Teaching Planning Competence in and for Education in the Digital World (Digi-UPK)
The aim of the project is to explore the specific requirements for planning education in the digital world.
The digital transformation presents educators with new challenges in both the content and didactic-methodological design of teaching. This project initially explores how educators respond to these challenges in their lesson planning and where they need or desire targeted support. Subsequently, recommendations are derived on how teaching planning competence for education in the digital world can be promoted.
Research Contribution ECER 2026
PD Dr. habil. Susanne Miesera is participating in the international ECER Tampere 2026 conference. The research findings of the KoKon project, which focuses on subject-specific teacher training in vocational education, are being presented: Digital transformation in service professions – professionalisation of teachers
Digital transformation poses a challenge for European society. This transformation is rapidly reshaping the professional landscape and affecting all industries. Service professions such as the hospitality and catering industry are facing challenges such as a shortage of skilled workers, a high diversity of languages among employees, and a sharp increase in digitalisation since the Covid-19 pandemic. Networked kitchen systems, robotics, and the use of (AI-based) data analysis for personalised offers are having a far-reaching impact on all areas of personal services in the food industry (Demary & Goecke, 2021; Heindl et al., 2025). The integration of digital tools and technologies is changing traditional working methods and processes, thereby altering the skill profiles of skilled workers. The dynamics of digitalisation thus present vocational education and training with further development tasks in the areas of personal and instructional growth. The integration of digital technologies in companies requires adapted teaching scenarios in vocational training institutions. In order to teach the transformation processes, teachers need suitable skills to reflect the evolving professional landscape. Regarding the integration of digital technologies at work, the professionalisation of teachers at vocational schools requires the promotion of practical skills for designing teaching scenarios. The required professionalisation encompasses the use and design of digital work and media technologies as well as an awareness of data management and protection (Miesera, 2021). Similarly, adapted teaching and learning scenarios at vocational schools are essential for reflecting current changes in the professional world within the classroom and for promoting expanded competence profiles. Studies indicate a demand for vocational training staff to strengthen their professional skills; at the same time, only a few subject-specific training opportunities are available (Kastrup & Brutzer, 2021).
This research project is part of the ‘KoKon’ project network (learning:digital). It develops training modules that promote the professional competence development of teachers. It specifically provides training for the design of digitally supported teaching, especially in the areas of digital transformation and digital media didactics. The focus is on raising teachers' awareness of the requirements of digital change in the professional field and strengthening their skills in the effective use of digital media for learning. Through professional field-specific and cross-professional field cooperation, teaching and staff development at vocational schools is promoted in a sustainable manner. This supports the professional development of collaborative, feedback-based problem-solving strategies among teachers.
The evidence-based teacher training courses offered by the Technical University of Munich are based on the competence areas of the European DigCompEdu (Redecker, 2017) and the further developed DigCompEduObserve (Özsoy et al., 2024), and the classification categories for vocational training in the digital transformation according to Wittmann & Weyland (2020).
The research question, “What impact can teacher training have on vocational schools, specialising in the hospitality and catering industry?”,focuses on teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy regarding digital media in the classroom, and their ability to integrate profession-related digital technologies into their teaching.
The aim is for teachers to gain a deeper understanding of digital media didactics and digital transformation in the professional field and to strengthen their ability to further develop and critically reflect on teaching at the curricular level. The results of the study on the training courses conducted will be presented, and the implications for evidence-based teacher training will be discussed.
Inclusion Research in International Comparison: Germany-Austria
Worldwide, educational institutions are evolving into inclusive systems. Based on internationally valid guidelines and country-specific legal regulations, educational institutions are integrating inclusion-oriented teaching events into teacher education. Building on the international study conducted in 2015-2016 in Manitoba (Canada) and Bavaria (Germany), the research instrument on attitudes, experiences, and self-efficacy regarding inclusion was validated in Austria at Pedagogical Universities and in Bavaria at the Study Seminar for Vocational Schools in 2018-2019. The various approaches to implementing inclusive teacher education for vocational schools raise questions about the comparability of countries. The aim of the current study is to examine teacher education with a focus on the relationship between attitudes, experiences, and self-efficacy towards inclusion. The publication of the results is planned for 2020.
Literatur: https://www.edu.tum.de/fdeh/publikationen/wissenschaftliche-artikel/
Research Contribution ISEC 2021
Dr. Susanne Miesera, along with Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Specht and Prof. Dr. Donna McGhie-Richmond, is representing the international conference "Inclusive and Supportive Education Conference (ISEC)" held online from August 3 to 5, 2021, in London. The research results of an international collaboration with Canadian universities, Western University London (Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Specht) and University of Victoria, Vancouver Island (Prof. Dr. Donna McGhie-Richmond), regarding beliefs of prospective teachers on inclusive teaching in an international comparison, will be presented. A qualitative study using concept maps introduces the experiences of prospective teachers who contributed to the development of teaching practices for educators at the end of their respective teacher training programs in Germany and Canada.
