Bowers ("Educational Psychology Review," 32, 681-705, 2020) reviewed 12 meta-analytic syntheses addressing the effects of phonics instruction, concluding that the evidence is weak to nonexistent in supporting the superiority of systematic phonics to alternative reading methods. We identify five issues that limit Bowers' conclusions: (1)…

This commentary provides an overview of abduction, also known as Inference to the Best Explanation, and argues that the term and relevant problem-solving methods should be adopted by chemistry educators. Abductive reasoning, especially within the context of science and medicine, continues to be an active area of exploration for philosophers and…

The role of anatomy in modern curricula is under reform due to competency of other rapidly evolving subjects and the rapid evolution of several practical aspects and applications dictating modernization of teaching methods as well as of teaching demands. Moreover, modern practice of medicine has put the arterial and vascular system in the center…

Marcia Rock is one of the preeminent researchers on bug-in-ear coaching. In this method, an instructional coach watches a live video feed of a teacher's classroom and provides in-the-moment feedback via a wireless earpiece. The process, which is sometimes compared to a football coach communicating with a quarterback, is become increasingly…

An article published in "Higher Education Research & Development" (HERD) in 2010 titled, 'The criteria of effective teaching in a changing higher education context' argued that an effective university teacher needs to have specific skills and practices that are applicable to a particular context. The article is one of HERD's most…

This article is a rejoinder to J.S. Bowers (2020), 'Reconsidering the evidence that systematic phonics is more effective than alternative methods of reading instruction', "Educational Psychology Review" (https://doi-org.bibliotheek.ehb.be/10.1007/s10648-019-09515-y). There is strong agreement among reading scientists that learning the phonological…

How does the teaching of climate change and sustainability fit into the teaching of the traditional content and skills of the core science strands? In this article, Rosemary Hipkins responds to this question that was asked by a teacher who is concerned that complex context that dominates the narrative of teaching can cause confusion for students…

A considerable body of evidence demonstrates that active, student-centered instructional practices are more effective than lecture-based, transmissionist approaches in improving undergraduate STEM learning. Despite this evidence and extensive reform initiatives, the majority of STEM instructors continue to teach didactically. Awareness of teaching…

In this "Open Dialogue: Peer Response," the author notes that in the initial paper, "Contributions of Educational Psychology to Understanding Student Learning: What Has Been Discovered - What More Could Be Done?" Entwistle lays out a useful summary of the way that psychology has contributed to an understanding of student…

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many school administrators are forced to transform traditional schooling into an online distance learning environment. This commentary addresses how some of the challenges and implications of our research in leadership and instruction of one-to-one laptop schools are applicable to establishing a distance…

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the immediate closure of schools in England. (The closure was not absolute: schools would remain open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. In practice, though, very few children have continued to attend.) In what follows, nine English…

Could knowledge work practices become pervasive in formal education? Could knowledge creation pedagogies help us close the gap between graduates' knowledge work competencies and fast changing needs of the knowledge society? In this commentary, I first revisit the most notable contributions of this special issue. Then, I turn to some overarching…

In this article, Charlie Taylor offers a commentary on Yang et al.'s 2021 "Reading in a Foreign Language" article, "Text Difficulty in Extensive Reading: Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation." In their study, Yang et al. analyzed the effects of text difficulty on the reading comprehension and motivation of high school…

In this paper we reflect on the article "I am smart enough to study postsecondary science: a critical discourse analysis of latecomers' identity construction in an online forum", by Phoebe Jackson and Gale Seiler (Cult Stud Sci Educ. https://doi-org.bibliotheek.ehb.be/10.1007/s11422-017-9818-0). In their article, the authors did a significant amount of…

In this response, we make the case for the power and promise of scaffolded reading instruction for teaching civic literacy--civic content knowledge and skills needed to both comprehend and take a stand on civic issues at a local, national, or global level. We argue the following: (a) Now, more than ever, students need to develop the skills and…