International Workshop on Empirical Educational Research - Extended Education
Experts and attendees in front of the Marburg Convention Center
28 November - 1 December, 2016, at the University of Marburg, Germany
From 28 November to 1 December, 2016, an international workshop on empirical educational research in the field of extended education took place at the Philipps University of Marburg. The workshop was organized by Sabine Maschke (Marburg University), Ludwig Stecher (Giessen University) and Ivo Züchner (Marburg University). It aimed at doctoral candidates with a research focus on extracurricular and out-of-school time educational research (extended education). Leading international experts from the field of extended education research were invited and reported on the latest developments in this field of research in their country and answered the questions the young scientists had concerning their dissertation projects.
During the workshop the junior scientists got the chance to present their qualification work – in the plenum and in small groups - and discuss it with the experts. Each expert was assigned to a group of three to five attendees and provided them in-depth advice. The groups were put together in regard to the experts’ area of expertise and the attendees’ research focus.
Questions of the empirical feasibility of innovative research ideas and the selection of appropriate research methods were in the focus in particular, including perspectives of international comparative research.
With the workshop, the organizers aimed to deepen the cooperation and extend the knowledge on this comparative field of research. After organizing some international conferences on the topic of extended education since 2010 and launching the International Journal for Research on Extended Education in 2013, promoting early stage researchers is the next step of the Network for Extracurricular and Out-Of-School Time Educational Research (NEO ER, which is now an IRN in the WERA, see the developments section in this issue) as well as to institutionalize and strengthen international research in the field of extended education.