Understanding how students develop over time
Sarah Bichler
Sarah researches how children develop across multiple dimensions: cognitive, emotional, social, and physical. She says that not all change looks the same. Some developments, like vocabulary growth, happen gradually, while others, such as understanding others’ perspectives, emerge in sudden shifts. By observing students and interpreting their behavior, teachers can respond adaptively to their needs, using the zone of proximal development which is the space between what learners can do independently and what they can achieve with support. Sarah says that thoughtfully designed educational technology can help teachers track student progress over time, provide real-time feedback, and free them to spend more time interacting directly with students.
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“EdTech can really augment and help the teacher in noticing and interpreting and even responding to the student’s needs.”
Sarah Bichler
Sarah Bichler
Sarah Bichler is an associate professor in psychology at the University of Passau, Germany. Sarah’s research focuses on understanding, enacting, and optimizing learning processes and experiences for both students and teachers, with an emphasis on technology-enhanced learning. She is passionate about developing learning theory while also deriving design principles to translate theory into practical applications. Her goal is to help transform learning environments into spaces where expert teachers and technological systems inform each other and dynamically interact to drive student success.
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Sarah Bichler