For this systematic review, learning from multiple texts served as the specific context for investigating the constructs of higher-order (HOT), critical (CT), and critical-analytic (CAT) thinking. Examining the manifestations of HOT, CT, and CAT within the specific context of learning from multiple texts allowed us to clarify and disentangle these…

Solving problems in educational settings, as in daily-life scenarios, involves constantly assessing one's own confidence in each considered solution. Metacognitive research has exposed cues that may bias confidence judgments (e.g., familiarity with question terms). Typically, metacognitive research methodologies require examining misleading cues…

This review is aimed at synthesizing current findings concerning technology-based cognitive offloading and the associated effects on learning and memory. While cognitive externalization (i.e., using the environment to outsource mental computation) is a highly useful technique in various problem-solving tasks, a growing body of research suggests…

It is well established in educational research that metacognitive monitoring of performance assessed by self-reports, for instance, asking students to report their confidence in provided answers, is based on heuristic cues rather than on actual success in the task. Subjective self-reports are also used in educational research on cognitive load,…

Arithmetic word problems are a staple in mathematical curricula yet give individuals of all ages difficulty. Successful word problem solving requires translating the problem into a symbolic arithmetic format. However, the linguistic component may make problem solving more complex and increase cognitive load, specifically the processes that…

Mathematical flexibility has been widely acknowledged as an important learning goal in mathematical education and has received increasing research attention in order to explore its nature, facilitating mechanisms, and promotion interventions. Given that researchers conceptualize, assess, and explain flexibility in mathematical problem solving from…

Since Bruner's introduction of discovery learning in the 1960s, there has been an ongoing and intensive debate on the value of inductive teaching methods (e.g., problem-solving followed by instruction, such as in problem-based learning and productive failure) compared to deductive teaching methods (instruction followed by problem-solving, such as…

Cognitive load theory's incorporation of evolutionary perspectives has generated several instructional designs based on movement, including the tracing effect, occurring when learners benefit from explicit instructions to trace out specific elements of lesson materials with the index finger. Historical descriptions of children's tracing behaviours…

To what extent are epistemic curiosity and situational interest different indicators for the same underlying psychological mechanism? To answer this question, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, we administered measures of epistemic curiosity and situational interest to 158 students from an all-boys secondary school. The data were analyzed using…

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the contributions of cognitive skills (nonverbal reasoning, language comprehension, working memory, attention, processing speed) and academic skills (mathematics facts retrieval, mathematics computation, mathematics vocabulary, reading comprehension) in performing mathematics word problems among…

Pictures are commonly used to represent problems. However, it is unclear how the addition of pictures affects students' problem-solving performance. The multimedia effect in problem solving describes the phenomenon whereby an individual's problem-solving performance is enhanced when equivalent pictures are added to illustrate or replace part of…

Spaced and interleaved practices have been identified as effective learning strategies which sometimes are conflated as a single strategy and at other times treated as distinct. Learning sessions in which studying information or practicing problems are spaced in time with rest-from-deliberate-learning periods between sessions generally result in…

A central factor in research guided by the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) is the mental effort people invest in performing a task. Mental effort is commonly assessed by asking people to report their effort throughout performing, learning, or problem-solving tasks. Although this measurement is considered reliable and valid in CLT research,…

Retrieval practice has been widely studied as an effective strategy for enhancing memory. In this review article, we discuss how its effects on learning complex problem-solving procedures are less straightforward, however, with repeated studying of worked examples sometimes more effective than problem-solving practice. This worked example benefit…

Research has shown a bi-directional association between the (perceived) amount of invested effort to learn or retrieve information (e.g., time, mental effort) and metacognitive monitoring judgments. The direction of this association likely depends on how learners allocate their effort. In self-paced learning, effort allocation is usually data…