Frontline Learning Research (E-Journal - EARLI, European Association for Research on Learning)
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A psychological platform for GenAI and human co-piloting in education
Full text linkGenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence) will have a growing role within formal education. What should that role be? How do we treat GenAIs as an opportunity to enhance and reenergise teaching and learning? This position paper suggests that answers to these questions should start with our foundational psychological theories about what students need to function and develop well. This position article outlines how psychological needs theory, focusing on students' basic psychological needs for competence and relatedness might be a path forward. Teacher behavior supporting these psychological needs (i.e., involvement and structure), which have established relationships with learning outcomes, are used as a base for assessing the potential roles of human and AI instructors. A balanced approach that draws on the strengths of each instructor is suggested as a possible way forward for research and practice in this area. Co-piloting the educational ship forward could herald a brighter future for students across educational levels and contexts.
 
Yupana Inka Tawa Pukllay arithmetic eye tracking analysis: novices
Full text linkThe concept of number emerges from the interaction of psychological, behavioral, and material elements of numerical cognition, collapsing the distinction between "abstract" and "concrete." This dual nature is evident in the Inca numerical system, where tools like the yupana integrate abstract numerical concepts with concrete materials. The Yupana Inka Tawa Pukllay (YITP), a Peruvian arithmetic method, enhances mathematical and visual-spatial skills through tile-based board games. While effective with children, its impact on university students is unexplored. This research used eye tracking to study gaze and attention during YITP operations, comparing novices and experts. Eight university students and two experts participated, with eye-tracking data and scatter plot (dispersion plot) analyses collected using Tobii Pro Glasses. The study introduced the Variation Ratio Tokens (VRT) metric to assess visual attention efficiency, showing significant improvements in VRT dispersion and attention during the arithmetic learning process. These findings suggest YITP's potential in higher education for improving cognitive processes and arithmetic performance, laying a foundation for future research and innovative educational practices. This work establishes a foundation for cross-cultural cognitive studies and innovative STEM education approaches leveraging ancestral knowledge systems
Optimal Learning Moments in Finnish and US Science Classrooms: A Psychological Network Analysis Approach
Full text linkEngagement can be situative and, when it occurs, a number of experiences will co-occur. The present study examined the co-occurred experiences of optimal learning moments (OLM), a type of situated engagement, using the novel network analysis and including data from two countries: Finland and the US. Both samples were from high schools and were measured using the experience sampling method. The Finnish sample consisted of 282 students (age = 15-16) and was assessed in science lessons only. The US sample consisted of 533 students at the same age. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that, when OLM occurred, feelings of concentration, success, in control, and meeting self and others’ expectations appeared frequently. These results were highly consistent between Finnish and US science classrooms. Further analysis found optimal learning moments were mutually reinforced by the creative experiences, feelings of competitiveness and pride, and the attitudes toward science practices. As a result, an updated optimal learning moment framework was proposed to understand its enhancers, detractors, accelerants, and outcomes in science learning situations. This provides new theoretical accounts regarding the co-occurring experiences of optimal learning moments
A momentary view of engagement in collaborative learning: Triangulation through multimodal data
Full text linkDespite recognising momentary challenges while learning, collaborative groups do not necessarily regulate and adapt their learning process according to the demands. Various online measures have recently been explored to unobtrusively study engagement and adaptation in collaborative learning (CL), as it occurs in the classroom. For example, physiological synchrony derived from electrodermal activity (EDA) has been a prominent reflector of momentary engagement in CL. However, how physiological synchrony relates to students’ views about CL, regulation of learning, and performance remains unclear. This study investigates how momentary measures of physiological synchrony, students’ perceived value of CL, and regulation of learning, align and further relate to group performance. The participants were 94 students attending a physics course consisting of four 90-minute lessons and a collaborative exam. Each lesson included a CL task. At the beginning and end of each session, students reported their perceived value of CL. Students’ EDA was recorded to derive physiological synchrony. Co-regulation (CoRL) and socially shared regulation (SSRL) were coded from the video. Results suggest that when groups show higher physiological synchrony, they perceive their CL as less valuable and tend to perform worse in collaborative exams. It seems that self-reports on the value of CL, rather than physiological synchrony, may better reflect the regulation of CL. Interestingly, the association patterns for CoRL and SSRL differed, as frequent CoRL was linked to the less valued CL, while SSRL tended towards a positive relation. The study demonstrates the complex and multidimensional role of momentary engagement in CL
The impact of academically and socially focused peer relations on children’s engagement and academic progress in primary school
Full text linkPrevious research suggests connections between peer relationships and children’s engagement and learning within the classroom. However few studies have explored these connections in detail or considered the possible processes that may begin to explain the linkages. This study collected systematic data from different respondents within primary school settings to help clarify the role of peers in classroom engagement and learning.
Over 800 pupils based in English primary schools were involved in a multi-method study. Peer-sociometric questionnaires provided measures of academic peer relations, informal-social peer relations, such as being accepted as a work partner and liked as a person to play with, playground group centrality and leadership. Self-report questionnaires provided data on school engagement, disengagement, and disaffection. Science attainment data were collected at the start and end of the year. Momentary behavioural engagement was observed in classrooms for a subsample of pupils who were also rated by their teachers in terms of their attention and behaviour in class.
Findings revealed small to moderate associations between peer relations measures, multiple measures of school and classroom engagement, attainment, and progress. Multiple regressions examined peer relations measures relative to momentary, classroom and school engagement and learning outcomes. Findings highlight important overlaps and differences in the predictors of different types of engagement. They also highlight the variety of ways in which peer relationships, whether academically or socially focused, may have different implications for engagement at momentary, classroom, and school levels. Findings indicate that academic peer acceptance is predictive of engagement at the different levels and science attainment. However, informal-social peer relations were more highly connected with class disruption, school disengagement and disaffection and were negative predictors of attainment and progress over the year. This suggests different pathways for children with different types of relationships with peers relative to engagement and adjustment highlighting complex connections between social and academic life in school
Perspectives on Momentary Engagement and Learning Situated in Classroom Contexts
Full text linkIn recent years, there has been a strong call for more fine-grained analyses of student engagement to better capture its nature as a situated, momentary phenomenon. This special issue aims to promote cross-disciplinary discussions about the complex processes involved in students’ momentary engagement and learning situated in classroom contexts. Momentary engagement is conceptualized as students’ involvement with learning activities over short time intervals. We begin by presenting definitional, conceptual, and methodological reflections on the construct of momentary engagement, highlighting how moment-to-moment analyses can deepen our understanding of how engagement unfolds in complex, dynamic learning environments. Next, we discuss the need for a holistic and multidisciplinary perspective to foster an integrative understanding of contexts and conditions under which students engage in academic tasks. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the papers in this special issue, emphasising their diverse methodological approaches to capturing students’ momentary engagement and summarizing their main results that offer practical insights on supporting engagement. Each contribution reflects the efforts of a multidisciplinary team who have studied students’ momentary engagement and learning across various contexts, combining insights and identifying cross-disciplinary synergies in theory and method. The authors integrate perspectives from various fields of research, including motivation, emotion, self-regulation, engagement, social interaction and conceptual change. Their research draws on student samples from the United States, Finland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. 
University Student’s Emotional States during Virtual Learning
Full text linkThis research examines students' emotional states during a virtual course at a Finnish university. The mixed methods study drew on students' self-reported commitment, self-efficacy, experienced emotions, and open-ended descriptions related to their emotions. The sample consisted of 85 students. Data were collected at nine measurement points during a half semester foundation course in statistics. Through latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five distinct learner profiles described as the “Average”, “Struggling”, “Thriving”, “Victorious”, and “Determined”, and analyzed how they differ based on students’ gender, form of course implementation, previous attempts at the same course, and performance. Female students dominated in the “Average”, “Determined”, “Struggling”, and” Victorious” profiles. In all profiles, students mainly chose the blended learning implementation. In the “Struggling” profile, there were more students who had failed or had incomplete previous attempts at the course compared to other profiles. The students in the “Victorious” and “Thriving” profiles had the best exam results. The longitudinal design revealed distinct study experiences amongst the five profiles and pinpointed that most of the challenges took place in the middle of the course. The study contributes with understanding of the emotional challenges and challenges related to commitment- and self-efficacy in students’ learning process that could go unnoticed with fewer measurement points. The multi-measurement point approach along with the identification of emotion profiles makes a novel contribution to the field
Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study : Momentary Behavioural Engagement
No full textThis study used systematic observation to test the direct and moderating effects of class size on children’s momentary behavioural engagement in learning. Data were collected with 632 children (50.6% girls) in 121 classrooms in 92 schools recruited into the Children’s School Lives national cohort study of Irish primary schooling. The Observational and Research Classroom Learning Evaluation (ORACLE) systematic observation tool was used to observe individual children’s behaviour at 30-seconds intervals across a five-minute period in ordinary lessons of English, mathematics, science and Irish. Multilevel path models identified that behavioural engagement was higher in smaller classes and behavioural disengagement was higher in larger classes. Class size also moderated the impact of several individual differences and classroom composition factors on momentary behavioural engagement. For example, smaller classrooms protected lower ability children from disengaging whereas higher ability children were more likely to stay engaged in larger classes compared to lower ability children. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed
Reconceptualizing momentary engagement through the lens of conceptual change learning
Full text linkThis commentary reviews the five papers featured in this special issue, which foster a cross-disciplinary discussion on momentary engagement (ME). The papers represent diverse theoretical perspectives and address key research questions central to understanding students’ ME. The commentary approaches each paper through the lens of conceptual change, focusing on the learning processes needed when the information to be acquired is inconsistent with the existing theoretical frameworks. Methodological challenges in measuring ME within the context of conceptual change are explored, moving beyond traditional acquisition type of learning. The variation in quality and depth of momentary engagement is also discussed, distinguishing between different modes of active learning and engagement. Further attention is given to the complex, dual role of factors such as learner characteristics, prior knowledge, and epistemic beliefs in shaping ME, especially in domains requiring radical reorganization of initial beliefs. Finally, the potential for constructing an integrated model of ME is discussed, in alignment with the holistic approach to ME implied by the papers in this issue. The author emphasizes the importance of studying ME’s interconnected components within both the individual and the context, employing varied methodologies and accounting for different learning types. The implications of integrating different theoretical frameworks are discussed in relation to developing interventions aimed at enhancing students’ ME in the classroom context
Language-dependent knowledge acquisition: Mechanisms underlying language-switching costs in arithmetic fact learning
Full text linkWithin the research on bilingual learning, first studies have revealed that content learned in one language is retrieved more slowly when participants have to switch language from instruction to testing (i.e., language-switching costs, LSC). These costs are attributed to language-dependent knowledge representations. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying LSC are still largely unknown. We investigated these mechanisms by using strategy as well as translation self-reports and by analysing oscillatory parameters in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Thirty-six university students learned arithmetic facts of three different operations over four days either in English or in German. Afterwards, they were tested in both languages with concurrent assessments of self-reports and electrophysiological activity. As expected, LSC in response latencies were observed in all arithmetic tasks. More importantly, analyses of self-reports and EEG revealed that both translation processes and calculation procedures contribute to LSC, with translation processes being the main cognitive mechanism underlying LSC. These results corroborate previous findings of language-dependent knowledge representations in arithmetic fact learning and shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying LSC and possible educational consequences