Daria K. Benden

PostDoc

University of Bonn

Biography

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Bonn Center for Teacher Education (BZL) in the research group of Prof. Dr. Fani Lauermann. My research focuses on the development of students’ motivation and emotion and on their role in shaping academic achievement and educational and career choices, particularly in STEM. A central focus of my work is how situational and context-specific factors, such as educational transitions, feedback, and classroom experiences influence students’ motivation and engagement. I am also interested in how teachers can support students’ motivational development. In addition, I work on the development and validation of instruments for assessing students’ competencies (e.g., mathematical and digital competencies).

Interests

Student motivation and achievement
Educational and occupational choices
Teachers’ professional competencies (e.g., teacher motivation, responsibility)
Development and validation of competence assessments (e.g., digital competencies)

Education

Ph.D. in Psychology (summa cum laude), 2022
TU Dortmund University, Germany
M.Ed. in Mathematics and Physics Teacher Education, 2016
University of Bonn, Germany
B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics Teacher Education, 2014
University of Bonn, Germany

Professional Positions and Affiliations

Postdoctoral Fellow

College for Interdisciplinary Educational Research (CIDER)

April 2024 – Present

Research Scholar

University of Bonn

April 2023 – Present Bonn, Germany

Research Scholar

TU Dortmund University

April 2019 – March 2023 Dortmund, Germany

Research Scholar

University of Bonn

May 2017 – March 2019 Bonn, Germany

Selected Publications

Fani Lauermann, Daria K. Benden (2025). Motive und Interessen. In C. Cramer, J. König, & M. Rothland: Handbuch Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung (2. Auflage, S. 964-970), Klinkhardt utb.

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Daria K. Benden, Fani Lauermann (2025). Lehrkräftemotivation aus Sicht der Erwartungs-Wert-Theorie: Zusammenhänge der motivationalen Überzeugungen mit der Berufswahl, Unterrichtsgestaltung und beruflichem Engagement. In A. Bach & G. Hagenauer (Hrsg.), Motivation und Emotion von Lehrpersonen (S. 19–34). Waxmann.

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Fani Lauermann, Daria K. Benden, Jeffrey M. DeVries, Johanna Heitzer (2023). Students’ use of (online) self-assessments in math: Interindividual differences in students’ test engagement and test performance in math-intensive study programs. In N. McElvany, A. Grecu, R. Lorenz, M. Becker, C. Dignath, H. Gaspard, & F. Lauermann: Jahrbuch der Schulentwicklung – Band 23: 50 Jahre Schulentwicklung – Leitthemen der empirischen Bildungsforschung (S. 97-127), Beltz Juventa.

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Daria K. Benden, Fani Lauermann (2023). Searching for short-term motivational alignment and spillover effects: A random intercept cross-lagged analysis of students’ expectancies and task values in math-intensive study programs. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 73.

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Daria K. Benden, Fani Lauermann (2023). Relative importance of students’ expectancy–value beliefs as predictors of academic success in gateway math courses. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1521(1).

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