Alexander Skulmowski

Academic Roles and Committees

• Deputy Director, Department of Informatics and Digital Education
• Spokesperson, Profile Area 'Educational Processes in the Digital World'
• Vice Chair, Ethics Committee
• Member, Research Committee

Research Areas

Cognitive Design of Educational Media

• Realistic visualizations and the cognitive processing of 3D models
• Guidance-reversal effects
• Generative learning: learning by drawing and testing
• Interactivity and embodied learning

Cognitive Load

• Cognitive load alignment as a strategy within cognitive load theory
• Cognitive load measurement and biases

Ethics of Digital Education

• Ethical aspects of virtual reality in education
• Erroneous AI-generated content in education and science
• Cognitive development and information sovereignty as challenges for learning using AI

Projects

Ongoing Projects:

• AQUA-d (Doctoral/Postdoctoral Program): €2.4 million (MWK)
• Wissensmedien (Cooperative Doctoral Program): €870,000 (MWK)

Completed Projects:

• DiAs - Digital Assessment: €2 million (2021 – 2025, Stiftung für Innovation in der Hochschullehre)

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

2026:

Engel-Hermann, P., & Skulmowski, A. (in press). Visual cues as perceptual load: Cues can create additional cognitive demands in interactive visualizations despite being perceived as helpful. Trends in Neuroscience and Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2026.100289

Niesik, M. A., Engel-Hermann, P., & Skulmowski, A. (2026). When backgrounds take center stage: Realistic visualizations can be detrimental for learning if they contain irrelevant backgrounds. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 40, e70201. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70201

2025:

Skulmowski, A., & Engel-Hermann, P. (2025). The ethics of erroneous AI-generated scientific figures. Ethics and Information Technology, 27, 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-025-09835-4

Dechamps, T., & Skulmowski, A. (2025). Learning with erroneous visualizations modulates retention depending on perceptual richness and test type. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 40, 100256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2025.100256

Dechamps, T., & Skulmowski, A. (2025). The effective design of tasks involving learning by drawing: Current trends and methodological progress in research on drawing to learn. Educational Psychology Review, 37, 50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10026-2

Engel-Hermann, P., & Skulmowski, A. (2025). Appealing, but misleading: a warning against a naive AI realism. AI and Ethics, 5, 3407–3413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-024-00587-3

Skulmowski, A. (2025). Informed consent in educational AI research needs to be transparent, flexible, and dynamic. Mind, Brain, and Education, 19, 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12435

2024:

Skulmowski, A. (2024). No evidence for a negative effect of realism when learning about a process despite an increase in cognitive load. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38, e70000. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70000

Skulmowski, A. (2024). AI‑related threats to information sovereignty and challenges for research ethics. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09939-1

Skulmowski, A. (2024). Placebo or assistant? Generative AI between externalization and anthropomorphization. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09894-x

Skulmowski, A. (2024). Are realistic details important for learning with visualizations or can depth cues provide sufficient guidance?. Cognitive Processing, 25, 351–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-024-01183-3

Skulmowski, A. (2024). Learning by doing or doing without learning? The potentials and challenges of activity-based learning. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09869-y

2023:

Skulmowski, A. (2023). The cognitive architecture of digital externalization. Educational Psychology Review, 35, 101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09818-1

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Learners emphasize their intrinsic load if asked about it first: Communicative aspects of cognitive load measurement. Mind, Brain, and Education, 17, 165–169. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12369

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Do concreteness fading and guidance fading aid learning from perceptually rich visualizations? Changes in style lead to more cognitive load and interfere with learning. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, 4, 100112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100112

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Ethical issues of educational virtual reality. Computers & Education: X Reality, 2, 100023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cexr.2023.100023

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Shape distinctness and segmentation benefit learning from realistic visualizations, while dimensionality and perspective play a minor role. Computers & Education: X Reality, 2, 100015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cexr.2023.100015

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Realistic details impact learners independently of split-attention effects. Cognitive Processing, 24, 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-022-01123-z

Skulmowski, A. (2023). Guidelines for choosing cognitive load measures in perceptually rich environments. Mind, Brain, and Education, 17, 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12342

2022:

Skulmowski, A. (2022). Is there an optimum of realism in computer-generated instructional visualizations?. Education and Information Technologies, 27, 10309–10326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11043-2

Skulmowski, A. (2022). Realistic visualizations can aid transfer performance: Do distinctive shapes and descriptive labels contribute towards learning?. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 38, 681–691. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12640

Skulmowski, A. (2022). When color coding backfires: A guidance reversal effect when learning with realistic visualizations. Education and Information Technologies, 27, 4621–4636. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10796-6

Skulmowski, A., Nebel, S., Remmele, M., & Rey, G. D. (2022). Is a preference for realism really naive after all? A cognitive model of learning with realistic visualizations. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 649–675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09638-1

Skulmowski, A., & Xu, K. M. (2022). Understanding cognitive load in digital and online learning: a new perspective on extraneous cognitive load. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 171–196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09624-7

2021 und früher:

Skulmowski, A., & Standl, B. (2021). COVID-19 information fatigue? A case study of a German university website during two waves of the pandemic. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3, 350–356.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2021). Visualizing pathogens: Disfluent shapes of pathogens increase their perceived complexity and danger while realism and disfluency boost the credibility of visualizations. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3, 316–323.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2021). Realism as a retrieval cue: Evidence for concreteness-specific effects of realistic, schematic, and verbal components of visualizations on learning and testing. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3, 283–295.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2020). COVID-19 as an accelerator for digitalization at a German university: Establishing hybrid campuses in times of crisis. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2, 212–216.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2020). The realism paradox: Realism can act as a form of signaling despite being associated with cognitive load. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2, 251–258.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2020). Subjective cognitive load surveys lead to divergent results for interactive learning media. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2, 149–157.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2018). Embodied learning: Introducing a taxonomy based on bodily engagement and task integration. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3:6.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2018). Realistic details in visualizations require color cues to foster retention. Computers & Education, 122, 23–31.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2018). Adjusting sample sizes for different categories of embodied cognition research. Frontiers in Psychology, 9:2384.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2017). Measuring cognitive load in embodied learning settings. Frontiers in Psychology, 8:1191.

Skulmowski, A., & Rey, G. D. (2017). Bodily effort enhances learning and metacognition: Investigating the relation between physical effort and cognition using dual-process models of embodiment. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 13, 3–10.

Skulmowski, A., Augustin, Y., Pradel, S., Nebel, S., Schneider, S., & Rey, G. D. (2016). The negative impact of saturation on website trustworthiness and appeal: A temporal model of aesthetic website perception. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 386–393.

Skulmowski, A., Pradel, S., Kühnert, T., Brunnett, G., & Rey, G. D. (2016). Embodied learning using a tangible user interface: The effects of haptic perception and selective pointing on a spatial learning task. Computers & Education, 92-93, 64–75.

Skulmowski, A., Bunge, A., Cohen, B. R., Kreilkamp, B. A. K., & Troxler, N. (2015). Investigating conceptions of intentional action by analyzing participant generated scenarios. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:1630.

Skulmowski, A., Bunge, A., Kaspar, K., & Pipa, G. (2014). Forced-choice decision-making in modified trolley dilemma situations: a virtual reality and eye tracking study. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8:426.

Academic CV

• 07/2025  – Present: Full Professor (W3) of Digital Education
• 10/2020 – 07/2025: Assistant Professor of Digital Education, Karlsruhe University of Education
• 09/2019: PhD in Psychology (Dr. ret. nat., summa cum laude), Chemnitz University of Technology
• 01/2014 – 09/2020: Research Assistant/Associate, Psychology of Learning with Digital Media, Chemnitz University of Technology
• 10/2011 – 09/2013: M.Sc. in Cognitive Science (with distinction), University of Osnabrück
• 10/2008 – 09/2011: B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology, University of Bonn

Professional Service and Memberships

Memberships in Editorial Boards

• 2024  – Present: Editorial Board Member, Learning and Instruction
• 2022  – Present: Editorial Board Member, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
• 2021  – Present: Editorial Board Member, Educational Psychology Review
• 2021: Editorial Board Member, Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies

Peer Review Service

• AI and Ethics
• Brain and Environment
• Cognitive Processing
• Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications
• Educational Research Review
• Journal of Educational Psychology
• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied
• Medical Education
• Mind, Brain, and Education
• Nature Human Behaviour

Also reviewed for:

Applied Cognitive Psychology; Behavior Research Methods; British Journal of Educational Psychology; Cognition, Technology & Work; Computers & Education; Computers and Education Open; Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence; Computers & Education: X Reality; Computers in Human Behavior; Computers in Human Behavior Reports; Education and Information Technologies; Ergonomics; Evolutionary Psychology; Frontiers in Education; Frontiers in Psychology; IEEE Transactions on Education; IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems; Improving Schools; Instructional Science; International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction; International Journal of Human-Computer Studies; Journal of Educational Computing Research; Journal of Experimental Child Psychology; Journal of Human-Technology Relations; Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders; Learning and Motivation; New Ideas in Psychology; PLOS ONE; PsyCh Journal; Psychiatry Research; Royal Society Open Science; Technology, Knowledge and Learning; Teaching and Teacher Education; Technology, Mind, and Behavior; Topoi

Grant Review Service

• Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF; Austria)
• German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research & Development (GIF)
• Narodowe Centrum Nauki (National Science Centre, NCN; Poland)
• Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF; Switzerland)

Society Memberships

• Gesellschaft für Kognitionswissenschaft e. V. (German Cognitive Science Society)

Science Communication and Public Engagement

Research Dissemination

[German-language resources for educational practitioners]

Skulmowski, A. (2024, December 20). Wie lässt sich Virtual Reality ethisch vertretbar im Unterricht einsetzen?. schule-mal-digital.de.

Skulmowski, A. (2024, December 17). Wie lässt sich Virtual Reality ethisch vertretbar im Unterricht einsetzen?. lernen:digital Zukunftsraum.

Skulmowski, A. (2022). Digitale Bildung: Von der Notlösung zur Chance. Dialog, 9, 5–8.

Media Coverage

• SWR2 Wissen: Wie wir künftig lernen – Selber denken, einordnen, verstehen, April 22, 2022.
• The Wall Street Journal: How New Technology is Illuminating a Classic Ethical Dilemma, June 8, 2016.