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.
2 references
-
- Vol 3 RE: Chapters 5, 9
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 5, App B
computer-supported collaborative learningscience, technology, engineering, and mathematics educationcollaborative knowledge constructioninstructional scaffoldinggroup processeslearning outcomesJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Jeong, Hmelo-Silver, and Jo meta-analyse computer-supported collaborative learning in STEM education published from 2005 through 2014. The review codes studies across science, mathematics, engineering, computer science, health, and education-related domains and examines learning outcomes alongside instructional, technological, and contextual characteristics.
Key ideas
Overall, CSCL produces a positive moderate effect, with variation across designs and settings. The authors investigate how collaboration is structured, what technologies mediate activity, which supports are provided, and whether studies occur in classrooms, laboratories, or other environments. Classroom effects are not significantly different from other settings in the reported comparison, underscoring that location alone does not explain success. Technology is not treated as an independent causal ingredient: outcomes depend on tasks, group processes, pedagogy, scaffolds, and how tools enable interaction and shared knowledge construction.
Why it matters
The synthesis is bounded by the quality and reporting of included studies and by heterogeneity in interventions and measures. Its practical implication is to design the collaborative process deliberately rather than assume that placing learners together around digital tools will produce effective STEM learning.
-
- Vol 2 RE: Chapters 3, 8
productive failureproductive successtransfer-oriented assessmentdelayed learning outcomesinstructional sequencingsolution generationJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Kapur separates performance during an initial learning activity from learning demonstrated later and uses that distinction to describe four instructional possibilities. Productive success combines strong initial performance with later learning; productive failure combines weak initial performance with later learning; unproductive failure yields neither; and unproductive success produces apparent immediate success without durable understanding or transfer.
Key ideas
Direct instruction may be productive relative to unguided discovery yet unproductive relative to better sequenced designs. Productive-failure approaches typically ask learners to generate and compare solutions to a carefully designed problem before explicit instruction. This process can activate prior knowledge, reveal gaps, draw attention to deep features, and prepare learners to understand canonical methods during consolidation. Failure is not valuable by itself: problems must be accessible yet challenging, learners need space to explore multiple representations, and subsequent instruction must connect their attempts with target concepts.
Why it matters
The framework expands the design space beyond a discovery-versus-instruction dichotomy and warns against evaluating learning from fluency or correctness during acquisition alone. Delayed, transfer-oriented assessments are needed to distinguish genuinely productive designs from superficially successful ones.
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