Completed Projects

Ziel von DEIN-MINT-ER ist, MINT in den Fokus Erlanger Jugendlicher zu stellen. Verschiedene Maßnahmen werden dabei Institutionen übergreifend zu einem  nachhaltigen Konzept vor Ort verknüpft, um außerschulische MINT-Lernorte mit regelmäßigen Hands on-Angeboten zur Entdeckung der eigenen MINT-Handlungsfähigkeit langfristig und gut sichtbar zu etablieren.

The joint project VoLL-KI is developing higher education on three levels: on the macro level, evidence-based study programs are being further developed; on the meso level, context-adaptive recommendations for individual study planning are being created; and on the micro level, learner-specific diagnoses and support are being developed. For this purpose, data- and knowledge-based artificial intelligence (AI) approaches are combined. Based on preliminary work on knowledge graphs, error libraries for programming, intelligent tutoring systems, explainable and interactive machine learning, chatbots, virtual reality, as well as recommendation systems, intelligent support systems will be developed for AI introductory courses. Course data will be made available via the CEUS data warehouse system and systematically expanded during the course of the project. Data on  competencies of individual students will be combined with data on specific groups - for example, related to gender and educational biographies. As a result, tailored recommendations for study planning are created. Students can request explanations for recommendations, explore alternatives, and correct premises at any time. The expansion of the current dataset by monitoring learning and performance trajectories on an individual as well as on a group-specific level will be integrated into the data warehouse system and made available to study program managers. The developed offers will be evaluated during the course of the project by means of surveys and log file analyses in order to optimize them formatively. Scientists from the fields of AI, AI-related areas of computer science, computer science didactics and educational research from three neighboring universities are cooperating on the project. The focus of the project is on the computer science programs at the three locations: a large, engineering-oriented computer science, a medium-sized, interdisciplinary computer science, and a small, application-oriented computer science. Towards the end of the project and thereafter, the successful components will be extended to other study programs and the project results will be integrated into the quality management processes of the participating universities.

Progressive digitalization is changing not only the job market but also the educational landscape. With funding from the DigitalPakt Schule and in detail from the BAYERN DIGITAL II program, serious changes in computer science education are being driven forward, which entail new challenges at the various levels of education. The CS4MINTS project addresses these challenges along with the educational levels and ties in with measures already launched as part of the MINTerAKTIV project, such as strengthening the encounter of increasing student heterogeneity in the introductory computer science course.For example, for promoting gifted students, the Frühstudium in computer science is actively promoted for girls, and the offer is explicitly expanded. A significant increase in the proportion of women in computer science is to be achieved in the long term through early action against gender-specific stereotypes regarding computer science and an expansion of the training program to include gender-sensitive computer science instruction in all types of schools.The expansion of the compulsory subject of computer science in all schools also creates a great need for suitable teaching concepts and a strengthening of teacher training. For this purpose, a regional network is to be established during the project period to provide university-developed and evaluated teaching ideas for strengthening STEM in the curricular and extra-curricular settings. In 2020, we began the initial piloting of the design to automate feedback in the introductory programming exercises. For this purpose, the return values of the JUnit tests of students' solutions were analyzed, and possible sources of errors were investigated. The next step is to work out a way to infer programming errors or student misconceptions based on these return values. Finally, these efforts aim to provide the students with automatically generated, competence-oriented feedback available to them after the programming tasks have been submitted (or, if necessary, already during the development phase). The feedback should show where errors occurred in the program code and point out possible causes.Concerning handling heterogeneity, we have compared the Repetitorium Informatik (RIP) course content with the Bavarian curriculum of different school types in 2020. Subsequently, the content must be adapted so that first-year students from the most diverse educational backgrounds have equal opportunities to identify possible deficits through the Repetitorium and remedy them. Besides, a daily programming consultation hour was set up for the first time during the Repetitorium in the winter term 2020. Here, participants were able to ask questions and receive feedback on the assignments.
For many students, the initial steps of learning to program is one of the major challenges at the beginning of their studies. In order to provide additional feedback to novice programmers, we have designed and piloted the Feedback+ project in 2021. Within the framework of Feedback+, students have the opportunity to document problems that occur during the processing of the exercises or during the setup/use of the programming environment. They can also receive additional feedback in individual consultation sessions (weekly). For this purpose, we have set up a StudOn environment in which problems can be systematically documented. An initial evaluation in the form of individual interviews with the participating students received consistently positive feedback and is motivation to continue the project.