Educational Sciences

The Institute of Vocational and Further Education focuses its attention on educational processes and institutions after compulsory education. The main priorities for the research groups of Professors Münk and Dobischat are development, analysis and evaluation of vocational education concepts; the focus for the Münk group is on dual and school-based vocational education and for Dobischat on vocational further education. Here a project exploring further education guidance services in SMEs links up with Prof. Schlüter’s ­research group and its work on functional analysis and concept development for general education guidance services. Anne Schlüter also chairs the Women’s and Gender Research Network NRW and is responsible on behalf of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research for the Gender Report on the higher education institutions in NRW.

Research in the Münk group on e-learning in vocational teacher education connects with the research group of Prof. Kerres. Its Duisburg Learning Lab for research on multimedia and computer-assisted lifelong learning is the most heavily externally funded unit in the Faculty of Educational Sciences and finances around 20 employees from third-party funds. The Learning Lab develops and use-tests learning innovations with digital media.

Completing the circle of research groups at the Institute is that of Prof. Bremer, which focuses within general further education research on ­political education under social inequality.