http://hdl.handle.net/10900/42132 2026-06-11T17:32:52Z 2026-06-11T17:32:52Z Babst, Axel http://hdl.handle.net/10900/180623 2026-06-11T01:01:15Z 2026-06-10T00:00:00Z

Recognition of social identities as a mechanism to increase the resilience of individuals, liberal democracies, and societies Babst, Axel This Ph.D. thesis investigates how recognition of social identities may serve as a mechanism to increase the resilience of individuals, liberal democracies, and societies. This topic is highly relevant in political and societal terms due to the polycrisis of Western societies. I present a possible mechanism for overcoming the polycrisis in the form of the recognition of social identities to in-crease resilience. My dissertation makes three contributions to expand the current state of re-search. 1) From a theoretical perspective, I synthesize Tajfel and Turner's Social Identity Theory (SIT, 1979) with Honneth’s (1992) and Fukuyama's (2019) work on recognition. 2) Methodologically, I develop new items for measuring the recognition of occupational and social class identities. 3) Substantively, I demonstrate in three empirical, peer-reviewed journal articles the assumed connection between the degree of perceived recognition and indicators of resilience in relation to three different crises. The first paper shows that occupational groups that were particularly challenged during the pandemic (“essential” occupations, careworkers, “base workers”) did experience an increase in symbolic recognition, but that this did not translate into financial compensation. At the same time, it is evident that recognition of occupational identities promotes compliance with infection control measures, enhancing societal resilience during a pandemic. Study 2 addresses the rise of populism. It shows that a lack of recognition of social identities is a significant predictor of populist attitudes, which has hardly been discussed in the extensive literature on the causes of populism to date. In the third paper, I show that the recognition of social class identities correlates positively with the acceptance of climate change mitigation measures. Despite limitations (cross-sectional data, sample, selection of social identities), the results are promising and already provide a basis for relevant policy recommendations such as increasing the salaries of essential and base workers, involving citizens in policy design, and transparent and honest political communication that also takes citizens' needs into account. With my dissertation, I am making an important contribution to labor market research, and political sociology, and provide a foundation on which future research on the recognition of social identities and its effects on the resilience of individuals, liberal democracies, and societies can build. References: Fukuyama, F. (2019). Identität: Wie der Verlust der Würde unsere Demokratie gefährdet (3. Auflage). Hoffmann und Campe. Honneth, A. (1992). Kampf um Anerkennung: Zur moralischen Grammatik sozialer Konflikte. Suhrkamp. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks Cole.

2026-06-10T00:00:00Z Gazar, Franziska http://hdl.handle.net/10900/180164 2026-06-02T01:06:06Z 2028-05-19T00:00:00Z

From Knowledge to Action in Technology-Enhanced Teaching: An Integrative Approach to Action-Oriented Teacher Professionalization Gazar, Franziska Teaching with technology is a demanding task that requires teachers to respond to rapidly unfolding classroom events. A central competence is teachers’ professional vision – the ability to notice instructionally relevant events and interpret them using professional knowledge (knowledge-based reasoning). Research shows that pre-service teachers often focus on salient features and struggle to use knowledge to interpret and respond to classroom situations, underscoring the need to foster professional vision early in teacher education. Despite substantial work on professional knowledge, professional vision, and video-based learning, an integrative, action-oriented account of professionalization for technology-enhanced teaching remains limited. First, little is known about how professional knowledge is connected and applied across instructional contexts, so it is not readily usable for noticing and reasoning. Second, evidence is fragmented regarding which design features of video-based analysis reliably foster professional vision and how learner prerequisites shape effects. To address these gaps, this dissertation pursued two complementary aims across four studies using context-based assessments. First, it examined knowledge integration across systematically varied instructional contexts involving technology use and across levels of teaching experience (Study 1). Findings indicated context-sensitive differences in knowledge application, consistent with more fragmented patterns among pre-service teachers and more connected patterns among in-service teachers. Second, it investigated how video-based analysis can be designed to foster professional vision by disentangling technological affordances (annotation tool) from instructional guidance (prompts, modeling examples) and considering prior knowledge and cognitive load (Studies 2-4). Tool support primarily strengthened noticing; modeling examples supported knowledge-based reasoning; prompt-based guidance was not beneficial and could disadvantage learners with low prior knowledge, and cognitive load effects were less pronounced than expected. Overall, the dissertation advances an integrative, context-specific account of action-oriented professionalization in technology-enhanced teaching and shows that fostering professional vision in video analysis requires differentiated support rather than one-size-fits-all guidance.; Die Dissertation ist gesperrt bis zum 19. Mai 2028 !

2028-05-19T00:00:00Z Estler, Victoria http://hdl.handle.net/10900/180162 2026-06-02T01:06:04Z 2026-06-01T00:00:00Z

Business ethics and digital inquiry-based learning: exploring students’ competence development Estler, Victoria Business ethics education is gaining increasing importance in times of global crisis, technological innovation, and social polarization. Questions of responsibility, fairness, and sustainability are economically relevant and essential for the functioning of democracy. As part of contemporary citizenship education, engaging with business ethics in schools contributes significantly to the development of students’ moral judgment, value orientations, and reflective participation in society. Schools thus play a key role in promoting responsible judgment and action-oriented competences. However, this requires innovative pedagogical approaches that actively involve learners in addressing complex moral questions. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is considered a particularly promising pedagogical approach in this respect, as it supports independent thinking, critical analysis, and reflective moral reasoning. The digital implementation of IBL further enhances its potential by promoting collaboration, offering adaptive support, and fostering the development of key digital competences. Despite the widely recognized potential of digital IBL, there is still a lack of systematic research linking business ethics education with digital IBL at the secondary level. To address this research gap, this dissertation examines how digitally supported IBL can contribute to the development of business ethical competences in secondary education and what factors influence its effectiveness by connecting the social scientific field of business ethics with a pedagogical approach originally developed in the natural sciences. The aim of this dissertation is to systematically analyze the key factors identified in the literature as influencing the effectiveness of digital learning—learner and teacher characteristics, contextual conditions, and learning engagement—across three empirical studies. By examining these elements, it investigates the effectiveness of digital IBL in the social sciences. Focusing on learner characteristics, the first study, which employed a qualitative interview design, examined the conceptions of 33 eighth-grade students regarding business ethical issues. The findings showed that students reflected on business ethics predominantly in a fragmented and individual-ethical manner. Although some students demonstrated various conceptions of ethical economic behavior, their reasoning largely remained limited to consumer decisions, while political dimensions were scarcely considered. This narrow perspective was further reflected in misconceptions about governmental and corporate responsibilities as well as the distribution of economic power in competitive markets. The second study, which included 445 students, employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of digitally supported IBL on competence development, considering contextual and teacher-related influences. While no evidence was found for a significant overall effect compared to traditional instruction, gender-specific differences emerged: for female students, digital IBL led to higher economic interest and intrinsic motivation, whereas male students showed a decrease in economic interest. The third study examined the role of student engagement, which is widely recognized as a key success factor in digital learning environments. Based on log data from 285 students, the quantitative analysis revealed that higher levels of behavioral engagement were associated with greater knowledge gains and stronger development of business-related competences. Interactive and visually oriented learning formats proved particularly beneficial. Learners who exhibited balanced use of various activity types—termed “all-rounders”—achieved the best learning outcomes and displayed higher levels of digital competence. Building on the findings of individual studies, this dissertation develops, for the first time, a subject-specific, empirically grounded framework model for the effectiveness of digital IBL in the social sciences. By illustrating and extending existing knowledge through the inclusion of learner and teacher characteristics, contextual factors, and student engagement, this work provides new empirical and theoretical insights into business ethics education at the secondary level and demonstrates how digital learning environments can be designed to foster critical reflection, sound moral judgment, and a sense of responsibility. Furthermore, the dissertation offers conceptual implications for teacher education—for instance, in further developing adaptive, multiperspectival, and gender-sensitive approaches to instructional design—and educational policy, particularly concerning cross-curricular frameworks and infrastructural provisions. In doing so, it establishes an empirically substantiated foundation for future research and practice-oriented developments aimed at promoting innovative teaching and learning concepts that support democratic and ethically grounded citizenship education in the digital age.

2026-06-01T00:00:00Z Hahn, Lea-Sofie http://hdl.handle.net/10900/179822 2026-05-22T01:06:44Z 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z

A Planned Change Process of Physical Activity Promoting Structures in Nursing Homes Using a Participatory Integrated Counselling Approach Hahn, Lea-Sofie In light of the changing conditions of the residents, the acute staff shortages and the findings of previous research, there is a clear need for a planned and sustainable change in PA promotion and PA-promoting structures within the nursing home setting. The dissertation’s research is grounded in the field of organisational sociology, particularly Kurt Lewin’s Model of Change, which is used to conceptualise processes of change in three steps. The dissertation comprises five arti-cles that highlight all three steps of the change process and is guided by the primary pilot study, BaSAlt. Kurt Lewin’s Model of Change was applied for the first time to investigate and accompany a planned change process aimed at increasing PA-promoting structures in the nursing home set-ting. The specific challenge in this setting was the pseudo-total characteristic, prioritising basic care and mobilisation, rather than PA promotion. According to the first step of Lewin’s model, several quantitative and qualitative data analyses identified the need for action in different areas of the nursing home. Within the second step, PA-promoting actions were developed, integrated, and embedded with relevant stakeholders. These PA-promoting actions led to learning processes on both an individual and organisational level, resulting in changes in PA-related norms, values, schedules, and structures in the third step. By applying a holistic approach, multiple factors and areas of PA promotion were investigated and changed. The most prominent ones were staff train-ing, activities for weekly and individual schedules, regular communication and cooperation, the distribution of responsibilities, and the inclusion of activities of daily living into daily routines. The most notable implication for practice is the practical guide, which empowers nursing home man-agement staff to initiate change processes independently. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. Especially in pseudo-total institutions, structural inertia makes it difficult to embed new structures sustainably, and it is unclear to what extent this can be maintained without scien-tific monitoring and support.

2026-05-21T00:00:00Z