Foundations for innovations in higher education: new CRC at LMU Munich

• The German Research Foundation is funding a new Collaborative Research Centre on simulation-based learning.
• The CRC “Simulation-based learning in higher education: Advancing research on process diagnostics and personalized interventions (SHARP)” will be coordinated by LMU researchers in cooperation with TUM.
• SHARP is the first CRC in the field of educational research and unites the disciplines of medicine, biology, chemistry, information technology, mathematics, physics, pedagogy, and psychology.

LMU Munich is launching the Collaborative Research Centre CRC-Transregio 419 “Simulation-based learning in higher education: Advancing research on process diagnostics and personalized interventions (SHARP)” in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Many professional fields such as school teaching and medical practice increasingly call for skills such as collaborative diagnostics and complex problem-solving. The Collaborative Research Centre SHARP investigates how simulations can be designed to systematically foster these skills. Artificial intelligence will play a key role here in determining existing skill levels and adapting simulations to individual needs. In addition, the researchers will explore what skills university educators require to effectively integrate personalized, simulation-based learning into the curriculum and their classes, so that students can be better equipped for the complex demands of professional practice.

“We’re researching the conditions and mechanisms for the acquisition of complex skills using AI-supported simulations,” explains Frank Fischer, Chair Professor of Empirical Pedagogy and Educational Psychology at LMU and spokesperson for the CRC. “The knowledge we generate in SHARP has the potential to drive innovations in higher education teaching and evidence-oriented practice,” emphasizes deputy spokesperson Professor Tina Seidel (TUM).

SHARP is the first Collaborative Research Centre in the field of educational research and plans to develop important foundations for innovations in higher education. The CRC unites the disciplines of medicine, biology, chemistry, information technology, mathematics, physics, pedagogy, and psychology. The University of Augsburg and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre are also involved as partners in addition to LMU and TUM.