Performing hand gestures such as pointing and tracing while learning is an area of increasing focus in educational research. Previous studies have demonstrated that learners who performed these gestures while engaging with static paper- or computer-based learning materials performed better on posttests in multiple learning areas, such as…

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of concept maps on science achievement among elementary and secondary education students, including low-achieving students. A systematic search located 55 studies about concept mapping in science achievement published in peer-reviewed journals and dissertations between 1980 and 2020. We extracted 58…

This study was conducted to meta-analytically investigate the influence of teaching vs. no teaching expectancy on the learning effects of teaching after preparatory learning. A meta-analysis of 39 studies revealed that a weighted mean effect size for the effect of teaching after studying with or without teaching expectancy vs. merely studying…

In educational research, there is the general trade-off that empirical evidence should be generalizable to be applicable across contexts; at the same time, empirical evidence should be as specific as possible to be localizable in subject-specific educational interventions to successfully transfer the empirical evidence to educational practice.…

Translating ideas into acceptable sentence is an essential writing production process. Limited sentence construction skills can hinder young writers from expressing ideas as intended or creating sentences that are comprehensible to their audiences. This may also limit other writing production processes, as young writers must devote considerable…

Students tend to avoid effective but effortful study strategies. One potential explanation could be that high-effort experiences may not give students an immediate feeling of learning, which may affect their perceptions of the strategy's effectiveness and their willingness to use it. In two experiments, we investigated the role of mental effort in…

This systematic literature review sought to reconcile the evidence of efficacy for interventions and approaches to enhancing self-regulation and/or executive function in preschool settings. Following PRISMA methodology, a comprehensive search of 20 years of intervention research identified 85 studies that met inclusion criteria. Interventions were…

A contemporary review (over a 10-year period) was conducted into studies that used computer-assisted language learning (CALL) strategies to learn a second language (L2) by considering the impact of cognitive load. Twelve affordances were identified that led to enhanced learning, namely, online annotations and glosses, captioning, digital…

The study aimed to investigate the effect of embodied learning on children's literacy skills and whether the activities were particularly beneficial for children at risk for reading difficulties. We conducted a randomized controlled trial during 4 weeks for grade 1 children (n = 52, age = 7.1). Children were randomly assigned to receive regular…

Demonstrating the differential effectiveness of instructional approaches for learners is difficult because learners differ on multiple dimensions. The present study tests a person-centered approach to investigating differential effectiveness, in this case of reading instruction. In N = 517 German third-grade students, latent profile analysis…

This article reviews educational efforts to promote a responsible conduct of research (RCR) that were reported in scientific publications between 1990 and early 2020. Unlike previous reviews that were exploratory in nature, this review aimed to test eleven hypotheses on effective training strategies. The achievement of different learning outcomes…

Teaching the contents of study materials by providing explanations to fellow students can be a beneficial instructional activity. A learning-by-teaching effect can also occur when students provide explanations to a real, remote, or even fictitious audience that cannot be interacted with. It is unclear, however, which underlying mechanisms drive…

In this discussion paper, teaching and learning are characterized as being situated, complex, and reciprocally interactive activities. Accordingly, a teacher's pedagogical actions are always action and reaction at the same time. Irrespective of the reciprocally interactive nature of teaching and learning, educational research has sought to…

Bowers ("Educational Psychology Review," 32, 681-705, 2020) reviewed 12 meta-analytic syntheses addressing the effects of phonics instruction, concluding that the evidence is weak to nonexistent in supporting the superiority of systematic phonics to alternative reading methods. We identify five issues that limit Bowers' conclusions: (1)…

Multimedia pedagogical agents are on-screen characters that allow users to navigate or learn in multimedia environments. Several agents' characteristics may moderate their instructional effectiveness, including appearance, gender, nonverbal communication, motion, and voice. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to test hypotheses from diverse…