Welcome to the Research Unit Educational Psychology with Focus on Measurement, Counseling, and Evaluation!
In our research we focus on the following questions:
(a) How can digital technology and artificial intelligence help to innovate educational measurement instruments?
(b) How should education-relevant empirical data be statistically modeled?
(c) What insights do large-scale assessments such as PISA, IGLU or TIMSS provide about educational systems?
In current projects, we deal, among other things with the reading comprehension of fourth graders (), with the identification and individual support of students at risk in secondary education (CoBi, CoBi-Transfer, CoBi-Online), the establishment and evaluation of an interdisciplinary master's program on the use of AI and digital technologies in education (ALI), the implementation of AI-based feedback and assessment in the study entry phase (IMPACT), the development of a highly adaptive test design for PISA (HAT), the advancement of the Goethe Test Pro (GTP+) and the advanccement of teaching, learning and examination scenarios by digital technology and innovative learning designs (DigiTeLL).
In teaching we are active in the B.Sc. and M.Sc. Psychology, in the educational science parts of the teacher training programs and the M.Sc. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy.
Presentation at the PAEPS conference
The research unit “Educational Psychology with Focus on Measurement, Counseling, and Evaluation” was represented with a contribution at this year's PAEPS Conference, the 20th conference of the Educational Psychology Section. PAEPS 2025 took place from September 29 to October 1, 2025, at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena under the motto “THINKING AHEAD.”
Dr. Sarah Bürger presented the CoBi project, which is based at the working group, in her talk “Recognizing and Compensating for Educational Disadvantages – The CoBi Project.” The presentation focused on the evaluation of the program and its continuation as part of the Startchancen program.
Further information on the conference can be found at .
October 9th, 2025
Poster Presentation at the Oldenburg Open Science Conference
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Our team member Tuo Liu presented a poster titled “The Self‑Prioritization Effect Database and Preliminary Insights into Age‑Related Individual Differences” at the 1st Oldenburg Open Science Conference (OOSC), held on July 18, 2025, at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. The conference, organized by the Open Science Interest Group, brought together researchers and students from all disciplines to exchange experiences, challenges, and strategies for implementing open science practices. In the lively poster session, Tuo Liu introduced a newly developed, openly accessible database that compiles studies on the self-prioritization effect and presented initial findings on age-related differences in this phenomenon.
July 18th, 2025
Successful Defense Tuo Liu
Tuo Liu defended his doctoral thesis entitled “From Web to Virtual: Modifying Facial Self-Representation in the Digital Era” in a public defense at the University of Oldenburg on 15.07.2025.
We congratulate Tuo on this excellent step on the way to his doctorate!
July 16th, 2025
Successful Defense Marion Schneckenbühl
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Marion Schneckenbühl defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Medienbezogene Selbststeuerungsfähigkeit beim Lernen im Jugendalter – Konzeption und Evaluation einer beratungsbasierten Förderung” in a public defense on 09.07.2025.
We congratulate Marion on this excellent step on the way to her doctorate!
July 9th, 2025
Thomas Dreisörner wins YAVIS teaching prize
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Thomas Dreisörner received this year's YAVIS Award in the category Practical Relevance. The YAVIS Award is presented annually by the Fachschaft of Psychology of Ƭ and recognizes great quality of teaching.
Congratulations!
June 16th, 2025
New Publication in Journal Consciousness and Cognition
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Our team member Tuo Liu, together with Jing Teng, Kelong Lu, Andrea Hildebrandt, and Ning Hao, have published a new article in Consciousness and Cognition. The study investigated the predictive roles of semantic memory structure and associative ability in divergent thinking and visual artistic creativity. Drawing on an expert–novice design, the authors show that these cognitive resources predict both divergent thinking and real-world visual-artistic creativity. Using regularized structural equation modeling, they revealed that the semantic network structure strongly predicted both divergent thinking and visual artistic creativity, with the non-design group showing particularly pronounced effects. Association fluency also predicted different types of creative performances across both groups. These findings extend the associative theory of creativity to visual arts, offering insights into the cognitive foundations of artistic creativity and its implications for art education.
Teng, J., Liu, T., Lu, K., Hildebrandt, A., & Hao, N. (2025). Semantic memory and associative ability as predictors of divergent thinking and visual artistic creativity: An expert-novice comparison. Consciousness and Cognition, 133, Article 103889.
May 26th, 2025
Adaptive testing of competences in Higher Education
On May 21, 2025, Andreas Frey gave a guest lecture at the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences (HSHL). Here is the of the HSHL:
Study program ALI honored by Stifterverband and Dr. Friedrich Jungheinrich Foundation
The program ALI (AI and Digital Technologies in Learning and Instruction) was awarded a prize of 5,000 euros in March 2025 after a two-stage jury process. This prize from the Stifterverband and the Dr. Friedrich Jungheinrich Foundation is aimed at interdisciplinary degree programs in the STEM field that use innovative approaches to attract more students, reduce drop-out rates or help attract new target groups (especially more women).
Further information on the award can be found at and further information on the ALI degree program can be found at .
Presentation at the NCME conference in Denver
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As a member of the NCME Special Interest Group “Large-Scale Assessments”, Andreas Frey gave a presentation entitled “Effects of the Highly Adaptive Testing Design for PISA on the Precision of Plausible Value-Based Population Estimates” (authors: Frey, König & Fink) as part of an organized symposium. He presented the results of a study investigating the effects of the recently developed Highly Adaptive Testing Design for PISA on the precision of population parameter estimates. The corresponding manuscript has been submitted for publication. We expect that the results of the study will be available soon.
Unit represented with three contributions at the DAGStat Conference
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The research unit “Educational Psychology with Focus on Measurement, Counseling, and Evaluation” was represented with three contributions at this year’s DAGStat 2025 conference, the 7th Joint Meeting of the German Consortium in Statistics. DAGStat 2025 took place from 24 – 28 March 2025 at Humboldt University of Berlin.
Firstly, Tuo Liu presented “Beyond Counts of Attempts: Integrating Action Sequences into Sequential Item Response Theory,” and Dr Aron Fink presented “Effects of the Highly Adaptive Testing Design on Plausible Value-Based Population Estimates in PISA,” showcasing current research on modelling complex response and test-design data. Both talks were part of the session “Advances in Item Response Theory-based Measurement of Abilities”.
In addition, the unit organized a symposium “Linking, Equating, and Norming in the Context of IRT”. Prof Dr Andreas Frey served as chair and concluded the symposium with his presentation “Linking the MaK-adapt Mathematics Test with the German Educational Standards for Mathematics.”
Further information about the conference can be found at .
Paper on HAT design awarded as “Top Viewed Article 2023”
Our paper on Highly Adaptive Testing Design for PISA has received a lot of attention in the measurement community. It was one of the most viewed articles among all articles published in the Journal of Educational Measurement in 2023. This makes us happy and encourages us to complete the follow-up articles we are currently working on.
The reference of the paper is (open access):
Frey, A., König, C., & Fink, A. (2023). A highly adaptive testing design for PISA. Journal of Educational Measurement. Advance online publication. .
New Publication in Behavior Research Methods
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Aron Fink, Christoph König, and Andreas Frey have published a new study in Behavior Research Methods (BRM). Their research explores how calibration errors in item parameters can be accounted for in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). In CAT, item parameters are often assumed to be error-free, which can lead to underestimated standard errors and inaccurate ability estimates. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the study examined three approaches to addressing this uncertainty. The Bayesian approach, in particular, significantly reduced bias and increased the precision of ability estimates. We recommend this method, especially when large calibration samples are not feasible.
The article is available via open access: Fink, A., König, C., & Frey, A. (2025). Accounting for item calibration error in computerized adaptive testing. Behavior Research Methods, 57, 126.
April 2nd, 2025
Colloquium "Methods of Empirical Educational Research” 2025
From 16.3.-21.3.2025 the colloquium Methods of Empirical Educational Research, jointly organized by Andreas Frey and Johannes Hartig, took place at Haus Bergkranz of Ƭ Frankfurt. The program of this year included 15 contributions on current methodological topics. The participants came from nine universities and research institutes from all over Germany. This year's colloquium was again characterized by very lively and collegial discussions. Our working group contributed the following two presentations:
- Aron Fink - Effect of AI-supported highly informative feedback on academic performance
- Andreas Frey - Impact of the highly adaptive test design for PISA on PV-based population estimates
We would like to thank all participants for making this wonderful event a complete success year after year.
April 1st, 2025
New publication in the journal “Behavioral Sciences”
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Within the framework of the ALI project, our team members Tuo Liu, Cosima Schenk, and Andreas Frey, in collaboration with Stephan Braun, have published a new article entitled "A Machine-Learning-Based Approach to Informing Student Admission Decisions." In response to rising application numbers at universities, an innovative machine-learning-based approach was developed to optimize student admission decisions. The study explores how historical application data can be leveraged to predict student enrollment numbers accurately. Various machine learning models were trained and compared to calculate individual enrollment probabilities, subsequently aggregated into overall forecasts. The proposed method incorporates both the average enrollment yield and the statistical uncertainty of predictions, effectively managing the risk of over- or under-enrollment. Using empirical data from a German university, the study demonstrates that this data-driven decision-making approach significantly outperforms traditional methods relying on fixed enrollment yields.
The article is available via open access: Liu, T., Schenk, C., Braun, S., & Frey, A. (2025). A Machine-Learning-Based Approach to Informing Student Admission Decisions. Behavioral Sciences, 15(3), 330.
April 1st, 2025
Frankfurt Helau!
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Psychometricians can also dress up in costume! One of our team hides under this handmade costume of the continuously oppressed assistant Beaker.
March 3rd, 2025
Research Visit from Jonathan Templin
From 24 to 25 February, our lab was visited by Professor Jonathan Templin from the College of Education at the University of Iowa. During the research visit, recent study results were presented and ideas for joint research projects were discussed.
We would like to thank Jonathan for his encouraging feedback and valuable insights and look forward to future collaboration!
February 27th, 2025
Contributions at the GEBF-Conference in Mannheim
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Our lab was represented with three contributions at this year's GEBF conference, the 12th conference of the Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung. On the one hand, these were the two contributions to the symposium ‘Methodische Innovationen zur Nutzung computerisierter adaptiver Tests in Bildungskontexten’ [Methodological Innovations for the Use of Computerised Adaptive Tests in Educational Contexts]:
- Schenk, C., Fink, A., Naumann, P., & Frey, A.: Psychometrische Modelle für Answer-Until-Correct Items bei computerisierten adaptiven Tests. [Psychometric Models for Answer-Until-Correct Items in Computerised Adaptive Tests.]
- Weiß, L., Fink, A., & Frey, A.: Ein Propensity Score Matching Ansatz zur Analyse von Differential Item Functioning (DIF) bei computerisierten adaptiven Tests. [A Propensity Score Matching Approach for the Analysis of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) in Computerised Adaptive Tests.]
On the other hand, Sarah Bürger was a panelist at at the symposium 'Wohlbefinden und psychische Gesundheit verschiedener Akteure im Bidlungsbereich. Messung, Erklärungen, Entwicklungen’ [Well-being and mental health of different actors in education. Measurement, explanations, developments].
Andreas Frey chaired both the symposium ‘Methodische Innovationen zur Nutzung computerisierter adaptiver Tests in Bildungskontexten’ Methodological Innovations for the Use of Computerised Adaptive Tests in Educational Contexts] and the symposium ‘Methodische Innovationen bei der Konstruktion von Test- und Fragebogenverfahren’ [Methodological Innovations in the Construction of Test and Questionnaire Procedures].
The GEBF conference was held under the motto ‘Education as the key to social challenges: Interdisciplinary contributions from educational research’ from 27 to 29 January in Mannheim. Further information on the conference can be found .
February 3rd, 2025
End of the year 2024 - black light mini golf and small italian restaurant
“Golf is the only game you can enjoy without being good at it.” Since we enjoyed it a lot, we were probably very bad. However, we also chose black light mini golf to putt under difficult conditions: Darkness, fluorescent colors, 3D effects, disco music and no club selection! We competed against each other as two teams and in the end one of us even won without any injuries. Afterwards, we celebrated with pizza and pasta in a small Italian restaurant on Bergerstrasse.
The boss handed out the 2024 work report and expressed his satisfaction, appreciation and pride. After that, it was really time for the presents. The gifts outdid each other in terms of superfluity, weight and size, causing us to burst into enthusiasm and boastful amazement. That's why we fought fiercely to carry home the smallest and lightest presents, which some of us managed to do.
The entire department hopes that this positive ending heralds a good year for us all and wishes our visitors to this page a Merry Christmas and a happy and successful New Year!
Modelling Nonlinear Moderation Effects with Local Structural Equation Modelling (LSEM): A Non-Technical Introduction
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The recently published study by Tuo Liu and co-authors provides a comprehensive introduction to the use of local structural equation modelling (LSEM) to analyse nonlinear moderation effects in structural equation models (SEM). Traditional approaches to study moderation effects often focus on linear relationships, which risks missing more complex, nonlinear effects. In contrast, LSEM allows the analysis of nonlinear effects without requiring prior assumptions about the parametric form of moderation.
Using an empirical dataset, the authors demonstrate the implementation of LSEM using the R package 'sirt'. They highlight the versatility of this approach for both exploratory analyses, where no specific hypotheses are formulated, and confirmatory analyses, where specific moderation functions are hypothesised.
The full publication is available in Open Access here:
Liu, T., Ding, R., Su, Z., Peng, Z., & Hildebrandt, A. (2024). Modelling nonlinear moderation effects with local structural equation modelling (LSEM): A non-technical introduction. International Journal of Psychology, 59(5), 427–443. .
November 19th, 2024
Poster and Presentation from the ALI project
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Recent work results from the project 'AI and Digital Technology in Learning and Instruction' (ALI) were presented at this year's Learning AID in Bochum and as a poster at a transfer and networking workshop on 'AI in Higher Education - What to teach?' in Jena. A poster on the project was also presented at this year's eLearning Networking Day organised by studiumdigitale.
The ALI project focuses on the development of an interdisciplinary study programme at Ƭ that aims to teach students relevant skills relating to the use of AI and digital technologies in educational settings. In addition to the competence development model developed for this purpose, initial concepts for teaching content were also presented and discussed at these events.
Further information on the project can be found .
November 7th, 2024
Workshop on the R package TestDesign by Seung Choi
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On October 18th an exclusive workshop was held at our work unit where Professor Seung Choi from the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin presented his R package TestDesign and explained its functions using practical examples.
We would like to thank Seung Choi for the informative workshop!
November 7th, 2024
Is adaptive testing beneficial for test-taking motivation? - Meta-analysis on motivational and emotional effects of CAT published
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The recently published meta-analysis by Andreas Frey, Tuo Liu, Aron Fink and Christoph König summarizes what at first glance appears to be a heterogeneous body of publications on the motivational and emotional effects of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). For this meta-analysis, 27 studies with 190 effect sizes were analyzed. The motivational-emotional test taking experience is the result from the interaction of (a) test characteristics, (b) the test situation and (c) the test taker. Against this background, the overall effects of CAT (as one test characteristic) are not very informative. They were not significant for motivation and negative emotional test taking experience and significant for positive emotional test taking experience after publication bias correction. The moderator analyses also conducted are more informative for practical test applications: Here it was shown that CAT has a particularly favorable effect on motivation and emotional test taking experience in unspeeded tests, with reduced average item difficulty, with the option of revising responses and with response feedback.
The publication is available open access here:
Frey, A., Liu, T., Fink, A., & König, C. (2024). Meta-analysis of the effects of computerized adaptive testing on the motivation and emotion of examinees. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 40(5). 427–443. .
November 7th, 2024
Contribution at the IACAT 2024
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Our lab was represented with the following presentation at the IACAT 2024, the ninth conference of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing:
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Fink, A., & Frey, A. (2024, September). Accounting for item calibration error with multidimensional Bayesian adaptive testing [Presentation]. 9th Conference of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing (IACAT), Seoul, South Korea.
The conference took place from September 24 - 27. The conference theme was "Improving Assessment with Adaptivity and Artificial Intelligence".
Further information on the conference can be found .
November 7th, 2024
Contributions at the DGPS-Congress in Vienna
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Our lab was represented with five contributions at the 53rd DGPS Congress in Vienna. There were three presentations:
- Fink, A., Gombert, S., Liu, T., & Frey, A.: Using Psychometric Models to Integrate Predictions from Automated Essay Scoring Models.
- Fink, A., Gombert, S., Menzel, L., Weidlich, J., Drachsler, H., & Frey, A.: AI-powered Assessment in Higher Education - Insights from the HIKOF-DL project.
- Schenk, C., Naumann, P., Fink, A., & Frey, A.: Nutzung des Answer-Until-Correct-Antwortformates bei computerisiertem adaptiven Testen. Eine Simulationsstudie zur Untersuchung psychometrischer Merkmale verschiedener Modelle. [Use of the Answer-Until-Correct Response Format in Computerized Adaptive Testing. A Simulation Study to analyse psychometric Characteristics of different Models.]
In addition, a poster was presented:
- Weiß, L., Fink, A., & Frey, A.: A Propensity Score Matching Approach for the Analysis of Differential Item Functioning in Computerized Adaptive Testing.
Furthermore, a one-day workshop was offered by Tuo Liu (together with Philipp Franikowski and Andrea Hildebrandt) on the topic of "Modeling Nonlinear Moderation Effects in R: From Multiple Regression to Structural Equation Modeling".
The DGPS Congress took place under difficult conditions this year: Due to severe storms and flooding, the majority of persons that had registered were unable to travel to Vienna. Thanks to the flexibility of the organisation team, however, the event could be held in hybrid form. Further information on this year's DGPS Congress can be found .
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September 24th, 2024
Sarah Bürger newest member of the work unit
New Publication in Journal of Educational Measurement
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In cooperation with Hyo-Jeong Shin, Frederic Robin and Kentaro Yamamoto (Educational Testing Service, Princeton, USA), Christoph König and Andreas Frey have published a new study that focuses on the multistage adaptive test design for the reading domain introduced in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018. Specifically, the study investigated the extent to which the MST design is robust to PISA-typical characteristics that have a negative impact on the accuracy of item parameter estimates and the core parameters of the PISA rankings (country-specific means and standard deviations). It could be shown that even high proportions of missing or omitted responses and country-specific item parameters hardly negatively influence the estimation of the item parameters and the country-specific mean values. Only the estimation of the country-specific standard deviations showed distortions in the case of high proportions of missing and omitted responses. Together, these results show that the PISA 2018 MST design can also be used in difficult test situations and that it represents a step in the right direction towards more adaptivity in PISA.
The study was conducted as part of the “PISA Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) project on Multistage Adaptive Testing” of the OECD and was funded by the OECD.
The paper is published as an open access publication in Journal of Educational Measurement, and is available here
Shin, H.J., König, C., Robin, F., Frey, A., & Yamamoto, K. (2024). Robustness of Item Response Theory Models under the PISA Multistage Adaptive Testing Designs. Journal of Educational Measurement. Advance Online Publication.
August 26th, 2024
Contributions at the IMPS 2024
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Our lab was represented with the following two presentations at the IMPS 2024, the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society:
- Fink, A.: Addressing Calibration Error in Multidimensional Adaptive Testing: A Bayesian Approach.
- Liu, T., Fink, A., & Epskamp, S.: Integration of Ising Model and Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Simulation
The conference contributions were part of the sessions "Topics in Adaptive Testing" and "Novel Advances in Psychometric Network Modeling". The IMPS 2024 took place from July 16 - 19 in Prague. Further information on the conference can be found . July 29th, 2024 |
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Meta-analysis most-cited paper second year in a row
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In February 2022, Christoph Koenig and Andreas Frey showed in one of the first meta-analyses on the topic a negative effect of COVID-19 related school closures on student achievement. This negative effect was confirmed in several follow-up studies and meta-analyses. In 2023, the meta-analysis was the most-cited paper 2022 of the journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. Now, for the second year in a row, our study received the award again: it is the most-cited paper of 2023 of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.
The open access publication is available here:
König, C., & Frey, A. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19-Related School Closures on Student Achievement - A Meta-Analysis. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 41, 16–22.
July 25th, 2024
New Publication in Journal of Computer Assisted Learning published
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In cooperation with the DIPF, a new article has been published within the framework of the HIKOF-DL project. In this study, we examined the emotional and motivational effects of different types of automated, formative feedback in a computer-supported, collaborative task. Students deemed all automated and personalized feedback more useful than simple pass/fail feedback. The choice of reference frames (criterion-referenced vs. norm-referenced) showed differential effects. The social comparison reference frame was largely detrimental, whereas a combination of reference frames can induce desirable motivational regulation. Criterion-referenced feedback led to more positive emotions for overperformers and more negative emotions for underperformers.
Weidlich, J., Fink, A., Jivet, I., Giorgashvili, T., Drachsler, H., & Frey, A. (2024). Emotional and motivational effects of automated and personalized formative feedback: The role of reference frames. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Advance online publication.
June 7th 2024
Contribution at the NCME conference 2024
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Our lab was represented with the following presentation by Aron Fink at the NCME conference in Philadelphia.
Fink, A., Gombert, S., Liu, T., & Frey, A., (2024, April). The integration of automated essay scoring models using hierarchical rater models. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), Philadelphia, USA.
The conference took place with the title "Reconceptualizing Best Practices in Measurement to Reduce Inequities". Further information on the conference can be found .
May 29th, 2024
Contributions at the GEBF-Conference in Potsdam
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Our lab was represented with the following three presentations at the eleventh GEBF-Conference in Potsdam:
- König, C., Frey, A., & Goldhammer, F.: Leistungsemotionen im Vergleich zwischen papier- und computerbasierter Testung bei IGLU 2021. [Comparison of paper-based and computer-based testing regarding achievement emotions in PIRLS 2021]
- Frey, A., Liu, T., Fink, A., & König, C.: Metaanalyse zu den Effekten computerisierten adaptiven Testens auf Motivation und Emotion von Testpersonen. [Meta-analysis of the effects of computerised adaptive testing on motivation and emotion of test participants]
- Schenk, C., Naumann, P., & Frey, A.: Emotionale Effekte verschiedener Item-Review-Verfahren bei adaptiven Hochschulklausuren. [Emotional effects of different approaches for item review in adaptive university exams]
The conference took place under the motto "Understanding Education - Achieving Participation - Shaping Transfer". The (German) website of the conference with further information can be found .
March 26th, 2024
Interview with Thomas Dreisörner in "17:30 Sat.1 Live - Regionalmagazin für Rheinland-Pfalz und Hessen"
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ADHS diagnosis via YouTube and TikTok or better ask a specialist?
The video "Lilly aus Gießen klärt online über ADHS auf" (Lilly from Gießen explains ADHD online), broadcast on Sat.1 on February 5th 2024, deals with the danger of self-diagnosis, in this case using the example of ADHD. Thomas Dreisörner was interviewed. As a specialist, he advises against using social media such as YouTube or TikTok for self-diagnosis. "If my car isn't working properly, I also wouldn't use TikTok to find the problem but ask a mechanic instead."
February 06th, 2024
New study on automated content analysis published in the International Journal for Artificial Intelligence in Education
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In cooperation with the DIPF, a new article has been published within the framework of the HIKOF-DL project. The article presents a case study in which we implemented a pipeline for the automated scoring of essay content using natural language processing to provide students with automated, highly informative feedback. 689 manually coded essays were used as the training data.
Various models for automated scoring were trained (GBERT, T5 and bag-of-words baseline models). In particular, the transformer-based models showed high performance. Finally, the GBERT-based model was used for the automated evaluation of the essays, on the basis of which the automated feedback was derived.
Gombert, S., Fink, A., Giorgashvili, T. et al. (2024). From the automated assessment of student essay content to highly informative feedback: A case study. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education.
January 29th, 2024
Study on new PISA design published in the Journal of Educational Measurement
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The article authored by Andreas Frey, Christoph König and Aron Fink, proposes a new test design that is much more adaptive than the test design currently used in PISA. The results of a simulation study, which is also presented in the article, show that the new design meets content constraints better (such as the required proportions of certain item groups) and results in significantly higher measurement precision compared to the current PISA design.
The study is a good example of how findings from basic psychometric research can be used to further develop socially relevant studies that attract public attention.
We hope that the new design will be influential regarding the further methodological development of PISA.
The study was conducted as part of the “PISA Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) project on Multistage Adaptive Testing” of the OECD and was funded by the OECD.
The reference reads as follows; the paper is available with Open Access:
Frey, A., König, C., & Fink, A. (2023). A highly adaptive testing design for PISA. Journal of Educational Measurement. Advance online publication.
December 21st, 2023
End of the year 2023 with Christmas treats and suspense
This year we celebrated our end-of-year party at the headquarters, which proved to be logistically clever because the train drivers' strike began in the evening. Unfortunately, the train drivers also tore our two MCs Anelia Vanova and Nariman Utegaliyev away from us before the end of the party. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed the Christmas treats, the cheesy Christmas music and the obligatory junk gift giving together. Once again, extremely beautifully shaped, mysterious and scary gifts changed hands several times. The boss handed out the 2023 work report and looked back with us on a successful year. We also received his thanks and appreciation individually. Afterwards, we tucked into the buffet and one of the exit games that got our brains fuming. We freed ourselves from the perilous station in the eternal ice and were very silly about it.
The entire department hopes that this positive ending brings in a good year for us all and wishe our visitors to this page a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!
Retreat of the Professorship 2023
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Our retreat this year took place over two days in the beautiful Spessart in the countryside, in a remote inn with regional full supply. Here we were able to look back and ahead in peace and quiet, set goals, revise and optimize the departmental structure, and work out the medium- and long-term plans for our professorship with very entertaining and effective tasks. In addition, our stay was dominated by unrestrained gluttony, which we could not control even with a two-hour hike. We left the wonderful place with new tasks in our pockets and a strengthened sense of unity.
October 19th, 2023
Contribution at the 17th DPPD Conference
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Our research unit was represented by a contribution from Tuo Liu at the 17th Conference of the DGPS Division of Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology, and Psychological Assessment (DPPD) in Salzburg, Austria.
Liu, T., Molenaar, D., & Hildebrandt, A. (2023, September). Improving the precision of emotion identification task: A comparison of keyboard response times and mouse-tracking metrics in a joint model analysis. Talk presented at the 17. Arbeitstagung der Fachgruppe Differentielle Psychologie, Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik [17th Working Meeting of the Division of Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology, and Psychological Assessment] (DPPD), Universität Salzburg [University of Salzburg].
For more information about the conference, click .
October 5th, 2023
New Publication from the HIKOF project
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A new article was published in the proceedings of this year's EC-TEL conference.
The paper introduces an automated approach designed to provide comprehensive and insightful text-based feedback on the processes involved in CSCL forum discussions within an introductory teacher education course. Our primary focus is on assessing the group communication skills of individual students. This feedback is systematically generated by analyzing various discourse indicators, which are then utilized to identify the evolving roles that students assume within their groups. Consequently, we derive feedback that highlights both their strengths and areas for potential improvement.
Menzel, L., Gombert, S., Weidlich, J., Fink, A., Frey, A., Drachsler, H. (2023). . In: Viberg, O., Jivet, I., Muñoz-Merino, P., Perifanou, M., Papathoma, T. (eds) Responsive and Sustainable Educational Futures. EC-TEL 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14200. Springer, Cham.
September 28th, 2023
Paper presented at the FREMO conference in Oslo, Norway
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Our lab was represented with the following presentation at the FREMO conference in Oslo, Norway:
Fink, A. Gombert, S., & Frey, A.: Using Natural Language Processing to Automate the Assessment of Student Essay Content
Further information on the conference can be found .
September 28th, 2023
Two paper presentations at the PAEPS meeting in Kiel, Germany
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Our lab was represented with the following two presentations at the 19th meeting of the DGPs section Educational Psychology in Kiel, Germany:
- Frey, A., König, C., & Goldhammer, F.: Leistungsemotionen im Vergleich zwischen papier- und computerbasierter Testung bei IGLU 2021 [Comparison of paper-based and computer-based testing regarding achievement emotions in PIRLS 2021].
- Hahnel, C. Kröhne, U., Frey, A., Ludewig, U., & Goldhammer, F.: Unterscheidet sich die mentale Fokussiertheit beim Lesen am Computer vom Lesen auf Papier? Eine Ergänzungsstudie zu IGLU 2021. [Does mental focus in computer reading differ from reading on paper? A Supplementary Study to IGLU 2021]
Further information on the conference can be found .
September 22nd, 2023
Five papers at the 16th FGME conference in Constance
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Our lab was represented with the following five presentations at the FGME meeting in Constance, Germany:
- Fink, A. Gombert, S., & Frey, A.: Automatisierte Inhaltsanalyse von Essays mittels Transformern [Automated essay scoring using transformers]
- Frey, A., Fink, A., König, C., & Liu, T.: Metaanalyse zu den Effekten des computerisierten adaptiven Testens auf Motivation und Emotion [Meta-analysis on the effects of computerized adaptive testing on motivation and emotion]
- König, C., Fink, A., & Frey, A.: Der Einfluss hoch-adaptiven Testens auf den Ländervergleich bei PISA [The effect of highly adaptive testing on the international comparison in PISA.]
- Liu, T. & Epskamp, S.: Adaptive Form of Network Psychometrics: a simulation study.
- Ranger, J., Koenig, C., Domingue, B., Kuhn, J. T. & Frey, A.: A Multidimensional Partially-Compensatory Response Time Model on Basis of the Log-Normal Distribution.
Further information on the conference can be found .
September 22nd, 2023
Information material on topic "Competency-based Testing" available online
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Within the context of the project "DigiTeLL", Andreas Frey and Cosima Schenk created information material on the topic of "competency-based testing", which gives an overview of the work steps that are neccessary for the development of competency-based exams and explains the construction of multiple choice items - especially for the assessment of higher cognitive processes.
The materials can be viewed and downloaded from the .
September 21st, 2023
Presentation at earli 2023
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Andreas Frey served as invited discussant of the four individual presentations of the symposium "Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement" (chairperson: Natalie Foerster, Münster University, Germany) at the (as video).
August 29th, 2023
Nariman Utegaliyev newest member of the work unit
Our work unit at the EAM2023
From 11th to 13th July the 10th European Congress of Methodology (EAM 2023) took place at Ghent University, Belgium. The unit of educational psychology, with focus on counseling, measurement, & evaluation, contributed to the congress with three presentations.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey gave a presentation entitled "A Highly Adaptive Testing Design for PISA". Dr Christoph König gave a talk entitled "A Similarity-Weighted Informative Prior Distribution for Bayesian Multiple Regression Models". Tuo Liu presented a poster entitled "Enhancing Predictive Cut Scores in Higher Education Enrolment with Explainable Machine Learning Algorithms".
National German Report PIRLS 2021
On May 16, 2021, the study were presented. The can be viewed here. The results were described as "alarming" in the aftermath.
Among other things, it showed that a quarter of the fourth graders in Germany do not meet the international standard for reading literacy necessary for a successful transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. As a result of their weak reading achievement, these children will have considerable problems in all subjects in their further school careers, insofar as they are unable to catch up. Together with Sweden and the Netherlands, Germany belongs to a small group of three participating countries with problematic development of reading literacy across the last 20 years. This development was characterized by a significant decline in mean reading achievement with an significant increase in the standard deviation.
The results were discussed extensively in the press and subsequently in the German federal states. We are proud that we had the opportunity to contribute to this important study for our society. The with differentiated results can be downloaded with open access.
June 13th, 2023
Colloquium "Methods of Empirical Educational Research” 2023
Once again the annual colloquium "Methods of Empirical Educational Research" was held from the 5th to 10th of March 2023 in Hirschegg, Austria. In the course of the colloquium, 15 experts discussed contributions on current methodological developments within the scope of educational research. In addition to the scientifically stimulating contributions, there was also a birthday to celebrate this year.
On behalf of the work unit, talks were held by
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey on differential item functioning in adaptive tests
- Dr. Aron Fink on the usage of Natural Language Processing for the automatic coding of essays in higher education
We look once again back at a very stimulating time in Kleinwalsertal and give our thanks to all participants!
April 12th, 2023
New Publication in the International Encyclopedia of Education
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey has published an article on Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) and Multistage Testing (MST) in the International Encyclopedia of Education.
This article provides an overview of the basic concepts of CAT and MST. It describes the basic methods used in the six building blocks for designing a modern CAT system. It then summarizes the current state of knowledge about the effects of CAT on (a) measurement efficiency, (b) the validity of test score interpretation, and (c) test-taking motivation. It is concluded that CAT is likely to play a further-growing role in future assessments as a core element in dynamic testing systems with real-time optimization processes.
The article is available here:
Frey, A. (2023). Computerized adaptive testing and multistage testing. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi & K. Erkican (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (4th ed., pp. 209–216). Elsevier.
March 27th, 2023
New Publication in British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology
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Dr. Christoph Koenig, together with Benjamin Becker (IQB Berlin) and Dr. Esther Ulitzsch, recently published a tutorial on Bayesian hierarchical response time modelling. In this accessible tutorial, they discuss one of the most common response time models—the lognormal response time model—embedded in the hierarchical framework by van der Linden (2007). They provide detailed guidance on how to specify and estimate this model in a Bayesian hierarchical context. Furthermore, they illustrate three model extensions: (a) application to non-cognitive data incorporating the distance-difficulty hypothesis, (b) modelling conditional dependencies between response times and responses, and (c) identifying differences in response behaviour via mixture modelling. The tutorial aims to provide a better understanding of the use and utility of response time models, displays how these models can easily be adapted and extended.
The paper is published in British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology erschienen as open access, and is available here:
König, C., Becker, B., & Ulitzsch, E. (2023). Bayesian hierarchical response time modelling—A tutorial. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology. Advance online publication.
March 21st, 2023
Meta-analysis received most-cited paper award
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In February 2022, Dr. Christoph Koenig and Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey showed in one of the first meta-analyses on the effect of COVID-19 related school closures in 2020 and 2021, that they affected student achievement with an average negative effect of -0.17 SD. This negative effect was confirmed in several follow-up studies and meta-analyses. The meta-analysis now received the most-cited paper award, issued by the journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.
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The open access publication is available here:
König, C., & Frey, A. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19-Related School Closures on Student Achievement—A Meta-Analysis. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 41, 16–22.
March 21st, 2023
Anelia Vanova newest member of the work unit
Dr. Päivi Hannele Taskinen, Cosima Schnek & Lara Weiß newest members of the work unit
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The work unit welcomes Dr. Päivi Hannele Taskinen, Cosima Schenk & Lara Weiß as its newest members!
November 9th, 2022
New Publication in Education and Information Technologies
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Aron Fink and Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, together with Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden, have published a new paper on Determinants of higher education teachers’ intention to use technology-based exams. This paper proposes the novel technology-based exams acceptance model (TEAM) and empirically evaluates its model structure and usefulness from the perspective of higher education teachers. With TEAM, a highly predictive model for explaining the behavioral intention to use e-exams is now available. It offers a theoretical basis that can be used for the successful implementation of e-exams in higher education.
The paper is published in Education and Information Technologies erschienen as open access:
Fink, A., Spoden, C., & Frey, A. (2022). Determinants of higher education teachers’ intention to use technology-based exams. Education and Information Technologies. Advance online publication.
November 22nd, 2022
New Publication in Behavior Research Methods
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Dr. Christoph König and Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, together with Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden, have published a new paper on Bayesian hierarchical modeling of Item Response Theory (IRT) models. In an extensive simulation study, the robustness of the performance of a previously optimized Bayesian hierarchical 2PL IRT model was investigated and compared to a number of alternative estimation methods and approaches. We could show that the optimized model exhibits a relatively robust performance, especially in small samples, and outperforms alternative approaches in a wide range of conditions. Thus, this simulation study contributes to the extension of applicability of IRT models to, for instance, university contexts, where small samples and suboptimal test conditions are prevalent, and IRT models are seldom used.
The paper is published as an open access publication in Behavior Research Methods, and is available here:
König, C., Spoden, C., & Frey, A. (2022). Robustness of the performance of the optimized hierarchical two-parameter logistic IRT model for small-sample item calibration. Behavior Research Methods. Advance online publication.
November 10th, 2022
The CoBi project family grows
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The Beisheim-Stiftung is funding the project " Coronabedingte Bildungsbenachteiligungen erkennen und verringern – Online” (CoBi-Online) for two years (2022-2024). CoBi-Online is the third project of the CoBi project family (besides CoBi and CoBi-Transfer). CoBi-Online aims at transferring the learning support system developed in the CoBi project to a video-based online context and at offering it beyond Hesse. Thus, CoBi-Online will be making another important contribution to mitigating the educational disadvantages created by the Corona pandemic and to supporting students in Germany to optimize their learning.
November 1st, 2022
Project CoBi-Transfer started
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The project „Coronabedingte Bildungsbenachteiligungen erkennen und verringern - Transfer“ (CoBi-Transfer) conducted by the Ƭ Frankfurt (Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey) is funded by the Hessian Ministry of Education as part of the Loewenstark-Program in the school year 2022/2023. CoBi-Transfer allows the CoBi Learning Support System (developed in the CoBi project funded by the Beisheim Stiftung and the Goethe Corona Fonds) to be offered to students in K-12 education in the Frankfurt area and beyond. Thus, CoBi-Transfer further contributes to mitigating the educational disadvantages caused by the Corona pandemic by supporting students in optimizing their learning.
October 15th, 2022
IACAT 2022 - A great success
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On September 20-22, 2022, the Ƭ Frankfurt hosted the 8th Conference of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing. The three days of the conference were packed with high quality research talks on how to enhance testing and assessment in the digital age with CAT. Over 150 researchers from 29 countries have contributed in a variety of ways, making the conference highly stimulating with a very good atmosphere for discussion and networking. Thus, it is fair to conclude that the conference was a great success! See you at the next IACAT conference in 2024!
October 1st, 2022
New Publication on Empirical Research Methods
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The 6th, revised edition of the textbook "Psychology" (Schütz, Brand, & Steins-Loeber, 2022) was published on Sept. 15 2022. The book contains the chapter "Empirical Research Methods" written by Prof. Dr. and Prof. Dr. . The chapter provides an overview of the research methods relevant in psychological research and is the conceptual framework for the two semester lecture PsyBSc1 "Introduction to Psychology as an Empirical Science I and II" as part of our Bachelor's program in Psychology.
You can find the revised edition of the textbook .
September 20th, 2022
Numerous contributions at the 52nd DGPs-Congress
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The 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) took place at the University of Hildesheim from September 10 to 15, 2022. Our team was represented with numerous contributions. Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey held a presentation entitled “Highly Adaptive Testing in PISA” (Frey, König & Fink). Aron Fink gave a talk on "Using Natural Language Processing for Automated Coding of Essays in Digitally Supported Large-Scale University Lectures" (Fink, Frey, Liu & Gombert). He also presented the KAT-HS-App in a 90-minute software demonstration (Fink, Spoden, Frey & Naumann). Dr. Christoph König also gave a presentation entitled "The Impact of COVID-19-Related School closures on Student Achievement - A Meta-Analysis" (König & Frey). In addition, Tuo Liu presented a paper entitled "To see or not to see: Self-association does not facilitate the perception of facial expressions" (Liu & Hildebrandt) as well as a software demonstration on the "Open Virtual Mirror Framework" (Grewe, Liu, Hildebrandt & Zachow).
September 19th, 2022
Summer semester end in Goethe's footsteps
The end of the semester was hot, 35 degrees. This time fearlessly on the move again, but without an overweight dog: Team Frey. Start at the Goethe House, then along the banks of the Main, into the cool city forest, have a cold drink at the Goethe Tower, preferably Hessian, and then hike through Sachsenhausen to the Ristorante with courtyard garden in the evening. There relaxation, benevolent review of research, projects and teaching in the summer semester and strengthening with fine delicacies. Satisfied, slowly evaporating, we indulged in relaxation and fooling around. Energy and confidence for new tasks!
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June 20th, 2022
Image film about the project HIKOF-DL published
The HIKOF-DL project aims to support universities and companies in analyzing the potential of online teaching data sets, which have grown rapidly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, by means of artificial intelligence (AI) and transforming them into highly informative and competence-oriented feedback for students.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Human Development and Educational Information and "studiumdigitale", the central e-learning facility of Ƭ. The project is funded by the Distr@l support program of the Hessian state government.
June 22nd, 2022
New publication on learning to read during the Corona pandemic
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Dr. Ulrich Ludewig, Ruben Kleinkorres, Dr. Rahim Schaufelberger, Theresa Schlitter, Dr. Ramona Lorenz, Dr. Christoph König, Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and Prof. Dr. Nele McElvany have published a research paper on the state of reading literacy after corona-related limitations in schooling. They examined the data from 4,290 fourth graders* from 111 schools in Germany. The observed significant decline in reading literacy from 2016 to 2021 can only be partially explained by changes in the student composition. The observed decline is way beyond typical changes during five years in average reading achievement as found in large-scale assessment. Thus, it is likely that this decline in average reading achievement is at least partly associated with COVID-19-related measures.
The paper was published with open access in Frontiers in Psychology: Ludewig, U., Kleinkorres, R., Schaufelberger, R., Schlitter, T., Lorenz, R., Koenig, C., Frey, A., & McElvany, N. (2022). COVID-19 pandemic and student reading achievement – Findings from a school panel study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. 1–15.
June 8th, 2022
Tuo Liu newest member of the work unit
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The work unit welcomes Tuo Liu as its newest member! |
June 1st, 2022
Article regarding children's mixed-rounding use in computational estimation published
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In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Gerhard Büttner and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Poloczek, Dr. Svenja Hammerstein published an article regarding children's mixed-rounding use in computational estimation. Available under: |
May 5th, 2022
Chapter on measurement of competencies published
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Recently, the chapter "Kompetenzdiagnostik” (Measurement of competencies) was published in the second edition of the Handbuch Schulpädagogik (Harring, Rohlfs & Gläser-Zikuda, 2022). Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and Prof. Dr. Johannes Hartig describe in this chapter what competence tests are and what goals they pursue as well as the principles of their construction, evaluation and test score interpretation.
The Handbuch Schulpädagogik is available here:
The chapter Kompetenzdiagnostik is available here:
April 26th, 2022
Christian Spoden appointed professor
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Our former team member Christian Spoden, was recently appointed professor for "Psychology with a focus on General Psychology, Methodology and Personality Psychology" at the Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences (). We are very happy for Christian and wish him every success in his new position! |
April 19th, 2022
Another article on adaptive and customised e-exams published
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Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden and Hanna Köhler, together with Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, Aron Fink and Patrick Naumann, have published an article in the Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (Journal for Higher Education Development). The article describes how competence-oriented adaptive e-exams can contribute to an increased comparability and fairness of exams. Furthermore, the article presents a trial implementation, from which recommendations for implementation in regular exam operations can be derived. Finally, possible extensions and challenges of adaptive and customised e-exams are discussed.
The article is available here:
Spoden, C., Fink, A., Frey, A., Köhler, H., & Naumann, P. (2022). Kompetenzorientierung und Fairness bei individualisierten E-Klausuren [Competence orientation and fairness in individualised e-exams]. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung, 17(1), 121–140. Available at:
April 07th, 2022
Article on competence-oriented adaptive e-exams published
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, Aron Fink, and Patrick Naumann, together with Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden, have written an article on competence-oriented adaptive exams in higher education. The article describes how to improve exams in higher education based on a novel combination of methods, quality standards and approaches stemming from psychometrics and educational and psychological measurement. The article refers to recent trends in these fields and illustrates how they can contribute to the digital transformation in higher education.
The article is available here:
Spoden, C., Frey, A., Fink, A., & Naumann, P. (2022). E-Klausuren für die Hochschule: Zeit der Veränderung. In-Mind. Available at:
March 21st, 2022
Report on the PIRLS reading literacy test on the reading literacy of fourth graders in Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, together with Dr. Ulrich Ludewig, Theresa Schlitter, Dr. Ramona Lorenz, Ruben Kleinkorres, Dr. Rahim Schaufelberger, and Prof. Dr. Nele McElvany, published a report on the reading literacy of fourth graders in Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the report, data from 4,290 fourth graders from 111 schools in Germany who took the comprehensive PIRLS reading literacy test in 2016 and 2021 were analyzed. Compared to 2016, fourth graders in 2021 who had been affected by COVID-19-related schooling restrictions for more than one year had, on average, statistically significant and substantially lower reading literacy. |
The report is available here:
Ludewig, U., Schlitter, T., Lorenz, R., Kleinkorres, R., Schaufelberger, R., Frey, A. & McElvany, N. (2022). Die COVID-19 Pandemie und Lesekompetenz von Viertklässler*innen. Ergebnisse der IFS-Schulpanelstudie 2016-2021. Dortmund: Technische Universität Dortmund, Institut für Schulentwicklungsforschung. DOI:
An english version with the cooperation of Dr. Christoph König can be found here:
Ludewig, U., Kleinkorres, R., Schaufelberger, R., Lorenz, R., König, C., Frey, A., & McElvany, N. (2022). COVID-19 Pandemic and Student Reading Achievement –Findings from a School Panel Study. Available at:
March 18th, 2022
Markus Spitzer newest member of the work unit
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The work unit welcomes Markus Spitzer as its newest member! |
March 1st, 2022
Meta-analysis on effects of COVID-19 related school closures published
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In a meta-analysis, Dr. Christoph König and Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey found that COVID-19-related school closures in 2020 and 2021 had a negative effect on student achievement in German schools, with a mean effect of -0.17. The meta-analysis was published in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice and can be accessed . |
February 8th, 2022
One of the Top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric
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Dr. Svenja Hammerstein, Dr. Christoph König, Dr. Thomas Dreisörner and Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey have published a systematic review on the effects of COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement in spring 2020. The review article is in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric: The study is available here: |
February 1st, 2022
What I haven't learned, I have traveled [J. W. Goethe]
We ended our all around successful year 2021 with a hike around the Saalburg in the most beautiful atmospheric flurry of snow. Armed with a dog, cookies, sandwiches, hot cider and tea, we tackled the sometimes challenging, yet delightful hiking route. One and a half kilometers from the designation, a delegation had to stay behind with the limping dog. Amid the growing darkness, the boss initiated the rescue and recovery of the animal and brought everyone back safely to the designation, where we ended up rewarding ourselves with the remaining treats and the work report of the previous year. It was very amusing and we laughed a lot at ourselves.
The entire department hopes that this positive end will herald a good year for all of us and wishes our visitors of this site a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!
January 13th, 2022
Diana Dusny newest member of the work unit
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The work unit Educational Psychology with focus on Counselling, Measurement, and Evaluation welcomes Diana Dusny as its newest member! |
December 1st, 2021
Interview in Journal Frankfurt on the CoBi project
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Dr. Thomas Dreisörner gave an interview in the context of the project "Identifying and reducing Corona-related educational disadvantages (CoBi)" on the results of a systematic review on the effects of COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement in spring 2020. The interview is now available in the "Journal Frankfurt": The systematic review can be accessed here: Here you can find the official press release: |
November 11th, 2021
Book chapter on increasing test efficiency of the Teacher Knowledge Survey Assessment Module through multidimensional adaptive testing published
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and Aron Fink have published a book chapter entitled "" as part of the book "" published by the OECD. |
The chapter discusses the potential of multidimensional adaptive testing (MAT) for increasing the measurement efficiency of large-scale assessments using the example of the Teacher Knowledge Survey Assessment Module, which will be part of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024.
October 28th, 2021
New press release on the CoBi project
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Dr. Svenja Hammerstein, Dr. Christoph König, Dr. Thomas Dreisörner und Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey have published a systematic review on the effects of COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement in spring 2020 in the project "Identifying and reducing Corona-related educational disadvantages (CoBi)", which is funded by the Beisheim Foundation and the Goethe Corona Fund. A new press release from the idw scientific information service has now been published on this. The press release can be found here: The study is available here for free: |
October 28th, 2021
Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey speaks at the „Forum Bildung“ at Frankfurt Book Fair 2021
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The “Forum Bildung” took place on the Stage of the Education Media at this year's Book Fair. The challenges of educational disadvantages caused by the Corona pandemic were discussed. The occasion was the systematic review " - A Systematic Review" published as a pre-print in June 2021. The generated an intensive media coverage and stimulated subsequent discussions – such as this one. Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey discussed the contents of the study, the current situation in Germany and abroad and the conclusions that can be drawn from it with Karin Plötz, Director of LitCam. |
The video is now available here:
October 27th, 2021 (video added on November 1st, 2021)
Marion Schneckenbühl newest member of the work unit
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The work unit Educational Psychology with focus on Counselling, Measurement, and Evaluation welcomes Marion Schneckenbühl as its newest member! |
October 4th, 2021
Project DigiTeLL started
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The project "Digital Teaching and Learning Lab - DigiTeLL" is funded by the and will be carried out from 2021 to 2024. The projects aims at establishing, carrying out and implementing an innovation structure for the development, integration and further development of digital teaching, learning and testing scenarios. Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey heads the DigiTeLL cross-sectional topic "Digital Examination". Hereby, the research and software regarding digital examinations developed in the former projects KAT-HS and HIKOF-DL will be made available to a wide range of users at the Ƭ and will be further developed. |
September 28th, 2021
Presentations at the 15th Conference of the Subdivision “Methods and Evaluation”
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From 15th to 17th September 2021, the 15th conference of the Subdivision of Methods and Evaluation (FGME) of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) took place as a virtual event. The conference was hosted by the University of Mannheim. Dr. Christoph König gave the talk “Accounting for heterogeneity when specifying informative prior distributions for Bayesian multiple regression models - A novel similarity measure”. Aron Fink gave a talk on accounting for measurement error in item parameters in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Patrick Naumann presented a poster on emotional effects of computerized adaptive exams in higher education.
September 17th, 2021
Keynote by Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey at the 32nd International Congress of Psychology (ICP)
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On 19 July 2021, Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey gave a keynote at the 32nd International Congress of Psychology (ICP). The title of his presentation was "Computerized Adaptive Testing in Psychological Research and Application". The congress takes place every four years and is one of the world's largest international psychological events. It was first held in 1889. You can find the abstract of the presentation here: |
Video recording of the keynote:
July 22th, 2021
Book on psychometrically sound e-exams in higher education published
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden have published a book that presents a concept for psychometrically sound e-exams based on the current state of scientific knowledge. The concept can be applied in all disciplines at all higher education institutions. The concept relies on the use of digital technologies to make exams more individualized, more precise, and fairer. Exams are thereby designed as criterion-referenced, computerized adaptive testing procedures. In this book, the necessary steps for the psychometrically sound e-exam-based measurement of competence are explained in detail.
The book also contains chapters by Aron Fink and Patrick Naumann, who are members of the working unit. With the publication at Pabst Science Publishers, .
The book is available here:
July 6th, 2021
Commentary on the current state of higher education exams in psychology studies published
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Frey, A., Spoden, C., Schultze, M. (2021). Die Zukunft der Hochschulklausuren hat bereits begonnen [The future of university exams has already begun]. Psychologische Rundschau, 72(2), 113–116. |
May 19th, 2021
Commentary on computerized adaptive exams in psychology studies published
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Aron Fink and Patrick Naumann, along with Dr. Christoph König, wrote a commentary that refers to a position paper on the improvement of written exams in psychology studies. In the commentary, the advantages of computerized adaptive testing for exams in psychology studies are demonstrated. The paper was published in the journal Psychologische Rundschau.
Fink, A., Naumann, P. & König, C. (2021). Computerisierte adaptive Klausuren im Psychologiestudium [Computerized Adaptive Testing for Exams in Psychology Studies]. Psychologische Rundschau, 72(2), 125–127.
May, 19th, 2021
Article on the development and evaluation of a framework for performance-based testing of ICT-skills published
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey and Dr. S. Franziska C. Wenzel, together with Dr. Lena Engelhardt, Prof. Dr. Johannes Naumann, Prof. Dr. Frank Goldhammer, Prof. Dr. Holger Horz, and Dr. Katja Hartig, developed and evaluated a framework for performance-based testing of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-skills. Specifically, the framework is used to appropriately assess competences in the use of information and communication technologies (e.g., problem solving, understanding graphics) using performance-based items. The article was recently published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Education. |
Engelhardt, L., Naumann, J., Goldhammer, F., Frey, A., Horz, H., Hartig, K., & Wenzel, S. F. C. (2021). Development and Evaluation of a Framework for the Performance-Based Testing of ICT Skills. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 668860.
May, 19th, 2021
New Project: Highly Informative and Competence-Oriented Feedback for Digital Learning (HIKOF-DL)
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The Government of the Federal State of Hessen is funding the project "Highly Informative and Competency-Oriented Feedback for Digital Learning (HIKOF-DL)" as part of the Distr@l funding program. The project is being carried out in cooperation with and . The goal of the project is to implement two feedback systems for formative and summative feedback and to combine them into a unified concept for highly informative and action-oriented feedback for supporting the acquisition of competencies of learners. Among others, the project builds on and continues the results of KAT-HS.
You can find more HERE.
May, 07th, 2021
Software demonstration on the KAT-HS-App published
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Aron Fink, Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden, Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, and Patrick Naumann have published a software demonstration on the KAT-HS-App in the scientific journal Diagnostica. This software demonstration presents the possibilities for the construction, administration, and evaluation of criterion-referenced, computerized adaptive and nonadaptive tests with the R-based open-source KAT-HS-App, which was developed by our team. The app is available free of charge for research and teaching after registration via .
Fink, A., Spoden, C., Frey, A., & Naumann, P. (2021). Kriteriumsorientiertes adaptives Testen mit der KAT-HS-App [Criterion-referenced adaptive testing using the KAT-HS-App]. Diagnostica, 67(2), 110 – 114.
April, 26th, 2021
Beisheim Stiftung supports project on educational disadvantage due to the coronavirus
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In our project "Detecting and reducing Corona-related educational disadvantages; CoBi" we received financial support through the Beisheim Stiftung for a term of two years.
Currently we work on a literature review "A systematic literature review on effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning outcomes". First results are reported in a conference fee at digiGEBF21 in regard to the theme "education and corona" by Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey.
April 19th, 2021
Empirical results on the construction of psychometrically sound written university exams
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Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey, Prof. Dr. Christian Spoden and Dr. Sebastian Born have written an article on the construction and administration of psychometrically sound written university exams, which has now been published. Elements of the proposed procedure are (a) the definition of the content domain of interest in relation to the learning objectives of the course, (b) the specification of an assessment framework, (c) the operationalization of the assessment framework with test items, (d) the standardized administration of the exam, (e) the scaling of gathered responses with item response theory models, and (f) the setting of grade levels with standard-setting procedures. |
The paper is available here:
Frey, A., Spoden, C., & Born, S. (2020). Construction of Psychometrically Sound Written University Exams. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 65(4), 415-525.
January 15th, 2021
Publication in Behavior Research Methods
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On the occasion of Behavior Research Methods’ () change of the editorial board, the editorial entitled "" has been published. It contains important information on the type of manuscripts whose submission to BRM as one of the world's leading methods-journals (impact factor: 4.425) is promising. Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey serves as associate editor of BRM since the beginning of 2020. December 18th, 2020 |