Maria Wirzberger presenting her poster at ICCM

With over 100 researchers from various countries, the 14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM) was held at the amazing campus of PennState University from August 4th to 6th. Besides a schedule enriched with sophisticated keynotes and talks on various theoretical and methodological issues related to modeling and simulating human cognition, the organizers arranged an exciting social program including a mentoring lunch at the first day and a barbecue with sports activities like go-cart, baseball or golf in the evening of the second day.

In particular the poster sessions at the first and last conference day offered various opportunities for lively discussions. Related to this point in schedule, the organizers had invented a new format called “poster boaster”, a short session in which each presenter had to “advertise” his or her poster in advance, to arouse peoples’ curiosity in the presented work. Right within the first poster session, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger introduced her project entitled “Examining load-inducing factors in instructional design: An ACT-R approach”, gained rich feedback on her model concept and could discuss current construction yards with experts from the community. Moreover, she had the opportunity to become aquainted with fellow researchers from all over the world and got surprising insights into the American way of life!

This year’s International Conference on Web Engineering (ICWE) has been held from June 6th to June 9th at the USI Faculty of Informatics in Lugano, Switzerland. During the demo session on the first day of the conference, CrossWorlds researcher Markus Ast presented his demo on “Towards Handling Constraint Network Conditions between IoT Entities using Conflict-free Anti-entropy Communication”. Markus Ast also participated, together with Michael Krug, Fabian Wiedemann and Martin Gaedke, in the 2nd International Rapid Mashup Challenge. With the presentation of their work on “The SmartComposition Approach for Creating Environment-Aware Multi-Screen Mashups”, they were able to achieve the 1st place in this challenge.

Maria Wirzberger during the poster session at ICLTC

This year, the annual International Cognitive Load Theory Conference (ICLTC) took place in Germany at the renowned Ruhr-University (RUB) in Bochum. Organized by the International Cognitive Load Theory Association (ICLTA), from June 22nd to 24th over 100 participants from Europe, Asia and the US spent three insightful days together to discuss research related to the often quoted and widely applied Cognitive Load Theory (CLT).

Within the poster session at the first conference day, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger presented her poster “CLT meets WMU: Simultaneous experimental manipulation of load factors in a basal working memory task”, summarizing her recently published article in Computers & Education. She had the opportunity to enjoy promoting discussions and gain beneficial feedback on her work. The second conference day featured a session on “Gestures & Motion” in which CrossWorlds researcher Alexander Skulmowski provided insights into his research on “Embodied Cognitive Load Theory: costs, benefits and resources determine embodied learning outcomes”. His approach was well-received within the community.

Taken together, our colleagues spent three exciting days filled with amazing talks and lively discussions!

Maria Wirzberger presenting her poster

From May 5th to 8th, the second International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society took place in the marvellous scenery of Granada. Over 1000 researchers from all over the world got together to discuss topics related to human cognition. Besides of talks and keynotes from outstanding experts, the organizers offered a sophisticated selection of social events: a Flamenco show, a nightly visit to the impressing and culturally rich Alhambra and a dinner in the beautiful Alhambra Gardens. At the first day, prior to the conference beginning, a meeting organized by Women in Cognitive Science (WiCS) supplemented the conference with insights into the important topic of international collaborations.

During one of the poster sessions, CrossWorlds researcher Maria Wirzberger presented her work on “Separating cognitive load facets in a working memory updating task: An experimental approach” that raised broad interest amongst fellow scientists. As additional benefit, she could promote her recently published article in Computers & Education, doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2016.04.010, which relates to the introduced study.

Due to the rich feedback, vibrant discussions and various opportunities to enhance her professional network, the conference has been a really valuable platform for our young researcher!

From March 21st to 23rd the 58th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (TeaP) took place in the marvelous city of Heidelberg. A group of media researchers from CrossWorlds and the affiliated Chair of E-Learning and New Media participated as well and presented their work during the conference.

Right at the first day, Maria Wirzberger gave a talk on modeling load-inducing factors in instructional design within her organized symposium on enhancing experimental research with the cognitive architecture ACT-R, in which she had invited speakers from Heidelberg and Berlin as well. On the second day, within a session on multimedia learning Steve Nebel talked about the jigsaw principle in educational videogames, Sascha Schneider presented his research on politeness in multimedia instructions as facilitator of learning and motivation and Maik Beege introduced his work on the effect of addressing in multimedia learning. Furthermore, master’s degree student Laura Winkler together with her supervisor Kevin Koban presented her bachelor’s thesis on attractiveness priming in one of the exceptionally well-attended poster sessions. During the third day, Alexander Skulmowski gave his talk regarding impacts of physical demands on cognitive resource allocation in a session related to the field of embodiment.

We had a great time in Heidelberg with a lot of exciting talks and discussions! Moreover, we could enjoy vibrant conversations with our fellows from various locations and research areas and thereby enhance our professional networks.