Retrieval practice is well-established as a powerful tool for reinforcing long-term learning. Most previous research has concentrated on the effectiveness of overt retrieval, involving recalling information from memory and generating overt responses by writing, typing, or speaking aloud the retrieved information. Here we ask whether covert retrieval, involving mentally retrieving information without

Human movement plays a foundational role in cognition and learning. This topical collection brings together theoretical and empirical work examining how gestures, physical activity, and virtual movement enhance learning in language, multimedia, and activity-based learning. Regarding language learning, interacting with virtual object improves vocabulary learning, especially for learners with low language

The generative learning strategy of learning by drawing has received increased attention in recent years. Although this strategy is regularly used by educators, the literature suggests that the effectiveness of the method depends on several factors. In this review, we highlight recent research trends and methodological progress within the field. Although recent developments have led to clearer and

A growing body of evidence shows that positive student outcomes are associated with racial/ethnic diversity among university STEM instructors. However, few studies to date have been able to provide direct causal evidence identifying the specific mechanism(s) hypothesized to drive the benefits of instructor racial/ethnic diversity. Leaving these mechanisms unexplained may lead both receptive and critical

In their commentary on our meta-analysis, Zitzmann and Orona (2025) used formal proof and cited methodological studies to argue that test reliability is important, Cronbach’s Alpha generally indicates test reliability, and cutoff values for alpha are indispensable. We agree that high reliability is important for all tests. Yet, alpha does not reflect the reliability of knowledge tests. Zitzmann and

We use three studies to develop and validate the new concept of playful study design – the cognitive-behavioral orientation towards study tasks with the aim to make these tasks more fun and/or more challenging. Based on play and proactive motivation theories, we propose that playful study design can be assessed by items indicating two dimensions: designing fun and designing competition. Results of

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant potential for enhancing student learning. This reflection critically examines the promises and limitations of AI for cognitive learning processes and outcomes, drawing on empirical evidence and theoretical insights from research on AI-enhanced education and digital learning technologies. We critically discuss current publication trends in research on AI-enhanced

Misinformation can have severe negative effects on people’s decisions, behaviors, and on society at large. This creates a need to develop and evaluate educational interventions that prepare people to recognize and respond to misinformation. We systematically review 107 articles describing educational interventions across various lines of research. In characterizing existing educational interventions

Learners’ attempts to regulate their own motivation for studying in the face of tedious or difficult tasks is an important aspect of self-regulated learning. Therefore, motivation regulation has received increasing attention over the past few years, resulting in numerous publications using different definitions of the construct, samples, operationalizations, and research designs. The aim of this systematic

Peer-feedback can be an effective method to support learning. However, students often require instructional support to provide and process peer-feedback effectively. Previous research used various types of instructional support to improve the quality of peer-feedback processes and outcomes. Yet, a comprehensive overview over their effects is missing. Therefore, this meta-analysis (based on N = 32 studies

Transversal skills describe a broad spectrum of skills that are considered to be essential for thriving in today’s society and tackling the challenges of the twenty-first century. Therefore, a high demand is placed on educators to teach these skills to their students. Unfortunately, the conceptualization of transversal skills remains vague with different frameworks reporting on various transversal

The classroom represents a complex socio-cultural environment where emotions emerge as a result of instruction, learning, and interpersonal transactions. Teachers’ ability to recognize, regulate, and respond to emotions in the classroom has powerful consequences for students’ behavior, learning, and the teacher’s own well-being. In order to be effective in instruction and classroom management and to

A common theme across psychological research on belonging in school has been a focus on the social—on the quality of students’ connections to others in the school environment. In this review, I argue that when a student indicates that they do or do not “feel like I belong at my school,” social connections are necessary but not sufficient to fully explain that experience. Extending Schmader and Sedikides’

Conscientiousness has consistent and robust associations with a large set of key student outcomes. Thus, to understand the extent to which conscientiousness could be leveraged to support students’ learning, achievement, and well-being, it is important to ascertain whether conscientiousness could be strengthened by means of interventions. To narrow this important knowledge gap, this research synthesizes

Edelsbrunner et al. Educational Psychology Review, 37, 1–43, 2025 recently published a systematic review and meta-analysis of Cronbach's alphas in domain-specific knowledge tests. While appreciating their analysis and agreeing with most findings, we disagree with three messages regarding the use of alpha in knowledge tests: (1) alpha measures the strength of interrelations among items, (2) a low alpha

Over a dozen rigorous randomized-controlled trials show that recognizing worries about belonging in a new school as normal and as improving with time can help students stay engaged, build relationships, and succeed. Such “social-belonging” interventions can help students take advantage of opportunities available to them to develop their belonging in college—yet what is the institutional role? Drawing

Recent research underscores the importance of inquiry learning for effective science education. Inquiry learning involves self-regulated learning (SRL), for example when students conduct investigations. Teachers face challenges in orchestrating and tracking student learning in such instruction; making it hard to adequately support students. Using AI methods such as machine learning (ML), the data that

Increasing the playback speed of video lectures is popular amongst students as a time saving strategy, but does this negatively impact test performance? Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effect of increasing video lecture playback speed on content test performance. A meta-regression with robust variance estimation was used to aggregate data from 110 effect sizes, stemming from 24 studies

Cognitive load theory’s incorporation of evolutionary perspectives suggests biologically primary knowledge, acquired through evolutionary processes, can support students in learning biologically secondary knowledge, the focus of typical educational curricula. Touch-based interactions using the hands are likely to be biologically primary. The present study investigates the effects of tracing and pointing

Failure can be an effective tool for learning, but it comes with negative consequences. Educators and learners should practice strategies that leverage the benefits of failure while managing its negative consequences on learners’ motivation and persistence. Towards that goal, this paper examines the biological effects of failure on learning to (1) explain how failure primes the brain for learning and

The persistence of learning styles as a concept in educational discourse and research is paradoxical, given the overwhelming evidence discrediting the matching hypothesis, the notion that aligning teaching methods with students’ preferred learning styles enhances achievement. This paper examines the resurgence of learning styles across meta-analyses and proposes an explanation for their enduring appeal

Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024) recently reported associations between academic achievement and self-concept (i.e., self-perceived academic competence). Marsh et al. claimed that their analyses supported a reciprocal effects model, according to which academic achievement and self-concept reinforce one another. Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024)

Substantial research has explored the connection between children’s spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and their current and later mathematical achievement. However, the findings have been inconsistent, and no comprehensive investigation has yet been conducted. This meta-analysis examines the relation between SFON and mathematics performance in preschool and school-age students and identifies

This commentary provides a constructive analysis of the meta-analysis by Ammar et al. Educational Psychology Review 36(2), 2024 on the contextual interference (CI) effect in applied settings, published in Educational Psychology Review. The authors are commended for significant advancements over their previous work (Ammar et al. Educational Research Review, 39, 100537, 2023), including addressing methodological

The aim of the current paper is to offer a unique perspective on eye movement analysis in reading research by applying techniques from social network analysis to examine integration processes between sentences during reading. In a first step, we explored how network measures relate to the often-used duration measures in reading research in order to examine whether there is an additional value in using

Students’ emotions in the classrom are highly dynamic and thus typically strongly vary from one moment to the next. Methodologies like experience sampling and daily diaries have been increasingly used to capture these momentary emotional states and its fluctuations. A recurring question is to what extent aggregated state ratings of emotions over a longer period of time are similar to self-reported

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to guide the study of classroom factors that promote student functioning and development within classroom settings. First, we describe a new framework, Classroom Carrying Capacity, to categorize factors in the classroom as limiting or resource factors across four domains: external, collective classroom, student, and teacher. We also describe a schema

Positive teacher–student relationships are critical for motivation in secondary school yet are conceptualized and measured inconsistently in motivation research. Motivation studies that draw on relational theories typically treat teacher–student relationships as a multidimensional construct, comprising positive (e.g., closeness) and negative (e.g., conflict) dimensions. In contrast, studies drawing

Self-explanation serves as a constructive learning scaffold in education, actively engaging learners in the identification of knowledge gaps and the rectification of erroneous mental models. This study aimed to examine the effects of self-explanation on students’ academic performance in digital learning environments and to test the possible moderating factors in this association. We focused on two

The number of children experiencing poor emotional wellbeing, which can lead to clinically significant mental health conditions in the long term, is increasing rapidly, as are government initiatives outlining the ‘frontline role’ of the school in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing during critical periods such as primary-secondary school transitions. However, both concepts (‘primary-secondary

Cross-age tutoring is an educational model where an older tutor is paired with a younger tutee, valued for its economic advantages and capacity to engage participants. This model leads to improvements in both academic performance and behavior, as evidenced by Shenderovich et al. (International Journal of Educational Research, 76, 190–21 2016) meta-analysis, which reported statistically significant

This study tested competing theories about the effectiveness of different instructional sequences for learners with different levels of prior knowledge. Across two classroom experiments, undergraduates learned about noncovalent interactions in biochemistry by either receiving explicit instruction before problem-solving (I-PS group) or engaging in problem-solving before explicit instruction (PS-I group)

Teacher autonomy support and provision of structure are crucial for students’ learning and motivation, yet it is unclear how to best blend them. Research describes autonomy support and structure as independent but mutually supportive, equivalent, and even opposite. These contradictions jeopardize the generalizability of findings across studies and hamper classroom implementation. Our meta-analysis

To contribute to a more nuanced understanding of student belonging among Latine youth that explicitly considers race and racism, this review was centered on scholarship focused on asset-based pedagogy to examine how it contributes to Latine students’ school belonging and ethnic-racial identity. In this review, 22 studies documenting Latine students’ experiences of asset-based pedagogies across K-12

After decades of being conceptualised solely as a lack of interest, boredom has recently gained attention as an important construct in its own right. However, there is still a lack of studies focusing on the relations and developmental interplay of these two closely related constructs. This study examines the overall long-term developmental structure and interplay of students’ boredom and interest

Misleading data visualizations have become a significant issue in our information-rich world due to their negative impact on informed decision-making. Consequently, it is crucial to understand the factors that make viewers vulnerable to misleading data visualizations and to explore effective instructional supports that can help viewers combat the negative effects of such visualizations. Drawing upon

Students involve themselves in learning activities multidimensionally, including behaviorally, cognitively, emotionally, and agentically. This multidimensional involvement predicts important outcomes, but it is also possible that each type of engagement might have its own specialized purpose or function. To investigate this possibility, we proposed and tested the specialized purpose hypothesis, which

Students with or at risk of reading difficulties (RD) benefit from accurate early identification and intervention. Previous research has employed various decoding measures to screen students for RD, but the criteria for identification have been inconsistent. Assessing students with RD is especially challenging in English Language Learners (ELLs), as vocabulary deficits can impact decoding. Additionally

Teacher burnout, stress, and turnover are increasing globally, underscoring the need to explore ways to reduce burnout and support teacher well-being. This scoping review identifies the contents, characteristics, and results of interventions to increase teacher well-being and reduce burnout. The search was conducted using two databases (Education Research Complete and ERIC). Out of 958 studies, 46

There is considerable research evaluating the effects of family members implementing shared book reading interventions, especially during early childhood. However, less is known about the effects of family members providing instruction to help their school-aged children develop literacy skills, including both code-focused and meaning-focused skills that facilitate reading comprehension. The purpose

Immersive learning is predominantly constrained to technology-based interventions but has the potential for more diverse applications. This study reports on an experiment investigating the learning affordances of psychological immersion evoked by narrative absorption. A total of 228 participants were randomly assigned to one of three forms of media, an image, a word list, and a narrative, all of which

Self-report measures are essential sources of information about learners’ studying perceptions. These perceptions also guide self-regulated learning (SRL) decisions and strategies in future studying. However, the development of self-report methods has not kept pace with other multi-modal methodological advancements, particularly in the field of self-regulated learning. The purpose of this study was

Training of self-regulated learning is most effective if it supports learning strategies in combination with metacognitive regulation, and learners can transfer their acquired metacognitive regulation skills to different tasks that require the use of the same learning strategy (near transfer). However, whether learners can transfer metacognitive regulation skills acquired in combination with a specific

There is a need for robust evidence about which educational interventions work in preschool to foster children’s cognitive and socio-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes. Lab-based individually randomized experiments can develop and refine such interventions, and field-based randomized experiments (e.g., cluster randomized trials) evaluate their effectiveness in real-world daycare center settings. Applying

Assessing cognitive demand is crucial for research on self-regulated learning; however, discrepancies in translating essential concepts across languages can hinder the comparison of research findings. Different languages often emphasize various components and interpret certain constructs differently. This paper aims to develop a translingual set of items distinguishing between intentionally invested

Knowledge is an important predictor and outcome of learning and development. Its measurement is challenged by the fact that knowledge can be integrated and homogeneous, or fragmented and heterogeneous, which can change through learning. These characteristics of knowledge are at odds with current standards for test development, demanding a high internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach's Alphas greater

Psychological interventions offer a unique approach to enhancing the educational experience for university students. Unlike traditional teaching methods, these interventions directly address cognitive, emotional, and behavioural factors without requiring changes to course content, delivery methods, or involvement from the teaching team. This systematic review evaluated psychological interventions that

In research practice, it is common to measure cognitive load after learning using self-report scales. This approach can be considered risky because it is unclear on what basis learners assess cognitive load, particularly when the learning material contains varying levels of complexity. This raises questions that have yet to be answered by educational psychology research: Does measuring cognitive load

Mathematical ability is a crucial component of human cognitive function, which is defined as the ability to acquire, process, and store mathematical information. While many studies have documented a close relationship between elementary school children’s inhibitory control and their mathematical ability, existing empirical evidence remains controversial with some other studies showing a null correlation

Given the theorized importance of college belonging for academic success, we conducted a scoping review of studies examining relationships between sense of belonging and academic achievement and persistence for postsecondary students. In our scoping review, we included 69 reports (78 unique samples) published between 2003 and 2023. We observed an unexpected level of heterogeneity among the associations

This tribute celebrates the unwavering dedication and contributions of Dale H. Schunk to educational psychology. His research has fundamentally transformed how school-based practitioners support student learning. By pioneering effective teaching strategies and interventions, he has called educators to create dynamic learning environments that cultivate students’ self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulated

Belonging is personal and political. As a fundamental human need, belonging is about self-acceptance and about feeling “accepted” by others. And yet, this process of acceptance is inextricably tied to structures of power that work to include and exclude. Structures of whiteness within higher education systems, for example, relegate low-income, first-generation-to-college students of color to the margins

Whether schools help or hinder creativity is a topic of vibrant, international debate. Some contend that the focus on structure, rote learning and standardised assessments associated with formal education stifles children’s creativity. Others argue that creativity, much like numeracy or literacy, is a skill that can be taught, and educational settings provide optimal contexts for children to learn

The widespread benefits of creativity have become more salient in recent years. This has led to scholarly interest in finding ways to foster creativity. Nature immersion may be one way to enhance creativity, particularly as many individuals involved in creative pursuits have found nature to be a source of inspiration and a haven for restoration. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews

Throughout 2023 and 2024, we served as co-guest editors of a topical collection in Educational Psychology Review on The Past, Present, and Future of Theory Development in Educational Psychology. In this topical collection, authors of prominent theories in the field were invited to reflect upon how they generated, developed, and iterated their ideas, as well as what the future might hold for their theories