How is learning supported?

Research Priority - Economics and Business Education

What are the research topics in this area?

The field of Economics and Business Education integrates three complementary aspects of vocational education research:

  • A first distinguishing feature is internationally comparative and historical vocational education research as well as education and vocational training policies. Of specific interest here are Anglo-Saxon vocational training systems, in particular those of England, Australia and Canada.
  • A second element is learning in schools. This includes the modelling and measurement of economics skills (including financial literacy), teaching-learning research and the investigation of the transition from school to vocational training, university and career.
  • The third priority is workplace learning. This covers vocational further training, its evaluation and quality assurance as well as professional skills for instructors.

Why is the University of Konstanz particularly strong in this area?

The combination of (inter)national vocational education and training policies together with school and workplace learning covers a broad spectrum of Economics and Business Education and is characterized by interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical approaches.

How well is the group connected with the research community?

Networking within the University of Konstanz is systematic and takes the shape of interdisciplinary research projects (e.g. with Economics, Sociology and Psychology). National cooperation partners are central research institutions, e.g. the German Institute for Adult Education in Bonn and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Bonn. Members of the department also work closely together with researchers at home and abroad in the framework of individual projects and project alliances. In addition, three European projects have so far been approved (Leonardo, Erasmus+). The latest project is a capacity-building project in the area of vocational teacher training in the Ukraine.

To what extent are these topics socially relevant?

Our research activities answer societal and organizational questions as well as ones of particular relevance to the conditions and results of educational processes: How can effective learning packages be designed and the transfer of learning results fostered? What skills do adolescent and adult pupils bring with them? How do teaching staff contribute to successful learning? In what systemic structures are these learning processes embedded and how did these structures evolve?