University of Münster

Prof Dr Regina Jucks (Diploma and PhD in Psychology) is a full professor at the Institute of Psychology for Education at the University of Münster. Since 2011, she has headed the local centre for teaching in higher education. She also holds an habilitation in Psychology (2005). Her research fields address various settings of instructional communication ranging from doctor–patient interaction to higher education. Dr Jucks has been engaged in teacher education since 2008. Her scientific output includes more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, and more than 70 international conference activities. She is part of scientific boards and peer reviewer for many high-impact journals. Within the Institute, Dr. Regina Jucks’ workgroup addresses the role of social/communicative processes in learning and teaching, thereby fitting the focus of the DIALLs well.

Benjamin Brummernhenrich is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Münster. He received his doctorate in psychology in 2014, with a dissertation on the role of politeness in instruction. He researches instructional communication in diverse domains, from public schools to higher education and expert–layperson communication. His main interest lies in the relationships between social aspects and the content of the communication between instructors and learners. He has been involved in the teacher education programme at the Institute of Psychology for Education in Münster. In this context, he has taught cooperative learning and research methods to pre-service teachers. As in DIALLS, this entails the collaborative elaboration of strategies for improving learning contexts and designing tasks so as to maximise the potential for productive discussion amongst learners. He is also experienced with the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from instructional discourses and self-reports.

Theresa Ruwe is a research assistant both at the Humboldt University in Berlin and at the University of Münster. She graduated with a MSc from Lund University in 2019 and subsequently worked as a research assistant with Karolinska Institute and in science communication. She is now pursuing her doctorate investigating digital communication and skill development in higher education. She hopes to make an impact with and apply her research. This is one reason why she is happy to work for DIALLS: She can actively participate in creating awareness about culture. Theresa herself had several international encounters during her studies abroad in Australia, Scotland, and Sweden. Knowing about and having experienced the importance of intercultural competences, she is grateful to promote cultural literacy through the DIALLS project. Her work within DIALLS focusses on sustaining and widening the impact of the platform as well as the resources that grew out of the project so far.

Laura Bilfinger is a researcher at the Institute of Psychology for Education at the University of Münster. She recently graduated with a Research Master degree (M. Sc.) in Social Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Being raised in Brazil and having studied in both Germany and the Netherlands, she is aware of the importance of cultural identity and cultural awareness in teaching environments. She is glad to take part in a multicultural and multidisciplinary project such as DIALLS. She joined the Project in September 2020 and will primarily be involved in dialogue and argumentation analysis.