Economy and education“ – the research program of the chair of economics and economic education at the university of Duisburg-Essen can be reduced to this slogan. We analyze questions regarding economic general education as well as vocational education. Within the last decade economic education has been constantly on the rise – a gratifying process we accompany by developing curricula carrying out empirical research in the field of learning and teaching. Thereby we focus on improving the quality of economic education in general, but we are interested in vocational education as well. We attend the transition from a curriculum that used to be issue-based and is now structured by fields of learning from a scientific position. At the same time we analyze teaching economics at full time vocational schools.

Innovative teaching and learning arrangements are supposed to foster competences in economic and vocational education for which reason they are constantly tested, evaluated and redeveloped. We take an active part in the development of methods concerning competence diagnosis and competence assessment. At the same time we are committed to the academic professionalization of teachers as well as to the organizational development of schools.

Our areas of research in detail:

• Human capital development in the dual system of vocational training
• Economic, moral and political education
• Business ethics in theory and practice
• National standards and competencies in economic education
• Complex teaching-learning arrangements
• Education for sustainable development
  
• Corporations between schools and economy (industrial relations)
• Chosen aspects of economic education
• Bilingual economic education