Martin Schmidt-Daffy

Dr. Martin Schmidt-Daffy is a Researcher in the Division of School and Teaching Research at the Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin. He has been a permanent scientific staff member since 2018, following prior roles as a specialized teaching instructor and researcher at the same institution and at Technische Universität Berlin. His work bridges educational psychology and neuroergonomics, focusing on motivation, self-regulated learning, and pedagogical diagnostics.

• PhD in Philosophy (Psychology), Freie Universität Berlin, 2006
• Diplom in Psychology, Technische Universität Berlin, 1999

His research centers on learning and teaching motivation, particularly how self-determined motivation can be fostered in teacher training. He investigates pedagogical diagnostics, feedback mechanisms, and learning progress assessment. A significant portion of his earlier work explores driver behavior, focusing on goal conflicts, fear and anxiety, and threat detection in traffic contexts using psychophysiological measures.

The 15 most recent publications reflect a shift from neuroergonomics and emotion research toward educational applications. Early works focus on cognitive and emotional processing in driving, threat detection, and facial expression recognition. More recent articles emphasize data-based decision-making and motivational interventions in teacher education, indicating an applied focus on improving teaching practices through psychological research.

He has held various institutional roles, including membership in the Dahlem School of Education council and serving as an accreditation officer for educational science modules in the teacher training master's program. He has supervised numerous theses in psychology and human factors.

• Project: 'Development of learning-accompanying online exams to promote self-regulated competence acquisition in teacher education' (funded by Stifterverband under 'Prüfung hoch III Drei')
• Previously led internal and DAAD-funded research projects on driver behavior, goal conflicts, and emotional strain

Dr. Schmidt-Daffy teaches courses on promoting learning and teaching motivation, pedagogical diagnostics, and feedback and evaluation for both Bachelor's and Master's students in teacher education. His teaching spans from 2011 to 2022, showing sustained engagement in academic instruction.