FOR-M

What is the research topic?

The project FOR-M is a subproject of the interdisciplinary research group COSIMA with twelve researchers from the fields of medicine and educational science of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU) and Technical University of Munich (TUM), The research group investigates how simulation-based learning environments in teacher training and medical studies can be designed and applied in a multidisciplinary way in order to promote the diagnostic skills of prospective teachers and medical professionals. In seven subprojects, different learning environments based on a jointly developed working model are designed and tested. The aim of the FOR-M subproject is, on the one hand, to summarize current findings on the subject and, on the other hand, to integrate the newly gained findings of the seven research subgroups. At the same time, it verifies the reliability of the underlying working model.

What ist the specific issue of the project?

If you want to investigate how diagnostic competencies - e.g. of teachers or physicians - can be explicitly promoted by simulations, you should first look at the current state of research. There are two fundamental difficulties: First, educational and medical researchers focus on very different issues and research aspects. On the other hand, due to their distinct research traditions, these questions are handled differently in the different specialist contexts - for example in medical didactics or in psychology. If studies are fundamentally different in the use of theoretical models, research designs, and survey methods, bringing the entire body of evidence together presents a tremendous challenge. The FOR-M project engages in this challenge with the task of reviewing and evaluating the state of research in all relevant areas of research with the aid of the comprehensive model.

The FOR-M project carries out multiple meta-analyzes over the course of the COSIMA project - on the current state of research and on the findings gathered by the seven subprojects. This should make it possible to make reliable statements about diagnostic competences and their promotion that are generalizable and applicable for different interaction contexts - such as teacher-student interactions or doctor-patient interactions. Thus, the subprojects or disciplines no longer stand alone with their results, but, together with the underlying working model, contribute to a more universal knowledge gain in the field of diagnostic competencies.