Jan-Martin Österlein

Jan-Martin Österlein is a Researcher in the Department of Chemistry Education at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He leads the Fachsprache in Chemie entwickeln (FinChen) project, funded by the Graduate School on Cross-Sectoral Issues in Teacher Education (GKQL). His work focuses on developing writing support measures for lab reports in chemistry education and evaluating their impact on students' protocol quality and content learning. Prior roles include Research Assistant at Ruhr University Bochum's Chair of Chemistry Education (2017–2019) and dual-subject teacher training in Chemistry/Biology (Master of Education, 2017).

Education:

• Master of Education (Chemistry/Biology), Ruhr University Bochum, 2017
• Bachelor of Science (Chemistry/Biology), Ruhr University Bochum, 2014
• General university entrance qualification, Ratsgymnasium Rotenburg (Wümme), 2006

Research Interests: Österlein’s research bridges chemistry education and language development, emphasizing the role of writing in scientific inquiry. He investigates epistemic and linguistic support strategies to enhance students’ lab report production and disciplinary literacy. Key themes include:

• Writing-to-learn vs. learning-to-write paradigms
• Protocol quality assessment frameworks
• Impact of disciplinary language on scientific thinking

Articles Overview: His publications (2020–2023) analyze writing support interventions in chemistry education, focusing on protocol structure, disciplinary language use, and cognitive processes. Recent work explores combined epistemic/linguistic support strategies and their effects on student learning outcomes.

Affiliations: Member of the Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Chemie und Physik (GDCP), Interdisciplinary Centre for Educational Research (IZfB), and European Science Education Research Association (ESERA). His project is housed in the University of Duisburg-Essen’s chemistry education team.