Where it is used
Each entry identifies the volume, edition, chapter or appendix in which the work appears.
The evidence behind the series
Follow the research.
Explore every source.
Browse the scientific research and professional literature used across all seven volumes of The Science of Learning for Educators.
7book volumes
8author ranges
1searchable library
Search the collection
Find a paper, author or idea.
Choose an author range, search a title or concept, or narrow the collection by source type. Open any result to see where it appears in the books, read its evidence summary and follow available source links.
6 references
-
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 7, App D
self-regulated learningmetacognitive regulationhypermedia learninggoal settingcomprehension monitoringstrategy selectionadaptive scaffoldingJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Azevedo reviews research on learning complex science topics with open-ended hypermedia and argues that such environments become useful metacognitive tools only when they support self-regulated learning.
Key ideas
Learners must coordinate prior knowledge, planning, monitoring, strategy use, motivation, and adaptation while navigating nonlinear information. Studies from the author's laboratory and classrooms show that learners of different ages often struggle to deploy these processes spontaneously. The article uses self-regulated learning as a framework for analysing both learning outcomes and the moment-by-moment processes that produce them. It also considers how prompts, human tutors, and adaptive computer scaffolds can model or support productive regulation.
Why it matters
The main implication is that access to rich digital resources does not by itself ensure deep learning: effective environments must help students set goals, activate relevant knowledge, monitor understanding, choose strategies, and revise their approach when comprehension breaks down.
View or buy the cited work >>Read a similar article free online >>
-
- Vol 2 TE: App B
inquiry-based learningproject-based learningcooperative learningstructured inquiryscaffoldingformative assessmentindividual accountabilitymeaningful understandingBook chapter Evidence summaryAt a glance
Barron and Darling-Hammond review evidence on inquiry-based, project-based, and cooperative approaches intended to produce meaningful understanding.
Key ideas
Effective designs engage learners in authentic questions and products, but they also provide explicit goals, access to relevant knowledge, structured inquiry, scaffolding, feedback, revision, and opportunities to reflect. Cooperative learning is most productive when groups have shared goals alongside individual accountability and when participation is deliberately organised. The review cautions that minimally guided activity can leave students confused or reinforce misconceptions; active learning is not equivalent to unguided discovery. Examples show students learning disciplinary content while developing communication, collaboration, and self-management.
Why it matters
For educators, the chapter supports ambitious investigations built on careful sequencing and teaching: challenging problems should be paired with models, formative assessment, coaching, and a classroom culture in which students explain and improve their thinking.
-
- Vol 2 RE: Chapter 5
inquiry-based learningproject-based learningcooperative learningstructured inquiryscaffoldingformative assessmentindividual accountabilitymeaningful understandingBook chapter Evidence summaryAt a glance
Barron and Darling-Hammond review evidence on inquiry-based, project-based, and cooperative approaches intended to produce meaningful understanding.
Key ideas
Effective designs engage learners in authentic questions and products, but they also provide explicit goals, access to relevant knowledge, structured inquiry, scaffolding, feedback, revision, and opportunities to reflect. Cooperative learning is most productive when groups have shared goals alongside individual accountability and when participation is deliberately organised. The review cautions that minimally guided activity can leave students confused or reinforce misconceptions; active learning is not equivalent to unguided discovery. Examples show students learning disciplinary content while developing communication, collaboration, and self-management.
Why it matters
For educators, the chapter supports ambitious investigations built on careful sequencing and teaching: challenging problems should be paired with models, formative assessment, coaching, and a classroom culture in which students explain and improve their thinking.
-
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 8, App D
blended learning designlearning flexibilityonline interactionself-regulation scaffoldingprogress monitoringaffective learning climatelearner autonomycross-modal integrationJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Boelens, De Wever, and Voet systematically review 20 studies to identify instructional responses to four recurring challenges in blended learning: incorporating flexibility, stimulating interaction, facilitating learning processes, and fostering an affective learning climate.
Key ideas
Designs often allowed choice of place or pace but gave learners little control over how the blend itself was organised. Social interaction was commonly initiated face to face, while online activities were used for personalisation and monitoring. Support for planning, progress, and feedback appeared more often than deliberate work on belonging, emotion, or psychological safety. The review shows that combining online and classroom components does not automatically integrate their strengths.
Why it matters
For educators and designers, it recommends making choices purposeful, connecting interaction across modes, scaffolding self-regulation, monitoring progress, and attending explicitly to motivation and climate throughout the whole learning experience.
-
- Vol 4 RE: Chapter 18
self-directed learninglearner autonomyteacher facilitationinstructional scaffoldinggoal settingresource evaluationreflective practicelearner agencyJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Botha, du Toit-Brits, and Blignaut synthesise theoretical perspectives on self-directed learning and the changing role of teachers.
Key ideas
Self-directed learners diagnose needs, formulate goals, identify resources, choose and implement strategies, and evaluate outcomes, but this agency develops through supportive educational relationships rather than teacher absence. The article discusses motivation, creativity, adaptability, learner diversity, digital contexts, and the capabilities teachers need to create environments that gradually transfer responsibility. Teachers act as designers, facilitators, models, coaches, and providers of feedback while ensuring that learners have sufficient knowledge and structure to make productive choices.
Why it matters
For educators, the review recommends explicit instruction in goal setting, planning, resource evaluation, monitoring, and reflection; meaningful choice within clear expectations; responsive scaffolding; and assessment practices that help students become increasingly capable of directing future learning.
-
- Vol 2 RE: Chapter 5
project-based learningauthentic questionsknowledge constructioninquiry scaffoldingassessment practicesteacher facilitationimplementation fidelitydeeper learningReport Evidence summaryAt a glance
Condliffe and colleagues review research on project-based learning in K–12 education published mainly since 2000.
Key ideas
They describe recurring design principles: a project serves as the central vehicle for instruction, students actively construct knowledge, work often addresses authentic questions, and assessment extends beyond conventional tests. Yet models differ in duration, student choice, collaboration, and the relationship between projects and other teaching methods, making implementation fidelity difficult to define. Teachers must shift toward facilitation, manage more complex classroom activity, scaffold inquiry, and use technology purposefully; sustained professional development and supportive school conditions are therefore important. Evidence for improved outcomes is promising but not conclusive, with stronger findings in some science and social-studies settings than in mathematics or literacy.
Why it matters
The review calls for clearer models, stronger measures of deeper learning, more rigorous comparative studies, and better documentation of implementation.
A transparent research trail
More than a bibliography.
What it contributes
Evidence summaries explain the central idea and why the source matters to educators.
How to access it
Entries link to lawful full text where available, or to a publisher, library or purchase page.
Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
Citation checks
References are checked against publisher records, scholarly indexes, DOI or ISBN metadata, repositories and author records where available. An entry marked [Citation not verified] preserves the wording found in the relevant volume without attributing findings to an unconfirmed work.
From sources to a coherent pathway