Current Projects

Project Description

Recruiting skilled workers is a key challenge for companies. In this context, the aim of the career entry support program is to support young people in achieving a school-leaving qualification and gaining an apprenticeship. As part of the project 'Benefits and experience of career entry support in Bavaria' (NEBerEbBay), the team from the Chair of Business Education (Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Gerholz) is evaluating the effectiveness of career entry support in Bavaria in the project 'Benefits and experience of career entry support in Bavaria' (NEBerEbBay) on behalf of the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs. The aim of the evaluation is to show the extent to which the program contributes to promoting equal opportunities, especially for disadvantaged young people, and to enable these young people to complete school and enter vocational training. The effects on self-efficacy, social identity and the influence of the social environment of the young people participating in BerEb are examined. An in-depth social science analysis of the effectiveness of VET in Bavaria makes it possible to look at medium-term successes, such as placement in training positions. The stability of labor market integration is also examined in relation to selected psychological characteristics, e.g. self-regulation and self-efficacy as well as constant professional interests. As a result, structured conditions for success are expected for the further development of VET in Bavaria.

Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Gerholz

Operational management: M. Sc. Anne Wagner

Sponsor: BMBF, finanziert von der Europäischen Union (lernen:digital)

Funding period: 06/2023 - 12/2025

Project Description

13 universities and research institutes are involved in the DiSo-SGW project network. Based on the lasting changes brought about by the ongoing digital transformation, the overarching project goal is the joint evidence-based (further) development, evaluation and implementation of training modules. Against the background of general and subject-specific digital sovereignty, the training modules are intended to support teachers in developing and deepening digital skills, dispositions and attitudes. The focus of Bamberg Business Education is on training modules for teachers that focus on the action-oriented design of digitally supported business lessons. The basis for this is the LERN model, which combines both the media perspective in terms of the use of digital educational technologies as a learning support tool and the action perspective with a view to the competence requirements in a digitalized world (Gerholz 2020). An advanced training concept based on this teaching model for digitally supported teaching has already been successfully and comprehensively tested in Baden-Württemberg in the tabletBS.dual and tablet2BFS projects (Gerholz, Ciolek & Wagner 2020; Gerholz & Wagner 2022). This now needs to be further developed and implemented nationwide.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H. (2020). Unterrichtsarbeit an beruflichen Schulen im Zuge der digitalen Transformation – Ein fachdidaktisches Modell für den Einsatz digitaler Medien. In: Buchmann, U. & Cleef, M. (Hrsg.): Digitalisierung über berufliche Bildung gestalten. Bielefeld: wbv, 169-180.
• Gerholz, K.-H., Ciolek, S. & Wagner, A. (2020). Digitales Lernen an beruflichen Schulen wirksam gestalten. Erste Ergebnisse der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung von tabletBS.dual. SchulVerwaltung BW, 43. Jg./7-8, 217-221.
• Gerholz, K.-H. & Wagner, A. (2022). Design-based research – grounding, understanding and empirical illustration in the context of vocational education. In: Goller, M., Kyndt, E., Paloniemi, S. & Damşa, C. (Hrsg.). Methods for Researching Professional Learning and Development: Challenges, Applications and Empirical Illustrations. Springer Nature: Cham.  513-534.

Project Description

The project “WÖRLD - Wirtschaftspädagogik und Ökonomische Bildung: Lehrkräftebildung und Unterricht digital” (“WÖRLD - Business Education and Economic Education: Teacher Training and Digital Teaching”) is working in 14 sub-projects from the fields of economics and business education on questions relating to the design and effects of teacher training and further training in a digital context. The aim is to develop teachers' skills in planning and designing digital and digitally supported teaching in the domain of economics. The sub-project in Bamberg focuses on developing the digital literacy of vocational teachers in order to take up the developments resulting from technological progress in the commercial domain (e.g. marketing automation or robo-advisors) and integrate them into subject-specific didactic concepts. As a first step, a digital tool will be developed to enable teaching staff to evaluate their digital skills in a self-test. Building on this, tailor-made and individual training modules will be offered as micro-learning courses that can be used in self-study for different facets of digital literacy.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H., Schlottmann, P., Slepcevic-Zach, P. & Stock, M. (Hrsg.) (2022). Digital Literacy in der beruflichen Lehrer:innenbildung. Didaktik, Empirie und Innovation. Wbv: Bielefeld.
• Gerholz, K.-H., Schlottmann, P., Faßhauer, U., Gillen, J. & Bals, T. (2022). Erfahrungen und Perspektiven digitalen Unterrichtens und Entwickelns an beruflichen Schulen. In: Bundesverband der Lehrkräfte für Berufsbildung e.V. (Hrsg.). Berlin.
• Schlottmann, P.,Gerholz, K.-H.,Winther, E. (2021). Digital Literacy für Wirtschaftspädagog*innen – Modellierung des domänenspezifischen Fachwissens in der beruflichen Lehrerbildung. In: bwp@Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik – online, Ausgabe 40, 1-20.

Project Description

In the nationwide LeadCom project, which is part of the “Digital School Development” competence center and covers and unites 11 university locations, evidence-based training and support systems for the professionalization of school leaders will be developed in the future in order to help shape the new digital communication and cooperation practice against the background of the need for digital school development.

Specifically, Bamberg Business Education is developing, implementing and evaluating an avatar consulting tool in the work package “Designing digital communication and cooperation cultures” to support school leaders in typical consulting situations at schools. The focus here is on forms of communication adapted to virtual spaces. This is because school leaders are important shapers of digital school development in an increasing culture of digitality. The requirements for digital school development processes are complex and pose numerous challenges for school leaders and teachers involved in digital school development. They must therefore be strengthened in their new role with the help of extensive training and suitable support measures.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H., Maidanjuk, I. & Schlottmann, P. (2022). Virtual Reality in der (beruflichen) Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung – Hochschuldidaktische Einordnung und empirische Befunde auf Basis eines systematischen Literaturreviews. In: Gerholz, K.-H., Schlottmann, P., Slepcevic-Zach, P. & Stock, M. (Hrsg.). Digital Literacy in der beruflichen Lehrer:innenbildung. Didaktik, Empirie und Innovation (S. 185-198). Wbv: Bielefeld.

Project description

The joint project TaC (Teachers as Changemakers - trainee teachers as multipliers for social entrepreneurship) of the Universities of Bamberg and Würzburg is part of the “Promotion of impact-oriented entrepreneurship education” program of the Free State of Bavaria. The aim of the project is to train student teachers to become multipliers of social entrepreneurial thinking and action in schools. On the part of the University of Bamberg, the Department for Research Promotion and Transfer (Z/FFT), the Office for Innovation and Foundation (BIG) and the Center for Teacher Training (ZLB) with Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Gerholz and Prof. Dr. Miriam Hess are involved.

The Chair of Business Education is jointly responsible for the implementation of packages of measures II and III in the perspective of social entrepreneurship education.

Package II involves the creation and anchoring of courses on Social Entrepreneurship Education (SEE) in conjunction with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher training courses. Curricular and extra-curricular qualification courses will be implemented and tested and evaluated in schools.
The package of measures III includes the continuous review of the achievement of the project goals and the anchoring of Social Entrepreneurship Education as well as the transfer of the project experiences and results to other universities and schools.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H. & Slepcevic-Zach, P. (2015). Social Entrepreneurship Education durch Service Learning – eine Untersuchung auf Basis zweier Pilotstudien in der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Hochschulbildung. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung, Jg. 10/ Nr. 3, 91-111.
• Gerholz, K.-H. (2015). Fostering Ethical Competence in Business Education. In: O‘Riordan, L., Heinemann, S. & Zmuda, P. (Eds.), New Perspectives on Social Responsibility: Locating the Missing Link, 547-562.

Project description

In the university-wide DiKuLe project, more than 30 lecturers from all four Bamberg faculties will work together in various measures to promote digitalization in teaching.

Package of measures 2 focuses on the development of modern and profitable blended learning concepts in the area of teacher training. Six teaching and learning labs (LLabs) will be created at the university as a learning architecture. One teaching-learning lab is being created in business education. The aim is to combine online and face-to-face teaching in a sound and effective way. The focus of the Business Education Lab is therefore on the didactic modeling of digital simulations of operational and commercial processes for hybrid formats. At this point, digitally supported on-site trial phases are also included and cooperation projects with university schools are realized.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H. (2020). Unterrichtsarbeit an beruflichen Schulen im Zuge der digitalen Transformation – Ein fachdidaktisches Modell für den Einsatz digitaler Medien. In: Buchmann, U. & Cleef, M. (Hrsg.): Digitalisierung über berufliche Bildung gestalten. Bielefeld: wbv, 107-124.
• Gerholz, K.-H., Ciolek, S. & Schlottmann, P. (2020). Linking theory and practice through University Schools – An empirical study of effective learning design patterns. Journal of Higher Education Development, Vol. 15/2
• Gerholz, K.-H. (2018). Digitale Transformation und Hochschullehre. Konsequenzen für die didaktische und evaluative Gestaltung. In: Harris-Huemmert, S., Pohlenz, P. & Mitterauer, L. (Hrsg.). Digitalisierung der Hochschullehre. New York: Waxmann, 41-57.

Project description

In the tablet2BFS project, teaching sequences are (further) developed with the use of tablets in the subjects German, English, mathematics and the profile subjects. A total of 12 vocational schools in Baden-Württemberg are taking part in the project. The Chair of Business Education has been providing scientific support since September 2020. While the focus in the project years 2020 to 2022 was on the development of students' digital and technical skills over time, the focus in the years 2022 to 2024 will be on the development of teaching. The aim is to develop digitally supported teaching units in cooperation with the project teachers that enable the didactically valuable use of tablets. The heterogeneous learning requirements of the pupils in terms of internal differentiation should be taken into account. The development process, implementation and reflection of the developed teaching sequences are initiated, accompanied and evaluated by the scientific support. The formative evaluation of the developed teaching sequences is intended to record the subjective perception of the learning situation and the emotional state of the learners. By reflecting on and evaluating the lessons, design parameters for effective tablet lessons can be identified and communicated. The inclusion of both the learning and the teaching perspective is intended to promote the development of digital skills among pupils on the one hand and the didactic development skills of teachers on the other.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H. (2020). Unterrichtsarbeit an beruflichen Schulen im Zuge der digitalen Transformation – Ein fachdidaktisches Modell für den Einsatz digitaler Medien. In: Buchmann, U. & Cleef, M. (Hrsg.): Digitalisierung über berufliche Bildung gestalten. Bielefeld: wbv, 107-124.
• Gerholz, K.-H. & Dormann, M. (2017). Ausbildung 4.0: Didaktische Gestaltung der betrieblich- beruflichen Ausbildung in Zeiten der digitalen Transformation. bwp@ Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik – online, Ausgabe 32, 1-22.
• Gerholz, K.-H., Ciolek, S. & Wagner, A. (2020). Digitalisation of Design Research – A case study to illustrate the use of digital technologies and tools for collaboration in Design Research projects. Journal of Educational Design Research, Vol. 4/1

Project description

Service Learning is a teaching-learning format that combines curricular content with charitable commitment. Students use the skills they have acquired during their studies to support non-profit organizations in the region with their specific problems. In addition to building up technical and methodological skills, the aim is to contribute to students' personal development. While this approach is already widely anchored and researched in the US, service learning is still a phenomenon with comparatively little theoretical and empirical basis in German-speaking countries. The aim of the project is to provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for service learning in the domain of economics. The project is structured according to a design research approach in which, on the one hand, context-sensitive prototypes for the implementation of service learning in economics are developed and, on the other hand, a contribution is made to theory development in higher education teaching and learning research through scientific substantiation and evaluation.

Selected literature

• Gerholz, K.-H., Liszt, V. & Klingsieck, K. (2017). Effects of learning design patterns in service learning courses. Active Learning in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1177/1469787417721420
• Gerholz, K.-H. (2017). Zivilgesellschaftliche Bildungsnetzwerke zur Förderung einer Berufsbildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. In: Fischer, A. & Hahn, G. (Hrsg.). Berufsbildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung auf dem Weg in den (Unterrichts-)Alltag: Wie können Vernetzungsaktivitäten die Implementierung unterstützen? Schneider Verlag Hohengehren. Baltmannsweiler, 52-65.
• Gerholz, K.-H. & Slepcevic-Zach, P. (2015). Service Learning in business education: What perceptions and expectations do undergraduate and graduate students have of service-learning courses? International Journal for Business Education, N.155, 47-59.