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Project duration 01.04.2018 - 30.09.2021

Evidence-based Qualification of Students of an Education Program: Effective and Adaptive Classroom Management in Inclusive Settings

The project addresses the question of how the competence development of students of an education program can be effectively supported by a digital tool for recording and promoting Classroom Management.

Project description

Bunte Kreise und schwarzer Schriftzug des Projektnamens EQuaL-I

The aim of the project is the evidence-based optimization of teacher education and training in the context of inclusive education through the development, validation and effectiveness testing of a new innovative tool in the context of competence development. Based on the realized approach of Koenig, Lee, Iseli and Wainess (2010), a tool will be developed to promote students of an education program in the area of Classroom Management.

The tool will use simulations of practical scenarios in a virtual inclusive classroom from the point of view of the teacher for individual training. Effective and adaptive Classroom Management focusses on a fundamental element of the instructional quality that enables successful learning and development processes of children with different educational needs. Research questions in this context are:

(RQ1) What are the competencies of higher education student in working on a newly developed tool for capturing and promoting Classroom Management skills compared to (a) persons without teacher's reference and (b) teachers in active education?

(RQ2) Does the editing the tool over several weeks promote Classroom Management skills in inclusive settings.

(RQ3) Is knowledge about Classroom Management in inclusive settings more positively for student teachers who have worked with the Classroom Management tool than for students of an education program who belong to a control group?

(RQ4) How do the inclusion-related attitudes and motivation of students of an education program develop after working with the Classroom Management tool?

The validity and effectiveness of the approach are examined in two validation studies with different samples and comparison groups. The three-year project period is divided into four phases, during which a theory-based, innovative educational tool for educational professionals in the context of inclusive education is developed, piloted and validated, and its effectiveness is reviewed.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • Annika Ohle-Peters

Project team

  • Jennifer Igler

Cafeteria menus

Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.