'Warum soll ich forschen?' - Wirkungen Forschenden Lernens bei Lehramtsstudierenden

Während Forschendes Lernen mit vielfätigen Zielen verbunden und in vielen Studiengängen etabliert ist, liegen kaum Studien vor, die kausale Aussagen über die Wirkungen dieser Lehr-Lern-Form ermöglichen. Dies gilt insbesondere für Forschendes Lernen im Lehramtsstudium. Hier setzt die vorliegende Studie an: Mittels eines quasi-experimentellen Paneldesigns werden Wirkungen Forschenden Lernens bei Lehramts- und Nicht-Lehramtsstudierenden an der Universität Oldenburg untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Lehramtsstudierende – im Gegensatz zu anderen Studierenden – im Hinblick auf die wahrgenommene Entwicklung von Forschungskompetenzen nicht vom Forschenden Lernen profitieren

Short digital-competence test based on DigComp2.1: Does digital competence support research competence in undergraduate students?

This article presents a ten-item short scale for measuring digital competence. The scale is based on the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens, DigComp2.1 (Carretero et al., 2017). For our surveys, we used five items from the DigCompSat study (Clifford et al., 2020) and created five new ones to address the competence areas defined by DigCom2.1. We tested the scale on a sample of 1416 students from four countries (Germany, Lithuania, Austria, UK), using the questionnaire in two languages (English, German). The scale proved to be reliable (Cronbach’s α of 0.87 and McDonald’s ωt of 0.88) and valid (construct and content validity). Using the scale, we replicated findings from previous studies on differences in digital literacy by gender, study subject, and level of study. Despite the inhomogeneous structure of items from five different competence areas (according to DigComp2.1) and of two different types (specific, general), the scale does not seem to be multifactorial. A detailed analysis of digital competence and undergraduate research in the context of the pandemic shows: digital competence seems to support research competence and may even support inclusion.Peer Reviewe

Progress in hybrid plasma wakefield acceleration

Plasma wakefield accelerators can be driven either by intense laser pulses (LWFA) or by intense particle beams (PWFA). A third approach that combines the complementary advantages of both types of plasma wakefield accelerator has been established with increasing success over the last decade and is called hybrid LWFA→PWFA. Essentially, a compact LWFA is exploited to produce an energetic, high-current electron beam as a driver for a subsequent PWFA stage, which, in turn, is exploited for phase-constant, inherently laser-synchronized, quasi-static acceleration over extended acceleration lengths. The sum is greater than its parts: the approach not only provides a compact, cost-effective alternative to linac-driven PWFA for exploitation of PWFA and its advantages for acceleration and high-brightness beam generation, but extends the parameter range accessible for PWFA and, through the added benefit of co-location of inherently synchronized laser pulses, enables high-precision pump/probing, injection, seeding and unique experimental constellations, e.g., for beam coordination and collision experiments. We report on the accelerating progress of the approach achieved in a series of collaborative experiments and discuss future prospects and potential impact