Educational Psychology Review最新文献

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 .70). To provide an initial empirical base for this debate, we conducted a meta-analysis of the Cronbach's Alphas of knowledge tests derived from an available data set. Based on 285 effect sizes from 55 samples, the estimated typical Alpha of domain-specific knowledge tests in publications was α = .85, CI90 [.82; .87]. Alpha was so high despite a low mean item intercorrelation of .22 because the tests were relatively long on average and bias in the test construction or publication process led to an underrepresentation of low Alphas. Alpha was higher in tests with more items, with open answers and in younger age, it increased after interventions and throughout development, and it was higher for knowledge in languages and mathematics than in science and social sciences/humanities. Generally, Alphas varied strongly between different knowledge tests and populations with different characteristics, reflected in a 90% prediction interval of [.35, .96]. We suggest this range as a guideline for the Alphas that researchers can expect for knowledge tests with 20 items, providing guidelines for shorter and longer tests. We discuss implications for our understanding of domain-specific knowledge and how fixed cut-off values for the internal consistency of knowledge tests bias research findings.

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 were designed to reduce statistics anxiety, boost statistics self-efficacy, and/or foster positive attitudes toward statistics among university students enrolled in statistics courses. All included studies followed a longitudinal design with at least pre- and post-intervention assessments, comprising single group studies, randomised controlled trials, and non-randomised control studies. The protocol of this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO. Search terms were entered into five databases. The screening, assessment of risk of bias, and data extraction processes were conducted by two independent reviewers. Meta-analysis was not conducted due to the heterogeneity across the included studies. Therefore, a narrative synthesis was used to describe the results of 11 studies (1786 participants), encompassing studies targeting statistics anxiety, attitudes, self-efficacy, or a combination of these outcomes. Findings revealed that although no intervention was definitively effective in reducing statistics anxiety, some showed promise, especially those combining exposure with coping strategies. Moreover, the review identified interventions that effectively improved self-efficacy and attitudes, discussed some important methodological considerations, and provided suggestions for future psychological interventions. Finally, further empirical research is necessary to address existing limitations and fully understand the effectiveness of these interventions, particularly regarding statistics anxiety.

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 during and after learning lead to comparable assessments of cognitive load depending on the sequence of complexity? Do learners rely on their first or last impression of complexity of a learning material when reporting the cognitive load of the entire learning material after learning? To address these issues, three learning units were created, differing in terms of intrinsic cognitive load (low, medium, or high complexity) as verified by a pre-study (N = 67). In the main-study (N = 100), the three learning units were studied in two sequences (increasing vs. decreasing complexity) and learners were asked to report cognitive load after each learning unit and after learning as an overall assessment. The results demonstrated that the first impression of complexity is the most accurate predictor of the overall cognitive load associated with the learning material, indicating a primacy effect. This finding contrasts with previous studies on problem-solving tasks, which have identified the most complex task as the primary determinant of the overall assessment. This study suggests that, during learning, the assessment of the overall cognitive load is influenced primarily by the timing of measurement.

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 between these two constructs. This preregistered three-level meta-analysis aims to further elucidate the relationship between inhibitory control and mathematical ability in elementary school children by differentiating various types of inhibitory control, domains of mathematical ability, and exploring various potential moderators. This meta-analysis synthesized 241 effect sizes extracted from 86 samples, involving data from a total of 14,223 primary school children with a mean age of 8.67 years. The results showed a moderate positive correlation between inhibitory control and mathematical ability (r = 0.19). Mathematical ability was more strongly correlated with interference inhibition (r = 0.21) than response inhibition (r = 0.14). The relation between inhibitory control and mathematical ability was not moderated by domains of mathematical ability, inhibitory control task, age, gender, developmental status, socioeconomic status, and sample region. These findings provide novel insights into the cognitive underpinnings of mathematical ability in elementary school children. Practical implications are discussed.

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 learning. Beyond his scholarly achievements, Schunk’s commitment to mentoring students and faculty alike has impacted the academic community. His profound influence continues to reshape the landscape of educational psychology, igniting ongoing research and driving innovation to enhance teaching and learning practices among learners. This tribute is a testament to Schunk’s enduring legacy and profound impact on educational psychology.

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 between belonging and academic outcomes (GPA, persistence, and intent to persist); most associations were positive but small with several small, negative associations. Across a few studies, there was a pattern of larger associations between belonging and academic achievement for marginalized college students, such as racially/ethnically minoritized students (compared to students in the racial majority) or women (compared to men) in historically exclusionary settings such as STEM disciplines. We identified gaps in the literature reflecting underreporting of student identities, including but not limited to gender identity, sexual identity, social class, religious identity, disability status, and first-generation status, in sample characteristics and a lack of attention to contextual factors, such as the type of institution (e.g., predominantly White institutions, community colleges, minority-serving institutions). In all, our findings provide an updated mapping of the literature, pointing to a much-needed refinement for how individual and institutional factors may moderate the associations between belonging and academic outcomes in postsecondary settings.

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 and undermine their capacity and desire to belong. This makes the task of developing institutional practices that foster belonging complex. Such a task prompts important questions about what “acceptance” looks like. For example, in what ways can practices of acceptance attend to existing power structures? Under what conditions can acceptance occur so as not to solely expect students to assimilate or to silence important parts of themselves? How can practices of acceptance recognize the diverse belonging needs of marginalized students and the politics surrounding those needs? To answer these questions, I utilize frameworks that reveal the paradoxes of belonging—the push and pull of being accepted in spaces that marginalize the self. Specifically, drawing from a place-belongingness and politics of belonging framework, I first provide a foundation for understanding the personal and political components of belonging for marginalized students. I then review harmful institutional practices of “acceptance” and discuss more transformative practices that sustain students’ cultural identities. Illuminating the personal and political facets of what it means to be accepted provides a pathway for reimaging who can, wants, and gets to belong.

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 creative skills. With creativity increasingly recognised as a critical skill of the twenty-first century and formal education reaching more children across the globe, understanding the impact of schools on its development is critical. We suggest that much of the discourse on this topic has a narrow focus, precluding a global perspective. Here, we take a step back to integrate important but disparately presented research strands on education and creativity, to inform this debate. We first synthesize what we know about creativity and education, before presenting work on different areas—either directly or indirectly assessing creativity in educational contexts—including the relationship between creativity and academic achievement, classroom infrastructure and experiences, developmental slumps, teachers’ perspectives on creative children and research on culturally and educationally diverse populations. Reviewing research from these approaches shows that the relationship is nuanced and requires careful interpretation—while some research showcases the positive impact schooling can have on children’s creative development, other work, including from culturally and educationally diverse populations, shows how school experiences could be detrimental in this regard. We finish by summarising and integrating these research strands before making suggestions for future research.

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 and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR 22 item checklist, we conducted a scoping review to examine the evidence on the relationship between nature and creativity as well as any underlying mechanisms facilitating this relationship. A scoping review was deemed appropriate given the infancy of the topic and the need to understand the broad landscape. Our aim was to present a range of interdisciplinary applications of nature interventions on different types of creative performance. We found 45 publications exploring the relationship between nature and creativity, with the majority (n = 36, 80%) published within the past seven years. Overall, the quantitative studies in our scoping review provided evidence of a significant positive relationship, or effect, between nature and creativity. These relationships held across various types of nature including for wilderness, rural and urban settings, as well as in different applications of creativity such as in the arts, workplace, education, and laboratory conditions. Qualitative and case study research also supported the positive relationship between nature and creativity including in diverse nature settings and in different applications such as in visual arts, design, writing, music, free play in kindergartens, and work. Qualitative studies highlighted potential mechanisms behind this relationship, including time in solitude, appreciation of impermanence, relaxation and inspiration, and disconnection from technology. Moreover, the degree of exposure to nature may be an important consideration for creative performance with more immersive, real-life experiences typical of outdoor nature, tending to be more effective than indoor spaces with window views or indoor plants. These preliminary findings suggest that more opportunities to connect with nature, especially in the outdoors, may help to stimulate creativity in a wide range of settings including education, the creative arts, and workplaces, although more high-quality research examining the sustained effects of nature on creativity is needed.

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. Our hope was these articles could serve as examples of how theory building happens, normalizations of the often difficult and circuitous paths theories can take from initial observations to formalizations, and inspirations to others to begin their own theory development journey. In this reflection on the topical collection, we present themes that emerged as we curated the articles, including themes we anticipated (e.g., the many different ways theories can be generated) as well as ones we did not (e.g., the mix of boldness and intellectual humility theory generation requires). Also, we examine the epistemic virtues our authors used to evaluate their theories, such as practicality, as well as the virtues that were less commonly mentioned, such as internal consistency. Finally, we identify future directions for theory development in educational psychology, including the need to improve the climate for theory development in the field, particularly in terms of creating structures that incentivize and reward natural history work.