How can television popularise learning and support the transmission of education? The fact that this is regarded as an important social responsibility is illustrated by the discussion – already prevalent for some time – about the “transformation to a knowledge society”. Educational television also forms part of the programming remit of public service television in Germany, but this is not all: certain programmes for children and even for adults are followed enthusiastically. What creates this success, which subjects are taken up by educational television internationally: these are questions which media and reception research needs to address.
Literature: TelevIZIon 21/2008/2 „Bildungsfernsehen” (only available in German), TelevIZIon 18/2005/E „Learning in Television”, TelevIZIon 17/2004/1 „Lernen mit dem Fernsehen”(only available in German)

Mythbusters, Galileo, Quarks und Co.: a study of young people's reception of science programmes (2008)
In television there are several ways of presenting the natural sciences: through explanation, as in Quarks und Co.; through narrative, as in Mythbusters; or by being cool, as in Galileo. How young people of different educational abilities react to this and what they learn from it has been analysed in a reception study.
Project management: Dr. Elke Schlote and Claudia Maier (IZI).
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Literature: Elke Schlote/Claudia Maier: “Weil man's sieht, konnte man sich das besser vorstellen”: Rezeptionsstudie mit Jugendlichen zu Wissenschafts-Sendungen. In: TelevIZIon, 21/2008/2, pp. 28-32 (only available in German).


Educational television around the world: international interviews of experts (2008)
Television professionals from 26 public and private television broadcasters around the world express their views on their understanding of educational television and about future developments.
Project management: Dr. Elke Schlote and Andreas Fläckel (IZI)
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Literature: Elke Schlote/Andreas Fläckel: Bildungsfernsehen weltweit: eine internationale Expertenbefragung. In: TelevIZIon, 21/2008/2, pp. 13-15 (only available in German).


Conflict management in children's and youth television: an international media analysis (2007-2009)
Project management: Dr. Elke Schlote (IZI) and Dr. Peter Lemish (Sapir College, Israel)
Literature: Peter Lemish: Frieden fördern! Konflikte und Konfliktlösung im Kinderfernsehen. In: TelevIZIon, 19/2006/2, pp. 32-38 (only available in German).
Peter Lemish/Elke Schlote: Media portrayals of youth involvement in social change: The roles of agency, praxis, and conflict resolution processes in TV programs. In: Thomas Tufte (Ed.): NORDICOM Yearbook 2009. (forthcoming). Peter Lemish: Quality in presenting conflicts: Conflict resolution at the basis of quality TV. In: TelevIZIon, 22/2009/E, pp. 49-52


The “mommy bar”: a concept designed to support learning and its utilisation in Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten (2006-2008)
First, an IZI-commissioned study in the USA tested how the “mommy bar” – a line at the bottom of the screen with background information on the programme for parents and suggestions for encouraging learning – was received by families with pre-school children. A “mommy bar” was then devised specifically for the newly developed pre-school programme Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten and assessed for acceptance and effectiveness in several studies.
Project management: Dr. Maya Götz; project realization USA (2006): Dr. Shalom M. Fisch (MediaKidz New York); project realization Germany (2006-8): Dr Maya Götz, Andrea Holler. Sabrina Bachmann (IZI)
Literature: Shalom M. Fisch: Die “Mommy-Bar”: Getting parents and preschoolers talking. In: TelevIZIon, 20/2007/E, pp. 44-46. Maya Götz: Der „Elternticker“: Neue Wege im Vorschulfernsehen. In: TelevIZIon, 21/2008/2, pp. 53-57 (only available in German).


Learning English with the aid of pre-school programmes and Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten (2006-2007)
Children of pre-school age find learning foreign languages especially easy. The medium of television can also provide learning opportunities in this field. In a study involving 160 children from Munich kindergartens, four conceptually different programmes were evaluated. Some of the findings were later implemented in the programme Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten as part of a follow-up project. Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten repeatedly presents short songs, counting rhymes, and stories in English (according to the “immersive learning” principle). But does it make more sense to screen the English version of an episode first or the German version? This question was investigated in a study with 36 kindergarten and pre-school children.
Collaborative study with the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich
Project 1: direction: Prof. Angelika Speck-Hamdan (LMU Munich); implementation: Michael Kirch (LMU Munich)
Project 2: “Learning English with Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten”; project direction: Dr Maya Götz; implementation: Andrea Holler, Sabrina Bachmann (IZI)
Literature: Michael Kirch/Angelika Speck-Hamdan: One, two, three mit Dora, Elefant & Co.: Learning English at preschool age – A comparison of programme concepts. In: TelevIZIon, 20/2007/E, pp. 28-33.
Andrea Holler/Sabrina Bachmann/Maya Götz: Peppa Pig – erst die englische oder erst die deutsche Version? Ein Beitrag im Kindertest. In: TelevIZIon, 20/2007/1, p. 24 (only available in German).


Quality criteria for educational programmes and their implementation in Wissen macht Ah! (2005)
As part of the “Knowledge and documentary programmes for children” project, various programme formulas were tested for their attractiveness and learning outcomes with primary school students and, on this basis, quality criteria were formulated for educational programmes. Among these programmes was the magazine programme Wissen macht Ah! (WDR), in which everyday facts and interconnections are explained in short, humorous features. The study found that the programme was attractive in many respects and of sound educational benefit, but it also became clear that there were opportunities for improvement. In 2 follow-up studies the same episode was deliberately altered and re-tested.
Project management: Dr Maya Götz, Tanja Meyerhofer, Christine Bulla (IZI)
Literature: TelevIZIon “Learning in Television” 18/2005/E.
Maya Götz: Constructing entry points to knowledge: Increasing the appeal and improving the learning outcomes of educational programmes. In: TelevIZIon, 22/2009/E, pp. 46-48.


Knowledge and documentary programmes for children (2002-2003)
Children's televisual diet is dominated by fiction programmes which are entertaining and appealing. Knowledge and documentary programmes certainly have a strong market presence for parents and are desired by adults, but for children they are, for the most part, less attractive. Using actual programmes, this research project aims to isolate sections which are attractive to children and facilitate a positive approach to the subject matter for them.
Project management: Dr Maya Götz (IZI)
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Literature: Maya Götz: Learning in knowledge and documentary programmes. In: TelevIZIon, 18/2005/E, pp. 24-33.