Department

Department of subject-specific education research

The Department of subject-specific education research was founded in 2007 and comprises the following subjects:

  • Chair of Biology Education Research
  • Chair of Chemistry Education Research
  • Chair of German Language and Literature Education Research
  • Chair of German as a Second Language Education
  • Chair of Foreign Language Education Research
  • Chair of Geography Education Research
  • Chair of History Didactics
  • Chair of Catholic Religious Education Research
  • Chair of Art Education and Research
  • Chair of Mathematics Education Research
  • Chair of Music Education Research
  • Chair of Religious Education Research
  • Professorship for Social Science Education
  • Professorship for Economic Education Research

 

In addition, the following are affiliated with the Department as secondary members:

  • Didactis of Computer Science
  • Islamic Religious Education
  • Didactics of Physics
  • Sports Pedagogy

 

The Department of subject-specific education research at FAU Erlangen–Nuremberg has a unique structure in Germany, currently comprising 14 subject-didactic disciplines (12 of which are represented by professorships). This provides a special opportunity to strengthen subject didactics as an independent academic discipline and to further advance interdisciplinary subject-didactic research, theory development, and teaching. In addition, four further subject didactics are affiliated with the Department as secondary members.

The specific objects of study in the academic discipline of subject didactics are subject- or domain-specific teaching, learning, and educational processes. At the core of research and reflection in subject didactics lies the question of which subject-specific content can be made accessible to which target groups, for what reasons, with which objectives and methods, and in a manner appropriate to the respective context and situation. To address this question scientifically, educational theory development and empirical research on teaching, learning, and education are closely intertwined. Historical, hermeneutic, and comparative research approaches also play an important role. In this sense, contemporary subject didactics extends its research and teaching interests beyond school subjects and teacher education.

In the modern understanding, subject didactics are therefore neither derivatives or applied disciplines of their respective subject sciences (“mirror didactics”) nor mere subject-specific extensions of “general didactics.” Rather, they are understood as independent disciplines that maintain close connections with various neighboring fields. In addition to their primary reference disciplines—subject sciences and educational sciences—these include developmental and learning psychology, sociology, and areas such as socialization research, among others. According to FAU, subject didactics, alongside subject sciences and educational sciences, constitute the third pillar of teacher education.