedagogy. He therefore presented the Highly-Informative Learning Analytics research platform. This…

Nov282025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Exploring the Future of Digital Teaching at #EduNext25

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event, Higher Education

On 26.11.2025 our team had the privilege of participating in #EduNext25, a full-day conference dedicated to the future of digitalization and AI in higher education. Hosted by studiumdigitale at Goethe University Frankfurt, the event brought together educators, researchers and innovators from across Hessen and beyond to discuss how technology can transform teaching and learning. The opening remarks by Prof. Dr. Viera Pirker, Minister TimonGremmels and Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler set the tone: digitalization and AI are not just trends, they are essential tools for shaping the academic experience of tomorrow. One highlight was the EduConnect session, where universities from the HessenHub network and the QuiS program showcased their latest projects and approaches to digital learning. Another highlight was the panel discussion on strategic alliances for future teaching. Experts from various…

Nov142025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

LAMASS@DiLea Study Report and Data Set Now Published

Empirical Study, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Project, Publication, Report

What factors influence academic success and dropout rates in digital study formats at universities? What factors and effects at the subjective, curricular and institutional levels can be empirically measured and how do they interact in digital study formats? Can a factor analysis be used to compare digital and face-to-face study formats? The LAMASS@DiLea project team now present the answers to these questions in the newly published project report “LAMASS-Studie: Studienerfolg und Studienabbruch in digitalen Studienformaten”. It is a comprehensive analysis of academic success and dropout rates in digital study formats. The results of the study are valuable for existing digital study formats and for degree programs that wish to boost their use of digital technology. The dataset has also been published and is available to download. Modell des Studienabbruchs in…

Nov132025 by Sebastian GombertNo Comments

New Pub: GRIPF at TSAR 2025 Shared Task Towards controlled CEFR level simplification with the help of inter-model interactions

New Pub

Language learners make the fastest progress when reading texts that match their proficiency level. But most real-world texts are too hard—and manually adapting them is time-consuming. So the big question is: Can AI automatically simplify texts to a specific CEFR level without losing meaning? We explored exactly this in the TSAR 2025 Shared Task, where systems had to rewrite advanced English texts (B2+) to easier levels like A2 or B1. Our team submitted two different approaches: EZ-SCALAR and SAGA. EZ-SCALAR works like an expert panel of AI models. Two large language models (GPT-5 and Claude) each produce their own simplification, critique each other, refine their versions, and then a final “judge” model picks the best result. An extended version, EZ-SCALAR Lex, adds something extra: a vocabulary check using EFLLex, a…

Nov132025 by Sebastian GombertNo Comments

New Pub: Characterizing students’ energy learning trajectories

New Pub

Helping students apply energy ideas to everyday situations is a core goal in physics education. But not all students get there—and it’s not just about who knows the most content. In a 10-week classroom study with 165 students, we tracked both their energy understanding and their affective and metacognitive factors (like emotions, cognitive load, and self-regulation). Using k-means clustering on their learning trajectories, we identified three distinct student groups that differed in the coherence of their energy knowledge development. The key insight: Students who learned the most also felt more positive, experienced lower cognitive load, and used stronger metacognitive strategies. Those who struggled often felt overwhelmed or disengaged. The takeaway is clear: supporting emotions and self-regulation is just as important as teaching physics content. Instruction that addresses these factors can…

Nov62025 by Nina MouhammadNo Comments

New Pub: From Nervous to Noteworthy: Evaluating SPEAKS

Competence development, Conference, Conference, Higher Education

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, but it’s also a skill every professional needs. Many students leave higher education feeling unprepared to speak confidently in front of an audience. Traditional courses exist, but providing enough guidance to every student is time- and resource-intensive. This is where SPEAKS comes in. SPEAKS (Speech content Preparation for Effective and Authentic Knowledge Sharing) is an educational software designed to guide students through preparing the content of their speeches. The tool and its evaluation were presented at ECEL 2025 in a paper authored by Nina Mouhammad, Jan Schneider, Roland Klemke and Daniele Di Mitri as part of the HyTea-project, highlighting its potential to support students in developing better speech content and becoming more confident regarding public speaking. The tool uses a fully scripted, chat-based interface with…

Oct312025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Optimizing Formative Assessment with Learning Analytics

Assessment, Learning Analytics, Literature review, New Pub

The teaching and learning processes in education need to be effective. This is something that all parents, teachers and educational scientists can agree on. To help us track the learners’ achievements and educational progress and ultimately show whether the teaching and learning processes are effective, we rely on formative assessment. Learning analytics has the potential to assist in formative assessment. So far there has not been enough evidence collected to prove this potential support. Thus, many have reservations about the connection between the results of learning analytics and formative assessment models. If the results from learning analytics don’t match well with formative assessment approaches, teachers may be reluctant to trust, understand or use those insights to guide their teaching. This issue is addressed in a recently published study which introduces…