In our research group, we investigate cognitive, motivational, and social aspects of learning by employing experimental research methods in laboratory and field studies. Our interests of research lie on 1) the effectiveness of different instructional approaches for learning by focusing on the benefits and disadvantages of errors and failure, 2) challenges during collaborative learning and impacts of different means of adaptive collaboration support (computer-supported collaborative learning, CSCL) in higher education, 3) problem-solving and learning processes in hardware reverse engineering, and 4) the role of emotional and social factors for academic success and career of students and researchers. For more details on the different projects, see the links below:

Third-party funded projects

	Investigating and Assessing Student Beliefs about Scientists within the Social Sciences and Humanities Contact person: Valentina Nachtigall E-Mail: valentina.nachtigall@rub.de
	Prior Knowledge Activation in Problem Solving Prior to Instruction: How do solution diversity and goal formulation affect learning? Contact person: Charleen Brand E-Mail: charleen.brand@rub.de
	Internationales Forschungsnetzwerk "Selbstreguliertes Lernen in digitalisierten Schulen", welches untersucht welche Kompetenzen Schülerinnen und Schüler benötigen, um in digitalen Medien selbstreguliert zu lernen. International network aiming at grounding a common agenda for international, interdisciplinary educational research (SeReLiDiS: Self-Regulated Learning in Digitalized Schools)
	Project investigating theoretical and ethical issues arising in the context of new forms of social interaction between humans via social media and between humans and artificial intelligent systems. (INTERACT! : New forms of social Interaction with intelligent systems)
	Exzellenzcluster CASA - Research Topic: New Directions in Hardware Security through Cognitive Obfuscation [in Research Hub B, RC 4 (Platform Trojans), and Hub D, RC 10 (Engineers and Usability)] Contact-person: Carina Wiesen Email: carina.wiesen@rub.de
	Learning Progression Analytics – Analyzing Learning for Individualized Competence development in mathematics and science Education (ALICE) Contact person: Sebastian Strauß Email: sebastian.strauss@rub.de
	Analysis and promotion of learning pathways for the development of competences [Analyse und Förderung von Lernverläufen zur Entwicklung von Kompetenzen] (AFLEK). Contact person: Isabell Bohm Email: isabell.bohm@rub.de
	Supporting self-reflective historical consciousness in an out-of-school lab  (ViRaGe: Virtuelle Realitäten als Geschichtserfahrung) Contact person: Selina Yek Email: projekt-virage@rub.de
	Professional development efficiency through activating intelligent learning support measures in sustainable, part-time and hybrid professional development programs (WILLEN) Contact person: Katharina Teich Email: katharina.teich@rub.de
	PS-I Network - Why failure can be productive: Underlying learning mechanisms of problem solving prior to instruction approaches Contact person: Charleen Brand  Email: charleen.brand@rub.de
	KoLiBRI: Learning to collaborate with complex digital 3D representations in civil engineering [Kooperieren Lernen im Bauingenieursstudium anhand digitaler 3D-Repräsentation von komplexen Informationen] Contact person: Marcel Schmittchen  Email:kolibri-projekt@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
	Research Topic: Humans and Cryptography [in Research Hub D: Usability] Contact Person: Prof. Dr. Nikol Rummel Email: nikol.rummel@rub.de
	EARLI Centre for Innovative Research: Measuring and supporting students’ social participation: Innovating the field with behavioral data Contact person: Julia Eberle Email: julia.eberle@rub.de
	Social connectedness and the use of social resources in the initial phases of undergraduate studies [Soziale Eingebundenheit und die Nutzung sozialer Ressourcen in der Studieneingangsphase]  Contact person: Julia Eberle Email: julia.eberle@rub.de
	Forschungskolleg SecHuman: Research Topic: Learning in it-security [Lernprozesse in der IT-Sicherheit] Contact Person: Markus Krause Email: markus.krause@rub.de

Completed projects