Current and former members of the Biology Education Working Group at my farewell event in 2004

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I began my work in biology education in 1970 as a research assistant at the Institute of Educational Sciences (IPN) at the University of Kiel, as part of curriculum development for the subject of biology (including teaching units such as ‘Humans and Animals’; ‘Human Sexuality’; and the concept of human-centred biology teaching: ‘The Human Being as a Point of Reference’). As a secondary school teacher of the subjects of biology, chemistry and Protestant religious education, I had previously engaged with sex education and the intersection between biology and religion, a focus that continues to the present day in my exploration of ethical issues (bioethics, including animal and environmental ethics) as well as anthropology (“races” and racism, culturalism).

My research focuses on the fields of genetics and evolution. In my approach to teaching biology as part of natural history, evolution is employed as an overarching explanatory principle.

In 1982, I was appointed to the University of Oldenburg. Since 1992, a key focus of my work has been, initially, on the development of the ‘Didactic Reconstruction’ model (together with Harald Gropengießer) and subsequently on supervising research within this framework, particularly with regard to the role of implicit theories in pupils’ conceptions (see Alumni). This led, in 2001, to the establishment of the doctoral programme‘Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning Research – Didactic Reconstruction’.

Until my retirement at the end of September 2004, I was Director of the Centre for Didactics (diz) and Head of the ProDid doctoral programme, as well as a contributor to ProfaS in my capacity as a lecturer and supervisor of doctoral candidates. I edited its series ‘Beiträge zur Didaktischen Rekonstruktion’ until 2009.

In 2001, I was a visiting professor at the University of Vienna. There, I continue to contribute to an interdisciplinary seminar on topics at the intersection of biology, philosophy and theology.

I was co-editor of the journal *Unterricht Biologie* (until 2010) and, as
, a member of the advisory board of the *Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften* (until 2011).

To mark my departure from the university, a commemorative volume was published:
Gropengießer, H., Janssen-Bartels, A. & Sander, E. (eds.). (2004). Teaching for Life. Didactic Reconstruction in Biology. Cologne: Aulis.

In 2007, I received the Eduard Strasburger Prize from the Association for the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education (MNU) in recognition of my services to biology education.

In 2015, at the international workshop of the doctoral programme “Learning Processes in the Transition Phase – Empirically Investigating and Modelling the Practical Phases of Teacher Training Students (LÜP)”, I delivered a keynote speech on my work in subject didactics: “On Biology and Education. My Curriculum as a Teacher and a Researcher”.

In 2017, at the social evening of the International Conference of the Biology Section of the VBIOL in Halle, I gave a talk on episodes in biology education at the invitation of the Executive Committee. This occasion gave rise to a small book: “The Fig Leaf and the Gender of Living Things. Stories from Biology Education”, in which, alongside recounting light-hearted episodes, I reflect on the self-image of biology education.

Among my most important publications is the textbook *Fachdidaktik Biologie* (Aulis), whilst one of my favourites is the non-fiction book *Elves, Jugglers and Knights: Getting to Know Insects* (Kallmeyer). Using photos and illustrations from the book, I created an educational presentation about small animals and, as the book is now out of print, in 2018 I wrote a book for children and young people based on the same idea but partly featuring new photos and materials: *
: The Insects*. NBBjunior. Magdeburg: Wolf.
Excerpt: www.neuebrehm.de/uploads/books/756/277_Insekten_Leseprobe.pdf

In 2015, ‘Understanding Pupils Better’ was published. An encyclopaedia of everyday concepts in biology lessons. (Aulis). The entries cover all areas of biology, from ‘descent’ to ‘chance’. Supplementary entries and information are made available digitally.

Since 2019, I have been editing the textbook series “Neue Wege in die Biologie” (New Approaches to Biology), which is aimed directly at pupils in lower and upper secondary education (Friedrich Verlag, Hanover).

The booklet *Der Mensch … ein besonderes Lebewesen* ( NBBjunior, Magdeburg: Wolf) realises a project very close to my heart: in 2020, I summarised in it, in a way accessible to children and young people, everything I had worked on regarding the topic of ‘humans’.
Excerpt: www.researchgate.net/publication/341902238_Der_Mensch_ein_besonderes_Lebewesen_Die_Neue_Brehm-Bucherei_NBBjunior_Leseprobe

List of my publications (selection)