Dr. Peter Edelsbrunner
Dr. Peter Edelsbrunner
Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences
Additional information
Research area
- Scientific thinking and epistemic cognition throughout the lifespan
- Mixture modeling in educational and developmental research
- Statistical Methodology in educational and developmental research
cv incl. publication list (pdf)
Starting April '25 I will be Professor of Research Methods in Empirical Educational Science at LMU Munich. Please use my email-address: peter.edelsbrunner@lmu.de
How do different aspects of scientific thinking and epistemic cognition develop and build on each other throughout the lifespan, how can we statistically model these dynamics, and how can we foster this development with targeted educational interventions? I work on these three interrelated questions, taking a life-span perspective and considering the role of digital media and technology. My substantive research examines scientific thinking starting with conceptual development about Physics and Informatics, as well es the emerging understanding of experimentation in childhood, the development of epistemic cognition during adolescence and adulhood, and the acquisition and perception of advanced concepts such as statistical inference in university students, teachers, and researchers.
My methodological research examines in particular applied mixture modeling, such as latent class-, profile-, and transition-analysis. Recent projects look into practices in the application and interpretation of p-values (Mehler, Edelsbrunner & Matić, 2019); Edelsbrunner & Thurn, preprint), fit indices for latent transition analysis (Edelsbrunner, Flaig, & Schneider, in press; preprint [pdf]), and the potential of mixture modeling and additive models for investigating aptitude-treatment interactions/the differential effectiveness of educational interventions (preprint [pdf], second paper under review).
My background is in Psychology (2012, University of Graz) and I completed my PhD in 2017 in Educational Science at ETH Zurich.
Additional information
Senior analyst in the Swiss MINT Study
Research project: (Mis-)Conceptions about Computer Science and Programming in Primary School Children
Research project: Scientific Thinking and Epistemic Cognition in First-Year Psychology Students: A Longitudinal Study
Head guest editor for special issue of the European Journal of Psychological Assessment: Advancing the Reproducibility of Psychological Assessment Across Borders and Populations
Guest editor for Zeitschrift für Psychologie: Psychological Perspectives on Science Communication (Call for Papers)
Guest editor for special issue of Frontiers in Psychology: From “Modern” to “Postmodern” Psychology: Is There a Way Past?
Selected Publications:
Edelsbrunner, P.A., Schumacher, R., Hänger-Surer, B., Schalk, L., & Stern, E. (2024). Preparation for future conceptual learning: Content-specific long-term effects of early physics instruction. Advance online publication. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000887 pdfdata/scripts
Edelsbrunner, P. A., & Thurn, C. (2024). Improving the Utility of Non-Significant Results for Education: A Review and Recommendations. Educational Research Review, 42, Article 100590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100590 pdf data/scripts
Edelsbrunner, P.A.*, Flaig, M.*, & Schneider, M. (2023). A Simulation Study on Latent Transition Analysis for Examining Profiles and Trajectories in Education: Recommendations for Fit Statistics. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 16(2), 350-275. Materials and preprint available from https://psyarxiv.com/bqc94/ *Authors contributed equally. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2022.2118197 pdf data/scripts
Edelsbrunner, P. A. (2022). A Model and its Fit Lie in The Eye of the Beholder: Long Live the Sum Score. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.986767 pdf
Tetzlaff, L., Edelsbrunner, P. A., Schmitterer, A., Hartmann, U., & Brod, G. (2023). Modeling Interactions Between Multivariate Learner Characteristics and Interventions: A Person-Centered Approach. Educational Psychology Review, 35, Article 112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09830-5 pdf data/scripts
Brauchli, V., Edelsbrunner, P. A., Paz Castro, R., Barr, R., von Wyl, A., Lannen, P., & Sticca, F. (2024). Screen time vs. scream time: Developmental interrelations between young children’s screen time, negative affect, and effortful control. Computers in Human Behavior, 154(5), Article 108138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108138 pdf
Schiefer, J.*, Edelsbrunner, P. A.*, Bernholt, A., Kampa, N., & Nehring, A. (2022). Profiles of epistemic beliefs in science: An integration of evidence from multiple studies. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 1545-1575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09661-w *Authors contributed equally. pdf/materials