Ludwigsburg University of Education

The University of Education exists in Ludwigsburg since 1966 and is the largest of the six Universities of Education in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. We concentrate on educational science issues both in research and teaching. The Ludwigsburg University of Education (PHL) is a modern center of competency for educational sciences in four closely related disciplines: school education, extra-curricular children’s and youth education, lifelong learning and education in cultural and social areas.

With the language-sensitive and language-promoting or inclusive concept developed as part of this work and the Erasmus Plus project, the Ludwigsburg University of Education took part in the MINTrakete 2022 “Didaktik als Key” call for tenders from MINT networks Germany and was honored by the jury as a best practice project.

We have expertise in working with linguistically heterogeneous classes

Prof. Dr. Silvija Markic

My name is Silvija and I am a Professor for Science Education with a focus on chemistry education. Being a student with a migration background, I experienced what it means to be in a class, being motivated and interested but not being able to express yourself and participate in the discussions. It frustrated me a lot of the time. Starting from my biography, my motivation for the topic of linguistic heterogeneity in chemistry classes is even higher. Over the years I focused on research on students, teachers, and the parents and am focusing on developing materials for language-sensitive and language-supportive teaching and learning of science, supporting pre- and in-service science teachers in their competences to teach language-sensitive and language-supportive, and offering parents opportunities to support their children in the development of the language of science.

Sarah Kieferle

My name is Sarah and I am a secondary school teacher for Chemistry, Biology and German. I work in this project as a Ph.D. student and will develop and evaluate the laboratory modules for our diverse science classes. Heterogeneity plays a large and varied role in the classroom. It was during my time as a teacher trainee that I became aware of the influence heterogeneity can actually have on the students’ learning. I am particularly interested in heterogeneity in students` linguistic skills and the associated learning difficulties of the pupils, especially in science lessons. I noticed fast that there is a lack of teaching material available that supports students` linguistic skills and helps teachers with their preparation of the lesson. I am happy to be part of this project group to give different pupils the best chance to understand chemical issues and to develop a passion for scientific phenomena.

Corinna Mönch

My name is Corinna and I am a Ph.D. student and a co-worker in this group. When I was in secondary school doing my internship, I was very interested in topics on heterogeneity and diversity. Unfortunately, they were not enough thematized during my teacher education program. That makes me all the happier to be part of this project, developing units for a wide range of diverse students so everyone has the opportunity to participate and gain scientific literacy, and may find their enthusiasm for chemistry.

Elena Grassler

My name is Elena. I am a project manager within this project and work for the European Research Department of the Universities of Education in Baden-Württemberg.For 10 years I am daily confronted with implementation of different projects, monitor progress and deal with financial management of EU funded projects.  Additionally, I provide coaching and mentoring for project setups and implementation. I am very excited to start a new journey with this interesting  project, and such an experienced and diverse team.