Peter Edelsbrunner

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Edelsbrunner

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Peter

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0000-0001-9102-1090

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Publications 1 - 10 of 48

Improved application of the control-of-variables strategy as a collateral benefit of inquiry-based physics education in elementary school
Schalk, Lennart; Edelsbrunner, Peter; Deiglmayr, Anne; et al. (2019)
Learning and Instruction
How to understand a research question-a challenging first step in setting up a statistical model
Edelsbrunner, Peter; Sebben, Simone; Frisch, Lisa K.; et al. (2023)
Religion, Brain & Behavior
Making the invisible visible: Visualization of the connection between magnetic field, electric current, and Lorentz force with the help of augmented reality
Donhauser, Anna; Küchemann, Stefan; Kuhn, Jochen; et al. (2020)
The Physics Teacher
When introducing electromagnetism in schools, one specific experiment is inevitable: the force on a current-carrying conductor. Predicting the direction of the Lorentz force, the orientation of the magnetic field, and the direction of the electric current often causes difficulties for students. Here we present visual concept-relevant augmentations of the experiment that use the Microsoft HoloLens, which intends to counteract common students’ misconceptions by taking relevant principles of educational psychology into account.
Who loses motivation and who keeps it up? Investigating factors for changes in motivational profiles across multiple domains
Costache , Oana; Edelsbrunner, Peter; Becker , Eva S.; et al. (2025)
Learning and Individual Differences
In this three-year-longitudinal study, we examined how students' gender, conscientiousness, academic specialization, and perceived need satisfaction predict stability and change in students' extrinsic and intrinsic value beliefs across mathematics, German, English, and French. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between changes in these motivational profiles and students' domain-specific academic achievement. Multilevel latent transition analyses based on a sample of 850 Swiss-German upper-secondary students (Mage = 15.6 years, 54 % female) revealed four domain-independent profiles of extrinsic value beliefs and five domain-specific profiles of intrinsic value beliefs. Transitions into profiles with lower extrinsic value beliefs were related to stable personal factors such as students' gender, choice of specialization domain, and conscientiousness. In contrast, changes in intrinsic value beliefs depended on students' year-specific perceived need satisfaction, notably in mathematics and French. There were no significant associations between a decline in intrinsic value beliefs and students' domain-specific achievement at any measurement point. Educational relevance statement: Across math and languages in 9th to 11th grade, some students' ascribed value to these subjects declines whereas others' remains stable. Being male, choosing a STEM major, and being less conscientious predict loss in value ascribed to grades. Lack of perceived autonomy, competence, and social embeddedness predicts loss in subject likeability. Interventions aimed at improving students' perceived autonomy, competence, and social embeddedness may prevent motivational decline.
The Predictive Value of Children's Understanding of Indeterminacy and Confounding for Later Mastery of the Control-of-Variables Strategy
Peteranderl, Sonja; Edelsbrunner, Peter (2020)
Frontiers in Psychology
Prior research has identified age 9–11 as a critical period for the development of the control-of-variables strategy (CVS). We examine the stability of interindividual differences in children's CVS skills with regard to their precursor skills during this critical developmental period. To this end, we relate two precursor skills of CVS at age 9 to four skills constituting fully developed CVS more than 2 years later, controlling for children's more general cognitive development. Note that N = 170 second- to fourth-graders worked on multiple choice-assessments of their understanding of indeterminacy of evidence and of confounding. We find relations between these two precursor skills and children's CVS skills 2 years later at age 11 in planning, identifying, and interpreting controlled experiments, and in recognizing the inconclusiveness of confounded comparisons (understanding). In accordance with the perspective that both indeterminacy and confounding constitute critical, related yet distinct elements of CVS, both precursor skills contribute to the prediction of later CVS. Together, the two precursor skills can explain 39% of students' later CVS mastery. Overall, the understanding of indeterminacy is a stronger predictor of fully developed CVS than that of confounding. The understanding of confounding, however, is a better predictor of the more difficult CVS sub-skills of understanding the inconclusiveness of confounded comparisons, and of planning a correctly controlled experiment. Importantly, both precursor skills maintain interactive predictive strength when controlling for children's general cognitive abilities and reading comprehension, showing that the developmental dynamics of CVS and its precursor skills cannot be fully ascribed to general cognitive development. We discuss implications of these findings for theories about the development of CVS and broader scientific reasoning.
Modeling Interactions Between Multivariate Learner Characteristics and Interventions: a Person-Centered Approach
Tetzlaff, Leonard; Edelsbrunner, Peter; Schmitterer, Alexandra; et al. (2023)
Educational Psychology Review
Demonstrating the differential effectiveness of instructional approaches for learners is difficult because learners differ on multiple dimensions. The present study tests a person-centered approach to investigating differential effectiveness, in this case of reading instruction. In N = 517 German third-grade students, latent profile analysis identified four subgroups that differed across multiple characteristics consistent with the simple view of reading: poor decoders, poor comprehenders, poor readers, and good readers. Over a school year, different instructional foci showed differential effectiveness for students in these different profiles. An instructional focus on vocabulary primarily benefited good readers at the expense of poor decoders and poor comprehenders, while a focus on advanced reading abilities benefitted poor comprehenders at the expense of poor decoders and good readers. These findings are in contrast to those obtained by multiple regression, which, focusing on only one learner characteristic at a time, would have suggested different and potentially misleading implications for instruction. This study provides initial evidence for the advantages of a person-centered approach to examining differential effectiveness.
The relation between working memory and mathematics performance among students in math-intensive STEM programs
Berkowitz, Michal; Edelsbrunner, Peter; Stern, Elsbeth (2022)
Intelligence
This study examined how working memory (WM) and mathematics performance are related among students entering mathematics-intensive undergraduate STEM programs (N = 317). Among students of mechanical engineering and math-physics, we addressed two questions: (1) Do verbal and visuospatial WM differ in their relation with three measures of mathematics performance: numerical reasoning ability, prior knowledge in mathematics, and achievements in mathematics-intensive courses? (2) To what extent are the effects of WM on achievements in mathematics-intensive courses mediated by numerical reasoning ability and prior knowledge in mathematics? A latent correlational analysis revealed that verbal WM was at least as strongly associated with the three mathematics measures as visuospatial WM. A latent mediation model revealed that numerical reasoning fully mediated the effects of WM on achievements in math-intensive courses, both directly and in a doubly mediated effect via prior knowledge in mathematics. We conclude that WM across modalities contributes significantly to mathematics performance of mathematically competent students. The effect of verbal WM emerges as being more pronounced than has been assumed in prior literature.
The relation of representational competence and conceptual knowledge in female and male undergraduates
Edelsbrunner, Peter; Malone, Sarah; Hofer, Sarah Isabelle; et al. (2023)
International Journal of STEM Education
Background Representational competence is commonly considered a prerequisite for the acquisition of conceptual knowledge, yet little exploration has been undertaken into the relation between these two constructs. Using an assessment instrument of representational competence with vector fields that functions without confounding topical context, we examined its relation with N = 515 undergraduates’ conceptual knowledge about electromagnetism. Results Applying latent variable modeling, we found that students’ representational competence and conceptual knowledge are related yet clearly distinguishable constructs (manifest correlation: r = .54; latent correlation: r = .71). The relation was weaker for female than for male students, which could not be explained by measurement differences between the two groups. There were several students with high representational competence and low conceptual knowledge, but only few students with low representational competence and high conceptual knowledge. Conclusions These results support the assumption that representational competence is a prerequisite, yet insufficient condition for the acquisition of conceptual knowledge. We provide suggestions for supporting learners in building representational competence, and particularly female learners in utilizing their representational competence to build conceptual knowledge.
A Model for Teaching for Conceptual Change? Six Challenges Regarding the ICAP Framework
Thurn, Christian Maximilian; Edelsbrunner, Peter; Berkowitz, Michal; et al. (2024)
Conceptual Change in the Era of Digital Transformation: 13th International Conference on Conceptual Change - Programm & Abstracts
The ICAP (Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive) framework is based on constructive ideas of student learning and widely used by practitioners and researchers. The ICAP frame work links students’ overt behaviors to covert cognitive processes and learning outcomes and proposes that “higher” modes of engagement (I > C > A > P) are likely to increase learning. We theoretically discuss these assumptions of the ICAP framework in light of its po tential applicability to learning situations aimed at supporting conceptual change. We arrive at six challenges that question the framework’s applicability to conceptual change-focused instruction and further educational environments: 1) the equation of overt student behavior with covert cognitive processes, 2) the favorism of constructive and interactive modes, 3) the potential pitfall of having activities in the classroom that do not equate cognitive activation, 4) the weak and overstated empirical evidence in favor of the ICAP hierarchy, 5) the unclear guidance about when to attend to students’ products, and 6) the complex directive for prac titioners who would like to implement the ICAP framework. We aim to stimulate discourse on the multifaceted nature of learning processes and restate the importance of formative as sessment to unveil students’ learning at the covert cognitive level.
How to Make Recommendations for Educational Practice from Correlational Data Using Structural Equation Models
Dumas, Denis; Edelsbrunner, Peter (2023)
Educational Psychology Review
In this commentary, we outline a five-phase process by which recommendations for educational practice can be distilled from correlational data using structural equation modeling (SEM). First, meta-theoretical beliefs associated with latent variables-that mental attributes cause behavior and can therefore be measured indirectly by observing multiple indicators of that behavior-must be adopted and made explicit. Next, an SEM must be formulated with relevant pathways and covariates that exhaustively represent our theoretical knowledge and assumptions about the structure of the psychological phenomena being studied. Third, model-data-fit indices and estimated parameters associated with the SEM should be carefully interpreted. Fourth, the model should be replicated across educational contexts, and any necessary changes should be incorporated into the relevant psychological theory. Fifth, the results of multiple studies can then be interpreted together with other sources of evidence as a basis for communicating our current theoretical understanding and caveats to practitioners. We also point out that educational recommendations should likely never be entirely prescriptive, and instead lie on a continuum of specificity based on the strength of the evidence.

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Peter Edelsbrunner

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