IWM

KMRC participates in NEXT-TELL kick off meeting in Graz, Austria

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Researchers of twelve European partners participate in the kick off meeting of NEXT-TELL, a new integrated project within the 7th Framework Program dealing with "Next Generation Teaching, Education and Learning for Life".

The main objective of NEXT-TELL is to provide computational and methodological support to teachers and students so that they have nuanced information about learning when it is needed and in a format that is supportive of pedagogical decision making, thus optimizing the level of stimulation, challenge, and feedback for students. KMRC - with its expertise in high-quality quantitative and qualitative empirical research in the field of technology-enhanced learning - will contribute to develop and implement a research methodology that upholds methodological standards and meets the challenge to integrate results from different educational systems.

President of the Leibniz Association visits the Knowledge Media Research Center

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:00:00 GMT

At August 17th one of his first visits led Prof. Dr. Karl-Ulrich Mayer, the new and first professional President of the Leibniz Association since July 1st, 2010, to Tubingen. There, where the Director Emeritus of Max Planck Institute of Human Development and Stanley B. Resor Professor of Sociology at the Yale University (USA) studied one year, he visited the Knowledge Media Research Center, the University of Tubingen and their common research network ScienceCampus Tubingen Informational Environments. The ScienceCampus Tuebingen as the first nationwide ScienceCampus has an exposed position and is groundbreaking for further cooperations between institutes of the Leibniz Association and universities. Now the Executive Board of the Leibniz Association appreciated this by an extraordinary funding for the time from 2011 to 2013 of 900000 Euro. Today Professor Mayer handed the accordant decision on to the direction of the ScienceCampus, Prof. Dr. Friedrich W. Hesse, director of the Knowledge Media research Center, and Prof. Dr. Bernd Engler, rector of the University of Tubingen. Beside strategic discussions Professor Mayer, Professor Engler and Professor Hesse walked through the Alte Frauenklinik of the University of Tubingen. This building, actually in improvement, will be the seat of the Knowledge Media Research Center and the Psychological Institute of the University of Tubingen in autumn of 2011. This network of university and non-university research will be improved by another decision of the University of Tubingen: the Director’s Villa beside will be the seat of ScienceCampus Tubingen in the future.

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Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets with key note at COGSCI 2010 and Earli SIG6/7 meeting

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:00:00 GMT

At this year's Cognitive Science Society Conference in Portland, USA, and at the Earli SIG 6/7 interest group meeting in Ulm, Germany, Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets gives a lecture on "Bridge over troubled water: From Cognitive Science to designing digital instruction".

The lectures give an overview of concepts and methods in the field of Cognitive Science that have been applied to develop and optimize instructional design material within the last years. Prof. Gerjets draws conclusions from this research program and shows consequences for further research in the field.

COGSCI: August 14th, 2010
Earli SIG6/7-Meeting: August 31st, 2010

Prof. Dr. Peter Gerjets heads the Hypermedia Lab at the Knowledge Media Research Center in Tuebingen, Germany. With his lab he addresses topics like learner control, cognitive load, adaptive user strategies, learning with dynamic visualizations or designing multimedia learning environments.

This year's Earli SIG2 meeting at the KMRC in Tübingen, Germany, coming up soon - August 26th to August 28th

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The meeting of the Earli Special Interest Group 2 (Comprehension of text and graphics) deals with the influence the representation of learning material has on learning.

Besides text and picture, the SIG also considers other forms of representation as graphs, diagrams, concept maps, animations, equations, virtual reality, information and scientific visualization, haptics, multimedia, hypermedia, and simulations.

For a closer look at the program, please visit the conference website.

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Dr. Christina Matschke receives reward for best PhD thesis

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

For her PhD thesis on "The inclusion of a new group into the self-concept" Dr. Christina Matschke was honored by the University of Tuebingen with this year's reward for the best PhD thesis at the Department of Informational and Cognitive Science.

Ms Matschke has been working at the KMRC since 2007 and is actually coordinating the project Patongo.

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Cognitive film study gives new insights into how to comprehend film

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:00:00 GMT

A joint German-Turkish research study with first-time film viewers shows under what conditions viewers understand or do not understand stylistic devices and scenic sequences in films.

As a basis for their current study (recently published in Psychological Science 21 (7), p.1-7) researchers from the Knowledge Media Research Center and the Istanbul University recruited 20 adult inexperienced film viewers from isolated mountain villages in southern Turkey and showed them 14 short film clips. The results give new insights in the perceptual and cognitive basis of film: for comprehending films the reference to conditions of natural perception is less important than assumed. More important seems to be the existence of a line of action or a line of events. Both can even help to compensate problems that arise with shots which provide discontinuities. Without such a line, first-time film viewers had great problems to interpret stylistic devices within the film correctly.

Key researchers Prof. Dr. Stephan Schwan and Dr. Sermin Ildirar demonstrate that comprehending films roots in cultural preconditions as well as in higher cognitive processes such as being used to filmic design and presentation.

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KMRC participates in MIRROR kick off meeting in Saarbruecken, Germany - new EU funded project on reflective learning at work

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Lead partners from five different countries participate in the kick off meeting of MIRROR, a new project within the 7th Framework Program dealing with "Reflective Learning at Work".

The overall objective of MIRROR is to empower and engage employees to reflect on past work performances and personal learning experiences in order to learn in real-time, and to creatively solve pressing problems immediately.

KMRC will be heavily involved in the conceptualization of the reflection model
and conduction of user studies to establish a scientific and
methodological common ground among the project partners, as well as in
determining the effectiveness of MIRROR-applications.

Nina Heinze, KMRC, talking about "Web2.0 in science" at the Global Media Forum (Deutsche Welle) in Bonn, Germany, June 22nd

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Renowned scientists and laymen alike are using blogs and social networks to get their messages to the public. Thereby, they are eleminating the middlemen and making scientific topics available to a broader audience. But are acacemic research and blogs compatible?

Does the new form of direct communication make scientific findings more transparent? What does science gain from direct contact with the general public and is this a positive experience?

Together with Bruno Rezende, winner of the Special Award Climate Change (Deutsche Welle), Nina Heinze, will discuss questions of "Climate Change and social Media".

Representatives of Chinese distance universities at KMRC

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The chinese delegation, headed by the China Youth Center in Peking, visited the KMRC to inform themselves about trends and technical developments in the field of e-learning and e-teaching.

Specific interest was directed towards the project e-teaching.org at the KMRC. The project runs an online platform to qualify teachers and lecturers to use digital media in their classes.

The trip to Germany had been organized by the Chhinese-German Association for the International Exchange of Experience of High Qualified Staff from Industry and Science.

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Group of American Teachers visited the KMRC

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 GMT

In the course of the "Fulbright Teacher Spring Seminars 2010" 20 American teachers visited the Knowledge Media Resarch Center to discuss the use of "Digital Media in the Classroom" in Germany and the United States as well as to get an overview of the research undertaken at KMRC.

Since 2008, the American Fulbright Commission and the Pedagogical Exchange Service have been organizing these kinds of seminars to give teachers insights into the university and teaching system of the respective partner country.

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Contributions for EC-TEL 2010 conference workshop on "Motivational and Affective Aspects of Technology Enhanced Learning and Web 2.0" (MATEL '10) invited

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The workshop brings together different perspectives on motivational and affective aspects of TEL and web 2.0 in order to foster the formation of a community between psychology, sociology, pedagogy, CSCW, and computer science.

Workshop topics are:

- models and modeling approaches for understanding motivational and affective aspects

- design and methodologies for incorporating motivational and affective factors

- approaches to address motivational and affective aspects

- experience reports and lessons learnt from introduction of technology-enhanced learning support (success and failures)

Submissions are welcome until June, 27th!

Fore further information, please visit http://mature-ip.eu/matel10

Kai Sassenberg with key note on "Becoming and being part of the team: On collective identity, self-regulation, and engagment" at WAOP/ ea-ohp summer school, June 1-2

Tue, 18 May 2010 22:00:00 GMT

In his keynote Kai Sassenberg addresses motivational factors which promote the engagement within groups and organizations. This year's WAOP and ea.ohp's summer small group meeting, taking place from June 1st to 2nd in Groningen, The Netherlands, deals with "Occupational Health and Engagement: A matter of Self-Regulation?"

Kai Sassenberg is head of the Social Processes Lab at the Knowledge Media Research Center Tuebingen and full professor at the University of Tuebingen.

KMRC hosting workshop on neuro science

Mon, 03 May 2010 22:00:00 GMT

On May 7th and 8th, the KMRC in Tuebingen will be hosting a workshop for junior scientists on brain and neuro science. Organizer is the Foundation of German Business (Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft).

The workshop will integrate guest lectures, teamwork sessions as well as a visit of the technology park Tuebingen. Lectures will be given by Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans-Otto Karnath from the Center for Neurology at the University of Tuebingen, Dr. Tobias Schlicht from the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience Tuebingen, Thorsten Zander from Brain Products Berlin and many more.

KMRC hosting this year's Earli SIG2 meeting - August 26 to 28 in Tuebingen, Germany

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:00:00 GMT

The meeting of the Earli Special Interest Group 2 (Comprehension of text and graphics) focuses on how learning is influenced by the representation of the learning material. Besides text and picture, the SIG also considers other forms of representation as graphs, diagrams, concept maps, animations, equations, virtual reality, information and scientific visualization, haptics, multimedia, hypermedia, and simulations.

For more information, please visit http://www.earlisig2-2010.de/sig2-2010

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Open House: "Virtual Realities" at the KMRC Tuebingen, Germany - March 7th 2010, 2pm-5pm

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:00:00 GMT

On that day, we invite the interested public to get to know KMRC's work on virtual realities. With the help of interactive technology installations, we offer both adults and children insights into 3D animations and digital technology used for learning purposes. Our highlight is the "Rebirth of a Dinosaur": experience it for yourself!

The 3D-dinosaur is brought to life using a mixed-reality technology that overlays a model skeleton with virtual muscles and skin. In addition, visitors will find several other experimental installations: experience a virtual soccer game, try out a driving simulation, and view 3D materials from the natural sciences. To complement the technology installations, there will be a talk given by Prof. Dr. Stephan Schwan, dealing with the potential that virtual worlds have for learning.

For more information, please see our press release:

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Are you interested in doing your diploma in the area of Educational Psychology?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:00:00 GMT

An American post-doctoral researcher at the IMW-KMRC is looking for a bilingual student to assist in an on-going research project, which could be used as the basis for your diploma. For further information please consider the document below and contact: Krista DeLeeuw.

Diploma_student_position.pdf

Season's Greetings

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:00:00 GMT

The Knowledge Media Research Center would like to wish all its partners and friends a Merry Christmas time, nice holidays and a Happy New Year 2010!

Researchers from KMRC Tuebingen on visit at the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage in Cairo

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Prof. Dr. Stephan Schwan, deputy director of KMRC Tuebingen and leader of the research unit "Knowledge Acquisition with Cybermedia", Dr. Carmen Zahn and Manuela Glaser visited the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) in Cairo in late November.

On this occasion the scientists from Tuebingen met with Prof. Dr. Fathi Saleh (Director at CULTNAT), Sherif Farahat (Training
Manager) and Karim Omar (Head of the Computer Graphics Unit) to talk about possible cooperations among both institutions; with special interest in a digital database of the cultural heritage of Egypt or virtual animations of historical equipment and engines, see www.eternalegypt.org. In the focus of the visit was also the potential to explore an impressive multimedia and interactive presentation technique called CULTURAMA that makes even possible an 180 degree-view.

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Successful Workshop on "The potential of social software for knowledge creation and economic performance"

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The Knowledge Media Research Center and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) hosted an interdisciplinary workshop for talented junior researchers from the field of economic and psychological research.

In Mannheim, they presented their current work and discussed approaches for interdisciplinary research on social software (such as wikis, blogs, social tagging tools, and social networks), and other interactive web applications. The keynote speakers were Alessandro Acquisti (Carnegie Mellon University, USA) and Tom Postmes (University of Groningen, the Netherlands and University of Exeter, UK).

The workshop was also a kick-off for the KMRC- ZEW cooperation within the WissenschaftsCampus Tuebingen.

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Friedrich W. Hesse from the Knowledge Media Research Center (KMRC), Germany, gives keynote presentation at EC-TEL 2009

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The talk "Use and acquisition of externalized knowledge" by Prof. Hesse is one of three keynotes invited to EC-TEL 2009 in Nice. On October, 2nd, the speaker will address paradigmatic changes in learning research and highlight the potential of the so-called "Social Networks" and "Social Software Tools".

Hesse is going to show that such tools can serve as a bridge between formal and informal education. He states that the nature of the new information resources has changed the way we do (peer) teaching as well as the way how we learn from each other. To make use of the tool's potentials for educational purposes, we have to understand their underlying mechanism.

The speaker, Prof. Friedrich W. Hesse, is director of the KMRC, an extra-faculty research organization located in southern Germany, dealing with knowledge acquisition, its exchange, and communication within innovative technologies. He is also holding the chair of applied cognitive psychology and media psychology of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and is initiator and speaker of the first WissenschaftsCampus (Science Campus) in Germany.

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New project deals with efficient knowlege communication in non-governmental organizations

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:00:00 GMT

New project on "Patterns and Tools for Non-Governmental-Organizations" (in short: PATONGO) aims at the investigation of circumstances for efficient knowledge communication in larger non-governmental organizations. By the case of the Evangelische Kirche Deutschland, the exchange of good practices and the development of a common organizational knowledge structure with the use of web 2.0 technologies will be investigated and optimized within a large non-governmental organization.

The cooperation project with the FernUniversitaet Hagen and the Evangelische Kirche Deutschland (EKD) has a duration of three years. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Eduation and Research and the European Social Fund. At KMRC, the project is part of the research unit "Design and Implementation of Integrative Learning Environments". For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress.