Stefan Seegerer's research while affiliated with IQM Quantum Computers and other places

With a growing interest in quantum technology globally, there is an increasing need for accessing relevant physical systems for education and research. In this paper we introduce a commercially available on-site quantum computer utilizing superconducting technology, offering insights into its fundamental hardware and software components. We show how this system can be used in education to teach quantum concepts and deepen understanding of quantum theory and quantum computing. It offers learning opportunities for future talent and contributes to technological progress. Additionally, we demonstrate its use in research by replicating some notable recent achievements.

With regards to the digital transformation, the consensus that computer science education plays a central role in shaping “digital education” is now emerging: Beyond the efficient and reflective use of information systems, new topics and methods arise for all school subjects that require computer science competencies and must be anchored in general teacher education. However, in light of students’ heterogeneity, the question of how motivation, subject-specific demands, and applicability in subject teaching can be harmonized presents a particular challenge. This paper presents key findings and experiences from the research-led development and subsequent evaluation of a blended learning course offering. This course offering provides student teachers of all subjects and school types with basic computer science competencies for teaching in the digital world. On this foundation, success factors and good practices in the design of the course are identified. It is shown that the design of such courses can be successful if illustrative examples are used, communication and collaboration are promoted and, in particular, references and application perspectives for the respective subjects are taken into account.

Technological advances in the context of digital transformation are the basis for rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Although AI is not a new topic in computer science (CS), recent developments are having an immense impact on everyday life and society. In consequence, everyone needs competencies to be able to adequately and competently analyze, discuss and help shape the impact, opportunities, and limits of artificial intelligence on their personal lives and our society. As a result, an increasing number of CS curricula are being extended to include the topic of AI. However, in order to integrate AI into existing CS curricula, what students can and should learn in the context of AI needs to be clarified. This has proven to be particularly difficult, considering that so far CS education research on central concepts and principles of AI lacks sufficient elaboration. Therefore, in this paper, we present a curriculum of learning objectives that addresses digital literacy and the societal perspective in particular. The learning objectives can be used to comprehensively design curricula, but also allow for analyzing current curricula and teaching materials and provide insights into the central concepts and corresponding competencies of AI.

Technological advances in the context of digital transformation are the basis for rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Although AI is not a new topic in computer science (CS), recent developments are having an immense impact on everyday life and society. In consequence, everyone needs competencies to be able to adequately and competently analyze, discuss and help shape the impact, opportunities, and limits of artificial intelligence on their personal lives and our society. As a result, an increasing number of CS curricula are being extended to include the topic of AI. However, in order to integrate AI into existing CS curricula, what students can and should learn in the context of AI needs to be clarified. This has proven to be particularly difficult, considering that so far CS education research on central concepts and principles of AI lacks sufficient elaboration. Therefore, in this paper, we present a curriculum of learning objectives that addresses digital literacy and the societal perspective in particular. The learning objectives can be used to comprehensively design curricula, but also allow for analyzing current curricula and teaching materials and provide insights into the central concepts and corresponding competencies of AI.

As a consequence of the increasing influence of machine learning on our lives, everyone needs competencies to understand corresponding phenomena, but also to get involved in shaping our world and making informed decisions regarding the influences on our society. Therefore, in K-12 education, students need to learn about core ideas and principles of machine learning. However, for this target group, achieving all of the aforementioned goals presents an enormous challenge. To this end, we present a teaching concept that combines a playful and accessible unplugged approach focusing on conceptual understanding with empowering students to actively apply machine learning methods and reflect their influence on society, building upon decision tree learning.

The monitoring of animals under human care is a crucial tool for biologists and zookeepers to keep track of the animals’ physical and psychological health. Additionally, it enables the analysis of observed behavioral changes and helps to unravel underlying reasons. Enhancing our understanding of animals ensures and improves ex situ animal welfare as well as in situ conservation. However, traditional observation methods are time- and labor-intensive, as they require experts to observe the animals on-site during long and repeated sessions and manually score their behavior. Therefore, the development of automated observation systems would greatly benefit researchers and practitioners in this domain. We propose an automated framework for basic behavior monitoring of individual animals under human care. Raw video data are processed to continuously determine the position of the individuals within the enclosure. The trajectories describing their travel patterns are presented, along with fundamental analysis, through a graphical user interface (GUI). We evaluate the performance of the framework on captive polar bears (Ursus maritimus). We show that the framework can localize and identify individual polar bears with an F1 score of 86.4%. The localization accuracy of the framework is 19.9±7.6 cm, outperforming current manual observation methods. Furthermore, we provide a bounding-box-labeled dataset of the two polar bears housed in Nuremberg Zoo.

Die Bedeutung und Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung erleben wir tagtäglich. Wir alle nutzen Informatiksysteme. Dies kann bewusst geschehen, wenn etwa Tablets, Smartphones oder Computern bedient werden. Informatiksysteme sind aber auch in medizinischen Geräten, Flugzeugen oder sogar in Glühbirnen zu finden. Hinter all diesen Innovationen verbirgt sich das Versprechen, das private, berufliche oder schulische Leben mit informatischen Mitteln zu erleichtern. Die Digitalisierung ist folglich nicht nur als ein technologischer Fortschritt zu begreifen, sondern bezeichnet einen Transformationsprozess, der weitreichende Auswirkungen auf heutige Gesellschaften, Individuen und schließlich auch auf die gegenwärtige Gestalt von Bildung hat (Baecker, 2018; Nassehi, 2019). Daher darf sich die Institution Schule dem Thema nicht verschließen: Aufgabe der Schule ist es, die Schüler*innen zu mündigen und verantwortungsvoll agierenden Persönlichkeiten heranzubilden. Dazu gehört auch die Vorbereitung auf ein Leben in der digitalisierten Welt. Eine Bildung, die sich auf die Nutzung digitaler Medien beschränkt, bleibt jedoch hinter diesem Anspruch zurück. Schüler*innen sollten vielmehr bestärkt werden, kritisch, kreativ, kollaborativ und kommunikativ mit den vielfältigen Phänomenen der Digitalisierung und deren informatischen Grundlagen umzugehen. Eine wichtige Komponente dieser Diskussion ist die Aus- und Weiterbildung von Lehrkräften. Es gilt, jene Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften zu schulen, die sie dazu befähigen, die Mehrwerte der Digitalisierung im Unterricht zu nutzen und gemeinsam mit den Schüler*innen kritisch zu erschließen. Zum Unterrichten mit und über digitale Medien gehören damit auch für Lehrpersonen informatische Grundkompetenzen. Dieser Beitrag geht der Frage nach, welche Aspekte der Informatik unverzichtbarer Bestandteil der Allgemeinbildung in einer digitalen Welt sind und damit auch – unabhängig von der angestrebten Schulform und Fachkombination – Teil der Lehrkräftebildung sein sollten. Zu diesem Zweck wird in Abschnitt 2 zunächst dargestellt, welche Ziele und Strategien hinsichtlich digitaler Bildung in Deutschland verfolgt werden (sollten) und welche Rolle die Informatik darin einnimmt. Abschnitt 3 wirft einen genaueren Blick auf die informatische Grundbildung als Teil digitaler Bildung für alle Schüler*innen ab dem Grundschulalter. Dabei wird aufgezeigt, an welchen Stellen informatische Bildung über bisherige Anliegen der Medienbildung hinaus geht. Beide Abschnitte münden in die Frage nach dem Stellenwert informatischer Bildung in der Lehrkräftebildung. In Abschnitt 4 werden daher good-practice-Bei- spiele aus den Lehramtsstudiengängen einzelner Hochschulen vorgestellt und drei fachdidaktische Perspektiven auf informatische Bildung entfaltet. Abschnitt 5 be- nennt im Anschluss an diesen fächerübergreifenden Austausch einige Desiderate zur weiteren Diskussion und Erforschung informatischer Bildung im Kontext der Lehrkräftebildung.