This study analyses the effects of group differentiation by students' learning strategies of around 1200 students in 46 classes from eight secondary schools in the Netherlands. In an experimental setup with randomization at the class level, division of students over three groups per class (an instruction-independent group, an average group, and an…

The aim of this experiment was to examine the effect of different instructional strategies on student teachers' confirmation bias. Confirmation bias refers to the selectivity in finding and using evidence that fits one's own beliefs or hypotheses while neglecting evidence that is opposite to one's own beliefs or hypotheses (Nickerson, 1998). Dutch…

Training researchers represents a substantially deeply international activity for higher education, and yet the transition into independence, a critical aim of doctoral education, remains a challenge for both supervisors and doctoral students, especially those from different cultural backgrounds. Interactions between Chinese doctoral students and…

Self-assessment and task selection are important self-regulated learning skills for secondary school students. More specifically, selecting new tasks based on self-assessments is very important for them, because teachers are not always present or able to select tasks for them individually. However, little is known about the processes underlying…

This article presents the use of personal professional theories (PPTs) in Dutch higher vocational education. PPTs are internalised bodies of formal and practical knowledge and convictions that professionals use to direct their behaviour. With the aid of high-quality representations of students' PPTs teachers can access, monitor, and support the…

Compared to text, diagrams are superior in their ability to structure and summarize information and to show relations between concepts and ideas. Perceptual cues, like arrows, are expected to improve the retention of diagrams by guiding the learner towards important elements or showing a preferred reading sequence. In our experiment, we analyzed…

Educational design research yields design knowledge, often in the form of design principles or guidelines that provide the rationale or "know-why" for the design of educational interventions. As such, design principles can be utilized by designers in contexts other than the research context in which they were generated. Although research…

Visual expertise has been explored in numerous professions, but research on teachers' vision remains limited. Teachers' visual expertise is an important professional skill, particularly the ability to simultaneously perceive and interpret classroom situations for effective classroom management. This skill is complex and relies on an awareness of…

Visual arts education focuses on creating original visual art products. A means to improve originality is enhancement of divergent thinking, indicated by fluency, flexibility and originality of ideas. In regular arts lessons, divergent thinking is mostly promoted through brainstorming. In a previous study, we found positive effects of an explicit…

In argument diagrams, perceptual cues are important to aid understanding. However, we do not know what perceptual cues are used and produced to aid understanding. We present two studies in which we investigate (1) which spatial, graphical and textual elements people spontaneously use in creating for-against argument diagrams, and (2) how people…

Animated models explicating how a problem is solved and why a particular method is chosen are expected to be effective learning tools for novices, especially when abstract cognitive processes or concepts are involved. Cognitive load theory was used to investigate how learners could be stimulated to engage in genuine learning activities. It was…