Kristóf Lakatos graduated in psychology at Eötvös-Loránd-University in Budapest, Hungary, and is now researching the reduction of test anxiety with flow-based motivational methods. He is very keen on using the eye-tracking machine at DIPF to advance his studies during his stay as a CONNECT Research Fellow.
Welcome at DIPF, Kristóf? Can you tell us something about your academic career so far?
I graduated in psychology at Eötvös-Loránd-University in Budapest, Hungary, and always wanted to do some real academic research. The Doctoral School of Education seemed to be the most appropriate place for that. My wish is to be able to improve and reform the conditions for education through my work: to achieve an environment in which children can maintain their specific interests while entering school. For me as a researcher educational studies is the most exciting field of study of all disciplines.
What is the focus of your current research?
The focus of my research is the reduction of test anxiety with flow-based motivational methods. Approximately 18 to 22 percent of people are considered to be „anxious”, and in educational circumstances test anxiety plays a huge part in it. It is argued that a flow-based motivational task can reduce test anxiety before an exam situation, which is associated with grades, the perceived difficulty of the task and self-assessment. If we reduce test anxiety, the academic performance will be better. This method may be presented as an adaptation of quick and simple computer game (e.g. google dinosaur).
What do you hope to gain from your stay at DIPF?
I hope I can gain datas for my PhD, some assessment developed by the DIPF (particularly affective assessments) and I am also very interested in using the eye-tracking machine for my studies. I also plan to write an article – in English, or even better in German. I hope the cooperation with colleagues of DIPF leads to a chapter in my doctoral dissertation.
What are your first impressions of DIPF, of your colleagues, of living in Germany?
The first impressions of the city and the colleagues are extremely good. For me, this is the first time I have an office in my life. I am very grateful to my colleagues for inspiration and support: especially Patrick Lösch, Florian Schmiedek, Verena Diel and Jeanette Ziehm-Eicher.
I already made trips around the city and of course I feel the German way of emphasizing equality here. It is interesting for me to see some real skyscrapers and also some medieval buildings in the neighborhood. The view from the top of the DIPF is splendid, especially in good weather.
Thank you for the interview, Kristóf!
About CONNECT:
DIPF regulary opens its doors for international researchers and PHD students. At this moment the institute is welcoming three visiting researchers as part of the CONNECT program within the unit “International Cooperation in Education” (ice). CONNECT (Connecting Future Leaders in Research in Education) offers highly-qualified international PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in the field of education the opportunity to spend up to three months as a visiting researcher at the institute in Frankfurt am Main or Berlin. The programme aims to initiate lasting collaborations among young scientists. Besides being given financial support, the visiting researchers are able to fully access the DIPF infrastructure services for education research. They are mentored by a DIPF senior researcher and receive support from a peer.
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