Conference Team

• Natalie Baumgartner-Hirscher (Mag. Dr.; f) studied Mathematics and Biology at the Paris-Lodron-University in Salzburg. After graduation, she started working at a High School with focus on science teaching, where she still teaches today. She has been working at the School of Education in Salzburg since 2013 and completed her doctorate there in the field of media didactics and sexual pedagogy. Her main areas of responsibility are in biology didactics and educational science training for prospective teachers at secondary level.
• Armin Baur (Prof. Dr.; m) studied teaching at secondary level at the University of Education Ludwigsburg. After completing his studies he worked as a secondary school teacher and as a research assistant at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd. Currently he is working as a professor at the University of Education Heidelberg. Armin Baur’s expertise includes biology and biology education. In his research he focuses on students’ errors, mistakes and misconceptions while conducting experiments independently and professional development in the field of experimentation.
• Antti Lehtinen (Dr.; m) works a Senior Lecturer in a shared position between the Department of Physics and Department of Teacher Education at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He completed a MSc in Physics Teacher Education and a PhD on Science Education at the University of Jyväskylä. He teaches courses for pre-service primary and physics teachers. His research interests include inquiry-based science learning from primary school to university level, classroom interaction, simulations and other educational technology and development of university-level physics teaching and learning.
• Pasi Nieminen (Dr.; m) is a senior lecturer at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä (JYU), Finland. He completed a MSc in Subject Teacher Education at JYU (major in physics). After graduation he taught physics, chemistry and mathematics at a lower secondary school. His PhD studies dealt with physics learning with multiple representations. After the dissertation (2013) he has worked in national and international projects focusing on inquiry-based science and mathematics learning from different perspectives such as formative and summative assessment, argumentation, teacher guidance and differentiation.
• Marios Papaevripidou (Dr.; m) is a Specialist Teaching Fellow of Science Education and a Senior Research Associate of the Research in Science and Technology Education Group at the Department of Education of the University of Cyprus. He completed a B.A in Education, an M.A in Learning in Natural Sciences, and a PhD in Learning in Natural Sciences at the University of Cyprus. His research interests entail the use of modelling as both a learning tool and an instructional approach in science teaching and learning, and also the design and research validation of educational curriculum materials to foster teachers‘ professional development in STEM/STEAM/STEAME. He participated in several research projects that focused on enhancing students’ competence in STEM through modelling- and inquiry-based activities and preparing teachers’ to enact science teaching through modelling-centred scientific inquiry with the use of technology.
• Susanne Rohrmann (Dr.; f) is working on a permanent position as acadmic senior councilor / senior lecturer at the University of Education in Heidelberg. She studied biology and chemistry for teaching in secondary education. She received her PhD in the field of marine mycology. Her focus in university teaching is botany, experimentation in natural sciences at school, ecology and field trips at home and abroad. In research she is currently concerned with the Erasmus+ project DifferentiatInq.
• Iris Schiffl (Assoc.-Prof. Priv.-Doz. MMag. Dr.; f) studied biology, psychology and philosophy education as well as psychology (Mag.) at Salzburg University. She worked as a secondary teacher for biology, physics, psychology and philosophy while completing her degree for clinical and health psychology as well as her PH.D. for biological education. After her habilitation in biological education she started to work in the department of science education at the University of Salzburg. Her main areas of research are diagnosis and promotion of scientific competences, health topics in biology education and pre-service teacher training in school during university education.
• Nikoletta Xenofontos (Dr.; f) completed a B.A in Education, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Learning in Natural Sciences at the University of Cyprus. Her research interests focus on enhancing students’ conceptual understanding and acquisition of inquiry skills with the use of technology. Specifically, she investigates the impact of several software scaffolds, embedded in computer-supported inquiry learning environments involving virtual experimentation. From 2008-2017 she was involved as a teaching assistant at the University of Cyprus, and she participated in national and EU Funded projects that focused on inquiry-based science education and the use of technology. She is currently involved in research projects about STEM education and educational robotics.