The National Education Panel regularly invites researchers outside the NEPS network to submit ideas for new survey modules. The third “Call for Modules” sought proposals on the topic “AI-based systems in educational contexts: motivations for use, knowledge, and trust.” The NEPS Executive Board has reviewed the submitted proposals and selected those that will be incorporated into NEPS as new modules.
Under the heading “Education in a Digital World,” the survey program for the NEPS cohorts 6 (adults) and 8 (5th grade) includes not only competency tests and questions about digital media use but also questions about the frequency of use of AI-based systems.
The survey’s current content should be supplemented in the future with additional modules on motivations for use and trust in AI systems. Specific proposals for such modules were sought—and found—through the 3rd Call for Modules. Based on a rating process, two modules—each consisting of three items—were selected from the submitted proposals; these had been proposed by researchers at the University of Potsdam (Chair of Digital Education).
The new modules are scheduled to be used for the first time in online surveys starting in 2028. They are scheduled to be used with Cohort 6 (adults) beginning in May 2028 and again in the year 2032. Students in Cohort 8 will be surveyed in autumn 2028—at that time, the participants will be in 11th grade or will have just graduated from high school.
In preparation for the surveys, the items are now being incorporated into the respective survey instruments through collaboration among the relevant NEPS departments.
As part of the National Education Panel Study (NEPS), data on skill development and educational trajectories across the entire life course have been collected for over ten years. To this end, the seven starting cohorts of the NEPS track a total of over 70,000 individuals—from young children to adults—throughout Germany. Since 2020, the NEPS survey program has been regularly open to external contributions through the “Call for Modules.”
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