Profile

Cornelia Averdunk

Cornelia Averdunk

Research Fellow

Verwaltung/Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften
Institutsgebäude
Talstraße 33
04103 Leipzig

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Abstract

Cornelia Averdunk (nee Franke) graduated from Leipzig University as a teacher for biology and physics. After graduating, she worked at a school in Hamburg for six months. In 2022, she outlined her PhD project as part of the Pre-Doc Award, a funding program for doctoral candidates. Since June 2023, her doctorate has been funded by a scholarship from Hans Böckler Foundation. Since October 2024, she has been working one day per week as a teacher at a secondary school in Leipzig alongside her doctoral studies.


Her dissertation deals with the development and investigation of so-called Conceptual Change Stories - a new type of learning material which has the potential to promote understanding of ecological phenomena in early secondary biology class

Professional career

  • since 10/2024
    Secondary teacher for physics at Freies-Gymnasium-Borsdorf, school of Leipzig (Germany)
  • since 06/2022
    PhD Candidate for science education at Leipzig University (Dr. rer. nat.) on the topic "Investigating the impact of narrative concept change texts to promote systems understanding in the context of ecology in lower secondary class"
  • 01/2024 - 09/2024
    Pre-Doc Award Programme Assistance at Leipzig University
  • 02/2023 - 12/2023
    Research Assistant for "PraxisdigitaliS - Praxis digital gestalten in Sachsen", Leipzig
  • 01/2022 - 12/2022
    Research Assistant at biology didactics department, Leipzig University (from January to December 2022 funded by Pre-Doc Award, Leipzig University)
  • 08/2021 - 12/2021
    Secondary teacher for biology and physics at Elisabeth-Lange-Schule, school of Hamburg (Germany)

Education

  • 10/2015 - 01/2021
    Studies of biology and physics for secondary school teachers at Leipzig University (degree: 1. Staatsexamen)

Panel Memberships

  • since 03/2023
    Assistant Spokeswoman for PhD candidates in the field of biology didactics (Germany)

Cornelia Averdunk's dissertation project develops Conceptual Change Stories and investigates their impact on conceptual understanding and systems thinking in ecological contexts in early secondary biology class.


Further research interests:

  • systems thinking and understanding in ecological contexts at lower secondary level
  • conceptual change-based teaching strategies - possible applications and effectiveness on understanding in biological contexts 
  • impact of narrative teaching strategies on the conceptual understanding of learners at lower secondary level

  • Zabel, J.; Averdunk, C.
    The Potential of Narrative for Understanding Protein Biosynthesis in the Context of Viral Infections
    Education Sciences. 2024. 14 (5). pp. 1–29.
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14050521
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  • Averdunk, C.; Zabel, J.; Bergmann-Gering, A.
    Nahrungsbeziehungen als Wechselwirkungen verstehen - Eine explorative Studie zur Wirkung von Conceptual Change-Stories
    Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie - Biologie lehren und lernen. 2024. pp. 2–14.
    DOI: 10.11576/zdb-6589
    show details

more publications

  • Andere Stipendien/Forschungspreise: Pre Doc Award der Universität Leipzig
    Averdunk, Cornelia (Biologiedidaktik)
    awarded in 2021 by Universität Leipzig.
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  • Andere Stipendien/Forschungspreise: Promotionsstipendium
    Averdunk, Cornelia (Zentrum für Lehrer:innenbildung und Schulforschung)
    awarded in 2023 by Hans-Böckler-Stiftung.
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