In education, among the most anticipated consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are that student performance will stagnate or decline and that existing inequities will increase. Although some studies suggest a decline in student performance and widening learning gaps, the picture is less clear than expected. In this study, we add to the existing…

Objective: This study examined the state of mental health, partnerships, and sexual activity of German university students after the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and methods: In June and July 2021, 928 students (23.6 years; 63.5% female) from four universities in Germany participated in an online survey that assessed…

The contact restrictions and closures of schools and childcare facilities in Germany in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic have presented families and parents with new challenges that have been accompanied by different (health) burdens and reinforce already existing gender differences in the division of tasks in families, especially with regard…

Randomized response techniques (RRTs) are applied to reduce response biases in self-report surveys on sensitive research questions (e.g., on socially undesirable characteristics). However, there is evidence that they cannot completely eliminate self-protecting response strategies. To address this problem, there are RRTs specifically designed to…

This study examined the communication styles of rectors and vice-rectors of German public universities during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore the influence of gender on leadership communication. We collected data from social media and university websites; and analysed the language used to identify transformational, transactional, and servant…

The spring phase of the pandemic made the education of adolescents with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) challenging. In the present study, which included 122 adolescents with SpLD (50% from Slovenia, 50% from Germany), we investigated how Slovenian and German adolescents with SpLD perceived and solved some of the challenges of distance…

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the extent to which education for sustainable development (ESD) training enhances university teachers' professional competence and whether it has the same effect in the digital as in the face-to-face format. Design/methodology/approach: A training concept was developed based on the professional action competence…

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many courses have been offered digitally. Using data from n = 1,173 business students participating in a preparatory mathematics course at a German university that covered the same content as in 2018, 2019 and 2020, we examine how students' participation and the effect of the preparatory course changed. The data show…

Mastering distance teaching imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for many teachers. In the present cross-sectional survey, we assessed the level of stress that teachers experienced during the lockdown of schools in Germany, their strategies to cope with it, and external and internal barriers for distance teaching with an online…

Institutions, organisations, and policymakers use open educational resources (OERs) to promote student equity and social inclusion. The global COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for lifelong learning and underscored the importance of the higher education system in this endeavour. This study describes informal learning among adults through OERs,…

The aim of this report is threefold. Its first section provides an overall sketch of the situation across Europe and the underlying mechanisms for the differences in European countries. The second section focuses on the heterogeneities within each country. It examines the disparities among students in order to understand which of those correlate…

The early educational support of basic school skills during nursery can have a positive impact on a successful transition into primary school and future school success and achievement -- especially for in this context low-performing children. Therefore, most German nurseries developed additional concepts to support the acquisition of basic school…

In March 2020, many schools worldwide were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This closure confronted mathematics teachers with the challenging transition to emergency remote teaching (ERT). How did students experience ERT, and how did these experiences relate to context variables and to their teachers' beliefs and practices? In particular, what…

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting infringements of day-to-day life have affected families through school closures and home-learning. Yet, little research investigated how adolescents and their families could be supported during this time. Our two-wave study had three aims. First, we examined life satisfaction and…

Various studies have shown that teachers are subject to an increased stress level and the associated physical and psychological consequences. In this article, the possibilities of coping of stressful situations in everyday school life are systematized. In addition, the knowledge and usage of available programs and trainings for coping with stress…