DH Lab

Teaching and learning lab of the Chair of Digital Humanities at Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Prof. Dr. Sander Münster de, Dora Luise Münster de, Rebekka Dietz de, Emily Berger, Beke Bagusche, Felix Staacke

In the DHLabor, the student lab for Digital Humanities at FSU Jena, university students learn to develop digitally supported teaching programs on cultural-historical topics and to implement them with school students of different age groups.

The intended goals are:

  • Researching and establishing digital labs and methods in the humanities
  • Teaching digital skills to university students and school students
  • Engaging with cultural-historical topics from multiple perspectives
  • Providing a testing ground for future work in education and outreach
  • Developing and providing teaching concepts

Each winter semester, interested university students from all disciplines are trained as tutors as part of a block seminarExternal link.

In the summer semester, they are given the opportunity, as student assistants, to carry out their teaching programs with school students in school-based and extracurricular courses, mainly in the afternoon, on weekends, or during school holidays, either in the lab or at partner institutions. From planning and implementation through to the evaluation of the courses, the students are scientifically and practically supported by the DHLabor team.

From 2022 to 2026, 16 courses were developed and delivered by 8 university students in the premises of the Chair, at schools in Thuringia, and at leisure and cultural institutions. Around 200 children and young people aged 7 to 16 took part.

Current Courses

Pictures

Pictures: Felix Staacke

Selection of courses already held

Selected student results will be presented long-term as points of interest in virtual city tours in the applications 4DcityExternal link and urbanhistory4DExternal link.

The results of the DHLab's accompanying scientific research are shared and exchanged with the expert community at international conferences.

The DHLabor is financed through third-party funded projects.

2022 – 2024   Lehr-Lern-Hub: Digital HistoryExternal link,

                         funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education

2025                4Memory@School de - Lehr-Lern-Labor: Digital History Data,

                         funded by the NFDI4Memory Incubator

2025 - 2027    DH Eco LabExternal link Lehr-Lern-Labor: Digital Environmental Education,                      

                         funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation

The thematic focus of the DHLabor has so far been on the history of Jena, with the aim of motivating children and young people to engage creatively with the cultural heritage, personalities, and historical events of their hometown based on primary sources. To this end, various digital methods such as web-based source research, the creation of 3D models, and the use of eyewitness interviews were taught, and digital skills in dealing with social media posts and AI-generated content were promoted. Since 2025, the range of topics has been expanded and children and young people are now motivated and guided to engage with history, cultural heritage, historical data, and climate change in an interactive and multi-perspective way using digital means.

Since 2022, 16 courses have been developed, tested, and evaluated by students. Their teaching concepts and materials are made available to other educators on public platforms such as the Digital Library of ThuringiaExternal link, the School PortalExternal link, and MUNDOExternal link, the open educational media library of the German federal states.

Publications (selection)

Dietz, R.: Digitale Vermittlung in geisteswissenschaftlichen Fächern an Schulen: Zwischenstände und Bedarfsanalyse. GeNeMe 2024 (2024)

Hopf, S.: Self-Assesment of digital literacy-courses with pupils. Interim project report Teaching-Learning Hub: Digital History (2024)

Münster, D.L., Münster, S.: Designing Learning Tasks and Scenarios on Digital History for a Research Lab for Pupils. In: Münster, S., Pattee, A., Kröber, C., Niebling, F. (eds) Research and Education in Urban History in the Age of Digital Libraries. UHDL 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1853. Springer, Cham, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38871-2_13External link (2023)

Muenster, D. L., Muenster, S., Dietz, R.: Digital history education for pupils. First steps  towards a teaching learning lab. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-M-2-2023/1105/2023/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-2-2023-1105-2023.pdfExternal link (2023)

Münster, D. L., Münster, S., Dietz, R.: Heritage education projects by university students for pupils: Digital and data-driven learning in a humanities teaching-learning lab, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-M-9-2025, 1037–1042, https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-M-9-2025/1037/2025/External link (2025)

Münster, D. L., Münster, S., Dietz, R., Staacke, F.: Urban history projects by university students for school pupils. The use of Minecraft and ChatGPT in a humanities teaching and learning laboratory (2026, in press).

Cooperation Partners

Contact

DHLabor

Room 1036
Inselplatz 5
07743 Jena Google Maps site planExternal link

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