The results of international school performance studies, such as PISA, regularly trigger a great deal of media attention in Germany. This illustrates the importance of education in this country and the significance that empirical educational research has now achieved in the discussion about the further development of the German education system.
However, large-scale school performance studies are only one example of studies in empirical educational research. Other studies examine, for example, questions of educational equity and equal opportunity, analyze teaching and learning processes in schools, universities, and further education, investigate out-of-school educational processes of children and adolescents, or reconstruct interactions of participating actors and structures of underlying processes.
The four-semester Master's program in Empirical Educational Research at the Institute of Educational Science introduces students to current practice in empirical educational research and prepares them for responsible positions in the university and non-university sector. In addition to tasks in research, the program also opens up career perspectives for graduates in educational administration as well as in evaluation, e.g. in higher and further education. Teachers are also among the graduates of the program, as the application of findings from empirical educational research is also highly relevant in school practice.
The individual modules of the Master's program equip students with theoretical, conceptual and research methodological competencies. The main focus of the program is the module Methods of Empirical Educational Research and the research internship, which serves many students as a springboard for employment after graduation and for an academic career. The modules Educational Theory Formation and Educational Reform Processes, School and Classroom Research, and Research in Informal and Non-formal Fields of Education provide theoretical foundations and offer interesting insights into current fields of application of empirical educational research. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are awarded the title Master of Arts, which entitles them to doctoral studies.
