Recent second/foreign language (L2) research has witnessed the application of sociocultural tenets to L2 classrooms. This study aimed to probe whether Iranian L2 learners' engagement in ZPD-activated collaborative dialogue, or "languaging", mediates their learning process and, specifically, their appropriate use of metadiscourse to…

Although invested study time is expected to relate to exam performance, research findings have been mixed. Therefore, the current study examined (a) the role of self-study time above and beyond relevant student characteristics, affective-motivational processes (i.e. academic self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and action-state orientation)…

Research into the effect of interest consistently indicated that interest positively related to students' achievement; however, the mechanism through which it affected the learning result remained an open question. This study intended to examine how learning strategies mediated the relationship between interest and achievement in the domain…

This research had two objectives. The first was to determine the reliability and validity of the multifaceted assessment of creativity (MAC) for evaluating Hong Kong university students' conceptions of creativity. The second was to establish if the theory-practice and gender gaps discovered among mainland Chinese university students would be…

Creativity and imagination in education are increasingly emphasised around the world. However, a lack of these qualities in Chinese societies has been discussed in the academia and popular media, and attributed to various factors, standardised testing chief among them. In Taiwan, a team of scholars working with the Ministry of Education has, since…

This study starts with investigating the relation of perceived workload, motivation for learning and working memory capacity (WMC) with students' approaches to learning. Secondly, this study investigates if differences exist between different student profiles concerning their approach to the learning and the influence of workloads thereon. Results…

Math achievement is not a unidimensional construct but includes different skills that require different cognitive abilities. The focus of this study was to examine associations between a number of cognitive abilities and three domains of math skills (knowing, applying and problem solving) simultaneously in a multivariate framework. Participants…

Two major theoretical frameworks in educational psychology, namely student approaches to learning (SAL) and self-efficacy have been used extensively to explain and predict students' learning and academic achievement. There is a substantial body of research studies, for example, that documents the positive interrelations between individuals'…

According to cognitive load theory (CLT), the limitations of working memory (WM) in the learning of new tasks together with its ability to cooperate with an unlimited long-term memory (LTM) for familiar tasks enable human beings to deal effectively with complex problems and acquire highly complex knowledge and skills. With regard to WM, CLT has…

Working memory is the retention of a small amount of information in a readily accessible form. It facilitates planning, comprehension, reasoning, and problem solving. I examine the historical roots and conceptual development of the concept and the theoretical and practical implications of current debates about working memory mechanisms. Then, I…

Consultation is a key means of service delivery in many psychological services. However, the "process" of consultation is little explored in Educational Psychology literature, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK). This paper focuses on a small-scale qualitative research study of psychological consultation provided by educational…

This paper looks at current research into how thinking influences learning. How people explain to themselves "why" they fail and succeed inevitably impacts on how well they learn new skills. Researchers have been developing attribution retraining programmes targeted at improving student academic achievement and learning experience…

In this article, we attempt to provide an overview of the features of the abilities, aptitudes, and frames of minds that are attributed to critical thinking and provide the broad outlines of the development of critical-analytic thinking (CAT) abilities. In addition, we evaluate the potential viability of three main hypotheses regarding the reasons…

In the course of tutoring, tutors have the opportunity to formatively assess a tutee's understanding. The information gathered by engaging in formative assessment can be used by tutors not only to adapt instruction in order to enhance learning but also to form a summative judgment in order to document a tutee's learning after tutoring.…

Practice tests and spaced study are both highly potent for enhancing learning and memory. Combining these two methods under the conditions in which they are most effective (i.e., practice tests that invoke successful retrieval from long-term memory and spacing study across days) yields a promising learning technique referred to as "successive…